Draft Notes!
Jan 25, 2013 16:47:04 GMT -5
Post by Broph on Jan 25, 2013 16:47:04 GMT -5
Centers:
Andre Drummond C 6'10'' 270 18 B+ D- F+ C+ B+ A
Drummond leads off the Center position as potentially the next big thing in the league. . He has all the athletic ability in the world, and has shown flashes of being a dominant big. He is extremely strong, has a large frame with a huge wingspan. He is quick on his feet, moves well, though he does struggle with his positioning defensively, but shows the potential to be an all time great rebounding the ball with his length, athleticism, and knack for timing.Drummond tends to be smart with the ball, but also doesn’t look for his teammates well down in the post, He doesn’t show a ton in the way of post moves, mainly relying on said athleticism and generating offense off of putbacks. Absolutely no range either, hack an Andre would be a legitimate philosophy. Still very raw offensively, and all around. His athletic tools make scouts believe he could be one of the best bigs in the league during his career. There are worries from some though about his motor, he never really showed the killer instinct in college you want to see out of a star pick, and his low post offense is in need of work, he may not be able to bully around opposing low post plaeyrs at the next level. Drummond is going to be an interesting pick. His ceiling is a Shaq type physical freak Center whose major holdback is his foul shooting, but, there are many who believe that’s just a pipe dream due to a lack of desire.
Jared Sullinger C 6'9'' 280 20 C+ C D B- B+ B
Sullinger is a star opposite to Drummond. He is not much of an athlete at all, but uses a high basketball IQ to put himself in position for rebounds. He has a solid inside game, and strength, with a decent jumper, though he likes to shoot a few threes. Doesn’t turn the ball over a ton, and shows solid positioning on D, only struggling with quicker post players. Rebounding is a definite plus as well, but his lack of athleticism, combined with troublesome red flags from doctors has his stock falling as the draft closes.
Meyers Leonard C 7'0'' 245 20 B- C F+ B- C A
Leonard is raw, but shows a superb jump shot for his size, and some shot blocking upside. His post moves are in need of work, he doesn’t pass well at all, can get lost defensively, and doesn’t show enough effort on the glass. Good athlete, with nice quickness for his size and solid jumping ability. Would need some work on his strength, its nothing special at all. This draft is full of players that show the promise of being stars, but didn’t show the domination at the college level, Leonard is one of those as well.
Fab Melo C 7'0'' 255 20 B- D+ D- B C+ B
Fab is a boom bust project type, He is a great athlete, and shows excellent defensive promise, but his offense is a major work in progress, and he really hasn’t shown anything to make you think he is going to explode at the next level.
Tyler Zeller C 6'11'' 240 22 C+ C- D B- B- B
Zeller isn’t great at anything, but is pretty solid across the board. He has a spot in any rotation, solid jumper, solid defender, rebounding is fine. Nothing special though is the worry, doesn’t really have that go to selling point. On the other hand, that does leave a lot of room to grow, all of his game, rather than focusing on just one portion, but he would definitely need some help along the way. Projects as a backup or low end starter by most scouts.
Power Forwards:
Royce White PF 6'8'' 270 21 B- D+ B+ C B- B
Royce is a risk, but one I would expect many GM’s to want to gamble on. He suffers from anxiety issues, and they have led people to believe it may be difficult to get him to develop, but his overall talent level is very intriguing. He is a Point Forward, in the truest sense of the word. He is an excellent passer, rebounder, but has the size and ability to play in the post. Could handle PG at the next level, though defensively he would have major issues, but he would star rebounding. His outside game is entirely a work in progress though, and he tends to force the issue with his passes. May get picked on by the quicker guards as well, leading to handles issues. Boom bust type as well, though this makes for a bit more intriguing of a boom bust.,..who doesn’t love a huge rebounding PG. (Allowed to play any position while listed at any position so he can play PG while at PF or SG while at C etc.)
Anthony Davis PF 6'10'' 220 19 B C- D+ B+ C+ A
Stud, and probable number one pick. Davis is extremely promising, he has a solid jumper, nice set of post moves, is extremely quick, can steal, and block, and defend the post. Rebounding is coming along, will need to develop better timing, relied a bit too much on his quickness and length. Upside is excellent as well, a dream first overall pick, and easily the safest player in the draft, should be a star.
Perry Jones PF 6'11'' 220 20 C+ C C- C+ C+ B
Boom bust, Perry has all the gifts in the world, but never lived up to the hype at Baylor. Once primed to be the next big thing, he showed up small when it mattered most, and now there are red flags about his health. Physically he has the ability to play in the post, or be a large Small forward. Nice strength, but his offense in general is pretty raw. Motivation is the question long term, if he didn’t have the motivation in college to star, will it be there when he is getting paid millions?
Andrew Nicholson PF 6'9'' 225 22 B C D- C C A
Nicholson is a promising offensive player, with a good low post game and solid jump shot. However, the rest of his game is in need of a lot of work. He is not a great rebounder, doesn’t show blocking ability, and his post d is pretty mediocre. Should be a real nice scorer, but the rest of his game will need time and work to develop into more than that.
John Henson PF 6'11'' 220 21 B- D D C+ C+ A
Henson is another guy who is raw, but shows nice defensive upside. Strength is his real hold back, he is weak and likely will get shoved around at the next level, but shows solid fundamentals as a post defender, and good timing as a shot blocker. Offense isn’t as bad as you would thing, decent post moves, but his jump shot hurts his upside there.
Thomas Robinson PF 6'9'' 240 21 C+ C- D C+ B A
Robinson showed quite a bit of promise his last year at Kansas, but still there are questions about him after the combine. He will need to work on his low post game, doesn’t really look to be a great shot blocker, though he does utilize quick hands to steal the ball, and he is a really promising rebounder. Jump Shot is decent, but will need to work on being more consistent there. Scouts do like his upside, and think he has a shot at being a real solid starter, but arent sure if star upside is there.
Small Forwards:
Arnette Moultrie SF 6'11'' 230 21 B- C+ D+ C+ C A
Moultrie is an interesting case. He has never really found a position, but shows good offensive promise as an SF. He has a nice jumper, range out to three, good strength for an SF, and he can handle most matchups on the perimeter. What he doesn’t offer though is the ability to play any sort of stats D, and he is a poor rebounder for 6’11, which is why scouts put his position at SF instead of PF. A Boom bust, but a safer version, as regardless of his overall development, scouts see promise in his offense.
Harrison Barnes SF 6'8'' 223 20 B- B- C- B- C A
Barnes has been prepping for this time for as long as he has been considered a big time prospect. He has the athleticism, makeup, and skillset to be a very good player for a very long time. The issue is, for all that time prepping to be a pro, he has never shown dominant play, his time at North Carolina could be considered at best disappointing, he was supposed to be a big time player, but tended to shy away from big moments. He has good athleticism, nice strength, solid offensive ability, and his positional D shows promise, but there is no wow factor with him, there is nothing you point to and say, hes going to be a star, and that has some scouts worried about what exactly his ceiling is. Still, should be a starter at least.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist SF 6'7'' 205 19 B- C C A B- A
MKG will be a starter, no doubts about that, likely even he can fill that role from day 1. He shows excellent promise as a defensive player, though he is not a great steals guy, he shows the upside to be an excellent positional defender and shot blocker. He is very quick, meaning he can cover any position 1-5 without issues. The question marks are on his offensive game, he doesn’t offer much in the way of a three point shot, though he has a nice jumper, and scores inside pretty well. His rebounding is a big plus, and should be throughout his career. (cannot play SG/PG)
Terrence Jones SF 6'9'' 249 20 C+ C D C+ C+ B
Terrance Jones is another question of work ethic and desire to be a star…combined with the fact he is quite a tweener, and well, you are left with a boom bust type guy, again, which seems to be a theme with a lot of prospects in this draft. Again, he doesn’t have the star in the making type flash to his game, nor any dominant aspect really. He shoots too many threes, doesn’t show a great jump shot, just mediocre if not sub par. He is a pretty good rebounder, has nice strength and takes care of the ball. Solid post defender, but not for a PF, so its kinda a question mark. He does have some stats D possibilities, but again, nothing spectacular. All in all scouts are down on him right now, but feel with the right coaching he could be a star.
Shooting Guards:
Austin Rivers SG 6'4'' 203 19 C C+ C C+ D A
Rivers is a coaches son, which is typically a dream for a prospect, especially one of his overall athletic ability. But really, Rivers has not developed much outside of that athletic ability. His overall outside game is very weak, he doesn’t have the skills to play PG, handles are pretty iffy. His strength is poor, very poor. He doesn’t do anything special statistically on D, average steals, no blocks. His perimeter D is pretty good though, so there is that. Just so raw its tough to say he becomes a star. At 19 it’s a gamble picking him early, but, he does have good upside, and if you coach him early in his offense, it may be a gamble worth taking.
Bradley Beal SG 6'3'' 207 19 C+ B+ B- C+ C- A
Beal is a silky smooth SG that some scouts love, but other scouts worry about. He never showed a dominant streak at Florida…just kinda was a passive player. He has a nice jump shot, form is great, shows the upside to be a very good defender, and rebounding wing. Takes care of the ball, I mean, there is no real weakness with him, the only question is why was he not more of a force in college, and for whatever reason that has some scouts questioning his overall ability to be great at the next level.
Dion Waiters SG 6'4'' 210 20 C+ B B C D+ A
Waiters was a sixth man in college…and would definitely make a great one at the next level. Nice athlete, has the ability to shoot pretty well from outside…actually, offensively he and Beal are pretty similar, Waiters is just a bit worse at scoring and better at passing. Waiters though…well, actually, defensively he is a poor mans Beal too…so yeah, Dion Waiters is a poor mans Beal, though he shows more of a desire to score
Jeremy Lamb SG 6'5'' 185 20 C+ B+ C- B- C- B
Lamb is a solid SG prospect, but not a star type. Good defender, nice quickness and a very good outside game. But, more of a spot up type guy, not necessarily going to create a ton of shots for himself, though he is capable. Upside is not great, just solid, but with work he could be a very good starter long term.
Terrance Ross SG 6'6'' 195 21 B- B C- B- C A
Ross is an athletic shooter, especially from three. He struggles creating for himself, but, shows superb all around promise as an SG. Underwhelming strength, but a good rebounder at SG. Upside is very good
Point Guards:
Damian Lillard PG 6'2'' 190 21 C+ A- B- C- D+ A
Lillard comes out of Weber State with a few question marks…such as, small school, why did you play at a small school, why did you not put up 50 a game at a small school, why did you not dominate everybody at your small school in your tiny conference. Thing is, he shows a very polished game for coming out of such a small school in the Big Sky. He plays poised, in control, and is a better athlete than given credit for. He doesn’t have the same star overall upside as Kyrie Irving, but he is a very good offensive player, has nice strength, and an excellent outside stroke. The downside is, he is not a defensive player at all, he is horrid in the pick and roll, struggling with positioning. Typically he gets lost, allowing the defender to drive straight to the hoop with ease. Doesnt gamble for steals, meaning he gets few, but it doesnt really help his D
Tony Wroten PG 6'5'' 205 19 B- C- B- B C B
Wroten is a tall, quick PG with nice strength and inside ability. He steals well, is a good rebounder, and passer, and shows promise as an overall player everywhere except….his jump shot and overall outside game is atrocious. He has minimal ability to shoot the three and a horrible Jump shot for a PG. He can play a bit out of control as well, leading to careless turnovers. Upside is a question mark…but at 19 hes worth a gamble potentially even in the lotto.
Kendall Marshall PG 6'4'' 180 20 C C+ A- C+ C- A
Kenadall is a pass first PG that’s very raw everywhere else. He isn’t going to overwhelm you offensively, but shows nice passing ability, solid rebounding, and actually is not a bad defender, especially perimeter wise. His stealing ability is a bit average, and he is not the quickest of PG’s, more talented in his ability to change speeds. Tough to know just what he’ll end up as.
