As for George, he’s got great athleticism and a nice stroke, while also having budding playmaking and handling skills. His shooting s don’t do him justice, nor does his team’s record concerning his talent. Yes, he’s raw as he doesn’t attack the hoop nearly as often as he should, nor is he as aware as he should be defensively. Yes he’s playing against relatively weak competition compared to 90 of the other guys I listed on the board.

However, the Timberwolves need high upside guys… they can’t afford to play it safe. George, in my opinion, has an outside shot to grow into a better player than Johnson – and when you’re picking in the mid-20s on a rebuilding team, that shot is worth taking.

I can go more in depth on him (as I plan to next week), but I’m kind of worn out after working on that thing for the last 2-3 hrs.

I asked, he delivered.

Very good post and the links to the players are helpful to a lurker like myself who does not have time for watching NCAA action (until the madness later this month, of course).

Thanks!

Walker is a very good prospect whom I like more than I liked Flynn last year. He’s an efficient offensive player despite his FG%‘s because of his ability to get to the line, he is a good playmaker, a very underrated defender, an excellent athlete, and has been UCONN’s best player this year. For statistical analysis, various metrics on my Quality Opponent sheet show him to actually be more productive than Wall (PPP 0.95 to 0.88, A:TO 1.18 to 1.68, and my own rating system with potential factored in). He’s got room to grow into his game too, so there’s considerable upside with him.

Robinson – well, I’m skeptical that this year is for real. His play has always struck me as being a role player who isn’t all that effective on his own, and while he’s an awesome athlete and pretty good defender, I don’t see what makes him better than the guys I listed ahead of him seeing that he’s really hit or miss. Plus, I do not think he’s made progress on his jumper like is put forth.

Ebanks – I love his game. He has no 3pt range, but he definitely has a mid-range jumper. Ever since he cut the 3pt shot from his game, he’s been extremely efficient from the floor because of his ability to hit from ~15ft consistently and I believe he’ll be able to extend his range after a few years in the pros. Toss in his unselfishness, good rebounding, and elite defense, and I’m sold on the guy even if he doesn’t quite have Aminu’s athleticism.

Alabi – Yeah, I struggled with ranking him because while I dislike his attitude on the floor (guy is as soft as Hollins, though a better defender), he’s got the athleticism, size, and length which likely will make him go higher – hence the place I have him in my mock versus where he’s ranked at on the board. I’m just not confident he’ll ever get it, and likely will be a bench big who racks up fouls but gives a team good defense and the occasional hook shot or garbage bucket in the post.

Questions:

1) What do you know about Jan Vesely? I don’t know much, but nothing I’ve read about him makes him seem like anything other than a nice athlete, yet everyone has him as a lottery pick.

2) If Charlotte gets back into the playoffs, whom do you have the Wolves taking at 15? Does this pick change who they take at 24? (i.e. James Anderson lessening the need for Paul George)

Ed Davis played extremely efficient ball and showed good poise on both ends of the floor when he was healthy. It just didn’t translate into wins because they didn’t feature him enough.

Pondexter… well, I think he’s a definite role player with no star potential, and while he’s athletic I don’t think he’s as good of a defender as is advertised, he’s kind of small, and I can’t see him being taken higher than James or Robinson, both of whom are combo forwards. I will say that he’s become an extremely efficient offensive player, which was surprising to me after watching him the past two years on FSN. Maybe I’m wrong on him, who knows.

Yeah, could project him as an Amare kind of Center, but I think it’s much more beneficial to him to be guarding PFs more often than he is Cs as he’s not a beast like Cousins and likely isn’t as long either. He’ll have much more of an advantage offensively against PFs as well because he’s got a great combination of athleticism and strength.

i.e., if Charlotte gets back into the playoff picture, or if some prospect climbs/falls in the minds of scouts and GMs…

I don’t know if what I wrote hinted at that (was actually thinking of putting Bradley at most of the teams after Portland), but while he may be a good fit for the Celtics, I don’t know how much he could give them next year which is the crux of my argument with that pick – they probably want to win with KG and Pierce (maybe Allen if they resign him) while they are still able.

Patterson was kind of a tough guy to peg. I don’t think he’s a lottery talent unless a few guys withdraw – mainly because I don’t see much upside with him unless he can convert himself into a very powerful combo Forward. I could see him going in front of Udoh, Harris, and Warren (the three guys I put ahead of him), but in those three cases he didn’t fit what those teams likely wanted – mainly because I think Miami and Chicago will go after star PF/C’s in FA; and Chicago already has Gibson for a backup PF, while Miami has Beasley and needs something different than what Beasley brings.

meaning we don’t get Wall or Turner.

Cuz we really, really, really, need Wall or Turner to turn this franchise around.

I think James is a pretty solid prospect. Not great, not awful, but solid. He can create for himself, he is very tough, has a reliable jumpshot, and gives close to maximum effort on both ends of the floor. I think he’s a good enough athlete to play SF as well, so while he plays about as close to the definition of a combo forward as you can get, I think he’s a pretty safe mid/late first pick and can help a team win right away.

Can he hit FTs? No, he’s actually graded out as the 3rd worst SF on my sheet when it comes to FTs. However, it doesn’t hurt his ability to score, as he’s the 3rd most efficient in that area even though he’s the primary option. He’s certainly not a “sexy” prospect, so I can’t really dispute someone thinking he should be lower as I’m not exactly a big Damion James supporter. It’s just that I thought he was a better prospect – whether because he’s safer, or because he’s ready on both ends – than the guys I have below him.

When it comes to Willie Warren, I’m giving him a lot of latitude because of his teammates this year. Yes, teams likely should be wary, but I would think workouts will go a long way to repairing his image as I saw a few games this year where he showed off incredible driving skills and a very good handle for a college player. If he regains the form on his jumper – especially since he won’t be a focal point on whatever team he goes to – then he could become a very dangerous player… offensively at least.

Maybe he doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt, we’ll have to see when May rolls around.

that Anderson will probably move up even a little higher than the pick we hopefully get from Charlotte. I would definitely trade up a couple spots to make sure you get him. That is how important I think he is. Use a couple 2nd round picks to move up, or some other asset, but try to hold onto the Utah pick. X Henry will probably be gone too so you HAVE to trade up to get one of those 2 guys and my preference is Anderson. I like Robinson as well. Would be nice to have a 3/4 hybrid with some ridiculous athleticism.

I don’t like doing mocks that project how I think it will actually go down until there are quite a few rumors coming out about who likes who and all that. It’s more fun for me to try and project how it all should go down (at least in my opinion) and then see who I think messed up or how this compares to what I think in a month or so.

James Anderson in the top-10 isn’t out of the question. Kind of like when I saw him at #5 on S-n-P’s board, not going to get in someone’s grill about that, since it’s not ludicrous for someone to like him that much.

like the Love Mayo deal.

If Rubio doesn’t come over many would consider our PG situation in need of improvement. I’m a Flynn fan and hope he improves. I really do. He might, he might not. It’s possible he takes the same road as Foye. Never really develops that much, maybe a little. If that is the case then my answer would be that we do not have a playoff-quality PG. The beauty of it is we’re in the driver’s seat. Assets can always be moved for other players.

Turner wears 21 in college, and it has sentimental value to him. There was an ESPN profile of him near the beginning of the year, and it talked about how he wore 21 to honor someone (really don’t want to sound so callous and nonchalant about it, but here goes: I think it was about either a brother or a friend who was murdered or died somehow, but I unfortunately can’t remember the details).

If the Wolves draft Turner, something’s going to have to give.

by Pops Mensah-Bosu in summer league like a week after KG got dealt. (But of course, we all agree.)

Thanks for taking the time to write that stuff out.

So are you a big-time advocate of the Timberwolves taking Vesely with the CHA pick if it ends up in the Timberwolves possession in the draft? Or do you think there’s no way he’ll fall out of the lottery and could potentially be a mid-lotto pick?

I’ll be curious about any Euros who slip a while lower than that. If either of them wound up at maybe 18th, or 20th or so, on the consensus league board, would they start to nudge toward Pekovic-style top-of-the-second-round slides?

The terms by which that happened to Pekovic, exchange rate and rookie scale and so on, are all fluid anyway, even without the looming CBA and potential lockout.

IMO, he could fill the Ryan Gomes role for us at 1/4th the price. He can stretch the defense with his shooting, he rebounds very well, and he’s got better than okay athleticism. If we get a big with one of our first two picks, then he’d be a great pick up at 25. In a perfect world, our draft would look like this…

1st pick: We either take our Wing in Turner or our Big in Favors/Cousins
13th pick: Wing in Anderson or Big in Monroe/Davis(who I can see falling)
25th pick: Wing in Hayward or Big in Varnado.

We leave the draft with 2 wings and 1 big and I’m happy.

Elliot Williams is 41st currently. I have no clue if he’ll declare, but if he did he’s likely on the first round bubble based on his current skills, while lacking NBA size and other-worldly athleticism at 6’4. I saw two of his very good games against Marshall and Tulsa, but I also saw a poor one against Gonzaga. I took more out of the one against Gonzaga. I’m more of a skeptic when it comes to him than a believer.

Hayward – I have him right about where I think is appropriate on the big board. I don’t, however, think he’ll declare as he’d get beat up if he played ball in the NBA at that size next year.

He’s a dead ringer for James of the Giant Peach.

…it will be interesting if he has a 3rd.

Appreciate people checking it out and commenting or giving feedback. It gives me even more motivation to improve the blog so that they keep going back to view it and become more knowledgeable NBA Draft fans.

Love probably in tier 5 like you said, fighting for a spot in the mid-lotto. Flynn and Brewer probably in the 8th tier, on the fringe of the lottery but more likely in the mid/late 1st. I’m not really a Flynn fan, in case you couldn’t tell. For each of the latter two Timberwolves players, I’d rather take a chance on Walker and George respectively.