2014 Draft Prospects:

[Glenn]

Would you rather take Smart or Randle? I haven't been all that much impressed by Smart and I can't figure out how he would fit into our team. He's definitely a top 10 player, but I think he's one of those players who will probably develop better with another team as if he would here. Reminds me of a very very poorman's D-Wade and Tyreke. I think Randle worsens the problems in our front court

That's a tough question as I think Randle is a shorter version of Cousins. Well, close. I'd love to see him in a personal work out with Cousins, DWill and JT to work against. (No, not all at once.) He doesn't fit with us. There is a part of me that says take him if he is available and work out the immense problems later. I really like Randle. Good question. I guess I take Smart. Am I confused?

I doubt if we will have the option.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

That's a tough question as I think Randle is a shorter version of Cousins. Well, close. I'd love to see him in a personal work out with Cousins, DWill and JT to work against. (No, not all at once.) He doesn't fit with us. There is a part of me that says take him if he is available and work out the immense problems later. I really like Randle. Good question. I guess I take Smart. Am I confused?

I doubt if we will have the option.

You're probably right on that one - most likely we will either pick too high (top-three after hitting lottery) or too low (8-12) to worry about Randle and Smart.

 

[Kingster]

Would you rather take Smart or Randle? I haven't been all that much impressed by Smart and I can't figure out how he would fit into our team. He's definitely a top 10 player, but I think he's one of those players who will probably develop better with another team as if he would here. Reminds me of a very very poorman's D-Wade and Tyreke. I think Randle worsens the problems in our front court

Neither.

 

[bajaden]

That's a tough question as I think Randle is a shorter version of Cousins. Well, close. I'd love to see him in a personal work out with Cousins, DWill and JT to work against. (No, not all at once.) He doesn't fit with us. There is a part of me that says take him if he is available and work out the immense problems later. I really like Randle. Good question. I guess I take Smart. Am I confused?

I doubt if we will have the option.

Yes!

 

[fanop]

I've actually gathered some information on the top ranked PGs of this upcoming draft.
Since it was a draft prospect thread, why not? I don't think I've seen most of these players listed. Just a few stats..no particular order:

1. Marcus Smart OKST. 6-4 220lbs
GP___MIN__PPG___REB___AST___FG %
19___30.3____17.1___5.7____4.4___43.8

2. Dante Exum. 6-6 185lbs. Small sample size from the summer's U-19 World Championships
GP__MIN___PPG__REB__AST__FG %
9___29.6____18.2__3.6___3.8___44.6

3. Semaj Christon Xavier 6-3 190lbs
GP__MIN__PPG__REB__AST_FG %
20___33.9__17.0__2.9___3.9__49.8

4. Jahii Carson Arizona St. 5-10 180lbs
GP__MIN__PPG__REB__AST_FG %
20__33.6___18.4__4.1___4.6__44.9

5. Tyler Ennis Syracuse 6-3 180lbs
GP_MIN__PPG__REB__AST__FG %
19__33.8__12.0___3.3__5.4__43.3

6. Jerian Grant Former Norte Dame player(academics) 6-5 203lbs
GP__MIN__PPG__REB__AST__FG %
12___35.6__19.0 __2.5___6.2___51.8

7. Aaron Craft Ohio St. 6-2 195lbs
GP__MIN__PPG__REB__AST__FG %
20__34.5___9.3 ___3.5__4.9__45.7

8. Russ Smith Louisville 6-0 165lbs
GP__MIN__PPG__REB__AST__FG %
20__28.3___18.1___3.4___4.8__44.7

9. Shabazz Napier UCONN 6-1 180lbs
GP__MIN__PPG__REB__AST__FG %
20__34.7___17.8___6.0___5.9___44.3

10. Elfrid Payton Louisiana-Lafayette 6-3 190lbs
GP__MIN__PPG__REB__AST__FG %
20 __34.6___19.6__5.8___6.1___49.8

11. Vasilje Micic KK Mega Vizura 6-4 190lbs
GP__MIN__PPG__REB__AST__FG %
18___30.7__11.3__2.0___5.8___46.2
*assists in europe do not count if your player dribbles


(Information from draftexpress, CBS, real gm, and espn)

Sorry I couldn't do it as cleanly as I wanted.. still not too sure how to use these...

 

[Gilles]

When you use only one % stat, TS% is much more appropriate, no matter what Brick says.

 

[bajaden]

Dante Exum has declared for the draft. No college! Of course he can't officially declare now, but its pretty much a done deal.

 

[Telemachus]

Dante Exum has declared for the draft. No college! Of course he can't officially declare now, but its pretty much a done deal.

I think signing with an agent is about as close to declaring for the draft as he can get.

 

[fanop]

Dante Exum has declared for the draft. No college! Of course he can't officially declare now, but its pretty much a done deal.

Hopefully we can draft him.. He'll be much better than Smart in running our offense

 

[Gilles]

No one knows, how he really runs offense. Arguably the best performance of his career came in Hoops Summit, where he was an opportunistic scorer. The only role you can project for him with certainty is that of Derrick Rose on Chicago Bulls. Yes, he comes from basketball family of relatively high level, is a student of the game and unselfish, when he has talent around him, but drafting him and appoint him PG, that leads you into PO as a rookie is a bit risky. Then again Kings have Boogie and Rudy, so they don't need that much creativity from PG spot, often just the guy to give them the ball in the right spots, and you can always hire veteran for 1 or 2 years to be a starter.
BTW watched 4 full games of Oklahoma State and have to say, that Smart is pretty good at running offense: has good court vision, can make a variety of passes, can penetrate off of PnR or just on power drives, if defense is less dense inside, and you have much more spacing in the NBA. Smart often plays off the ball as Oklahoma St. needs his scoring. He has fantastic 64.5FG% at the rim, and very suspect outside shot (.305 FG% from 3). Thing is the inconsistency of sweep and sway is ridiculous. He might go couple of games without the same feet landing on his long range shots. When it does resemble classic, results are very good. Stroke is not pure, but it goes in. Point is private training for two months before the draft might be enough to correct his outside shooting. Then you get to his strong sides: intangibles and defense. You often see the word "intangibles" and not always understand, what it means for this particular player. For Smart it means: no one talks to refs (he will pull you out as far as possible, then go and apologize for his teammate), really vocal leader, who pushes and encourages teammates, very unselfish. And defense is indeed a thing of beauty: true defensive captain, that takes command of defense and plugs all the holes, including fighting with 7 feet centers (Embiid couldn't move him), you never see him gamble, but by the end of the game he always has 4-5 steals or tied balls (it's likely a reputation by now, but he got only one reach in foul on these plays), rebounds really well, using power and quickness, but I haven't seen him getting loose ball fouls. So my feeling is he's going to make a very good third option. Make him a focus of defense, and he will struggle, so you should not expect him to average more than 6-7 apg.

 

[VF21]

No one knows, how he really runs offense. Arguably the best performance of his career came in Hoops Summit, where he was an opportunistic scorer. The only role you can project for him with certainty is that of Derrick Rose on Chicago Bulls. Yes, he comes from basketball family of relatively high level, is a student of the game and unselfish, when he has talent around him, but drafting him and appoint him PG, that leads you into PO as a rookie is a bit risky. Then again Kings have Boogie and Rudy, so they don't need that much creativity from PG spot, often just the guy to give them the ball in the right spots, and you can always hire veteran for 1 or 2 years to be a starter.
BTW watched 4 full games of Oklahoma State and have to say, that Smart is pretty good at running offense: has good court vision, can make a variety of passes, can penetrate off of PnR or just on power drives, if defense is less dense inside, and you have much more spacing in the NBA. Smart often plays off the ball as Oklahoma St. needs his scoring. He has fantastic 64.5FG% at the rim, and very suspect outside shot (.305 FG% from 3). Thing is the inconsistency of sweep and sway is ridiculous. He might go couple of games without the same feet landing on his long range shots. When it does resemble classic, results are very good. Stroke is not pure, but it goes in. Point is private training for two months before the draft might be enough to correct his outside shooting. Then you get to his strong sides: intangibles and defense. You often see the word "intangibles" and not always understand, what it means for this particular player. For Smart it means: no one talks to refs (he will pull you out as far as possible, then go and apologize for his teammate), really vocal leader, who pushes and encourages teammates, very unselfish. And defense is indeed a thing of beauty: true defensive captain, that takes command of defense and plugs all the holes, including fighting with 7 feet centers (Embiid couldn't move him), you never see him gamble, but by the end of the game he always has 4-5 steals or tied balls (it's likely a reputation by now, but he got only one reach in foul on these plays), rebounds really well, using power and quickness, but I haven't seen him getting loose ball fouls. So my feeling is he's going to make a very good third option. Make him a focus of defense, and he will struggle, so you should not expect him to average more than 6-7 apg.

I generally don't follow the prospects very closely, but your assessment of Smart (despite his unfortunate last name) has me totally intrigued.

 

[bajaden]

I think everyone knows my feelings on Smart, so I won't go over them again. I just don't see what everyone else see's, and I've seen him play probably 40 times now. Believe me, I've tried. I guess I'm just wrong!

 

[Kingster]

I think everyone knows my feelings on Smart, so I won't go over them again. I just don't see what everyone else see's, and I've seen him play probably 40 times now. Believe me, I've tried. I guess I'm just wrong!

I don't want the Kings to draft Smart. I will be highly disappointed if he's the guy.

 

[twslam07]

I don't want the Kings to draft Smart. I will be highly disappointed if he's the guy.

What's your take on Smart? Why wouldn't you want him?

 

[Hallama]

I don't want the Kings to draft Smart. I will be highly disappointed if he's the guy.

I really like Smart as a player. But I can see why some wouldn't. I think he'll improve and already has excellent instincts for the game. He's not in my top 5 but I'd certainly take him in the 6-10 range.

 

[Kingster]

What's your take on Smart? Why wouldn't you want him?

I want a point guard that puts an extreme out of pressure on the opposing team, both from his penetration to the basket on offense, and his pressuring of the ball on defense. That requires a guard with quickness. Smart is obviously above average in size for a point guard, but his quickness is very average or below average when it comes to the NBA. I also don't see him play as big as what you think his size would indicate, and that's in the college game. In the pros I think his size will be less of advantage that it is in college and his mediocre quickness will be more of a disadvantage. In addition, his shot is poor. On the plus side, he definitely has a good feel for the game, and a good BBIQ. I just think his lack of quicks is going to be a fairly big impediment to his game.

Many years ago before the rules changes that now prevent guards to get their hands all over the opposing pg, I would have a different opinion of Smart because I could see him basically just holding/steering guys on defense, while at the same time his strength would prevent guys from doing that to him on offense. Today's game is different, however. As a general rule, guys who have quickness rule; guys who don't, don't.

 

[bajaden]

I want a point guard that puts an extreme out of pressure on the opposing team, both from his penetration to the basket on offense, and his pressuring of the ball on defense. That requires a guard with quickness. Smart is obviously above average in size for a point guard, but his quickness is very average or below average when it comes to the NBA. I also don't see him play as big as what you think his size would indicate, and that's in the college game. In the pros I think his size will be less of advantage that it is in college and his mediocre quickness will be more of a disadvantage. In addition, his shot is poor. On the plus side, he definitely has a good feel for the game, and a good BBIQ. I just think his lack of quicks is going to be a fairly big impediment to his game.

Many years ago before the rules changes that now prevent guards to get their hands all over the opposing pg, I would have a different opinion of Smart because I could see him basically just holding/steering guys on defense, while at the same time his strength would prevent guys from doing that to him on offense. Today's game is different, however. As a general rule, guys who have quickness rule; guys who don't, don't.

Hey! We agree! YiPi!

 

[Gilles]

I want a point guard that puts an extreme out of pressure on the opposing team, both from his penetration to the basket on offense, and his pressuring of the ball on defense. That requires a guard with quickness. Smart is obviously above average in size for a point guard, but his quickness is very average or below average when it comes to the NBA. I also don't see him play as big as what you think his size would indicate, and that's in the college game. In the pros I think his size will be less of advantage that it is in college and his mediocre quickness will be more of a disadvantage. In addition, his shot is poor. On the plus side, he definitely has a good feel for the game, and a good BBIQ. I just think his lack of quicks is going to be a fairly big impediment to his game.

Many years ago before the rules changes that now prevent guards to get their hands all over the opposing pg, I would have a different opinion of Smart because I could see him basically just holding/steering guys on defense, while at the same time his strength would prevent guys from doing that to him on offense. Today's game is different, however. As a general rule, guys who have quickness rule; guys who don't, don't.

1. The only team on Oklahoma State schedule that has elite penetration guards was Memphis. Watch both games: in the first coach put Smart on Johnson to force Memphis guard to 1-10 from the field, in the second Memphis almost never went to the guy, Smart was guarding, but when they did result wasn't pretty. Well, he couldn't guard Geron Johnson and Joe Jackson at the same time. As far as defense goes he has more than enough lateral movement, strength and anticipation. On offense he's not as quick as Tyreke is, but look at this drive (watch from 9:31). Smart has no problem weaving in traffic.

2. His shot is not falling right now, but his body movement during the shot is all over the place. It was much better early in the season, and then shots were falling. That makes projecting major improvement in shooting rather easy.

He's not going to be an explosive scorer, but if he fixes his outside shot he will bring 15 points in the flow of the game. Think of him as Iguodala from PG/SG position.

 

[Kingster]

1. The only team on Oklahoma State schedule that has elite penetration guards was Memphis. Watch both games: in the first coach put Smart on Johnson to force Memphis guard to 1-10 from the field, in the second Memphis almost never went to the guy, Smart was guarding, but when they did result wasn't pretty. Well, he couldn't guard Geron Johnson and Joe Jackson at the same time. As far as defense goes he has more than enough lateral movement, strength and anticipation. On offense he's not as quick as Tyreke is, but look at this drive (watch from 9:31). Smart has no problem weaving in traffic.

2. His shot is not falling right now, but his body movement during the shot is all over the place. It was much better early in the season, and then shots were falling. That makes projecting major improvement in shooting rather easy.

He's not going to be an explosive scorer, but if he fixes his outside shot he will bring 15 points in the flow of the game. Think of him as Iguodala from PG/SG position.

We'll see. Iggy has some major quicks and hops that I don't see with Smart. I just don't see the high ceiling with Smart that others do.

 

[Gilles]

It was before he bulked up. In fact I remember at some point Iggy probably overdid it, and appeared pretty slow, so he had to drop some of the weight.

 

[bajaden]

1. The only team on Oklahoma State schedule that has elite penetration guards was Memphis. Watch both games: in the first coach put Smart on Johnson to force Memphis guard to 1-10 from the field, in the second Memphis almost never went to the guy, Smart was guarding, but when they did result wasn't pretty. Well, he couldn't guard Geron Johnson and Joe Jackson at the same time. As far as defense goes he has more than enough lateral movement, strength and anticipation. On offense he's not as quick as Tyreke is, but look at this drive (watch from 9:31). Smart has no problem weaving in traffic.

2. His shot is not falling right now, but his body movement during the shot is all over the place. It was much better early in the season, and then shots were falling. That makes projecting major improvement in shooting rather easy.

He's not going to be an explosive scorer, but if he fixes his outside shot he will bring 15 points in the flow of the game. Think of him as Iguodala from PG/SG position.

I wouldn't use the word easy, when referring to fixing his shot. He supposedly worked on fixing it in the last off season. I watched almost all of his early games when he was hitting his outside shots, and I saw some of the same flaws then that I do now. The only difference was that his shot was going in. But logic told you that it wouldn't continue to go in because of his crazy form, which is off balance more than its in balance. His one shinning light to me is his ability to play defense, but for me, that's not enough for me to draft him in the top 6 or so. Now if we end up picking in the 8 to 10 range, then I'd consider him if Vonleh is gone. I don't see him as a PG as of yet. He may develop into one, but right now, I see him as more of SG with some PG skills. The problem is, he can't shoot, and I'm not willing to bet that he'll correct that problem. Tyreke still can't shoot, and look how long he's been trying to improve in that area. If all were looking for is a PG that can defend, then lets draft Aaron Craft.

 

[Gilles]

Craft will be eaten alive in the NBA. Too small, too slow.

 

[bajaden]

Craft will be eaten alive in the NBA. Too small, too slow.

So you don't think Craft will be able to defend in the NBA. Well, your quite alone in that appraisal. Whether he can play the point, or get his shot in the NBA is certainly something to question. But right now, he is the single best defender at the PG position in college, and I seriously doubt that he'll go from being the best defender, to being eaten alive. If you think so, then You've lost all credibility with me. Have you ever seen him play defense? He frustrates the hell out of every single PG that goes up against him.. His end to end footspeed may not be elite, but his lateral quickness, and anticipation are off the charts. When did 6'2.5" in height become too small?

 

[Gilles]

Ok. You are too melodramatic. He indeed possess great anticipation, and that's what makes him elite defender in college.
But Craft has very short arms and weak - that's what I meant by "too small". And he is too slow for elite defender. Craft will be eaten alive by elite NBA quickness.

 

[hrdboild]

I think everyone knows my feelings on Smart, so I won't go over them again. I just don't see what everyone else see's, and I've seen him play probably 40 times now. Believe me, I've tried. I guess I'm just wrong!

No, I feel the same way about Smart. I heard a lot about him last season and every time I made time to watch him he had a bad game. At the end of last season I actually thought, based on what I'd seen, that two of his teammates -- LeBrayan Nash and Markel Brown -- had more NBA pro potential. Maybe I just watched the wrong games but I'd like to think a top 5 player would stand out in some way at this level in every game. He fits the mold of what I typically like in a PG in some ways -- he's physically imposing and a tough defender -- but I see him as more of a scorer than a set-up guy and as a scorer he hasn't consistently performed against top level competition yet. I hope he changes my mind by the end of the season because he's right in the range of where we'll be drafting and a defensive PG is a big need for us. Right now though I'd be unhappy if we drafted him.

 

[bajaden]

Ok. You are too melodramatic. He indeed possess great anticipation, and that's what makes him elite defender in college.
But Craft has very short arms and weak - that's what I meant by "too small". And he is too slow for elite defender. Craft will be eaten alive by elite NBA quickness.

One of Crafts pluses is his strength. I'm starting to suspect that you know nothing about him. I find it amazing that you think Craft will get eaten alive but Smart won't, when Smart isn't a great athlete either, but has good anticipation. Craft has better lateral quickness than Smart does. I don't want either one of them as my starting PG, but Craft would be nice to have on the bench if you needed a stop.

 

[Hallama]

Jabari Brown is heating up for Mizzou. Oakland native can shoot and is athletic. He's been on an unreal tear lately, especially from 3. He may rise a bit in the draft this year if he keeps it up. Anybody need a shooter?

From article: Over the past five games, Brown is averaging 24.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 61 percent (37-61) from the floor and 70 percent (20-29) from behind the arc. He leads the SEC in scoring at 19.8 points per game and is making a case for Player of the Year honors within the conference.
http://basketball.realgm.com/blog/231713/Jabari-Brown-Starring-In-SEC

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/56698/jabari-brown

 

[bajaden]

Speaking of heating up, has anyone see Wiggins last two games? Sometimes its not how you start, but how you finish. I also love watching Tyler Ennis of Syracuse. He has terrific PG instincts and floor vision. Decent to good athlete, but not an elite athlete. Talented kid though. May be the best pure PG in college.

 

[Dime Dropper]

Yeah, Wiggins has been impressive. Shooting the ball effortlessly. Suffice to say I like him a lot, lot more now than I did at the start of the season.

 

[bajaden]

By the way, anyone that wants to get a look at Jabari Brown, Missouri is playing Kentucky tomorrow at 10 am on CBS. Another good matchup tomorrow is Duke at Syracuse. Don't have the time in front of me, but I believe its on ESPN around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Check you listings!