I propose Andre Liggins as the wing defender choice with either the 23rd or the 38th pick. Three things lead me to suggest this. First, his character. KU fans at Sea of Blue respect him, as a person, on a Chuck Hayes/Patrick Patterson-level (Link 1 Link 2), and he was personally impressive to me in his draft bio. Secondly, and most obviously, his well renowned defense. He was a defensive All American and the SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Finally, his offense. While this may not be his strong suit, I think it is more than comparable with Chris Singleton and Kwahi Leonard. He averaged 8.6 ppg and shot 39.1% from three while often deferring to much-hyped freshman in his KU career, similar to Patterson. Most telling to me, though, is the fact that most of KU's season-defining shots were actually drawn up for and taken by him. KU vs. OSU tourney @0:44 KU runs the clock and sets up the iso for Liggins with the 1 point lead and ~42 seconds on the clock (that’s Knight at the free throw line). @0:53 Liggins is guarding OSU’s go to man, Diebler, with a 3 point lead and 23 seconds on the clock. Granted Knight was iso’d for the game winner, but Liggins was as much of a key-player on both ends during that last minute as Knight was. KU vs.UConn tourney (Careful the audio's loud!) Liggins kept them in the Final Four game with: @1:37 the three (1:37 left in game) @1:43 drawing the foul on the three (0:49 left in game) @2:08 he also took the potential game winning 3 point shot with less than 10 seconds left (that shot was off an inbounds play, but it’s hard to tell if it was drawn up specifically for Liggins).
I like this kid also, but definitely not for the 23rd pick. He may possibly go undrafted. I say they buy another 2nd round pick to get him. he is a guard who can defend 3 different positions and is known for just that, his defense. Other combo guards to look for in that range would be David Lighty and Gilbert Brown.
I dont know how many rookies we can sign. But do we really even want 3 rookies on our squad? If we get Noguiera and have him play over seas, that still leaves us with 2.
A: You spelled his name wrong in your post (but correctly in the title) DeAndre is correct B: it's UK not KU... we are talking Kentucky NOT Kansas = This is something you must learn to correct... neither UK nor Kansas fans appreciate the confusion... as we are natural enemies in basketball. C: I love Liggins as much as the next person (or more if we are going to be honest) but he's likely not a 23rd pick. Harrelson is more likely to go in the first round than DeAndre. My guess is he's a high to mid second rounder... mainly because of his defense. He doesn't have much in the way of offensive moves, but he does fairly well with a set shot. He has a bit of athleticism and length though... so as an early second rounder he'd be a good bench player. He has matured A LOT in the past two years. Part of that was becoming a father, and part of it was a having a father figure in Calipari.
