Besides the obvious in lebron james, who do you see as the top prospects for the 2003 draft? I saw on nbadraft.net that there was a young european in the mold of gasol and dirk (7-0 sf) that was rated pretty high, but i had never heard of him before. As far as american prospects, kendrick perkins is regularly mentioned, but he had a little bit of an up/down season, and is rumored to be more on the 6-9 side than 6-11. There might be a couple other high players in next year's class like a lou deng or a ndudi ebi. It's a better hs class than this years, but after james i really don't see the depth that was in the 2001 class. In college i hear duhon name mentioned. But i wasn't that impressed with him this last year. Maybe with jwill leaving him complete control of that team, he'll improve. Other than that maybe a carmelo anthony, tj ford, or ray felton. emeka okafor is pretty intriguing, but he'll need to develop an offense game. All and all, right now it's looks like it might not shape up to be a very deep draft. imo
that skywalker james white outta florida will probably be there too... i think it'll be a very top heavy draft, but nowhere near the depth / overall talent as this year's. count the number of second-rounders that would've been first rounders in years past, to say nothing of a future badass ( lenny cooke ) that wasn't even drafted. barring an exponential influx of euroballers, next year's draft is shaping up to be nowhere near as potent as this one's, imo.
If you are talking about the Yugoslavian Darko Milicic then is very very good. He has the potential then any Yugoslaivan I has ever seen before him. He just turned 17 a week ago abd he already averaged over 8 ppg and 5 rpg 4 ast 2 blk pergame as a 16 YEARS OLD last year. THat was against some of the top Europeans team in the Korac cup. His comparisons to Dirk and Paul are wrong even thought he had better stats then Paul in Europe while beeing 16 compared to Paul at 18. If were to compare him to any player or players in NBA he would be like KG (athletic wise) and Vlade (SKILL WISE) although will better handles then both of them. He is what I call once in a generation player for Jugoslavia. THat in itself is pretty good considering the talent in Yugoslavia to begin with.
AleksandarN, Is Vlade going to join the Yugoslovian national team at the World Championships this summer? They're my pick to win it all, even over the USA, who I think fielded a pretty mediocre team.
Yes Vlade will playing for Yugoslavia. If you look at the line up. Itis pretty good C: Vlade Divac(Kings) PF: Dejan Tomasevic (Best PF in Europe) SF/SG: Dejan Bodiroga, (Best player in Europe past3-4 years) SF/SG: Pedja Stojakovic(Kings) PG: Marko Jaric (Best PG in Europe will be in top ROY NBA) BENCH: Pedja Drobnjak(Sonics) Vlade Radmanovic(Sonics) Vlado Scepanovic( one of the best SG in Europe) Dragon Tarlac Igor Rakocevic, (Best PG playing in Yugo league) That is so far still waiting if Zeljko Rebraca(Best center in Europe in last 5 years before going to Pistons last year) will play or not
Emeka Okafor out of UConn if he leaves his sophmore year he should be a lottery pick with his ability to block shots and rebound.
http://www.sportingnews.com/voices/sean_deveney/20020701.html E X C L U S I V E A N A L Y S I S Who's next? A first look at the 2003 draft July 1, 2002 Print it Upset because you're quite sure your infernal hometown team has blown it again with another terrible lottery selection? Well, have no fear -- NBA Draft 2003 is just one year away, and we're already looking at how the lottery might shake down. 1. LeBron James, G/F, 6-7, St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, Ohio) H.S. Write him in ink as the No. 1 pick. He would have gone No. 1 this year. 2. Rickey Paulding, SG, 6-5, Jr., Missouri. He might have been a lottery pick this year and should be one of the better prospects next year. He had a lot of buzz going during the NCAA Tournament and must capitalize on that by dominating next season. 3. Chris Duhon, PG, 6-1, Jr., Duke. He always plays well in tournaments but tended to defer to Jay Williams. Now, Duhon must make Duke his team. 4. Kendrick Perkins, C, 6-10, Ozen (Texas) H.S. Scouts wonder about his toughness -- before they remember he is just 18. His size and potential make him a sure top-five pick next year.
AleksandarN, maybe a little off topic (more than a little ), but what do you think of our #15, Bostjan Nachbar?
The two guys from Kansas (Collison and Hinrich) should be in the top 10 to 15. ESPN thinks Hinrich's the best PG out there, if he can replicate his '02 season again. Collison's a 6'10" bruiser with a soft touch. Both will be preseason all-americans. Potential problem: both will be seniors, so, if they're that good, why didn't they bolt this year?
I also have to say both Hollis Price and Ebi Ere have a chance to be drafted.....as well as James Thomas from UT if he comes out, i think he'll be really good..... Maybe they wanted another shot at a national title, they're definitley a top 3-5 team again this year....
Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how OU and KU fare next year; without Gooden and McGhee. For the life of me, I cannot understand why McGhee didn't get taken. He ate lunch in the Big 12 this year???? Price will be a preseason all-american, too. Ere will be all-big 12. Guy can hit the big shot and proved it in the big 12 finals (beating Kansas). Other studs in the big 12 include David Harrison, the big jerk from CU, Paulding (obviously), and Ford at UT. Ford made a name for himself last year, and if he's any good this year, he'll bolt, too. As an OU fan, to you think Hinrich's all he's cracked up to be (a 6'4" fast guard)? Or is he going to be too small for the NBA (in a SG role)?
It's going to be a sad draft if Duhon and Paulding are in the lottery. Jason Kapono will probably be first round. Bernard King of Texas A&M will get drafted. Cook from Illinois is a good player. Jason Gardener and Luke Walton will be drafted high.
Hey whatever happened to Jason Gardner's plans to enter this year's draft anyway? Before last year's draft, didn't he go to the pre-draft camps, find out what his deficiencies were, and decide to return to another year of college ball to improve? Wasn't he supposed to be in the draft this year?
Right on with the award predictions. Yes, I think Hinrich's all he's cracked up to be. I think he's a top 2-3 guard in the Big 12, along with Ford and Price. Also, I think he can play in the NBA, whether it be PG or SG, i dont know.... About McGhee: He's signed with the Warriors, and if they trade Fortson, he could be a great backup to Jamison and dunleavy...
This guy has some huge shoulders. He could easily become one of the stronger guys in the league in just his first couple of seasons.
It was a good year for the Rockets to have two picks in the draft. It's also nice that we're giving away our first round pick.
