2015 Draft Prospects:

[bajaden]

I know some think that it's a little early to be starting this thread, but since there isn't much going on elsewhere, why not get a jump on it. From a personal point of view, I always like reading what I think now, and comparing it with what I think at the end of the season. Sometimes its the same, or at least close to the same. However, there are also surprises, both good and bad, and that's what makes this fun.

At first sight, this class looks to be a good one, but not quite as good as the 2014 class. Of course the jury is still out on that class and final judgement will take a couple of years. This class is loaded with big men with 5 of the top 10 being either PF's or Centers. Included in that group are Jahlil Okafor, a 6'10", 272 pound center, Cliff Alexander, a 6'9", 240 pound PF, Trey Lyles, a 6'10", 228 pound PF, Miles Turner, a 6'10", 223 pound PF, and Karl Towns, a 7'0", 243 pound center/PF. Don't be surprised if the top spot is a battle between Towns and Okafor.

I watched Towns play the other night when Kentucky played a pro team from France. Towns was outstanding in that game. He did it all. He played defense, showed good footwork and skill around the basket, and also showed off very good passing skills for a big man with a beautiful no look bounce pass through traffic to a cutter for a dunk. Anyway, more on all these players to follow in the months ahead. If you have a favorite player, or someone you think might be a sleeper, please contribute..

While I'm on the subject of big men, there are also some returning bigs that could end up being lottery picks, or at worse, first round picks. To name a few, Willie Cauley-Stein, 7'0", 244 lb's, Bobby Portis, 6'10", 242 lb's, Dakari Johnson, 7'0", 265 lb's, Kaleb Tarczewski, 7'0", 235 lb's, and Chris Walker, 6'10", 220 lb's. So on the surface, at least for now, there are a lot of talented big men to be had in the next draft. Or so it seems..

 

[bajaden]

Jahlil Okafor: Center/PF, 6'10.75", 272 LB's, 7'5" Wingspan, 9'2.5" Standing Reach, Duke.

Okafor was born in Chicago Ill. on Dec. 15th, 1995. God I feel old! He is the distant cousin of Emeka Okafor, so he has good blood lines. He was voted the MVP of the US team at the 2012 FIBA under 17 world championships. He was also the MVP of the Jordan Brand classic, and McDonald's All American games in 2014. I've seen him play 4 or 5 times in the last two years. Most of the highschool all-star games are televised on ESPN or ESPNU. At present, he's mostly a post player on offense, although he is capable of playing 12 to 14 feet from the basket and attacking by putting the ball on the floor. He handles the ball well for a big, and has a variety of spin moves and crossovers he uses to get free. But his strength is at the basket where he can score with either hand, and has a lunch box full of moves and drop steps. He's also a very good rebounder who is fundamentally sound.

Defensively, he's a pretty good defender at the basket, although he doesn't block a lot of shots despite his large wingspan. Its away from the basket where he suffers a little. He doesn't appear to be particularly quick laterally, and he had trouble defending the pick and roll. Now to be fair, these were mostly all-star games, and not a lot of defense is played. But in the Jordan Brand Classic, where the US plays the international team, he wasn't particularly good on the perimeter. Some of his problems may stem from inexperience on the defensive side of the ball. We'll find out at Duke where coach K preaches defense. All in all, he's a very talented player and at the moment, is slotted as the number one pick in the 2015 draft by most board. Personally, I think by seasons end, he'll end up being the 3rd or 4th pick in the draft. But there's a long way to go and he may prove me wrong.

He reminds a bit of Cousins at Kentucky, where most of his game was at the basket where he used his big body and strength to dominate inside. Like Cousins he has very good hands, and once he gets his hands on the ball, its's his. Also like Cousins, he's not very explosive around the basket, but uses his superior reach, and excellent fundamentals to box out, or create space. Another comparison might be Jared Sullinger, although I think Okafor is a better athlete, and more skilled than Sullinger was at a similar time. Here's a short video of him.

 

[bajaden]

Tyus Jones: PG, 6'1.25", 184 lb's, 6'3" wingspan, 7'10.5" standing reach, Duke.

Tyus was born on may 10th, 1996. Some consider him the top PG in the 2015 class, while others would argue that Emmanuel Mudiay is. At the moment, I'm leaning toward Mudiay, but we'll see. The comparison will difficult because Mudiay, who had commited to SMU, decided instead to play over sea's. Jones comes very close to be a pass first PG. He's a very good, accurate, and willing passer. He has excellent court vision, and always looks in control. He seems to be able to get into the lane at will, and is very good at finding the open man. He's a good ballhandler with a wicked crossover. He also possesses a very quick first step combined with change of speed and hesitation moves. I've only seen him play twice, and he shot the ball very well both times.

The knock on him appears to be on the defensive side of the ball. (big surprise, huh?) I wouldn't call him excessively undersized, but in today's new generation of PG's, he leans to the small size. That can be all well and good if your a great athlete, but he's not. I would call him an average athlete by NBA standards. He doesn't have a great wingspan either, and he's not particularly well muscled. My notes on him, of which there aren't many, is that he seemed to play matador defense. It's been a while, and I honestly don't remember the details of what I wrote, and, its only two games, so take it for what it'.s worth. In general I liked what I saw from him, and like Okafor, he's going to Duke where defense is stressed, so we'll see if he's capable or not. Here's a short video.

 

[kingsboi]

Wow all ready getting started on 2015 prospects? I see that your passion runs deep for doing your research on these up and coming NBA prospects. When does the basketball season start for college anyway?

 

[bajaden]

Wow all ready getting started on 2015 prospects? I see that your passion runs deep for doing your research on these up and coming NBA prospects. When does the basketball season start for college anyway?

I'll have to look it up, but I believe they start playing for real at the end of October or the beginning of November. Most play some warm up games though, like Kentucky who just went on a 5 or 6 game tour through Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and the rest of the islands there.

 

[biltalent]

What I really like about the 2015 draft is that there seem to be some good big man in the mid lottery. if the kings keep their pick and pick 7-10 and especially later in the draft they may find a player that compliments boogie better than Landry/JT

Willie Cauley-Stein, Myles Turner and Ilimane Diop ( http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Ilimane-Diop-6427/ ) seem to be interesting. But we'll see!

 

[twslam07]

What I really like about the 2015 draft is that there seem to be some good big man in the mid lottery. if the kings keep their pick and pick 7-10 and especially later in the draft they may find a player that compliments boogie better than Landry/JT

Willie Cauley-Stein, Myles Turner and Ilimane Diop ( http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Ilimane-Diop-6427/ ) seem to be interesting. But we'll see!

I would throw Porzingis in there as well.

As much as I want my Kings to make the playoffs this year, this year does has quite a few players that could fit in nicely next to Cousins. I would still prefer them to make the playoffs, but the shotblocking bigs in this draft are a bronze lining. A big man rotation of Cousins, Turner, and Moreland could be very effective and very cheap if they hit their potential.

 

[funkykingston]

In terms of fits next to DeMarcus Cousins, Myles Turner seemingly has the potential to be the best possible fit. Long, athletic shot blocker with a high motor with range out to three (at least the high school & college three), good rebounding and even some unexpected passing skills. He also seems dedicated to improving. He needs to add weight but he has the frame to do it. I wonder whether he's going to want to be more Kevin Durant (also a Longhorn) than Tyson Chandler and his shot mechanics are funky & slow with a low release (which he can get away with at this level) but beyond that I see a ton to like and very few nits to pick. If he stays healthy and reaches his potential - look out.

 

[bajaden]

In terms of fits next to DeMarcus Cousins, Myles Turner seemingly has the potential to be the best possible fit. Long, athletic shot blocker with a high motor with range out to three (at least the high school & college three), good rebounding and even some unexpected passing skills. He also seems dedicated to improving. He needs to add weight but he has the frame to do it. I wonder whether he's going to want to be more Kevin Durant (also a Longhorn) than Tyson Chandler and his shot mechanics are funky & slow with a low release (which he can get away with at this level) but beyond that I see a ton to like and very few nits to pick. If he stays healthy and reaches his potential - look out.

Right now, I would give Karl Towns a slight edge over Turner, skill wise, but both are going to be top ten, if not top five picks. I've seen both play 3 or 4 times, which now is meaningless since they were all highschool games. The one exception being Towns game against the french pro league team, where he made it look very easy. The kid that has blown me away, who is still a year away, maybe, if he moves into the 2015 class, is Thon Maker. What a talented kid. 7 foot and he handles the ball like a guard. Shoots out to three point range, but has more post moves than you can shake a stick at. Not to mention he blocks everything that comes near the basket. But that's a story for another day. Lets not forget about Cauley-Stein either...

 

[bajaden]

Myles Turner: Center/PF, 6'11.5", 242 Lbs, 7'3.75"wingspan, 9'1.5" standing reach. Texas.

Turner was born in Bedford Texas on March 24th, 1996. After finishing his senior year of highschool, he was ranked one of the top five big men entering college. He played in the McDonald's All-American game and scored 7 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. He also played on the US under 18 team in the 2014 FIBA world championships and helped the team win a gold medal. I haven't made up my mind as to whether Turner is best suited to play Center or PF. My gut tells me Center. He's a decent to good athlete, but not a great athlete. I've only seen him play a few times, and the competition wasn't that great in two of the games. He blocked a lot of shots, and he does have great timing and instincts, but most of the players he blocked were 6'5"to 6'7". Not to diminish that, but just saying that its hard to say how he would fare against a big of equal size, and perhaps more skill.

He has a decent right handed hook shot, but I didn't see him use his left hand once. He also showed off a nice looking 15 to 18 foot jumpshot to go along with a little baseline fade away. He didn't run the floor very well in the games I saw, and didn't look fluid when he did. He appeared to have decent hops, but nothing to write home about. As of now, I don't know about his second leap, or really how explosive he is around the basket. His value right now is in the area of defending the basket. He has the size and length to be a good shot blocker. And as I stated earlier, his has very good instincts and timing. That skill alone might get him drafted in the lottery if he can show any resemblance of an offense, and the ability to rebound. He seems to have decent to good hands, and possesses a decent handle, and I saw him make some nice passes. So he has a lot going for him entering college. I wish he had chosen a school other than Texas, which isn't known for developing big men, but we'll see. Here's a video....

 

[Gilles]

Myles Turner is really intriguing in terms of potential to play with Cousins. Of course, this team needs to challenge for PO, in which case Kings have no stake in 2015 draft, but if things don't go as well as we hope, Turner might be a nice prize at #9 or #10. His handles are only OK for PF, position he should be slotted at, but he's long, explosive with good size and mobility.

 

[SacKings2002NBAChampions]

I'm pretty sure we are losing our draft pick next summer but I would trade some fine assets to acquire Mario Hezonja from the upcoming draft. Myles Turner and co are far out of reach, realistically.

 

[bajaden]

I'm pretty sure we are losing our draft pick next summer but I would trade some fine assets to acquire Mario Hezonja from the upcoming draft. Myles Turner and co are far out of reach, realistically.

If the draft were held today, Turner would most likely go somewhere between 8 and 12. Now by the time the draft actually occurs that could all change. My point being that Turner isn't ranked in the top five or 6 player listed at the moment, and there'are reasons for that. As for our draft pick, you could be right. But there are no guarantee's that we'll play ourselves out of the pick. There's also the possibility that we'll acquire a first round pick along the way. There are several players that have shotblocking potential, so from that aspect, this is an interesting draft. There are a lot of big's in this draft.

 

[bajaden]

Karl Towns: PF/C, 7'0", 248 Lbs, 7'3.5" wingspan, 9'5" standing reach. Kentucky

Barring injury, Towns will be a top five pick in the 2015 NBA draft, and should be in the running for the number one pick. He's a very skilled big man on both ends of the floor. In the post, he can score with either hand with a variety of moves and drop steps. He also has a very consistent 15 to 18 foot jumper. While he's not a jet, he runs the floor very well. I wouldn't call him an explosive leaper, but with his 9'5"standing reach, and decent hops, he can certainly play above the rim. He's also an excellent passer with very good court vision. On the defensive side of the ball, he's shown the potential to be a shotblocker, along with being a good rebounder, where he relies on fundamentals as well as his length. In short, although a little rough around the edges, your potentially looking at a player that can play both ends of the court.

Obviously my ability to see him play has been limited to highschool games shown on ESPNU, where its catch as catch can. Along with those few games, I also got to see him play recently when Kentucky played a 5 or 6 game tour in Bermuda and the other islands. One thing of note. Towns looked much slimmer in those games than he does in the video below, and as a result, appeared quicker. I was very impressed with him, and at least in those games, appeared to be Kentucky's best player. The knock on him is that he seems to coast at times. I saw a couple of highschool games where he just came out and dominated, and then later in the game, almost seemed disinterested. Perhaps bored? Don't know, but that's the only red flag I've seen. Its not something that's flagrant, but it is something to keep your eye on this season.

 

[206Fan]

I think I've found a poor man's DeMarcus Cousins in Kennedy Meeks.
He's short at 6'9.5, but he has a good wingspan at 7"0. In 2012, he weighed a whooping 297lbs at Amare Stoudemire's camp, and in July of 2014, he weighed 270lbs.

He had limited minutes as a freshmen, but he played really well. Here is his ESPN profile for stats http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/66873/kennedy-meeks. I'm not saying he's Cuz, but he plays like him. He likes to work down in the post, but he can also knock a few jumpers. On top of that, he's a great passer for a big man.

 

[Gilles]

Nurkic in this past draft is pretty close to Boogie in terms of style.

 

[kingsboi]

When does College Basketball officially get under way? not counting exhibition games.

 

[Gilles]

Middle of November.

 

[bajaden]

If you keep checking, there might be some earlier exhibition games. Kentucky already played a few games a month ago in Bermuda, Jamacia etc.

 

[kingsboi]

I don't pay much attention to the exhibition games...I just wanted to know when the real deal starts so I can circle my internal calendar dates.

 

[bajaden]

Emmanuel Mudiay: PG, 6'5", 200 Lbs, 6'8.5" Wingspan, China.

At the moment, Mudiay looks like the best PG coming out of the next draft. Unfortunately for us, we won't get a chance to see much of him prior to the draft, since he decided to forego his letter of intent to SMU, and instead play in China. Once again thanks to the NCAA dragging its feet. This was a big blow to Larry Brown, since Mudiay was his prize recruit. Many scouts have compared Mudiay to John Wall, and I can see the comparison because of the athleticism they share, but I also see a little Tyreke Evans in him, with his ballhandling, and his ability to live in the paint, and get to the basket. Right now, I'd say that Mudiay has better overall PG instincts than either Evans or Wall did at a similar time in their careers. And when set, and squared up, he's a far better outside shooter than either of them. He's an excellent passer in close quarters using short bounce passes and wrap around passes. He's outstanding at driving into the paint, drawing the defense, and shoveling the ball to a teammate near or under the basket. He's loaded with potential on the defensive side, but tends to take plays off on occasion. A couple of his bad habits are leaving his feet to pass the ball, and making bad decisions on when, and when not to drive to the basket. In other words, he's the complete package, with some flaws, that are all correctable. I really like this kid, and long term he could end up being better than either Wall or Evans. But that's a long way off. Right now, he looks like a top five pick. Unfortunately he'll arrive at the combine with some of the same mystery that surrounded Donte Exum last year. At least this time scouts will be able to see him play against reasonable competition. Here's a short video.....

 

[bajaden]

Willie Cauley-Stein: Center, 7'0.5", 240 Lbs, 7'2" wingspan, 9'2" standing reach, 37.0" max vert, 12'3" max reach.

All measurements are from the Nike Big Man Academy. His body fat, at 6% and 3/4 sprint are almost identical to Dwight Howards. Most of you are familiar with Stein. He is at the moment, the best shot blocker in all of college. last season he averaged 2.9 blocks per game, and in his first game this year he had 4 blocks. Stein is a terrific athlete who runs the floor like a deer. He is outstanding at defending the pick and roll. He'll remind you of Anthony Davis with his ability to defend the perimeter, and still get back to the basket in time to contest a shot. I'm not sure I've seen a big man with better lateral quickness. He's not a liability when caught in a switch against a smaller, and supposed quicker player. Even if beaten off the dribble, he'll block your shot from behind. His rebounding has improved since he was a freshman, probably due to the 30 or so pounds of muscle he's added since his arrival at Kentucky. He also gets his share of steals. If nothing else, Stein will have a long career in the NBA as a defensive specialist. He would be the perfect fit along side Cousins.

Offensively he's an entirely different story. Although, he has improved every year at Kentucky. In his game the other night, he showed of a nice dropstep spin and score with his left hand off the backboard. He also has a little flip hook from about 8 feet. A shot he's almost shooting down at the basket as he releases it. But most of his scoring comes from put backs, alley oops and layups in transition. Calapari tells his guards that if Stein is near the basket, just throw the ball up near the rim and he'll go get it. Lest you think he's the perfect player, lets talk about his flaws. At times he try's to force shots when in a crowd. He's also not known for his passing ability, especially when doubled near the basket. And while his ball handling has really improved, you don't want him trying to bring the ball up the court, or attacking the basket. But the fact that he's improved offensively enough that he's no longer thought of as a liability, bodes well for the future. I think in time he can become more of a two way player. But for now, he's more than capable of earning his keep on the defensive end. Here's a short video.

 

[206Fan]

Jahlil Okafor has been very impressive so far, as well does Justise Winslow. Of course they're playing low tier teams, but very exciting. It seems like Sulaimon is getting a decreased role year by year. I think he would be a great undrafted pick up if he continues to get little PT.

Justin Jackson is a player who I'd keep my eye on.. I really like him.

I feel like a lot of these freshmen will stay in college for another year.

 

[Tetsujin]

Man, with all the Karl Towns as the next number one pick talk and WCS still on the Wildcats, I somehow completely forgot that Dakari Johnson, Trey Lyles and Marcus Lee (or as I like to call him Tyrus Thomas 2.0) are also on that roster. Calipari certainly seems to understand the importance of big men. Hopefully this means WCS stays another year so we'll have a draft pick when he enters the draft.

 

[Gilles]

WCS will still be top-10 pick then. I believe, it's not worth the time to look at top-10 guys this year anyway. Pick will go to the Bulls, and I don't think anyone will be willing to trade a mid-teens pick this summer for Kings future pick. Might be worth exploring trading the rest of protection for something though.

 

[Tetsujin]

WCS will still be top-10 pick then. I believe, it's not worth the time to look at top-10 guys this year anyway. Pick will go to the Bulls, and I don't think anyone will be willing to trade a mid-teens pick this summer for Kings future pick. Might be worth exploring trading the rest of protection for something though.

I think a protection off for Gibson/Butler sounds pretty fair

 

[Gilles]

I'd settle for Gibson alone.

 

[Tetsujin]

Personally, I'm hoping that this year's draft helps to reorient the game back towards the post. Okafor and Towns are both certainly capable post-players and, while I enjoy having one of the two young superstar bigs in the league on my team, I miss the days of constant big man battles and solid post play.

 

[bajaden]

Man, with all the Karl Towns as the next number one pick talk and WCS still on the Wildcats, I somehow completely forgot that Dakari Johnson, Trey Lyles and Marcus Lee (or as I like to call him Tyrus Thomas 2.0) are also on that roster. Calipari certainly seems to understand the importance of big men. Hopefully this means WCS stays another year so we'll have a draft pick when he enters the draft.

The only thing Tyrus Thomas and Lee have in common is their athleticism. Lee is a much better defensive player, and shotblocker than Thomas was at the same stage of their careers. But your right, Kentucky is loaded with bigs, and at least three of them, maybe four, are shotblockers,. Potentially!

 

[bajaden]

I'd settle for Gibson alone.

Ditto!