From CBS from April 11th George de Paula continued to get better throughout the week, but there are still some signficant hurdles to him becoming an NBA player. His offense still isn't particularly good in any way, as his jump shot is rather sling-shotty with a low release point. Even though he tends to make them, it's hard for me to think that an NBA team wouldn't try to adjust his mechanics. And while he's pretty shifty with his dribble and he's a solid passer, his first step and awareness in the pick-and-roll leaves something to be desired. Still, his defense is absolutely superb, as he's versatile enough to guard basically any perimeter player 1 through 3, and long enough to cause point guards all sorts of problems. He could probably be a difference maker on that end in the NBA soon. But whoever selects him needs to understand that it's going to take a lot of work to make him a solid offensive player at this point. The tools are there with his ball-handling, vision and size. But he's a ways away.
[Video] George Lucas de Paula - 2015 Nike Hoop Summit - Shooting Drills George Lucas de Paula - 2015 Nike Hoop Summit - Shooting Drills [YOUTUBE]eCkOpOGDMCA[/YOUTUBE]
George de Paula, 6-6, Point Guard, Pinherios 3 points, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 0-3 2P, 1-2 3P, 16 minutes The youngest player participating at the Combine, and also possibly the most highly touted, George de Paula stepped into a very difficult situation and ended up having a fairly positive performance that will undoubtedly help his draft stock moving forward. De Paula was significantly more aggressive than he was in Portland at the Nike Hoop Summit, making some outstanding passes using both sides of the floor, playing at different speeds while showing off slick ball-handling skills, strong court vision, and very nice creativity for a 6-6, 18-year old point guard. He absolutely towered over any of the opposing point guards he matched up with, which helped him see over the top of the defense and also match up with a few different positions, displaying nice versatility in the process. His defense is more potential than actual production right now, as some of the older players were able to take advantage of him with their superior strength and experience, despite trying to be competitive, and he wasn't quite able to figure out how to utilize his tremendous length as much as you might hope considering how physically gifted he is. He also had a few moments showing his youth, airballing a 3-pointer and making a few careless passes. It would not have surprised anyone if De Paula went into a shell and had a very quiet outing here in Chicago like he did in Portland, but instead he stepped up, was assertive and showed all 30 teams in attendance just how talented he is, even if he remains at least a few years away from reaching his full potential. From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com/#ixzz3aDt84IE6 http://www.draftexpress.com Not sure he is going to be there at #32 now.
If we can't find a deal move TJ + our pick I wouldn't mind just taking this kid at #18 and letting him dominate the D-League while boosting his confidence a la Capela. 6'6" PG with 7' wingspan, he'll be able to plat at least 3 positions. At the very least he'll be a defensive stopper and if he learns how to shoot, look out!
http://www.netsdaily.com/2015/5/14/8608279/nets-interview-delon-wright-jerian-grant-at-nba-combine Lucas de Paula, 6'6", is 18 years old and could be a candidate for stashing. There's a lot of disagreement on whether the hyper-athletic point guard from Sao Paulo is ready. Fran Fraschilla of ESPN said Wednesday he's still two years away and colleague Chad Ford putting him at No. 58. Jonathan Givony of Draft Express, on the other hand, has him as the Nets pick at No. 29 (later bumped down to 40). NBADraft.net put him at 52. He compares his physical gifts with those of Deron Williams. His English skills, critical for a point guard, are limited. ~CBSSports has him at 42~
I'm brazilian. He doesn't have much play time in Pinheiros, but he played in a kind of D-LEague here in Brazil. He has so much potential that he could be a 1st round pick, but I think he'll be bottom five in 1st ou 31-35 in second.
According to DraftExpress, he has now withdrawn from the draft. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">George de Paula has withdrawn from the NBA Draft. 2015 Int'l pool of prospects available now fully known. Full list: <a href="http://t.co/sabPfbHSCA">http://t.co/sabPfbHSCA</a></p>— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) <a href="https://twitter.com/DraftExpress/status/610547796173844480">June 15, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Hope he won't get discouraged. A couple of solid international years overseas can help his stock greatly. It would be nice to see him succeed in the NBA in the future.
