I've mentioned this once already, but does this draft just feel like one of those drafts that is filled with mediocre players? First off basically everybody that's going to get drafted in the lottery is ridiculously young, so chances are good that you've barely seen any of them play much. Secondly, if you have, I doubt you came away terribly impressed. Let's do a run down of each player in the top 30 and give my impressions of each.
1. Blake Griffin - He's far and away the best player in the draft, but A) He's going to be a Clipper and B) Does he have a mid range jumper? He's athletic as hell and will be good, but the Karl Malone comparisons are a bit much. How about somewhere in between Karl Malone and Carlos Boozer? Sound good?
2. Ricky Rubio - Raise your hand if you've seen Rubio play? [My hand is down]. The scouting reports say "Great Passer, Needs to Add Bulk, Not Incredibly Athletic, Not the Best Shooter, Defense is Good". 18 Year old upside is nice, but nobody seems to say this guy is gonna drop 20+ a game. So, not really screaming out #2 overall pick to me.
3. Hasheem Thabeet - Upside is Dikembe Mutombo right? All defense no offense, no touch, no hands. The one benefit for Thabeet is his free throw is smooth so maybe, and this is a big maybe, he can develop a Yao / Brad Miller like 15 footer to spread out the defense.
4. Tyreke Evans - Outside of Griffin, I think I like Tyreke the best but he still has major question marks like, "Can He Shoot?" and "What Position is He Going to Play?". He has an NBA body and NBA athleticism, but those question marks could be the red flag for bust city.
5. James Harden - He's been a consistent producer at Arizona St., but my lasting memories all point towards his NCAA tournament No Shows. He's a big time college scorer but so were guys like Jarvis Hayes and Reece Gaines and well they amounted to nothing.
6. Stephen Curry - The Upside is Reggie Miller. The downside is a guy too fragile to play a full season in the NBA. If you could guarantee him to be a Rip Hamilton / Reggie Miller type than its obvious, but his arms are the size of quarters.
7. Jordan Hill - He's mobile big and athletic. Those are fun. His offensive game is speculative and ESPN compares him to Ronnie Turiaf. That's a top 10 pick?
8. Brandon Jennings - Another point guard who's not a very good shooter, YAY! Jennings is T.J. Ford, this does not excite me.9. DeMar DeRozan - Big, Athletic, Swingman with a questionable defensive effort, questionable basketball IQ, and questionable shooting. And he averaged 14 points a game for USC as a freshman. Does that sound NBA ready to you?
10. Jrue Holliday - Oh look, another point guard that can't shoot. Holliday shot .307 percent from 3 his freshman year and averaged under 9 points and under 4 assists. Yay lottery pick project.
11. Johnny Flynn - At least we know Flynn can carry a team and win big games. But wouldn't you know that we still don't know if he can shoot a jump shot. We also don't know if he get finish at 6-1 in the paint against an NBA defense.
12. Earl Clark - Did anybody see anything about Earl Clark in college that screamed this guys gonna be a star in the NBA? No? That's what I thought.
13. Terrence Williams - And we move to Clark's partner in crime, Terrence Williams, who coincidentally left the exact same feeling as Clark did.
14. DeJuan Blair - I loved Blair in college and obviously loved what he did against Thabeet and his hands around the rim. But is he gonna be an All-Star or a Craig Smith level player?
15. Gerald Henderson - Again, I don't think I even saw flashes where Gerald Henderson screamed NBA All Star. Plus, he's a Dukie so he inspires hate and hate alone.
I could go on down the list some more, but to be honest, who cares about guys outside the lottery.
Can you find a single player outside Griffin who you would bet the farm on that they were going to morph into a multiple year all star? I certainly wouldn't be able to lock that up.
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