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

In the previous piece on passing PGs, I mentioned the overall weakness of the 2012 PG class. This is the weakest group in years and seems likely to be the weakest for years to come. That leads to us analysts looking hard in an attempt to find something where there is nothing. Since I do like to weigh in on as many players as possible, here are what I would call the best of the rest of the 2012 PG field. All are players whose numbers didn’t quite measure up, but might be worth a late 2nd round … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2012: More Point Guards

The PG class of 2012 looks like it could be the worst group since 1992, an otherwise strong draft that included Lee Mayberry and Brent Price as the top two floor generals. I can’t say whether or not 2012 will beat that draft for PG futility. There are some interesting prospects, but none who stand out as sure things. The most interesting thing about this group of PGs is there are three prospects who put up very high assist rates, as measured by A40 (assists per 40 minutes). I’m going to look … [Read more...] about NBA Draft 2012: Pass-First PGs