One of the first Mock Drafts 25. Hasheem Thabeet Center. Connecticut Thabeet showed tremendous improvement from his freshman to sophomore season and his decision to return to UConn was a valuable one. He now blocks shots with the proper hand, is quicker to elevate and has improved his overall timing. Thabeet will be very good on-ball and on the weakside, particularly because his help defense fundamentals are better than anticipated for a typical late to basketball player. Offensively, he is better than advertised and could become a solid high post player. His instincts are there and though his consistency on his shot is nowhere near where it needs to be, his form is actually very good. His bad hands will never improve, nor go away and he still isn’t consistently aggressive, but as far as 7-3 projects go, Thabeet is one of the more promising ones.
But according to that mock, why would we pass up CDR, Tyler Smith, or Shan Foster? Don't we need a backup SF/SG? DD, you forgot our pick at #55 - 55. John Riek Center. Winchendon H.S. High schooler? How is that possible?
They put %s of the players chance at becoming a hall of famer? Seriously? Thats one of the stupidest things I have ever seen. They should be embarrassed of themselves for including that. Do they write articles for middle school kids? Uh ya, lets see. Brandon Rush? Ya, he has a 2% chance HOF. What the hell? I can pull numbers out of my ass too.
He doesn't need to. He needs to go to school for another year. Hes not ready for the NBA yet as shown as how Derrick Rose dominated him. He will be going up against those kinds of pgs night in and out in the NBA. He should stay at Texas and they will be real special next year with AJ, Justin,Connor,and Damion coming back.
Hasheem Thabeet would be my dream pick, dude is a beast and is just learning how to play the game. tmac2therack, do you go to SFA? I graduated from there last August.
DJ Augustin's draft stock is dropping, but he will probably get draft in the 10-20 range. But boy if we can get him, we probably won't ever need Rafer again......
Serge Ibaka 6'10" 18 yrs. old 220 lbs Congo NBADRAFT.NET Profile NBA Comparison: Shawn Kemp Strengths: A tremendous athlete blessed with insane length and leaping ability ... Conjures up memories of Shawn Kemp. Ibaka reportedly had a higher vertical than any of the players drafted in the 2007 draft. Which is extremely unusual for a taller player ... Despite his immense physical gifts, Ibaka hustles at all times and works hard on his game showing a lot of improvement in a short time ... He's currently playing in Spain for L'Hospitalet ... Has solid footwork in the post, and an improving turn around jumper ... He can even extend out to the 3 pt line and knock down shots on occaision ... Has the tools to become a first round pick in the next year, as he is not far from having an NBA ready body, and plays hard ... He's relentless on the boards and his length and athleticism makes him a formidable shot blocker ... Has good touch on his shot, and solid mechanics, he just needs to become more comfortable with his offensive game so it becomes second nature ... Weaknesses: Coming from the Congo, his age may come into question ... He appears to be young and at least close to his listed age so it likely won't be to big a deterrant, but teams are normally wary of the age of young African players who seem "too good to be true". But unlike some other recent African draft picks who did not play NCAA ball (Saer Sene, Malick Badiane and Desagana Diop) Ibaka is already showing offensive abilities ... Ibaka also needs to work hard on his skills, while he shows nice potential with his ball skills and post moves, they are far from refined ... Learning a few moves that he can consistently go to in the post will greatly improve his offesnive abilities ... Needs to add some muscle to his frame. Right now, he's too lean and will get pushed around under the basket ... But he's still very young, and appears to be able to put weight on without any problems ... At the adidas Global camp in New Orleans, Ibaka suffered with cramps, so staying hydrated and improving on his stamina are important ... Hell, get Deke in there to get some mentoring and I could see this guy doing some damage.
John Riek is someone I've done some reading about prior to this, since he was being recruited by UConn and Duke but ultimately decided to not go to college and attempt to be drafted due to his age meeting the necessary limit (Read: he's over 19). He's a huge, extremely raw talent with little experience under his belt but enough athleticism to make him an intriguing pick. He has only been in America for a year or two, transferring into this international school in Connecticut and living with a host family. At one point they were going to hold a workout for NBA scouts at the but then just as they all got to the gym they received a text msg from the front office saying anyone who went in would have their team fined 50,000 or so. Maybe he was too young at that point, I don't remember. Whoever drafts him will have to assign him to a lesser league (he may not even be good enough for the better European leagues yet) for a minimum of three years I'd guess. The upside of course is another Dikembe Mutombo, or, gasp, another African center who's been in the news lately for his imminent HOF induction. The downside comprises names far too numerous to mention, the most recent one in my mind being Saer Sene on the Sonics. As for Thabeet, most of the college Bball year I'd heard he was going to be drafted between 8-15. I'd be ecstatic for him to fall to us.
Wow this RealGM is full of it. Beasley a 75% lock for the Hall of Fame??? Please. Even among the last ten #1 picks in the NBA, only three I would say are probable HOFers: Ming, LeBron, and D. Howard. And the ten years before that has I would say four HOF picks: Shaq, Webber, Iverson, Duncan. Webber is a bubble guy though. And then the #2 pick Rose has an 80% chance for the HOF. Geez.
For some reason I just can't get into the mock drafts until the lottery and team positions are set... I especially hate mock drafts where they clearly don't take the team's needs into consideration.
My god man. The last thing this team needs to do is drop guaranteed money on a rookie backup center who is a "project". I sure hope somebody wastes a pick on that THabeet kid before draft. If I was a GM, I might take a flier on this Ibawa kid, if I could buy one of Seattle's picks and it looked like Brandon Rush would fall that far. Otherwise, we should just take Rush and go to the house or drop our first round pick in a trade for a definitive shooter that can light it up for us.
