Houston's isn't picking in the first round this year if they make the playoffs. (Squid trade). I believe the pick is now in Atlanta's hand after the Johnson trade.
Dear Nerlens - SO SORRRYYYYYYYYY...that our paychecks will be that much smaller! But look on the bright side, you're a STUDENT-Athlete love, NCAA
any team would take a risk on him and draft him in the mid first round... maybe as early as pick 12-13 i declare for the draft if i were him
Why? What if he comes back and sucks, or gets hurt again? He'll still be a lotto pick injured. Declare now, sign the contract, GET PAID. The end.
A little different situation though. Kyrie did not tear his knee. Kyrie was able to come back for the NCAA Tourney and go through all the pre draft stuff. With an ACL tear this late there is no chance Neol will be in the tourney or even participate in offseason pre draft stuff. He would also miss all of training camp, exhibition and probably the 1st 2 months of the 2013-14 season. If I were Neol, I would stay in school and target early 2014 as a return date. That way he can show teams that he is healthy and can play.
Somebody will take him in the top 5 based off of his "potential" alone. I'm not a fan of drafting based off of potential but this guy is oozing with it and if there's any player you take a chance on it would be him. UK already has his replacements in place for next year and I just can't see him sticking around regardless of him being a freshman or not. He has more to lose by sticking around. If I were him I'd be eager to rehab, get drafted, learn the ropes of the NBA and work my way up through the D-league.
He'll definitely get drafted early. Not sure about top 5. Cousins fell to 5, Drummond to 9, and after Oden teams might be skeptical about big guys with injury problems. Not saying that I wouldn't draft him, but I could understand a little why a team wouldn't. He probably won't fall out of the top 10 though. My money is on the Suns taking him, since they won't need him to contribute right away (with Gortat on the team) and they have a renowned rehab system. Plus, they have two potential lotto picks, and might be able to trade up.
If he enters (he should), he will still be a lotto pick. I'm envisioning him falling to the ever so eager OKC Thunder sitting pretty with that Toronto pick. He'd be a steal that far back. I just see the fates coming together that way.
Oh lord. Please don't even joke about that. A frontcourt of Perkins, Ibaka, and Noel will be impossible to score on.
