What about a ty lawson dropping to the teens of the 1st round draft? I always thought he was the best NOW mode pg in the draft.
This draft will rival the Kenyon Martin one in terms of how legendarily bad it will be. Rather than naming steals, how about you just name players who will have NBA careers beyond five years? It's not going to be long, and the second round might outdo the first: Griffin Rubio Curry Hansbrough (as much as I hate to admit it, this guy will eke out a long career at the back of someone's rotation) And that's it, as far as your guaranteeds. Of the rest, some will succeed and most will not. You might like the upside of Tyreke Evans, Derozan, Terrence Williams or Earl Clark but I'm willing to bet only one out of those guys will actually fulfill his potential. In another draft Derozan would be the equivalent of Daequan Cook. But hey not every draft year can be a blowout the way the 2004, 2007, and 2008 ones were.
There is nothing equivalent about Derozan and Cook. Two completely different players; Derozan is much more of a slasher and inside scorer while Cook has solely become an outside shooter. Derozan would still have been a top 15 pick in that class based exclusively upon his athleticism and having a very high ceiling at such a young age.
Agreed. While Blair was still being projected as a lottery pick there were plenty around these parts that suspected Sam might end up being a better NBA player than Blair. Now that the tables have turned, Blair falling has kind of been the big story but I agree totally that nobody should sleep on Sam Young.
If Young is really that good, why did teams passed on him? I doubt that He is injury prone. How about attitude?
To illustrate how really bad I think this draft was, I have serious doubts about Rubio, Curry and Hansbrough amounting to much. Their careers might last 5 years or more, but they aren't locks to be impact players. I'd put Johnny Flynn ahead of all those guys besides Griffin.
His attitude is fine. Teams passed on him because he's rather old for a senior (24-years-old) and his perimeter skills aren't very advanced for a player that projects as a pro SF. He started out at Pitt as kind of a 3/4 tweener that moved to the wing elusively towards his junior/senior seasons. During that time he showed mark improvements in ballhandling and his ability to create his own offense. He'll be a monster steal if he continues to improve in that regard. His rather unorthodox yet disgustingly effective shot fake (you guys HAVE to see it, for those that haven't) will be enough to help beat his man on the pro level. Combine that with his quick first step and leaping ability, he projects as a player that could become a solid slasher with the the type of range necessary to make his man play up on him. Basically, he's NBA ready and could immediately step into a rotation on Day 1. Sounds like the makings of a "steal" to me when you consider where he was drafted.
I know that a lot of Knicks fans had their hopes hinging on the flashy Stephon Curry, but I really do think that Jordan Hill will prove to be a solid, dependable role player for many years to come in NY. Not expecting much from his rookie season, but I think that he'll flourish in his second and third years in the league.
In 5 years Rubio will be regarded as the Chris Paul of this draft, all his defiencies as a shooter will be forgotten once he shows he can play the game and make an impact without scoring a ton of points. In this day and age of combo guards and shoot first PGs, Rubio is a guy with a set of skills very few players have at his age. He likes to play with the flow of the game and that is something you can't teach kids anymore because all prep stars are looking for the flashy play and force the issue of scoring rather than letting it naturally come to you. He is an observe and react kind of guy with the mentality of a quarterback looking to pick apart the defense.
Spurs just gave Blair a 3yr deal. DAMN. He must already be looking solid. Smart to hold on to him like that and prevent a Landry situation.
I don't really feel bad about us passing Blair, PF is our strongest and deepest position and we need the roster spot for sg and c. I am concerned that the Spurs got a major steal though.
Jodie meeks has a lot of potential and really looks like the next michael redd .. C-Bud looks like a steal too .. sam young , demare carroll and Blair all look like good peices ..
Griffin? Rubio? Flynn is not the best player in this years draft. he may become the best PG, but definitely not the best IMO.
Saleem, It looks like you can add Sam Young's name to the list of Pitt second rounders that are better than Hasheem Thabeet. I know you probably noticed too since you agreed with me that he'll be a good pro, but Sam has been absolutely tearing it up in preseason play with Memphis. Check out his game logs. He dropped 22 points twice out of three games (only played 8 mins in the other game). Got the FT line 16 times in one of those games. He's shooting at a high percentage from all over the court and recording plenty of steals to boot.
Evans, DeRozan, and Williams have all put up at least one stud performance in pre-season so far. IMO, Clark's already fulfilling his potential, as a ready to contribute role player. If there's more to him, it's a bonus.
