Biggest Sleeper?

nbrans

All-Star
Who's your favorite sleeper in the draft?

I'm going to go with the guy with an unorthodox game who's getting overshadowed by a more-heralded teammate: Chris Douglas-Roberts.

Not sure how he's flying so far under the radar, but he put up 18 points on a 54% shooting, which is crazy for a perimeter player, and he shot 41% from 3. He has kind of a herky-jerky style, but he can get into the lane and finish as well as shoot from outside. Also a pretty good defender and a team player.

And in case you don't think he's athletic enough, well, Kevin Love would beg to differ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3keELF6_Ns&feature=related

Not sure the Kings need him, but if they picked up a second 1st I'd be thrilled to get him. I think he's going to be good.
 
Nicolas Batum. I think he could end up being a top 5 player in the draft when it's all said and done. I think he's got Rudy Gay potential, with perhaps better passing ability.
 
Nicolas Batum. I think he could end up being a top 5 player in the draft when it's all said and done. I think he's got Rudy Gay potential, with perhaps better passing ability.


Same as you. Batum.

Although nbrans picked a good one, CDR is going to be a good player. I think he'd fit in well in Cleveland, maybe give them another offensive weapon.

There are quite a few who could be sleepers, though. If I had to pick one, it would be Batum.
 
CDR is a sleeper in my books too.. You always find fault with a guard/forward, but CDR doesn't really have any real weaknesses. He's got good size, and height. He's a decent outside shooter. He can slash to the rim, and draw the foul where he shoots at a decent clip.. With players like CDR you will either find they are too short, not good enough size. Can't shoot from outside, or can't get to the line. Usually you can find at least one thing wrong..

I guess if I had to figure out a weakness it wold be that he doesn't do anything great. But he does them all well.


Other notable sleepers are;
Courtney Lee - Western Kentucky rode Lee deep into the tournament. Guard who shoots too much from outside though. Needs to drive more.
Shan Foster - Great scorer but weakness is he doesn't get to the line often enough. Tends to rely on his outside shooting.
Sasha Kaun - Not in the sense that he will dominate, but he can be a great roleplayer off the bench for any team immediately.
Sean Singletary - I love this kids game.. That's pretty much it.. He makes dumb mistakes sometimes but he's a pure PG.
 
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Maybe Ryan Anderson from Cal. A 20/10 guy (alright, 19/9) in a tough league.
 
Courtney Lee and Jason Thompson. Lee seems like a Pistons pick to me, wouldn't be surprised if they drafted him
 
Earlier today on NBA TVbroadband, Ian Eagle interviewed Johnathan Givony of DraftExpress who discussed his sleeper of the draft, Richard Hendrix of Alabama, a 6-9 255 guy who graduated from Alabama in 3-years and was the only guy in the SEC to average a double-double (18/10) while shooting 60% and getting nearly 2 blks/gm.

Is 21 and NBA profile says "Has tremendous strength and an NBA-ready body. Very efficient around the basket offensively and on the boards. Plays with intensity." nbadraft.net says his biggest weakness is he's only 6-7.5, not quick and lacks great length.

Givony said he could go anywhere from 20 to 30 or even in the 40s. Definitely not a lottery type.
 
CDR surely.

Bill Walker. Should have stayed in school, but he has all the tools, just need to learn to play under control. If his knee holds up and he gets into the right situation, this guy can end up being the top 3 wing player from this draft.

Kosta Koufos (c). So skilled (at least with his right hand). It's not often you find a seven footer with skill outside the lottery.
 
A couple of obvious ones have been mentioned in Courtney Lee and Jason Thompson. Another guy I like is Gary Forbes. I think he'll be a starter for some team in the future.
 
Earlier today on NBA TVbroadband, Ian Eagle interviewed Johnathan Givony of DraftExpress who discussed his sleeper of the draft, Richard Hendrix of Alabama, a 6-9 255 guy who graduated from Alabama in 3-years and was the only guy in the SEC to average a double-double (18/10) while shooting 60% and getting nearly 2 blks/gm.

Is 21 and NBA profile says "Has tremendous strength and an NBA-ready body. Very efficient around the basket offensively and on the boards. Plays with intensity." nbadraft.net says his biggest weakness is he's only 6-7.5, not quick and lacks great length.

Givony said he could go anywhere from 20 to 30 or even in the 40s. Definitely not a lottery type.

I hope we pick him up in the second round (although that may require pairing our 2 picks to trade up). He's undersized sure, but he could end up like our Maxiell if we pick him.
 
You know, it's funny. Thinking back over the biggest sleepers in the draft in history, almost all of them fall into one of four categories:

- Foreign guys (Peja, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Memo Okur, Kukoc etc.)
- High schoolers (Kobe, KG, Rashard Lewis, Monta Ellis)
- Guys from small schools (Kevin Martin, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Joe Dumars, Rodman, etc.)
- And the last category is guys from good teams who were overshadowed by good teammates who got more of the credit:

Gilbert Arenas (overshadowed at the time by Richard Jefferson, Michael Wright)
Carlos Boozer (Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavy)
Michael Redd (Scoonie Penn)
 
6'11" Jason Thompson of Rider University and 6'8" Richard Hendrix of Alabama University. Similar type power forward players who have been flying under a lot of NBA radars for awhile, but less so lately.
 
Oh, another 1 I forgot is Donte Greene. Since he'll be taken in the teens somewhere, he probably isn't much of a "sleeper", but I think he's gonna be better than a lot of people give him credit for
 
You know, it's funny. Thinking back over the biggest sleepers in the draft in history, almost all of them fall into one of four categories:

- Foreign guys (Peja, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Memo Okur, Kukoc etc.)
- High schoolers (Kobe, KG, Rashard Lewis, Monta Ellis)
- Guys from small schools (Kevin Martin, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Joe Dumars, Rodman, etc.)
- And the last category is guys from good teams who were overshadowed by good teammates who got more of the credit:

Gilbert Arenas (overshadowed at the time by Richard Jefferson, Michael Wright)
Carlos Boozer (Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavy)
Michael Redd (Scoonie Penn)


Most of the first two categories have dried up however (high school obviously now). Their sleeper status was only good through 2000 or so as there was a long standing prejudice against those guys, and lack of scouting at those levels. If anything there have been more reaches on those calsses of players in recent years than there have been sleepers. There will still be guys who slip through the cracks, or who especially there are a lot of unanswered questions about them when they have been dunking over 6'1" guys who will be janitors in a few years, but I don't think you find many who are not scouted extensively anymore. With the big money in the league has come massive scouting efforts to turn over every rock.
 
You know, it's funny. Thinking back over the biggest sleepers in the draft in history, almost all of them fall into one of four categories:

- Foreign guys (Peja, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Memo Okur, Kukoc etc.)
- High schoolers (Kobe, KG, Rashard Lewis, Monta Ellis)
- Guys from small schools (Kevin Martin, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Joe Dumars, Rodman, etc.)
- And the last category is guys from good teams who were overshadowed by good teammates who got more of the credit:

Gilbert Arenas (overshadowed at the time by Richard Jefferson, Michael Wright)
Carlos Boozer (Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavy)
Michael Redd (Scoonie Penn)

You could also say Arenas and Boozer fall into the undervalued because of being undersized category.
 
Sasha Kaun was my sleeper too but he was signed by CSKA several days ago. They gave him a pretty nice 3 yr. contract.

Davon Jefferson is also one of my main sleepers.
 
Javalee mcgee might slip as low as 20 and might end up being the best player out of the bunch in a few years.

only time will tell.
 
ESPN doing special on Jason Thompson as I speak, 9pm Tue 6/24 and number of other potential draftees. Really nice kid, hard worker, border line lottery tho'.
 
You could also say Arenas and Boozer fall into the undervalued because of being undersized category.


Arenas is a 6'4" PG. He was drafted under the pretense that he would be a SG though. I think Petrie was hoping for Arenas when he drafted Douby.
 
Brandon Rush

I think he will be pretty good for where he will be drafted, probably somewhere around #15

If the Kings didn't have so many players in his mold, I would love to have him
 
Nathan Jawai, i know this guy is going to be good. Ive soon lots of him playing in the domestic league over here and id love for the kings to take him. Its going to take a bit to get him up to standard but he will be a solid player. He will go late 1st round or early second, our picks in the 2nd are too low to get him. We have worked him out and i think GP would give up our 12th to move down and secure 2 late 1st rounders to ensure we have every chance at getting Jawai
 
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