Part of what discourages me a bit is I'm not sure I see a fortune changer in the high school/college basketball pipeline. Guys like Ralph Sampson, Patrick Ewing, Shaquille O'Neal, Yao Ming, Tim Duncan, LeBron James... these were all guys that had enormous hype well before they were draft-eligible. Even guys we thought were going to be "Next" that didn't live up to the hype -- like Eddy Curry and OJ Mayo -- you still could see them coming from a long ways away. So who's next? Does Anthony Davis (going to Kentucky) have the chance to be a special power forward? Which NBA lottery year looks like an NBA jackpot?
Do we really alway seee the game changer from a long way? I am thinking about guys like Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Deron Williams being examples of those who were not really "a long way" guys.
nbadraft.net thinks the future talent will bring a "bright future" for the NBA, mostly noting the high school prospects Andre Drummond and Shabazz Muhammad. You can read the full article here.
2012 H.S. class has a ton of centers, with 6'11 C Andre Drummond leading the way... <iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DYlnK-kQuHA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> The Kid is considered a top end prospect, will be the #1 pick no matter what year he comes out..
I think Irving can be a Paul imitator with more size and less attitude on the court (good and bad). Shabazz Muhammad is crafting himself in the Jordan/Kobe mold better than Harrison Barnes ever could. Austin Rivers is lacking on size to be an elite SG but could certainly be a better version of Monta Ellis or Eric Gordon. As far as big men...who knows if we'll ever see a resurgence ever again. Dwight was an anomaly because these days 9 out of 10 guys at 6'10 are trying to imitate Kevin Garnett still. Guys like Anthony Davis, Perry Jones, Quincy Miller, and Andre Drummond all suffer from paintophobia right now and it will take a while to coach them out of trying to look like a SF in a C's body. You might have to look at Europe for the traditional back-to-the-basket big men. In that context, guys like Kanter, Valanciunas, and Motiejunas have been highly heralded (and scrutinized) for quite a long time, and maybe this is part of the allure for Morey in trying to obtain one of them. Because if you look at the players with predominantly post-up offensive games in the NBA today--Howard, Gasol, Randolph, Stoudemire, M Gasol, Scola, Aldridge (coming on recently), and *Ming (when healthy)--a greater percentage than before are coming from overseas. So don't blame Jordan for the lack of good centers coming up. Blame Garnett.
Oh and forgot to mention this guy: <iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PxjkMuScur8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> He is in my opinion a sleeper
I just think the kids name is funny. You know some extremely young parents are soon naming their kid Lebron Jordan.
these two are the next big european prospects, both are from Croatia: Mario Hezonja draftexpress Mario Hezonja has shown his terrific athleticism on a number of breakaway dunks. Made some plays in the half-court too. Big time talent. 2 days ago chadfordinsider Chad Ford Best player I've seen here is 15 year old Croatian guard Mario Hezonja. 17 pts against Serbian Under 19 team. Good athlete. 2014 Draft I've gotten a chance to see Mario Hezonja at three different events now in the past couple months (Jordan All American Classic, Final Four juniors in Barcelona and now here). And I will say he is probably the best 2-guard prospect to come out of Europe since Drazen Petrovic. Rudy Fernandez and Marco Belinelli weren't even close to the talent or polished players that he is at 16 years of age. He's certainly the most talented European guard prospect that I have seen in the 10 years I've been doing this. He's playing against kids 3 years older than himself and making it look easy. NBADraft.net and Dario Saric http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Dario-Saric-5706/
The 2012 draft is loaded. Anthony Davis, Harrison Barnes, Jared Sullinger, Perry Jones, Austin Rivers, Quincy Miller. I'm sure some teams next year will "tank" just to have a shot at these guys. They all have potential to be franchise players.
It's so tough to predict without seeing these guys play a game at the college level yet. Things like injuries, losing focus, or believing your own media hype and not working as hard to fulfill your potential etc. all can keep a player from maximizing his talent. But we have heard about guys like Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers years before they are even draft eligible. And barring injuries I think these guys (right now) may have the best chance to be NBA stars (I don't know about MVP caliber types, but you never know). Anthony Davis may get bodied up by the stronger more physical big men at first, but if you already have a point guard's shooting, passing, handles and perimeter defense, I think its just a matter of time before you fill out your frame/develop a post game and start to dominate. <iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/egyYrj_G_WU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> If Austin Rivers grows a couple inches (or decides to play PG at the NBA level), barring injury I think he has a great chance to be a star. Even if he doesn't I still think he has a good chance. (I like players with heart and a killer instinct, a player's confidence can change though.) <iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OJX8YUrItR8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Sleeper pick - Ricky Rubio I like Harrison Barnes. Austin Rivers looks like another Mayo. I would've chosen Michael Gilchrist but he seems dumb.
Yeah, those two are going to be terrific players, Šarić especially. One thing that worries me about Hezonja is his arrogancy at already 16 years of age. Hopefully, he'll mature quickly.
