Dr Mufasa wrote:Yeah, it's either him or Lamb at 2 for me. I'm more sold on Lamb but would rather roll the dice a little bit to get a big time PF/C instead of just a perimeter scorer, if that makes sense.
It really does feel like with the history of the draft and high potential Cs and the way Drummond will play the role of the head of British Petroleum if UConn misses the tournament, Leonard should be the guy who goes 2nd. But it seems like there's such a hesitance against sophmores or juniors who aren't putting up dominant stats yet. Long way to go though. Derrick Williams didn't make his jump from "top 10" to the "guaranteed 2nd overall" guy until the middle/end of March according to DX's mock draft history
I think talent evaluators are viewing this ashis 'freshman' year since he didn't get substantial playing time as a true freshman. Also, the only reason his numbers aren't 'dominant' is because he is so sytem bound. He is 3rd on the team in fg attempts at 9 per game while shooting almost 20% better than the primary and secondary options. This is both due to the fact that he almost exclusively operates in the low block and the players that he rellies on to get him the ball are selfish and poor passers. Every national game is a broken record with knowledgable announcers/coaches (Kniight, Rafftery, etc..) screaming for Illinios to get Leonard the ball inside in the second half instead of chucking contested threes. Likewise, on defense Illinois plays almost exclusively man where Leonard is almost always drawn out to the perimiter which limits his blocks and rebounds. Because his offensive output is so crucial to the teams success and he spends so much energy fighting for low post position, he is much more passive on the defensive end where he seems to conserve energy and tries to often to stay out of foul trouble. The bottom line, if he was properly utilized I think he would be putting up numbers closer to 19 10 4 and 4 and would be on top of every draft board. Trust me though, this isn't lost on anyone who actually watches his games...especially NBA talent scouts.
The more I watch him the more I think that Pau Gasol might be closer to his floor than his ceiling as Leonard is more athletic and projects to be much more stronger and physical.