Vernon Carey

[JamesConway]

Hit me with your takes on him. I barely watch anything college basketball-related due to Lukamania but what's the story on this guy? Crappy perimeter defender? Outdated style of play on offense (post-heavy)?

He's very productive for a freshman and seems quite athletic to me. Could he be a fit alongside a 7'3 unicorn?

[Ruzious]

I'd go with the outdated style of play. I haven't seen enough of Duke to give much of an analysis, but do you think he'll be more effective in the NBA than Okafor?

[King Ken]

He is such a tough fit in the modern NBA but if there is a team who can handle him, Dallas is an option

[Duke4life831]

Fantastic college player, love that he is at Duke. Not a big time NBA player though. Duke has the worst paint defense out of all major conference teams, a big reason for that is because of Carey because he cant defend the PnR. When he gets to sit back and camp out under the rim, he can be a good rim protector.

If you're curious on how he may fair in defending a more of a spread offense and PnR heavy offense, look at the Virginia Tech game. He ended up playing just 15 minutes in that game. It wasn't because of foul trouble or anything like that, it was because Virginia Tech had a spread offense and ran a ton of PnR. Duke had to bench him and go with small ball to be able to defend them.

Drafting him anywhere above 20 in this draft would be laughably bad. I would take him somewhere in the 2nd round. Damn good player, just an outdated player though.

[clyde21]

he's okay, more of an energy big off the bench type really, struggles a bit in space on both ends, isn't gonna create a lot of looks on his own or for other players, but he's strong, can run the court, score inside and grab some boards for u as a 3rd big.

[Jamaaliver]

SI.com Big Board summary:

24. Vernon Carey Jr., C, Duke | Freshman
Height: 6’10” | Weight: 270 | Age: 18

Unsurprisingly, Carey has been the most college-ready of Duke’s freshmen, flashing a much-improved motor in the earlygoing and doing a good job playing physically in the paint and finishing with touch. His continued productivity is essential to his draft case, as his skill set doesn’t project as cleanly at the NBA level, and he’s not an elite run-jump athlete who will be able to dominate with his physical tools in the pros. Carey has pretty good feet and has provided more defensive resistance than expected, but he’s not quite the type of physical presence or natural shot-blocker that dissuades opposition from attacking the rim by simply being present. He’s not a natural jump shooter, but any improvement in that area would go a long way. Credit Carey for working into good shape and being consistently effective, but he’s got more to do to solidify first-round status.

[treefi]

I'd rank him #13 - #20 based on play so far this year. I think analysts are sleeping on him a bit because of the current style of play in the NBA. Last decade he'd have been an easy top 5 pick.

Jahlil Okafor as Freshman: 17.3ppg, 8.5rpg, 1.3apg, 0.8spg, 1.4bpg, .664 FG%, .510 FT%, 30.1mpg
Vernon Carey as Freshman 18.5ppg, 9.2rpg, 0.6apg, 0.6spg, 2.2bpg, .598 FG%, .618 FT%, 23.8mpg

Okafor went #3 in 2015 right before the league changed... And yeah, he's played like an average backup center since his rookie year. Carey is a very similar prospect.

[No-Man]

Carey doesn't have as much body control, off-the-dribble, gracefullness, they may be productive in similar ways as prospects, but I disagree with that comp