Wouldn't it be nice if Henson was available. He won't be. I do agree leonard is raw but he is a better rebounder and shotblocker than Donatus and he is a real center. He reminds me of Stipanovich a bit. Only a little more athletic albeit still very raw. But there is an excuse for that. He's had to deal with losing his Dad. His Mom and them struggling financially. His brother leaving for battle. All of that has to have effected his game. Just look at a kid like Austin Rivers who has had the best of everything to help him improve his game. The luxury of just concentrating on basketball. Leonard has obviously not had that luxury. Just looking at the video you can see how much he loves his brother and how much it must have effected him emotionally. Honestly I think if this kid had a normal family life he wouldn't even consider leaving college and you would see him improve more next year and be a lottery pick for sure. The fact that he showed so much improvement over last year impresses me. It's like he finally sees the light of what he has to do to help his family. Yes he is raw and yes he may be a bust. But adversity either kills you are makes you stronger. I think Meyers is coming out on the other side and I would gladly take him unless someone amazing drops. It's like OF said "you cant have too many 7 footers"!
Leonard is VERY raw and has not been properly used or developed by Bruce Webber at Illinois. If you take Leonard you are banking on him really developing with proper coaching and being used inside. Leonard is a good shooter, a good athlete and has good size. He has the physical attributes to be a top 5 center in the NBA. I do question his mental readiness to play, and expect that it will take him a few years to really contribute.
Yeah I agree, although I'm hoping for Henson to fall, I would definitely take a gamble on him with the 16th pick if the guys I have ranked ahead of him aren't there... Plus with our current center rotation, we have enough time to give him to develop and get his feet wet.
He may be raw, but you can live with raw on a young 7 footer if the guy has the drive to improve and the motor to play hard on the court. I was reading the Roy Hibbert story on Grantland.com: Hibbert was raw as hell, too, and wasn't even athletic in terms of being able to run and jump. He became an Allstar because he worked relentlessly. You can live with raw, you can't live "don't give a damn."
[However, if you want rim protection I think its best to go with John Henson, his shotblocking will tranlate to the NBA from day one IMO. Not to mention, the guy whose best suited to teach Henson, given their similar situation coming out of the draft, is Marcus Camby. Who we'll have for another 3-4 yrs, giving us enough time to develop Henson into a good quality starting C.] That's what they thought of the Thabeet
Henson would get destroyed playing center in the NBA at that weight. He is going to be a few years before he is relevant as a center. Now Fab Melo will be ready to contribute right away if he has a good training camp and summer league. If you are going to pick a center, pick a real one.
Hibbert has got to be one of a kind; a former roommate of mine went to HS in Maryland and remembered seeing Roy play before Georgetown; he described him as often being one of the worst players on the court. How many big guys would actually have that attitude, even after they had made the pros? I don't think it's a question that you take either of the North Carolina guys over him; Zeller would be amazing for the Rockets, considering he's one of the only guys in the draft you could envison running a low-post offense through, or John Henson, who's basically Anthony Davis' floor (which is still pretty damn good). But there seems to be a pretty big dropoff after them, down to seriously flawed prospects like Fab Melo and Arnett Moultrie. I'm still not a huge fan, but I'm not the one who's going to put him through a workout and interview him for hours on end.
What makes you think he will be a bad defender? He has the size, frame, intelligence and athleticism to be a good defender.. He just is very raw.
John Henson seems to be a whole other level of skinny compared to Leonard. Leonard is slim, but seems to have the frame to fill up. Henson just has a narrow body.
Honestly, this year's group of big men really makes me glad we took Motiejunas last year. The more I look at them, the more I prefer the Rockets look at some high-potential guys at other positions. I feel the odds of the Rockets hitting the jackpot on a swingman is simply much better than any center available. And make do with something like Asik/Camby combo in the middle.
^ i like that..hope Asik can be attainable and fluorish in starting just like what happened with Gortat.
If Leonard proves I agree, I believe Meyers can add quite a bit of size over the next 4-5 years, including size to his lower body. The good and bad is that so much of his game is raw that we are projecting more with him than most other projects.
Asik is no where near as offensively gifted as Gortat and tires when he plays starter minutes defensively. A lot of his success is based of flat out hustle he cannot keep up, plus he can run into serious foul trouble. Asik has been put into a situation to shine in Chicago and hide his deficiencies. Would love him long term as a back up 5, but not at the money he will demand.
Did I miss something? I sure it's not set in stone that Camby is coming back just that he'd like to. Anyway the reason I don't want Henson is that he is just so small & his preferred position looks to be at PF which we're stacked at along with Motiejunas coming over. As many has said you can't have too many 7 footers & Leonard is a true center that can come in from day one (even with him being raw) to play backup minutes at center, then eventually take over the starting roll after a year or two being in the league. I'd use the #14 pick on him if they don't trade up, then grab the best SG available on the board. I believe Coach McHale can really speed up the learning process quite a bit & get Motiejunas & Leonard going next season!
i dont want him... was at the game Illini / Indiana game this year, and Leonard looked very soft against Cody Zeller. Granted Zeller is a manbeast, but Leonard was still unimpressive. He didn't care a lot of the time and seemed like a flopper. Did not seem strong at all.