Udoh's basketball IQ seems much higher than Tyrus Thomas. The big thing holding up TT I believe is he is probably ******ed. Udoh passes well and seems to have very good court vision for a big. TT reminds me of Stromile Swift. Per a local reporter who covered the Grizzles, most small children (8-12) were likely smarter than Stromile when he was a Grizzles. He was as dumb as a brick and it was obvious on the court. TT is a little better but from watching him at times on the court.......he has no basketball IQ.

I agree with that, but that's not really saying much. Ekpe's a good passer, but I don't think he's as smart as the perception seems to be. He was also supposedly a pretty terrible teammate at Michigan. Tyrus is also more gifted athletically.

man I just hate every option for the Bulls here

The bulls have been dying for a power forward since the Elton Brand days. Tyrus certainly wasn't the answer. Warrick is a nice piece off the bench, but Sanders gives them a potentially dominant force to pair with Noah.

Super long, super athletic, bla bla typical story. Has a nice array of post moves and some touch on his jumper. He rebounds well and uses his great length and athleticism to block shots. Also nice is that he doesn't turn the ball over (1.6 in 27 mpg) and doesn't have a fouling problem like so many young bigs.

if this guy measures out at a huge wingspan his stock could shoot up

Sanders beasting on Oklahoma

With the 18th pick, the Miami Heat select James Anderson, SG, Oklahoma State.



Dwyane Wade can carry the ball handling duties and the Heat have the cap space to sign a good big man, perhaps even Chris Bosh. One concern is the increasing number of three pointers Dwyane Wade is taking at a low rate.

James Anderson gives Wade a legitimate 3 point threat alongside him. Anderson's shooting numbers were down a bit his junior year, but that's more a result of the double teams he saw than anything. Anderson has a very quick release, very good form, and shot over 40% his sophomore year from 3 in 200+ attempts.

Anderson also has a great ability to get to the FT line. They'll be shooting a lot of free throws in Miami in the future.

1. Golden State (tarheels) John Wall
2. New Jersey (NOTC) Demarcus Cousins
3. Washington (charder) Evan Turner
4. Minnesota (MEbenhoe) Wesley Johnson
5. Detroit (mjw0586) Derrick Favors
6. Sacramento (charder) Greg Monroe
7. Philadelphia (C-Vig) Ed Davis
8. LA Clippers (bowens) Al-Faroq Aminu
9. Utah (StumbleQuake) Jan Vesely
10. Indiana (bowens) Xavier Henry
11. New Orleans (wizardplow) Donatas Montejunas
12. Milwaukee (MEbenhoe) Patrick Patterson
13. Houston (C-Vig) Cole Aldrich
14. Memphis (Isura) Ekpe Udoh
15. Toronto (Epi) Damion James
16. Charlotte (TheUntouchable) Kyle Singler
17. Chicago (NameOnTheCake) Larry Sanders
18. Miami (mjw) James Anderson
19. Portland (MEbenhoe)
20. San Antonio
21. Oklahoma City (charder)
22. Boston (NOTC)
23. Atlanta (C-Vig)
24. Phoenix (SQ)
25. New York (Isura)
26. Denver (charder)
27. Dallas (mjw)
28. Orlando (lenC)
29. LA Lakers (Epi)
30. Cleveland (Epi)

Good pick. Dunno why he's not higher on boards. Anderson has great upside imo

With the 19th pick the Portland Trailblazers select Hassan Whiteside

7'0" 235 with a 7'6" wingspan.

Raw and very high bust potential, but great upside too. Should be able to have some time to develop behind Portland's deep (when not injured) frontcourt. Great size and athleticism. Good shot blocker and rebounder, very raw offensively.

Really like the fit for Portland. Also really like Whiteside for OKC if he drops

are the spurs unclaimed? if so, i will pick them up to move this along

go nuts!

taking Solomon Alabi. write up to follow

20. San Antonio Spurs-- Solomon Alabi



I don't know much about Alabi other than what I saw of him in the NCAA Tournament and ~20 looks to be the best case scenario so this may be a reach. I flirted with taking a wing in this slot b/c Ginobili's minutes must be monitored and b/c Jefferson has disappointed, but I think they can get away with playing George Hill at the 2, so looking to improve their big man depth is the biggest hole. McDyess/Blair/Bonner is not particularly imposing and McDyess is 35.

Standing 7'1, possessing long arms, and weighing 251 lbs Alabi is a true center and a defensive force in the paint. He anchored a stingy Florida State defense and is an excellent shot blocker and interior defender as one would expect of a player of his stature. Sirens may be sounding because this sounds a lot like Hasheem--the D-league Dream--Thabeet. Thabeet owned the lane in college and didn't really have foul problems, but has struggled in the nba thus far. The Spurs can rest easy because a) they are not using the #2 pick on Alabi b) Alabi has good mobiility, whereas Thabeet moves like an oak tree. Scouts are not high on Alabi's awareness, but ideally playing alongside Duncan will improve his fundamentals and basketball iq and expedite his development.

I have not touched on his offensive game, because it is essentially a non-factor in my estimation, but he has shown signs of a post game. In time perhaps it develops enough to be worth giving him a few touches per game on the block, but his offensive role should largely be that of a garbage man-- his offensive rebounding rate is as impressive as his defensive rebounding rate is troubling. Unsure why someone his size doesn't clean up on the defensive glass but he doesn't.

Any serious offensive productivity as a creator is a longways off for Alabi, which is fine because the Spurs won't need him to do much on offense besides rebound. I am selecting him for defense. The Spurs defense is still good but has fallen off this year, and while Duncan has aged rumors of his defensive decline are greatly overstated imo. The loss of Bowen on the perimeter has hurt and his running mates on the interior have been weaker (and smaller) defenders than in the past. Duncan can play either interior position, but has essentially played all of his minutes at the 5 out of necessity. Alabi gives the Spurs added defensive flexibility, allowing them to matchup with large frontcourts like that of the Lakers and permits them to pound smaller teams on offense. The Spurs are an ideal landing spot for Alabi because he can immediately find a niche in the rotation, but will not be called on to play 25 or even 20 mpg

Thunder getting boned, two best shot blockers off the board b2b

No, when a GM's job may be on the line they are more likely to go with the consensus pick(regardless of whether or not hes a long term project or an immediate contributor). Darko was the consensus #2 pick that year.

Favors is way more of a longterm project than Cousins, Wall, or Turner imo

less athletic Chase Budinger imo

You just doomed Whiteside to an injury-plagued career. And probably really weird ailments like shin termites or something.

I think this logic is horrendous, but nbadraft.net did a rising/falling article and put him in the falling category:

idk that favors is a project as much as it's hard to tell how good he actually is due to the ****storm that was georgia tech's offense

Not sure if it means anything, but Stephen Curry went back to school after their deep tournament run and then didn't even make the field of 64 and was a top 10 pick. I don't think it really impacted his draft stock much. NBA GMs aren't THAT stupid.

yeah, if you think about the difference between cousins and favors

Imagine Cousins with no NBA level wing/guard talent around him. Without his PG who got him the ball all the time in uncontested dunk situations. Imagine him with a cast of incompetent guards, most of whom would rather jack up contested fadeaways than feed him the ball. Imagine Cousins with a coach who cannot get his guards to stop turning the ball over at a hilarious rate, and who can't gameplan him touches at all. Imagine that the only other good player on his team is an upperclassman NBA level post who steals from his in the paint touches. And that's favors.

Of course, it's more complicated than that. But I'm just sayin. If Favors had been on UK, and Cousins had been on GT...

Yeah, Favors would be pretty sick with John Wall. I still like Favors decently better, his size is too much to overcome. Wouldn't be shocked if Favors ends up being better though. I also wouldn't be shocked if neither are any good. I don't put much stock in college play from bigs since they're almost never going up against other great bigs.

Favors may take a year or two to adjust but it's not like the Pistons are going anywhere next year. They're almost certainly best off tanking and getting another good lottery pick.

Isn't this true for everyone though? How often did John Wall go up against NBA quality guards?

It's easier to defend and control guards through team schemes than it is to defend someone like Cousins or Favors. Guards also don't have pure size advantages do like someone like Cousins does. If a guard is tearing up college, I put more faith in that then a big who is doing it.

I'm not saying if a guard is great in college he'll be good in the NBA either, but I think it's more likely.