In his little chat with local writers yesterday PDA mentioned that he's trying to acquire a second round pick. Which I think is a good idea. There's going to be more talent in the second round this year. Players that might not help us immediately, but could in a year or two are going to be available. I thought I'd list ten of my personal favorites. I've listed players that for the most part won't get drafted until the second round, but there are a few that could get picked at the bottom of the first.
1. K.J. McDaniels: 6'6", SG/SF. Probable bottom of 1st round choice, but could slip to 2nd round. Two way player.
2. P.J. Hairston: 6'6", SG. Probable bottom of 1st round, but could slip to 2nd round. Possible two way player.
3. Mitch McGary: 6'10", PF. Top of 2nd round. Coming off back injury. If healthy, could be a huge steal. Very talented.
4. Shabazz Napier: 6'1", PG. Probable mid 2nd round maybe higher. Good shooter, leader, and decent defender. He's a winner.
5. DeAndre Daniels: 6'8", SF. Probable 2nd round. Possible two way player. He defined his position this year.
6. Jabari Brown: 6'5", SG. Probable mid 2nd round. Good shooter.
7. Nick Johnson: 6'3", PG/SG. Great athlete with lots of potential. 2nd round pick.
8. Johnny O'Bryant: 6'9", PF. Mid 2nd round pick. Should develop into solid backup.
9. Spencer Dinwiddle: 6'6", PG. 2nd round. Coming off injury. Team won 14 and 3 with him, and went 10 and 9 without him.
10. Jordan Clarkson: 6'5" SG. Didn't shoot well after sitting out a year. Could be an aberration. 2nd round.
None of these players are going to be game changers, but but a few could turn out to be very good players.
1) McDaniels would be a major steal as a 2nd rounder. That's the problem with exposure in general; does anyone watch Clemson basketball? Kid is athletic. He had 59 dunks this season--easily top ten in all of college--and pads steal and block combinations, hustles and very accurate at tipping in shots off o-boards. Power forward level of handles and sorely needs to improve his jumper, but that's a ton of athletic clay to work with. He's a late lottery pick (14th) in my book.
2) Hairston is 13th in my ranks (also late lotto). Yeah, I get the possible personality baggage, but that's no different from say, a JR Smith, a player that has a pretty high correlation to what Hairston does. Streak jumpshooting-based scorer, essentially. Hairston's not a passer, but interestingly his venture to the D-League saw very efficient shooting inside of the three point line, which pales in the face of his UNC competition. He also passed the ball like PFs, but he brings enough to the table here.
3) McGary--my mock is not a fan. I have him as the last pick of the draft, talent-wise (60th). Yeah, I get the hype--dude is active as a rebounder and gets a ton of steals and blocks, can finish and score efficiently. But with age concerns, injury concerns (also a smaller dunk rate this season too compared to last), a really shady free throw percentage, and a complete inability to draw fouls, I think there's some that work sagainst him. He's known as a heart hustle player with maybe the upside of a Nick Collison, which is what a playoff team wants though, so I wouldn't be surprised if he gets late 1st round consideration. But, there are a ton of questions, perhaps more than what he brings to the table.
4) Napier--33rd (early 2nd rounder). He's been there throughout the season, and frankly, it's finally great to see him get consideration. He isn't athletic (o dunks this season, plus awful finishing numbers) and his jumper at times is hit and miss, but he draws fouls well, has that scoring mentality, and I do think he limits turnovers enough to be a point in this league. He's worth that 2nd round flyer.
5) Daniels--undrafted. You've got to look past this season, and look at prior seasons. He's got power forward handles. I'm thinking Rasual Butler. Not good enough.
6) Brown--Late 2nd rounder (52nd). He handles the ball/has vision like a PF, and he's 6'4"ish. Red flag right there. Scorer
7) Johnson--Unfortunately, undrafted. I have a bunch of Euros that are absolutely littering the 2nd round of my mock, and he's one of the casualties. Dude can dunk, has improved his shooting, can defend, but he's a 6'2" shooting guard. Not even a point. I think he's better than what my mock says, in the same way that McGary is, as teams can crossmatch him and he brings several things to the table at an adequate/good rate. But, those short arms have got to hurt, and I'm not exactly sure if I can really buy into the shooting.
8) O'Bryant. Undrafted. I remember when he was a 218 lb'er---he went to 260 in a flash to become a full time big. He has the shot jacking mentality and frankly accuracy of a Glen Davis. Haven't seen a big shoot 39% from the field at college for a while.
9) Dinwiddie--A personal favorite of mine, perhaps early 20s to late 20s (later in 1st round--22nd). Yeah, I know he isn't an above the rim guy and he can't finish, but he's aggressive, draws fouls and hits threes, while handling the ball well. That's enough to get some looks, but he's not a PG (despite Colorado trying to force that down on us). Eh defender and pretty shoddy defensive playmaker though.
10) Clarkson--59th (right before McGary). We've seen them gunner guards before. Got a lot of transfer hype he didn't live up to.
