9/24/2004 Insider

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2005 NBA Draft Top 5s

By Chad Ford
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Friday, September 24

Now that the summer tournaments are over, it's time to do our first comprehensive update of our Top 5 rankings by postion.
After a record eight high school players went in the first round this year, there's a chance no prep reaches that level next year. Scouts are saying 2005 will be the worst high school class in recent history. The three preps with the best shot of making the jump this year are Louis Williams, Andray Blatche and Gerald Green. However, Green is the only guy scouts are really excited about at this point.
So what will be the theme of next year's draft? Call it the Revenge of the Euros. A stunning 28 international underclassmen pulled out of the 2004 draft, fearing the high school crop would push them out of the first round. That left a gaping hole in last year's draft but also brought a promise that this year's crop could look pretty good.
While there will be three dominant 18-year-olds looking for promises, the strength of next year's international class is with the 19- and 20-year-olds. Familiar names like Martynas Andriuskevicius, Kosta Perovic, Peja Samardziski, Johan Petro and Tiago Splitter likely will be in again next year. They'll be joined by new and highly touted prospects like Nemanja Aleksandrov, Rudy Fernandez and possibly Oleksiy Pecherov.
The college crop is just so-so. There are a few top underclassmen prospects like Chris Paul (Wake Forest), Chris Taft (Pittsburgh), Marvin Williams (North Carolina) Rudy Gay (UConn) and Raymond Felton (North Carolina). But like this year, only a handful of the best prospects will be college seniors. Hakim Warrick (Syracuse), Joey Graham (Oklahoma State), Danny Granger (New Mexico State), Julius Hodge (North Carolina State), Ronny Turiaf (Gonzaga) and Wayne Simien (Kansas) are the only seniors who seem to have a great shot at the first round at this point.
The consensus top five? Chris Paul, Chris Taft, Marvin Williams, Rudy Gay and Martynas Andriuskevicus have the most buzz right now.
Today Insider give you our first updates ranking of 2005 NBA draft prospects by position.
Top 5: PG | SG | SF | PF | C

TOP 5 POINT GUARDS
Rank
Name
Ht, Wt - Age
School/Country
1.
Chris Paul
6-1, 195 lbs - 19 yrs
Wake Forest
2.
Raymond Felton
6-0, 180 lbs - 20 yrs
North Carolina
3.
Jarrett Jack
6-3, 185 lbs - 20 yrs
Georgia Tech
4.
Mustafa Shakur
6-3, 185 lbs - 19 yrs
Arizona
5.
Roko Leni Ukic
6-5, 185 lbs - 20 yrs
Croatia
Others to watch: John Gilchrist, Maryland; Deron Williams, Illinois; Jordan Farmar, UCLA; Darius Washington, Memphis; Churchill Odia, Xavier; Ronnie Brewer, Arkansas; Chris Thomas, Notre Dame; Bracey Wright, Indiana; Travis Diener, Marquette; Anthony Roberson, Florida; Dee Brown, Illinois; Shannon Brown, Michigan State; Tim Smith, East Tennessee State; Juan Jose Barea, Northeastern; Rajon Rondo, Kentucky; Uros Tripkovic, Serbia; George Tsintsadze, Russia; Sergio Rodriguez, Spain; Cenk Akyol, Turkey; Ivan Koljevic, Serbia; Marcelo Huertas, Brazil.

TOP 5 SHOOTING GUARDS
Rank
Name
Ht, Wt - Age
School/Country
1.
Rudy Fernandez
6-5, 200 lbs - 19 yrs
Spain
2.
J.R. Giddens
6-5, 200 lbs - 19 yrs
Kansas
3.
Rashad McCants
6-4, 212 lbs - 21 yrs
North Carolina
4.
Francisco Garcia
6-7, 208 lbs - 20 yrs
Louisville
5.
Julius Hodge
6-6, 195 lbs - 21 yrs
North Carolina State
Others to watch: ; Antoine Wright; Gerald Green, HS Senior; Hassan Adams, Arizona; Louis Williams, HS Senior; Brandon Rush, HS; Rashad Anderson, UConn; Malik Hariston, Oregon; Juwan McClellan, Arizona; Kelenna Azubuike, Kentucky; James White, Cincinnati; Nate Robinson, Washington;Matt Walsh, Florida; Marko Belinelli, Italy; Vasily Zavoruev, Russia; Marko Tomas, Croatia; Manuchar Markoishvili, Benetton (Italy); Marcus Vieira de Souza, Brazil.; Mickaël Gelebale, France

TOP 5 SMALL FORWARDS
Rank
Name
Ht, Wt - Age
School/Country
1.
Marvin Williams
6-9, 230 lbs - 18 yrs
North Carolina
2.
Rudy Gay
6-9, 218 lbs - 18 yrs
UConn
3.
Nemanja Aleksandrov
7-0, 225 lbs - 18 yrs
Serbia
4.
Sean Banks
6-8, 212 lbs - 19 yrs
Memphis
5.
Joey Graham
6-7, 220 lbs - 21 yrs
Oklahoma State
Others to watch: Danny Granger, New Mexico; Kennedy Winston, Alabama; Luka Bodganovic, Serbia; Damir Omerhodzic, Croatia; Ryan Gomes, Providence; Jawad Williams, North Carolina; Regis Koundjia, LSU; Ersan Ilyasova, Turkey; Damjan Rudez, Croatia; Ricky Sanchez, Puerto Rico; Vladimir Veremeenko, Belarus; Ivan Chiriaev, Russia; Zhu Fangyu, China; Dusan Sakota, Greece.

TOP 5 POWER FORWARDS
Rank
Name
Ht, Wt - Age
School/Country
1.
Chris Taft
6-10, 250 lbs - 19 yrs
Pittsburgh
2.
Martynas Andriuskevicius
7-3, 230 lbs - 19 yrs
Lithuania
3.
LaMarcus Aldridge
6-11, 220 lbs - 18 yrs
Texas
4.
Oleksiy Pecherov
6-11, 220 lbs - 18 yrs
Ukraine
5.
Ronny Turiaf
6-10, 240 lbs - 21 yrs
Gonzaga

Others to watch: Hakim Warrick, Syracuse; Wayne Simien, Kansas; Sean May, UNC; Andray Blatche, HS Senior; Charlie Villanueva, UConn; Andrew Bogut, Utah; Tiago Splitter, Brazil; Paul Davis, Michigan State;Lawrence Roberts, Mississippi State; Torin Francis, Notre Dame; David Lee, Florida; Brandon Bass, LSU; Shelden Williams, Duke; Leon Powe, Cal; Ike Diogu, Arizona State; Craig Smith, Boston College; Taylor Coppenrath, Vermont; Uros Slokar, Slovenia; Miguel Marriaga, Venezula; Diego Brezzo, Argentina; Linas Kleiza, Missouri; Drago Pasalic, Croatia; Erazem Lorbek, Skipper Bologna (Italy); Andrea Bargnani, Italy; Fran Vasquez, Spain.

TOP 5 CENTERS
Rank
Name
Ht, Wt - Age
School/Country
1.
Peja Samardziski
7-0, 250 lbs - 19 yrs
Serbia
2.
Kosta Perovic
7-2, 240 lbs - 20 yrs
Serbia
3.
Randolph Morris
7-0, 266 lbs - 18 yrs
Kentucky
4.
Johan Petro
7-1, 250lbs - 19 yrs
France
5.
Luke Schenscher
7-0, 230 lbs - 21 yrs
Georgia Tech
Others to watch: Marcin Gortat, Poland; Josh Boone, UConn; Mile Ilic, Serbia; Channing Frye, Arizona; Martin Iti, Charlotte; Matt Nelson, Colorado State; Ante Tomic, Croatia; Tan Zhendon, China; Edu Hernandez, Real Madrid (Spain); Ioannis Bourousis, AEK (Greece); Dimitri Soklov, Russia; Pavel Mroz, Poland; Rob Rothbart; France.

 

[George O'Brien]

I haven't seen anyone worth a lottery pick by the Suns, but there are some interesting guys that might last to their own pick. Besides Frye (may not be strong enough), there are some other guys to watch.

Channing Frye
Birthdate: 5/17/83
NBA Position: PF/C
College: Arizona
Class: Senior
Ht: 6-11
Wt: 250
Hometown: Phoenix, AZ
High School: St. Mary's
Team Site Profile
2004 Stats


NBA Comparison: Steven Hunter

Strengths: Runs the floor very well for a guy 6-10 and 240-pounds...Normally has very good hands but they failed him in loss to Kansas, ending Arizona's season...Shooting touch is solid out to 18-feet but most reliable at 15-feet...Very intelligent player, fast learner and a good system guy. Knows and understands his role on the team but is fully capable of being the go-to guy at just about any time... Rebounding skills are above average thanks to his length and positioning. Offensive rebounding and tip-ins are his fortay...Getting much better with his left (off) hand to go along with his deadly right-handed jump hook...Good at turning and shooting almost immediately upon receiving entry pass...Uses the glass on jump shots from tough angles. Always a high percentage shooter (.595 as freshman and .586 as a sophomore) thanks to being in the right places in the offensive flow...Biggest strength is his vast upside and potential.

Weaknesses: Needs to add more strength...Tends to shy away from more physical play, although his improved strength (added 25 pounds of muscle since freshman year at Arizona) has changed that recently...Not a great leaper or very explosive and that leads to sometimes-flat turnaround jump-hooks in the lane. Also doesn't help his blocked shot numbers, which come mainly from decent timing...Concentration seems to fade at times

I saw Wayne Simien (Kansas) a couple of times on TV last season. He's short, but very powerful. Here's the nbadraft.net profile:

Wayne Simien
Birthdate: 3/9/83
NBA Position: Power Forward
College: Kansas
Class: Senior
Ht: 6-8
Wt: 255
Hometown: Leavenworth, KN
High School: Leavenworth
Team Site Profile 2004 Stats

Strengths: He is an absolute beast on the block. He has an NBA body already and is very strong. Finishes with ferocity rarely seen at the college level. Loves to dunk and does so like he has a personnel vendetta against the rim. He is a dominating rebounder because of his leaping ability, strength and willingness to jockey for position as opposed to just trying to jump over people. He has a surprisingly soft touch around the bucket when he is not ripping the rim off of the backboard. He also has the ability to knock down the mid range jumper just like former KU big men Nick Collison and Raef Lafrentz. He runs well especially considering his bulk and can handle the ball fairly well for his size.

Weaknesses: Durability is a major concern for him. In each of the last three seasons he has suffered an injury that has kept him off the court for varied stretches of time. He must have basically an injury free junior campaign if he wants to be a lottery pick, and even if that happens don’t be surprised to see him stay for his senior year. He is not a shot blocker, which is odd because of how aggressive he is in all other facets of the game. He must prove that he can be a go to guy for crunch time buckets, he has had the luxury of playing alongside Drew Gooden and Nick Collison during his first seasons at KU so opposing defenses have never really been keyed just to stop him. In order to develop into a dominant PF at the next level he will need to hone his game in the post by adding a wider array of offensive moves, right now at the college level he is so much stronger then everyone he faces he can just overpower them down low but that trend will not continue on a nightly basis playing against the Karl Malone’s of the world. Maybe a little undersized.

Notes: Wayne hails from Leavenworth Ks. and bleeds Crimson and Blue, he has been a lifelong KU fan so the recruitment process was an easy one for coach Williams. Was Kansas Mr. Basketball as a senior and a McDonald’s All-American but was unable to participate in the game because of an injury. He averaged a solid 14.8 points and 8.2 rebounds in an injury shortened sophomore season. Look for him to become a consistent double-double threat as a junior.

 

[PhxGametime]

Cool another Draft article I've expanded my posts outside of just around Draft time but I really enjoy Draft (Fernandez I like reading Ford's articles but why always the obsession with International players) - I have him #6 or 7 depending on James White. Leni-Ukic is a bit high as well (#9 on mine) - oh well I'm no scout

 

[George O'Brien]

Cool another Draft article I've expanded my posts outside of just around Draft time but I really enjoy Draft (Fernandez I like reading Ford's articles but why always the obsession with International players) - I have him #6 or 7 depending on James White. Leni-Ukic is a bit high as well (#9 on mine) - oh well I'm no scout

Very few draft eligible players were involved in the Olympics, so Fernandez got a lot more visibility than the others.

 

[panfolk]

Turiaf from Gonzaga plays with a lot of intensity. If we can't score a C then he'd be a long term solution for backup power forward if Z doesn't slide over well, Lampe ends up at C, and Vroman turns out to be too much of a liability offensively (Turiaf can score from the games I've seen, which is admittedly only a couple playoff appearances but they were impressive performances)

 

[PhxGametime]

Ronny Turiaf (#2) is known as a foul machine (offensively and defensively) he averages at least over 5 Free Throws/game and every game I watch, they mention him as unable to stay on floor because of fouls. Not great rebound stats but not sure the rebound/48 minutes (if he's constantly in foul trouble). He can score - I do like Channing Frye's (#4) range a bit more but with around 5.4 FTM/game, that's impressive. Frye might be able to play more of a F/C type, I like both players though.