They’re not quite a power or a small forward, but something in between. Their value lies in either the ability to play both forward positions or to bring a different dimension, usually 3-point shooting, to the PF position. The important things to look for in such players are an ability to rebound and defend at least adequately as a PF and a diverse set of skills, preferably including an ability to hit the trey. With that in mind, I’m going to what I did with the pure SFs and just toss all the … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2012: Combo Forwards

As I mentioned in a previous piece on Jae Crowder and Ken Horton, SFs are a difficult bunch to gauge. It’s best that they score both often and efficiently and possess as many other skills as possible, be it passing, rebounding or defense. With that in mind I thought I’d just throw as many stats out there as I can before getting into the individual player evaluations. First are the prospects’ scoring percentages. I included adjusted FG percentage, which is basically a way of factoring 3-pointers … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2012: Small Forwards

I thought I’d start the SF analyses by looking at a couple of players I feel are being undervalued by the experts. These are a couple of small forwards who stand out statistically in what is really a pretty deep group. Neither has gotten much in the way of attention. Crowder was the Big East POY, but has only been able to get himself into the middle of round 2 in the mocks. Horton is a 5th-year senior at a small college who has gotten no attention and seems likely to be undrafted. Both merit … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2012: Jae Crowder and Ken Horton

The feeling out there about Harrison Barnes seems to be that while he’s definitely overhyped, at least he’ll become a player in the mold of a Rudy Gay or Luol Deng and that’s not a bad catch in the 5-10 range of the draft. I think that’s way too optimistic. Here is a look at Barnes compared to SFs drafted in the top 10 in recent years. Players are listed in order of NBA accomplishment, or a reasonable guess at … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2012: Harrison Barnes

The 2012 SGs don’t measure up so well, but there are some interesting prospects. I’ve already ready addressed Bradley Beal who is the top pure SG along with Waiters, Wroten and Lillard, all of whom I like better than most of this group. These are players that have one or two things about them that I find intriguing, but don’t have the complete package of skills that have traditionally set successful prospects apart. We have a couple of wingspan guys in Jeremy Lamb and Orlando Johnson. Also in … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2012: Shooting Guards

I’ve already bashed the 2012 PG class and will likely do the same with the SGs early next week. The bright spot of the backcourt class of 2012 are 3 combo guards, Dion Waiters, Tony Wroten and Damian Lillard. All 3 should be drafted in round one. Dion Waiters, Syracuse, .529, .363, 21.0, 4.1, 3.0, 7.4, 1.9: Even though he was the 6th man at Syracuse this past season, Waiters emerged from a talented group of Orange perimeter players to become the most effective scorer and top perimeter … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2012: Combo Guards