Players I Love, Don’t Love, and Somewhere in Between

Now that we are done with my incomplete and bias-fueled mock draft, I wanted to give a look at some individual players that I either like, don’t like, or haven’t developed any strong personal feelings toward.

3 Players I love

We start with players I like a lot and think could make a big impact. Two are projected high picks. One somewhere later in the first round. All three project to be quite good.

 Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

In case you were unaware, I believe  MKG is the second-best player in this draft. The guy can defend at least three positions, goes non-stop all of the time and was probably the best finisher in transition in college last year. This guy is just a straight athlete that can play basketball. He isn’t a great shooter — or scorer, for that matter — but he’s a strong enough player to develop into something decent throughout his career. In three or four years, the team that lands MKG will be getting 15-18 points, 7-8 rebounds and 4-5 assists per game out of a perennial first-team all-NBA defender. Yeah, I’d take that with my second overall pick.

Bradley Beal

I’ve also made known my love for Beal, and it doesn’t get much better than being compared to Ray Allen and Eric Gordon. He can score in a variety of ways, and, as I said, could be your rookie of the year. I could easily see him putting up 20 points per game his rookie year and adding in three or four assists as well. He was all over the board position-wise at Florida, but settling into a true shooting guard role should provide Beal the opportunity to thrive completely in the NBA.

Royce White

I’d be lying if I said I’ve watched this guy play much at all, but he’s a serious sleeper this year. At a very thick 6-8, he projects as a tweener at the NBA level, but with his athleticism and ball-handling skills, I see no reason why Royce White couldn’t be a starting small forward in the NBA in two or three years. I know there are some red flags, but by all accounts, this a guy that really straightened things out under Fred Hoiberg at Iowa State, and I know I’ll be rooting for him to succeed.

3 players I like

Here’s some guys that I’m not in love with, but guys that I think will ultimately outplay their draft positions.

Fab Melo

This is a guy that has been playing basketball for all of about four years and is still getting assimilated to the American culture, which really explains some of his issues at Syracuse. I’m not making excuses for his absence from the tournament, but he really does seem like a good kid that couldn’t keep things in order when it mattered most. It will probably affect his draft position, but it really shouldn’t. Defensively, we know what he can do, and he has the body to match up down low with most NBA players. Because of that body, I’m not concerned about his transition from the 2-3 zone. He will hold up just fine. His offensive game needs work, that’s for sure, but he’s worked hard on it since he left school and has time to straighten things out. No one will expect Melo to come in and start right away, but any team past about 15 would be wise to pick up Melo and slowly work him into an important role.

Jae Crowder

Jae Crowder doesn’t necessarily have a true position in the NBA, but he’s a crazy hard worker that seems to really enjoy the game. Maybe it’s just the hair, but I see him as Kenneth Faried with a little more range. He might not be as tough rebounding or on the block as Faried, but he will fill up the stat sheet in more ways than one. Come to think of it, Crowder’s Marquette mate, Darius Johnson-Odom, will be a huge steal in the second round also. Like Crowder, he’s a bit undersized for the position he’s best suited for(SG), but goes hard and has a great jumper. This might be a sneaky-good draft to grab a Golden Eagle.

Tony Wroten Jr.

After just one year, Wroten elected to come out, which was probably a mistake. With that said, he has some serious point guard abilities with some serious shooting issues. With his court vision, I think Wroten will turn out to be one of the better passers in the draft, and like so many others, his jumper can come along as his career progresses. Another situation where the right team will make all the difference. He has the size to play the two-guard, but his highest level of production will be at the point.

3 players that make me say…eh…

These are guys that I’m not terribly impressed with, but still think they will be good NBA players.

Anthony Davis

Let me preface this by saying that there is no team in the NBA that wouldn’t love to have this guy, and I see absolutely nothing wrong with picking him number one. He would be my pick, but I’m not crazy in love with him. I worry about his ability to handle bigger players down low, both offensively and defensively. He made a feasting on guards getting into the lane and swatting their futile attempts at the basket, but NBA guards are much smarter and know how to get a shot off. He will rebound the ball and play above-average defense, but his offensive game still needs to come around. Davis will be a good NBA player, but I’m not convinced he will retire as the best this draft class had to offer.

Will Barton

He is climbing a lot of draft boards, but I’m not all-in on Barton. Granted, I don’t think he goes anywhere higher than 20th, and may still slip to the second round, but he’s just so darn skinny. He scored a lot at Memphis, and he certainly knows how to put the ball in the basket. I think he can be a career backup, and a pretty good one, but I’m very lukewarm on Will Barton right now.

Harrison Barnes

Another top pick that just doesn’t quite do it for me. I see him scoring when he wants to, but don’t ever see him as a reliable constant threat that you can keep on the floor in any situation, which is what I think the team that drafts him hopes they are getting. He could go nuts and become a top-10 player in the league. He certainly has that potential, but he also has the potential to be “just okay”.

3 Players I Don’t Like

I don’t like these guys. Not, like as people, just as draft picks.

Evan Fournier

I saw him in his workout with the Pacers, and I just wasn’t that impressed. Fournier is a good scorer, but he is quite young (19) and will have to learn a new style of basketball for a team that will expect him to contribute right away. I’m not saying he will need to start, because he’s going to go in the back end of the first round, but teams like Memphis, Chicago and OKC that pick at the end of the first round will want him to be one of the first guys off the bench, and I just don’t see it. Fournier has the ability to score, but against stronger, physical NBA defenders, will he be able to impose his will as he has been doing in France? It’ll be tough.

John Henson

Henson is another good college shot blocker, but I just think he will get taken to the woodshed down low on an NBA court. He’s just too skinny. That’s really all the rationale I have for Henson, but it’s a big issue that will be detrimental until he puts on a few pounds.

Marquis Teague

Of all the players that could have used another year in college, Teague tops the list. His jumper is below-average, and it was a lot easier to make decisions on a college court surrounded by superstars than it will be in the NBA. He can pass the ball well and sees the court well, but he’s not an iso point guard and will need a few years to really come around. File him away in the “potential” drawer for now. Teague will take some time to develop — time that could have been well-spent on the court at Kentucky.

3 Players I Really Don’t Like

Hate is a strong word, one that I prefer not to use. It sounds like I’m personally attacking someone, when, in reality, these guys all may have very good personalities and would surely beat me 100-0 in a 1-on-1 pickup game. However, these three guys don’t have my vote when it comes to basketball playing. Not at all.

Andre Drummond

History tells us that at least one of that top group of guys will be a bust, and Drummond is the most likely candidate. His body is ready, but his game is not. This is another guy that really could have used another year at school, although there was never really any chance he was coming back. He just didn’t put up the stats that you would like to see out of a top-5 type player and doesn’t appear to be mentally ready to play at the next level. As high as he will be picked, you imagine he will start right away, which probably isn’t the best way to bring him along. Drummond will struggle his rookie year and never really recover, but someone is likely to take a chance on him early.

Draymond Green

Again, nothing personal, because he really seems like a great guy, great teammate, and will be a consummate professional. With that said, where does Draymond Green project as an NBA player? He’s too short to be a power forward, but do you really see him defending the Lebron James and Kevin Durants of the world? I don’t. He has a solid jumper and will leave it all on the court every single game, but sometimes, that just isn’t enough to get the job done. There is a place in the NBA for guys like Green, and he will probably go in the first round, but I don’t see him ever being anything other than a halfway-decent backup.

Austin Rivers

In my last post, I talked about how un-confident I was in saying that I didn’t like Rivers. He could really be a star. But I don’t see it. I just don’t ever see him taking a step back and learning to play without the ball. Granted, he is excellent when he has the ball, but Rivers just isn’t quite good enough to dominate the ball in the NBA like he has his entire basketball career. There’s sentiment that he should play point guard because he is a little small to play shooting guard, but he’s best suited for the two. That’s his best shot. If his year at Duke was any indication, he doesn’t much care for passing the ball, and I don’t think he’s physical enough to get to the rim against NBA bigs. And his defense has always been less-than-stellar. Basically, everything Rivers did in college will be a hell of a lot harder in the NBA, but I don’t see his game changing much. He could easily be a star, but could just as easily float around the NBA trying to find a team that will let him shoot as much as he wants to.