Avery Bradley, A Long Wait For A Future Star

When John Wall and Avery Bradley were seniors in High School they were neck in neck for the #1 player ranking.  Of course Wall went on to blossom at Kentucky, become the #1 overall pick by the Wizards and has already had a 28 point, 9 assist game in just his second NBA game.  He will star in commercials, likely be the rookie of the year and perhaps an All Star.

Meanwhile Avery Bradley, the 6,3 guard who played one season at Texas remains deep on the bench for the Boston Celtics.  Starting point guard Rajon Rondo is one of the top point guards in the league and the rest of the team is made up of veteran performers who are pushing for one more shot at a championship.  All this leaves Avery Bradley with little shot at playing time and through three games he has seen a grand total of zero minutes on the court.

Bradley may provide value off the Celtics bench as a late game energy player and defensive stopper but he will spend a lot of long nights watching from the sidelines.  He has the future, in my opinion, a potential lockdown defender on the perimeter and along with Rondo could be a defensive nightmare for slower backcourts to deal with.  But it might be just as likely that Bradley remains on the bench for most of his rookie year, seeing only garbage minutes in blowout wins and loses.

All this raises the question of whether Bradley should have stayed at Texas, not just to improve his draft position but to get the playing time needed to hone his point guard skills.  Of course playing against the like of Rondo in practice every day is an education in and of itself but it leaves me to wonder:  If Bradley had known that he would not be getting minutes as a rookie would he still have chosen to enter the 2010 draft?

For now, he sits and waits.  A star in the waiting.....

Thoughts On The Rookies

With the NBA's regular season approaching we are starting to get a feel for which recent draft picks will be making a big splash in their rookie seasons.  The preseason only tells us so much, especially as it concerns teams win/loss records but it is a good chance to gauge and get a feel for how the youngsters will handle the NBA game.

Number one pick John Wall has been his usual self, a blur on the court, outpacing opponents and teammates alike.  His explosiveness is unparalleled and will lead to many easy baskets, both for himself and teammates but will also lead to many TO's and lost opportunities.

Evan Turner has been nothing short of a disappointment so far and fans in Philly are starting to wonder if he was the right pick.  Can he play alongside Jrue Holiday?  Should the 76ers have drafted Demarcus Cousins?  Those questions remain to be answered but I think it's too early to dispare.  Turner has a world of talent and I think he will eventually find his rythme and figure out how to fit his skills into the NBA game.  But it would be reassuring to see him find some success against the preseason back-ups he's been playing against.

Derrick Favors and Wesley Johnson have also been off to slow starts, which is not so unexpected for the young Favors but most people thought Johnson would find early success at this level.  Again, it's way to early to pass judgements are worry too much about the rookies, before they've even played a real NBA game.

One standout of the preseason is DeMarcus Cousins.  As he was in college, Cousins is too much for most opponents to handle down low and he is rebounding at an impressive clip.  The Kings are heading in the right direction and could be interesting to watch as their young players gel through the course of the season.

Although Blake Griffin wasn't drafted this year he is entering his first real NBA season.  So far he has been nothing short of spectacular for the Clippers, putting up huge numbers and highlight reel plays.

A surprise performer so far this preseason is Jordan Crawford of the Atlanta Hawks.  The 27th pick in the draft is playing more like a lottery selection and making the Hawks think along and hard about finding playing time for him (i.e. trading Jamal Crawford).

The preseason can be deceptive as many teams rest their star players and give the rookies an extended look but it gives us a first glimpse of how the rookies can handle the speed of the NBA game.

First Impressions of the 2010 NBA Draft

The 2010 NBA Draft is just finished and for once, it all kind of went as expected.   There were a number of minor trades and a few players sliding a bit (Whiteside, Orton, Ebanks) but overall there were few surprises.  Most of the trades involved a team giving away a draft pick to unload a contract as teams scramble to clear cap space in hopes of signing the big one.  In the next three weeks or so we'll see how the chips fall with LeBron, DWade, Bosh etc and we'll have a better understanding of the moves made tonight.

One of the stranger happenings of Thursday night was the firing of Portland GM Kevin Pritchard just hours before the draft.  Pritchard still conducting the draft for the Blazers and ended up with some nice picks including Elliot Williams, Armon Johnson and the trade for Luke Babbitt.  And then, presumably, Pritchard packed his bags and headed for the exit, weird.

The Wizards now have a Superstar in John Wall and a very bright future and adding to that bright future is the young Frenchmen, Kevin Seraphin (right) who was traded to Washington after being selected #17 by the bulls.  Watching Seraphin in person just over a year ago I came away extremely impressed as he showed his huge upside against the likes of Cousins, Wall, Henson etc at the Nike Hoops Summit.  He is an explosive leaper and very strong and attacks the rim in a way that would make Shawn Kemp proud.

About a month ago it seemed that Marshall center Hassan Whiteside was destined for the lottery.  Instead he dropped out of the first round all together and was eventually picked #33 by the Kings.  There he'll be paired with #5 pick DeMarcus Cousins and the ever disgruntled Samuel Dalembert to form an intriguing but likely volatile front court.  Still the Kings have a young and talented nucleus that includes last year's ROY Tyreke Evans.

In what might have been the steal of the draft the NBA champion Lakers nabbed Devin Ebanks late in the second round.  Ebanks can't shoot a lick but he is an elite defender and rebounder who will provide a lot of hustle and energy off the Lakers bench.  He is a perfect compliment to Kobe, Pau and the rest of the big egos in L.A.  It was also surprising to see Ebanks' West Virginia teammate, the injured DeSean Butler drafted ahead of the healthy Ebanks.

Another steal, in my opinion was the selection of Gani Lawal by the Phoenix Suns at #46.  All the hype goes to Favors but Lawal is a player who should surprise in Phoenix and perhaps even fill the hole vacated by Amare's (possible) departure.

One pick that surprised me a bit was the selection of Gordon Hayward at #9 by the Utah Jazz.  Most draftniks had the Jazz enamored with Luke Babbitt not Hayward and the NCAA tournament star now has his work cut out for him to live up to the expectations.  Hayward reminds me of a young Mike Miller but I don't know that he'll be able to get his shot off very easily at the next level and he certainly will not be overpowering opponents as he did at Butler.

Even before Free Agency begins we know that the Eastern Conference gained some big time guards in John Wall and Evan Turner and the Nets and Pistons landed quality big men in Favors and Monroe.   If the big Free Agents stay in the Eastern Conference we could see a shift in power from West to East.

Overall, the biggest surprise of the night was the lack of surprises.  The lottery went off pretty much as expected and was almost eerily calm and uneventful.  The NBA draft has become the night for trades in the NBA but this was a quiet year, as free agency looms larger than ever before.  So expect a lot of fireworks over the next month and a lot of money thrown at the big names but in a draft loaded with talent, the teams that made moves tonight might come away looking very smart when we look back five years from now.

Final 2010 Mock Draft

The Final Mock draft is up on NBA Draft Room.  Get ready for all the action and excitement and stay tuned for post draft analysis.

Players Rising And Falling On The Eve Of The Draft

The action has begun!  Trades are being announced, rumors are flying and prospects are rising and falling as the full picture of The 2010 NBA Draft begins to become clear.

Yahoo and other sites have reported that Daniel Orton is said to be falling down draft boards due to a couple of red flags.  An apparent knee problem, bad decision making in not hiring an agent and other bad mouthing from the Kentucky side.  Still, Orton is a physical specimen and should be valued highly enough to maintain a first round grade.  It's these boom or bust type players that can make or break a franchise.

Speaking of wide bodied forwards it is rumored that Tiny Gallon (left) is rising into the later part of the first round.  He is a large mammal, in the mold of Tractor Traylor, but Tiny is a more skilled player and  boasts a very good shooting touch for a big man.

Luke Babbit and Paul George have been getting a lot of hype in the past few days with not as much attention being paid to Gordon Hayward who may be falling just a bit.  If the Pacers trade down it seems likely that they will target Hayward in the late teens, especially if they are able to find a PG via trade or have one targeted in the second round.

Kevin Seraphin is a little known French prospect who is certain to be the first European player drafted.  This 6,9 power forward has rare explosive ability for a player of his size and reminds me of both Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Kemp.  He is a raw talent but if he develops to his potential he could be a steal in this draft.  With all of the attention going to the college big men he is falling under the radar of fans but should be rising up the draft boards of NBA team's.

I haven't seen much mention of Eric Bledsoe recently and it seems that he may be trapped in that dreadful "tweener" category. A natural shooting guard stuck in a point guard's body. One positive for Bledsoe is that there are not a lot of PG prospects getting first round grades so he may be able to sneak in. Or perhaps the teams that really like him are keeping especially quiet......hum?

It's that time of year again, when everything you hear you take with a grain of salt and everything you read (including this) this guesswork and prediction. 24 hours from now it might all make sense, or maybe we'll all be scratching our heads in bewilderment, but at least we'll know which teams the players will play for. :)

All Quiet On The Trade Front..... For Now

With the exception of a few minor deals there has been little apparent activity in the NBA trade markets.  The 76ers and Kings swapped bigs and the Warriors took cash from Portland to exchange second round picks but for the most part there as been an eerie calm leading up to Thursday's draft.  But the storm is brewing, the rumors are beginning to fly and by Friday morning of this week the NBA landscape will be drastically altered by the annual trade-fest that accompanies The Draft.

Evan if the rumors of Chris Paul being traded turn out to be false we should still expect a significant number of veterans to exchange teams as well as plenty of draft picks changing hands.  With all of the smokescreens being thrown up by the GM's and coaches it's impossible to tell which players will be on the move but history tells that they will move and some of the moves will probably shock us.

Two days to go until it all goes down.  I look forward to following this post up with a look back after The Draft.  Until then, buckle up and enjoy the ride.

My Type of Player, Gani Lawal

Playing next to Derrick Favors at Georgia Tech last season could have been very harmful for Gani Lawal's draft stock.  He could have looked like a second tier prospect sharing the stage with the young phenom.  He could have lost touches, put up lower numbers and faded into obscurity (also known as a Senior season in college) but no, Lawal excelled and looked like the better player for much of the season.  He played at a consistant high level all year long and proved to NBA scouts that he has a bright NBA future.

Lawal is undersized at 6,8 and this will keep him from becoming a top 10 selection but in this draft loaded with power forwards he is a sleeper who could be a steal later in the first or early second round.  He also lacks the insane explosiveness of his former teammate Favors but he has enough lift to be affective and is more efficient and better skilled offensively at this point.

His offensive game consists mostly of post ups, dunks, put backs and the occasional jumper but it remains to be seen whether or not he can stretch is range out to 15 feet and become a complete power forward.

His lack of height limits his shot blocking ability but his overall defense is very good and he gets into position and understands team defense.  He has a workman-like attitude and projects as a glue type team player who plays D, rebounds and holds his team together with his hustle.

These positive traits remind me of two players who dropped to the second round of the draft but have become very good players, Paul Milsap and Carlos Boozer.  Like these two, Lawal will likely come in with a chip on his shoulder and could work his way into a productive role, even in his rookie year.  My projection is that Gani Lawal hears his name called in the first round on Thursday night, possibly as high as #20 overall to the Spurs.