Kings 2009-2010 NBA Draft:

[bajaden]

Since we seem to be using the draft position thread to discuss players, I thought I would just start the 2009-2010 draft thread. I thought I would start with my current top ten list. This list is compiled of players that I have seen play. Most, more than once, and a few players five or six times this year. This list is by no means meant to compete with any of the draft fourms, and will probably change as the year goes on. This is just a list of players that impressed me. Sometimes only once, and with some others, everytime I've seen them play.

1. John Wall: 6'3", 195 lb, PG. Freshman
2. Evan Turner: 6'6". 205 lb, SG, Junior. (out 8 weeks with a back injury)
3. Derrick Favors: 6'9", 246 lb, PF, Freshman.
4. Wesley Johnson: 6'7", 205 lb, SF/SG, Junior.
5. Willie Warren: 6'4", 207 lb, SG, Sophmore.
6. Dexter Pittman: 6'10", 290 lb, C/PF, Senior.
7. Xavior Henry: 6'6", 220 lb, SF, Freshman.
8. Jarvis Varnado: 6'9", 210 lb, PF, Senior.
9. Soloman Alabi: 7'1", 251 lb, C, Sophmore.
10. Cole Aldrich: 6'11", 245 lb, C, Junior

Honorable mention:

Greg Monroe: 6'11", 245 lb, PF, Sophmore.
Damion James: 6'7", 227 lb, SF, Senior
DeMarcus Cousins: 6'10", 260 lb, PF, Freshman.
Keith Benson: 6'11", 225 lb, C/PF, Junior.
Gordon Haywood: 6'9", 200 lb, PF/SF, Sophmore.
Patrick Patterson: 6'8", 235 lb, PF/SF, Junior.

From 1 through 7. I have less doubt about. Numbers 8 and 9 are both shot blocking specialists, with little offense. So far Aldrich has been a consistant rebounder, and is a decent shot blocker. He's just not as intimidating as the other two. However he's a much more rounded player overall. I believe that Cousins has a chance to move up into the top ten. Still plenty of time..

 

[Vlade4GM]

I like your top 5, but with Turner's back injury I might drop him past Johnson. Back injuries are always a long term health red flag.

 

[ivan_fiba]

lance steph. from cinci should be in there just my 2 cents

 

[Vlade4GM]

Stephenson isn't mentally mature enough to even attend an NBA game, let alone play in one.

 

[Dreadnought]

John Wall, Derrick Favors, or bust. Kings deserve to luck out in this lottery!

 

[bajaden]

I like your top 5, but with Turner's back injury I might drop him past Johnson. Back injuries are always a long term health red flag.

Could be! We'll have to wait and see. He'll be back this year and we should be able to get a good read on whether it has affected his game. I certainly hope not because I really love this kid. He is really, really good.

 

[Vlade4GM]

Could be! We'll have to wait and see. He'll be back this year and we should be able to get a good read on whether it has affected his game. I certainly hope not because I really love this kid. He is really, really good.

I agree, but you have to admit that there is almost always a stigma when it comes to back injuries even if they make a full recovery.

 

[bajaden]

lance steph. from cinci should be in there just my 2 cents

Ok, here's my deal with Stevenson. I really like this kid's game. He is a great talent. But he has serious emotional issues that he brings on to the court. He has an NBA body, and has all the confidence in the world. And for the most part he backs it up with performance. But all it takes is one little thing to set him off, and then he doesn't care about his teammates, his coach or the game.

I watched him just walk back up the floor along the sideline instead of running back in transition. His own coach ran up and shoved him in the back and out on to the floor to get him back into the game. Thats why he's not in my top ten...

 

[Vlade4GM]

Ok, here's my deal with Stevenson. I really like this kid's game. He is a great talent. But he has serious emotional issues that he brings on to the court. He has an NBA body, and has all the confidence in the world. And for the most part he backs it up with performance. But all it takes is one little thing to set him off, and then he doesn't care about his teammates, his coach or the game.

I watched him just walk back up the floor along the sideline instead of running back in transition. His own coach ran up and shoved him in the back and out on to the floor to get him back into the game. Thats why he's not in my top ten...

If he comes out this year, he's done for IMO. He probably needs every year of college ball to mature enough to survive in the NBA, but he'll probably still be a basket case even then.

 

[Gilles]

If you have Warren at #5 Aminu should be up there too.
My sleeper of this draft is Omar Samhan since right now nobody thinks he's draftable. Would be interesting to see him on bigger stage and I think his team have a good chance to get into the Tourney since Gonzaga doesn't look all that great.

 

[bajaden]

If you have Warren at #5 Aminu should be up there too.
My sleeper of this draft is Omar Samhan since right now nobody thinks he's draftable. Would be interesting to see him on bigger stage and I think his team have a good chance to get into the Tourney since Gonzaga doesn't look all that great.

Well I'm not rating players in my top ten on their potential or where any of the draft board have them ranked. I'm rating them on what I've seen so far this year. Aminu still can't shoot the ball with any consistancy from the outside. I've only seen him play twice this year, and he just didn't impress me all that much. It could be that he's played great in games that I haven't seen. I'm sure that I'll see a lot more of him as the year goes on.

Omar Samham! So, are you a St. Mary's allum? To be honest, I've only seen St Mary's play once this year and that was against Oregon. Samham had a monster game. I don't recall his stats, but I believe he had 20 something points and 15 or 16 boards. I checked my notes, and had him marked down as someone to watch. He definitely has the size, being listed at 6'11".

St. Mary's has been the surprise of that conference. Especially after losing Patrick Mills. I wouldn't count out Gonzaga just yet. I know their record isn't as good as St. Mary's but they played a very tough out of conference schedule to start the year. I think at the end, both St. Mary's and Gonzaga could end up in the tourney.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

As unfortunate as Evan Turners injury was, If that gives us a shot at him I'd be very happy.

Turner and Wall are the only two players Im impressed with enough to draft them over a defensive big. I absolutely have to watch more College Ball, but thats how I feel right now.

BTW, Saw UNC/Texas game last night .. Pittman and Davis both looked good, I'll keep my eye on both of them along with Alabi for the rest of the year..

 

[bajaden]

As unfortunate as Evan Turners injury was, If that gives us a shot at him I'd be very happy.

Turner and Wall are the only two players Im impressed with enough to draft them over a defensive big. I absolutely have to watch more College Ball, but thats how I feel right now.

BTW, Saw UNC/Texas game last night .. Pittman and Davis both looked good, I'll keep my eye on both of them along with Alabi for the rest of the year..

This will probably make a lot of people think I'm crazy, but if I had the first pick in the draft and I had to choose between Wall and Turner, I would really have to think about it. Thats how much I think of Turner. And I agree. If his back injury causes him to slide down to us, then the god's are smiling on us.

 

[bajaden]

If he comes out this year, he's done for IMO. He probably needs every year of college ball to mature enough to survive in the NBA, but he'll probably still be a basket case even then.

I agree with you. He really needs to stay in school. And they need to get him some serious help. There are times when I swear he acts as if he's bi-polar. Damm shame!

 

[Gilles]

Well I'm not rating players in my top ten on their potential or where any of the draft board have them ranked. I'm rating them on what I've seen so far this year. Aminu still can't shoot the ball with any consistancy from the outside. I've only seen him play twice this year, and he just didn't impress me all that much. It could be that he's played great in games that I haven't seen. I'm sure that I'll see a lot more of him as the year goes on.

Omar Samham! So, are you a St. Mary's allum? To be honest, I've only seen St Mary's play once this year and that was against Oregon. Samham had a monster game. I don't recall his stats, but I believe he had 20 something points and 15 or 16 boards. I checked my notes, and had him marked down as someone to watch. He definitely has the size, being listed at 6'11".

St. Mary's has been the surprise of that conference. Especially after losing Patrick Mills. I wouldn't count out Gonzaga just yet. I know their record isn't as good as St. Mary's but they played a very tough out of conference schedule to start the year. I think at the end, both St. Mary's and Gonzaga could end up in the tourney.

Aminu improved FT and long range shooting, has solid handles for SF, make some nice passes, very good rebounder on a very good rebounding team, will defend SFs in NBA very well, solid help defender, athletic and big enough for his position in the League, and he's still a sophomore. Warren is a combo G with very suspect handles and average playmaking for NBA pg. SG in the League? If Kevin Martin cannot defend anyone Warren won't be able to either. Kevin at least plays passing lanes.

 

[Gilles]

Concerning Samhan, I just remember a game last year where he looked like he could be an average athlete in the NBA and now he's posting some numbers. It seems with Patty Mills out they started feeding the post and he responded. Not saying he will be a good backup big but rather with his size to be undraftable you have to be much worse.

 

[bajaden]

Aminu improved FT and long range shooting, has solid handles for SF, make some nice passes, very good rebounder on a very good rebounding team, will defend SFs in NBA very well, solid help defender, athletic and big enough for his position in the League, and he's still a sophomore. Warren is a combo G with very suspect handles and average playmaking for NBA pg. SG in the League? If Kevin Martin cannot defend anyone Warren won't be able to either. Kevin at least plays passing lanes.

As I said, I'm only reporting on what I've seen. Aminu didn't play badly in the games that I saw, but he didn't make any kind of impact either. I'm not writing him off, I just need to see more of him. There's no doubt that he's a great athlete.

Your right about Warren not have particularly good handles. He may be called a combo guard, but in my opinion he's a SG. I can't see him running the point in the NBA. Defensively, he'll be giving away size to a lot of SG's in the league. He's certainly athletic enough to play defense, and there's no doubt he can score the ball. He's the most likely in my top seven to slide because of his size and lack of handles..

The only thing that kept Lawal out of my top ten is his lack of size for his position. But he's been playing extremely well. The Florida St./Georgia Tech game is about to start. Gotta run...

 

[Gilles]

BTW two solid big man played today already:
Ekpe Udoh with 22p+16r(9off)+3st+9bl in 36 mins, average d-rebounder but very promising at everything else. Game was decided long before the end but they probably played him to get a TD. Didn't happen.
Craig Brackins with 16p+12r+7a in 32 mins, finesse bigman who is below average at D and rebounding.

 

[USNAVY15]

Where is Kyle Singler? Isn't he a top 13 player? I personally hope that man is available when the kings draft because Omri/Singler/Greene is the holy trifecta of SF's.

 

[Gilles]

Where is Kyle Singler? Isn't he a top 13 player? I personally hope that man is available when the kings draft because Omri/Singler/Greene is the holy trifecta of SF's.

And then give max contract to Gay?
If Kings don't draft a true big man this year I will be seriously disappointed.

 

[bajaden]

BTW two solid big man played today already:
Ekpe Udoh with 22p+16r(9off)+3st+9bl in 36 mins, average d-rebounder but very promising at everything else. Game was decided long before the end but they probably played him to get a TD. Didn't happen.
Craig Brackins with 16p+12r+7a in 32 mins, finesse bigman who is below average at D and rebounding.

Yeah, I've mentioned Udoh in my college basketball tread in the general fourm. I didn't get to see him play today, but he's another one that I like. I've seen Brackins play twice this year. He played well in one game and was just so so in the other. He appears to be a little lighter this year, and in one of the games I watched he made an effort to go inside more than he did last year. I would like to see more consistancy from him. I have my doubts about him.

 

[bajaden]

I just watched the first half of the Wake Forest game. Aminu has to play better than he has so far today if he wants into my top ten. Got into foul trouble. Turned the ball over. Hopefully he'll play better in the second half.

 

[bajaden]

And then give max contract to Gay?
If Kings don't draft a true big man this year I will be seriously disappointed.

I also want a big man. However, if I can get either Wall or Turner, I'll take either one of them. I'm one of those BPA guys.

 

[bajaden]

Well the Florida St./Georgia Tech game turned out to be a defensive battle. Neither team had a lot of luck scoring inside. While Alabi stood out as a shotblocker supreme, he also had one of his better rebounding games. I think he ended up with 9 points, 12 boards and 4 blocks. That line was equaled by Derrick Favors from Tech, who had 8 points, 12 boards, and 4 blocks. Alabi had a lot of help from the rest of his team. I believe that Florida St. leads its conference in blocked shots. Lawal didn't do much to help today. He's more of an athletic energy guy that gets a lot of his baskets by simply being around the basket. unfortunately Alabi was also around the basket. Favors has a more polished post game than either Alabi or Lawal. I'm surprised that they didn't try to go to him a little more.

Bottom line is that Tech is a team that gets most of its points in the paint. Florida St. is a team that doesn't allow many points in the paint. It made for a tough game for Tech. They almost pulled it out, but had to go to OT and lost..

 

[bajaden]

Where is Kyle Singler? Isn't he a top 13 player? I personally hope that man is available when the kings draft because Omri/Singler/Greene is the holy trifecta of SF's.

Singler is quite a way from being in my top 13. First off, I'm always a little scared of Duke players. They always seem better in college than they do in the NBA. It may just be the system, but there have been a lot of Duke players that just don't cut it once they get into the NBA. I put North Carolina in the opposite class. There have been a lot of players for the Tarheels that have been better pro's than a lot of pundits thought they would be.

However, back to Singler. Another one of those hustle guys that always appears to be overacheiving. Thats to his credit. I would call him an average athlete with a pretty high skill level and a high basketball IQ. I won't say that he's reached his ceiling, but he's close to it. His outside shooting can still impove. He has pretty good handles and is a pretty good passer. Defensively he could be a liability in the NBA. He doesn't have very good lateral movement, but I'll give him this, he trys hard and is good at anticipating. My guess is that he'll be a late first round or early second round pick.

I don't see where the Kings would need a player like Singler. Personally I would rather go with someone like Damien James of Texas, whose a better athlete. I can think of quite a few players that I would pick over Singler.. Not a knock on him, and who knows, I could be wrong.

 

[bajaden]

Aminu is an interesting player. I still don't think he's a very good outside shooter, but there's no denying his overall ability. He played much better in the second half of the game today. He reminds me of Josh Howard. I still think he getting by on his athleticism to a large extent, but he's so athletic that he gets away with it. They have him playing PF, but he's a SF in my opinion. His passing has improved and so has his basketball IQ. He also has to cut down on his turnovers. I think he had 7 today.

 

[Gilles]

Well the Florida St./Georgia Tech game turned out to be a defensive battle. Neither team had a lot of luck scoring inside. While Alabi stood out as a shotblocker supreme, he also had one of his better rebounding games. I think he ended up with 9 points, 12 boards and 4 blocks. That line was equaled by Derrick Favors from Tech, who had 8 points, 12 boards, and 4 blocks. Alabi had a lot of help from the rest of his team. I believe that Florida St. leads its conference in blocked shots. Lawal didn't do much to help today. He's more of an athletic energy guy that gets a lot of his baskets by simply being around the basket. unfortunately Alabi was also around the basket. Favors has a more polished post game than either Alabi or Lawal. I'm surprised that they didn't try to go to him a little more.
Bottom line is that Tech is a team that gets most of its points in the paint. Florida St. is a team that doesn't allow many points in the paint. It made for a tough game for Tech. They almost pulled it out, but had to go to OT and lost..

Both teams seemed to pack interior pretty well. Favors have some nice moves but against such a defense you basically have to react rather than act and his game(or his mind for that matter) is not developed that far so they went to Lawal early on but that backfired since he couldn't do anything inside as well.
Well both Alabi and Favors pretty much showed what was expected. BTW i read some rumblings by Seminoles fans that he wants to stay for 4 years. Not sure about that but staying another year developing and competing with weaker crop of bigmen in 2011 makes sense since he can easily sneak into top-5.
The last unknown super-frosh in Hassan Whiteside had super game as well: 13p+10r+6bl in 20 min. He may already be top shot-blocker in the country and he rebounds very good as well. Tomorrow he will go against Tar Heels - would be a fun match to watch.

 

[bajaden]

Both teams seemed to pack interior pretty well. Favors have some nice moves but against such a defense you basically have to react rather than act and his game(or his mind for that matter) is not developed that far so they went to Lawal early on but that backfired since he couldn't do anything inside as well.
Well both Alabi and Favors pretty much showed what was expected. BTW i read some rumblings by Seminoles fans that he wants to stay for 4 years. Not sure about that but staying another year developing and competing with weaker crop of bigmen in 2011 makes sense since he can easily sneak into top-5.
The last unknown super-frosh in Hassan Whiteside had super game as well: 13p+10r+6bl in 20 min. He may already be top shot-blocker in the country and he rebounds very good as well. Tomorrow he will go against Tar Heels - would be a fun match to watch.

Obviously I didn't get to see Whiteside play yesterday. So far Marshall hasn't been available on any of my many outlets. I don't know about him being the best shotblocker in college. Varnado is right up there at the top. He just broke Shaq's SEC record for career blocks and is closing in on the all time NCAA shotblocking record. Not to take anything away from Whiteside though. After all he is a freshman. I'm anxious to see him play this year..

As far as Alabi staying another year for a weaker class. I'm not sure that this years class is all that strong as far as centers go. There are a lot of PF types this year, but not that many top centers. I suspect he'll at least test the waters..

 

[hammystyle]

Since we seem to be using the draft position thread to discuss players, I thought I would just start the 2009-2010 draft thread. I thought I would start with my current top ten list. This list is compiled of players that I have seen play. Most, more than once, and a few players five or six times this year. This list is by no means meant to compete with any of the draft fourms, and will probably change as the year goes on. This is just a list of players that impressed me. Sometimes only once, and with some others, everytime I've seen them play.

1. John Wall: 6'3", 195 lb, PG. Freshman
2. Evan Turner: 6'6". 205 lb, SG, Junior. (out 8 weeks with a back injury)
3. Derrick Favors: 6'9", 246 lb, PF, Freshman.
4. Wesley Johnson: 6'7", 205 lb, SF/SG, Junior.
5. Willie Warren: 6'4", 207 lb, SG, Sophmore.
6. Dexter Pittman: 6'10", 290 lb, C/PF, Senior.
7. Xavior Henry: 6'6", 220 lb, SF, Freshman.
8. Jarvis Varnado: 6'9", 210 lb, PF, Senior.
9. Soloman Alabi: 7'1", 251 lb, C, Sophmore.
10. Cole Aldrich: 6'11", 245 lb, C, Junior

Honorable mention:

Greg Monroe: 6'11", 245 lb, PF, Sophmore.
Damion James: 6'7", 227 lb, SF, Senior
DeMarcus Cousins: 6'10", 260 lb, PF, Freshman.
Keith Benson: 6'11", 225 lb, C/PF, Junior.
Gordon Haywood: 6'9", 200 lb, PF/SF, Sophmore.
Patrick Patterson: 6'8", 235 lb, PF/SF, Junior.

From 1 through 7. I have less doubt about. Numbers 8 and 9 are both shot blocking specialists, with little offense. So far Aldrich has been a consistant rebounder, and is a decent shot blocker. He's just not as intimidating as the other two. However he's a much more rounded player overall. I believe that Cousins has a chance to move up into the top ten. Still plenty of time..

Do you really see Dexter Pittman as a top 6 lottery guy or is it more that he's an under-valued prospect you like and someone to keep an eye on if we get a late first or for our 2nd rounder?

He certainly laid the wood against UNC's big front line, but it seems like he can't go more than five or six trips up and down the court without sucking wind.

 

[OptimusRhyme]

I like Pittman from what Ive seen.. i havent really been watching any NCAA even tho i have the super sports pack.. Who are the best defensive bigs in our draft range we should be looking at?