Draft Watch Here's a look at the draft stock of some other top prospects: Blake Griffin, PF, Oklahoma Griffin's concussion won't damage his chances of being the top pick in the draft unless there's some significant medical fallout from it. The NBA isn't like the NFL -- concussions aren't that common. In fact, the concussion shows why NBA teams love him. He is a beast in the middle and completely unafraid to mix it up with anyone. Greg Monroe, F, Georgetown Monroe was red-hot in January and has cooled somewhat in February. His team has tanked and he's really only had one big game this month, a 16-point, 11-rebound performance against Syracuse. Some concerns about Monroe's motor are surfacing again, but given the weakness of the draft it's hard to see him falling out of the top five. We have him ranked No. 3 on our big board right now. Hasheem Thabeet, C, UConn Thabeet is still 7-foot-3, and that's all some NBA GMs really need to know. He's an elite shot-blocker, a good rebounder and athletic for someone that big. But questions still swirl around Thabeet, the latest coming when 6-foot-7 DeJuan Blair dominated against him in a Pittsburgh win over UConn. Thabeet had five points and four boards. Blair had 22 points and 23 boards. When Thabeet plays against teams without a dominant big man, he thrives. But when he faces anyone with size or strength, he really struggles. Jrue Holiday, G, UCLA Holiday is a tough one to figure out. Teams still love his talent and feel like, once Darren Collison graduates, he'll be a dominant point guard in college basketball. The problem is that Collison is still there and Holiday is struggling. Most recently, Holiday was scoreless against Arizona State and just one point versus Washington State, both losses for UCLA. While I still wouldn't be surprised to see Holiday go in the lottery if he declares for this year's draft, his best course of action would be to stay in school for another season. Earl Clark, F, Louisville Clark continues to drive scouts nuts. One night he looks like a top-10 pick, the next night he looks horrible. Lately, he's been more consistent, a force on the boards and quite a distributor. His scoring average isn't up much, and neither are his shooting percentages, but you can see why teams like the Suns love his size-to-skill ratio. He's going to be tough to project. Jermaine Taylor, G, Central Florida A sleeper to keep watch on as the draft camps begin, Taylor is averaging 26 points and shooting 40 percent from 3-point territory. He's undersized for his position and may be a small fish in a big pond, but the kid can score. The senior just dropped 45 points on Rice and is averaging 30 points in his past four games. Patrick Beverley, G, Ukraine Beverley was a pretty interesting 2-guard at Arkansas from 2006-2008. But at 6-foot-1, he didn't have much of a chance of playing that position in the NBA. So Beverley left Arkansas after his sophomore season and went to the Ukraine to work on his point-guard skills. The results have been impressive. He is averaging 17 points and four assists (those assists translate to something like six to seven assists in the U.S.). Scouts say Beverley has made a lot of progress at the point and, after watching some tape of him this week, I have to agree. As a 20-year-old with a season of pro basketball under his belt, I think he could be a kid who, if he can convince teams he can play the point, could be another sleeper in this year's draft.
If you just watch Arizona-UW, Jordan Hill just made himself a top 5 lock IMO. Guy got a high ankle sprain after what looked like he broke his leg to tell the truth, and comes back to play the last 4+ min on 1 leg and almost help Arizona win a rigged game.
No talk about Tyreke Evans as a player on the rise? He still needs to improve his jumper and I think the smartest thing for him to do is stay another season in Memphis, but he has always been public about most likely being a one and done player and his jumper is improving drastically. Not to mention his upper body strength and help defense are remarkable for a freshman.
I'm not too enthralled with anyone in this draft. Granted, I haven't seen nearly as much of these prospects as I usually have in years past. Rubio sounds perfect for us if hes as good as advertised. We'd need a very high pick though. I like James Harden a lot too.
I'm liking Tryeke Evans. Ellis Evans Randolph Wright Biedrins Bench: Belinelli, Buike, Morrow, Turiaf, etc. This is just the roster and line-up I want though. No way this happens if we still have Nellie as a coach. I want to lose Maggs and Craw. I wouldn't mind having Jackson when he's older with a more limited role.
I'm just messin'. The player I want is Blake Griffin. The problem with aggressive players in their first nba season is they get into all sorts of foul trouble, but I think Griffin could help the warriors pound the glass and get more physical in the paint. If he's really 6'10 in shoes Nelson could use him at center for his silly little lineups where the power forward is really a small forward. But it's hard to get #1 overall in the lottery... If we can get #2 that'd be enough IMO.
I like Shapecity while reading Chad Fraud is annoying (and you've got to pay for it, yet). Since the Warriors didn't get Raymond Felton, I want Ricky Rubio or bust!!!
Well, the good news is that usually the worst team never gets the top pick. So, we know we're not going to be the worst team. Hopefully, as far as the draft is concerned, we are one of the worst teams. But, our roster needs a lot more than a good draft pick. If we could shed Maggette or Jackson's contract on top of Jamal Crawford opting out, we would be in good shape for the future, assuming we keep Buike, Morrow, and Belinelli.
He's kind of like Ellis on defense. Plays the passing lanes well or we was like that at first. He is a good defender though. he compares his game to Tracy McGrady.