Yea, the big white guy with marginal upside. I think he may be the correct choice if we stay at 14 and he drops that far (which may be a possibility). He's not quite as big as he was listed, but he's 6'10 235lbs with room to pack on more weight and he has a 7'5 wingspan. He won't wow you with athleticism or monster dunks and he won't get 6 blocks a game like Whiteside. What he does give us is a solid backup for Yao who I think has the bball IQ that Morey values and could step in for 15-20 minutes right away. Very high character guy as well. I know everyone likes the upside that Whiteside has, but what we really need in a backup for Yao is simply someone who can hustle, rebound, block a few shots, and play physical in the paint. Outside of Hayes, we don't have anyone who can play physical down low, and Whiteside isn't someone who has a huge reputation of hustling or playing physical. I have no problem with taking Whiteside and developing him for the next few years; he really does have huge upside, but if we want to win now then we need someone who can contribute now, and I think Cole Aldrich is someone who can come off the bench and provide some size for us immediately.
Let me first admit that I didn't see KU play much this year. In the limited time I saw him, Aldrich did not impress me as an NBA prospect. His ceiling seems to be backup C. As a rookie or 2nd year player, I don't see him being very "solid" at anything. If he's getting 15-20 mins per game as a rookie, it must be a lotto-bound team.
Does Utah pick before Houston? Just kidding; too easy. Houston already has Cole Aldrich, with experience: David Andersen.
he measured worse than expected at the combine and tested as average athleticism for a big man at best. he has limited offensive game and it's questionable if he can become a great defensive player at the next level given with size and athleticism. i would say at best he's a 6'10 version of joel pryzbilla. maybe he'll be a nice role player, maybe he'll be a bust. overall, he doesn't have any real upside to use a lotto pick on him. i bet on draft night he slips out of the lotto.
If you had to ask me, the two guys most likely to miss the lottery despite having hype all throughout the past two years would be Aldrich and Ed Davis. With Davis it's more a function of him missing the remainder of the regular season with his broken wrist, and the fact that it really is hard to remember his game for any outstanding features. He's not burly like Cousins, he doesn't have great hands like Monroe, he's not an athletic freak of nature like Favors. He's just your traditional ho-hum 6'10-with-a-7'0-wingspan PF who has great speed and quickness but needs time to fill out and develop a post game. In other words, the kind of PF that would have been drafted top 5 in any year other than this one. Actually, if it came to it, I might take Davis if I was Morey and he was there. I'd probably prefer him over Whiteside just from a maturity standpoint--Davis has learned over two years how to fit into the team framework of a top notch program and won an NCAA championship in the process. No indications are that the Rockets have worked him out or expect him to be there, but you never know. Aaron Brooks is one example of a player that was shocked to be picked by us. And no I would never take Cole Aldrich. Ever ever. Even if it came down to him and say, Daniel Orton Avery Bradley and Larry Sanders.
Man I suck at life. Granted, I haven't seen much of him either, but from reading all the scouting reports and looking at all the mocks, he seems like he'd be a pretty good backup role player for us. Maybe I'm still in the Jeff Van Gundy way of using draft picks.
I think Aldrich will drop like Budinger and Reddick did. Every 1-2 years, it seems that 1 white NCAA player gets hyped up. The players end up dropping, fairly or not. It seems to be a perceived lack of upside(skilled player, no explosiveness).
Little bit taller, stronger, little big difference. Hopefully. If he drops until 14, it is a no brainer in my opinion. He's really big, strong and good on defense, seems like a smart guy, plus has better skills than a Przybilla. Przybilla, Dampier (the best one), Perkins... any of those would be a great acquisition. He's what we need and can help us soon. I'd be very very happy if we left the draft with him in our hands.
LOL. He measured worse with a 7'3 3/4 wingspan and a whopping 9'3.5 standing reach (1.5 inches shorter than Whiteside and 3 inches taller than Monroe).
Hmmm...how did Whiteside bench more than Aldrich? http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-pre-draft-measurements/
Its called a lotto pick for a reason, you don't draft people who are not lottery worthy with lottery picks. Just because he has size doesn't mean he's a good option, Andersen is already close to 7 feet. I find it hard to believe Aldrich will outperform Andersen if we drafted him next year.
Cole Aldrich worst case scenario is Joel Pryzbilla. Aldrich plays great defense, he plays the pick and roll very well, he's a good passer. He won't be much of an offensive creator, but we don't need any more offensive creators. Per minute he was one of the best rebounders, and best shot blockers in the country, and he did it in the Big 12. Blocks Aldrich 3.5 in 27 MPG Udoh 3.7 in 35 MPG Rebounds Aldrich 9.8 in 27 MPG Udoh 9.8 in 35 MPG He has very long arms which are way more important than raw height.He is superior to Ekpe Udoh in every way, but because of his skin color, Udoh is the athlete and Aldrich is the big white stiff. David Andersen is simply a racial comparison, their games are nothing alike. If Aldrich looks like he'll slip a little i would trade up to get him, I don't think he'll slip past Utah at 9.
What I saw of him in college screamed Will Perdue. Good college player. NBA career backup. Not worth the 14th pick.
