Insider - Chad Ford top 100

[sunsfn]

2007 NBA Draft Prospects Ranking (1 to 100)

RANK NAME POS HT WT AGE SCHOOL/COUNTRY PROJECTION

1 Greg Oden C 7-0 245 18 Ohio State Top 5
The consensus No. 1 pick in the draft. Draws comparisons to Tim Duncan AND David... more
2 Kevin Durant SF 6-10 190 17 Texas Top 5
Some scouts are calling him Kevin Garnett with a 3-point shot. He's a big-time prospect... more
3 Joakim Noah PF 6-11 230 21 Florida Top 5
Noah capped an amazing tournament with a near-perfect championship game -- a Carmelo Anthony-esque breakout... more
4 Josh McRoberts PF 6-10 230 19 Duke Top 5
McRoberts had been collecting information about the draft for several weeks and was getting strong... more
5 Al Horford PF 6-9 235 20 Florida Top 10
Horford didn't fill up the box scores the way Noah did in the tournament, but... more
6 Julian Wright PF 6-9 220 19 Kansas Top 10
Wright flirted with coming out after his senior year of high school. Some scouts are... more
7 Thaddeus Young SF 6-8 210 18 Georgia Tech Top 10
Young is another big-time prospect whose upside is only limited by strength and body development... more
8 Brandan Wright PF 6-10 210 18 North Carolina Lottery
On potential, he may be the second- or third-best incoming freshman in the country. He... more
9 Tiago Splitter PF 7-0 240 21 Brazil Lottery
Splitter is one of the best big men in the draft. His stock was hurt... more
10 Hasheem Thabeet C 7-3 265 Connecticut Lottery to mid-first round
If it's possible to have a draft sleeper this early in the draft, then Thabeet... more
11 Jeff Green SF 6-8 225 19 Georgetown Lottery to mid first round
His stock rose after a stellar performance against Duke in January and took another decent... more
12 Spencer Hawes C 6-11 230 18 Washington Lottery to mid first round
Hawes doesn't have the athletic upside of many of the top prospects in the draft,... more
13 Corey Brewer SG 6-8 185 20 Florida Lottery to mid first round
An excellent tournament has helped Brewer's stock. The comparisons to Detroit's Tayshaun Prince seem dead... more
14 Ronald Steele PG 6-2 185 21 Alabama Lottery to late first round
His solid performance down the stretch combined with an impressive 21-point, 8-assist game against Marquette... more
15 Luc Richard Mbah a Moute SF 6-7 215 19 UCLA Lottery to mid first round
His play during the rest of the tournament has made him one of the hottest... more
16 Tyler Hansbrough PF 6-9 225 20 North Carolina Lottery to mid first round
Hansbrough was projected by NBA scouts as a late lottery to mid-first-round pick. He was... more
17 Ante Tomic C 7-2 237 19 Croatia Lottery to mid first round
Tomic is big time prospect. He has a rare combination of size, skill and athletic... more
18 Marcus Williams SF 6-7 207 19 Arizona Mid to late first round
Williams has really shined this year at Arizona and scouts now feel that he's the... more
19 Roy Hibbert C 7-2 283 19 Georgetown Mid to late first round
A strong run in mid-February got scouts all worked up, but the fell back down... more
20 Chase Budinger SG 6-7 190 Arizona Mid to late first round
Budinger is a hot name right now thanks to some stellar play in the postseason... more
21 Jianlian Yi PF 7-0 230 18 China Mid to late first round
Yi is the best Chinese prospect to come to the NBA since Yao. He has... more
22 Javaris Crittenton PG 6-5 180 18 Georgia Tech Mid to late first round
Reminiscent a little bit of Ronnie Brewer with better point-guard skills. Scouts love big point... more
23 Jason Smith PF 7-0 230 20 Colorado State Mid to late first round
Scouts are always looking for skilled big men and they believe Smith has the tools... more
24 Gerald Henderson SG 6-5 205 18 Duke Mid to late first round
We'll be watching him closely. Really came into his own his senior season. He'll get... more
25 Aaron Gray C 7-0 270 21 Pittsburgh Late first to early second
Everyone, Insider included, made a big deal about Pittsburgh big man Chris Taft last season.... more
26 Mario Chalmers PG 6-2 170 20 Kansas Late first to early second
Chalmers is living up to his billing as the second-best high school point guard prospect... more
27 Brandon Rush SG 6-7 205 20 Kansas Late first to early second
The Big 12 freshman of the year was stellar, but his first-round play (along with... more
28 Trent Plaisted C 6-11 245 19 BYU Late first to early second
He's just a little off the radar screen playing at BYU, but the scouts that... more
29 Paul Harris SG 6-4 220 19 Syracuse Late first to early second
He's a tough prospect that could end up being a player somewhere in between Ron... more
30 Anton Ponkrashov PG 6-8 214 20 Russia Late first to early second
Ponkrashov would be a lock for the first round when he decides to declare for... more
31 Renaldas Seibutis SG 6-6 180 20 Lithuania Late first to early second
32 Wayne Ellington SG 6-5 175 18 North Carolina Late first to early second
33 Richard Roby SG 6-5 210 20 Colorado Late first to early second
34 Malik Hairston SG 6-6 200 19 Oregon Late first to early second
35 Dominic James PG 5-11 175 19 Marquette Late first to early second
36 Uros Tripkovic SG 6-5 190 19 Serbia Late first to early second
37 Jermareo Davidson PF 6-10 220 21 Alabama Late first to early second
38 C.J. Giles C 6-10 235 20 Kansas Late first to early second
39 Marco Belinelli SG 6-6 200 20 Italy Late first to early second
40 Tywon Lawson PG 6-0 190 North Carolina Second round
41 Nick Young SG 6-6 200 21 USC Second round
42 Goran Dragic PG 6-4 180 20 Slovenia Second round
43 Joseph Jones PF 6-9 260 20 Texas A&M Second round
44 Alexis Ajinca PF 7-0 205 18 France Second round
45 Davon Jefferson SF 6-8 215 USC Second round to undrafted
46 Eric Devendorf PG 6-4 175 19 Syracuse Second round to undrafted
47 Morris Almond SG 6-6 215 21 Rice Second round
48 Derrick Caracter PF 6-9 286 18 Louisville Second round to undrafted
49 Nick Fazekas PF 6-11 225 21 Nevada Second round
50 Glen Davis PF 6-9 310 20 LSU Second round
51 Curtis Sumpter SF 6-7 223 22 Villanova Second round to undrafted
52 Sean Williams PF 6-10 230 19 Boston College Second round to undrafted
53 Daequan Cook SG 190 19 Ohio State Second round to undrafted
54 Rudy Fernandez SG 6-6 172 21 Spain Second round to undrafted
55 DeVon Hardin C 6-11 235 19 California Second round to undrafted
56 Lance Thomas PF 6-8 200 18 Duke Second round to undrafted
57 Ali Traore PF 6-10 247 21 France Second round to undrafted
58 Al Thornton SF 6-7 210 22 Florida State Second round to undrafted
59 Nemanja Aleksandrov SF 6-10 225 19 Serbia Second round to undrafted
60 Sasha Kaun C 6-11 250 21 Kansas Second round to undrafted
61 Arron Afflalo SG 6-5 210 20 UCLA Second round to undrafted
62 Kyrylo Fesenko PF 6-11 20 Ukraine Second round to undrafted
63 Bobby Brown PG 6-1 170 21 CS Fullerton Second round to undrafted
64 Marko Tomas SG 6-8 210 21 Croatia Second round to undrafted
65 Alando Tucker SG 6-5 205 22 Wisconsin Second round to undrafted
66 Sherron Collins PG 5-11 190 Kansas Second round to undrafted
67 Tasmin Mitchell SF 6-7 230 20 LSU Second round to undrafted
68 Mantas Kalnietis PG 6-5 194 20 Lithuania Second round to undrafted
69 J.P. Prince SG 6-6 185 Arizona Second round to undrafted
70 Brad Newley SG 6-6 190 21 Australia Second round to undrafted
71 Gabriel Pruitt PG 6-4 170 20 USC Second round to undrafted
72 Robert Vaden SG 6-5 224 21 Indiana Second round to undrafted
73 Jared Dudley SF 6-7 220 20 Boston College Second round to undrafted
74 Brook Lopez C 7-0 245 18 Stanford Second round to undrafted
75 Jawann McClellan SG 6-5 225 Arizona Second round to undrafted
76 Richard Hendrix PF 6-8 260 19 Alabama Second round to undrafted
77 Robin Lopez C 7-0 245 18 Stanford Second round to undrafted
78 Nicolas Batum SG 6-8 190 17 France Second round to undrafted
79 Juan Palacios SF 6-8 245 21 Louisville Second round to undrafted
80 Vilmantas Dilys SF 6-11 212 19 Lithuania Second round to undrafted
81 Mustafa Shakur PG 6-3 183 21 Arizona Second round to undrafted
82 Taurean Green PG 6-0 177 20 Florida Second round to undrafted
83 Acie Law PG 6-3 185 21 Texas A&M Second round to undrafted
84 Earl Clark SG 6-9 200 Louisville Second round to undrafted
85 D. J. Strawberry SG 6-5 201 21 Maryland Second round to undrafted
86 Milovan Rakovic PF 6-10 Serbia Second round to undrafted
87 David Padgett C 6-11 230 21 Louisville Second round to undrafted
88 Darrell Arthur PF 6-9 220 18 Kansas Second round to undrafted
89 Greg Paulus PG 6-2 180 19 Duke Second round to undrafted
90 Vernon Macklin SF 6-9 190 19 Georgetown Second round to undrafted
91 Brandon Heath PG 6-4 200 22 San Diego State Second round to undrafted
92 D.J. White PF 6-7 230 19 Indiana
93 Craig Austrie PG 6-3 185 19 Connecticut Second round to undrafted
94 Mirza Teletovic PF 6-8 235 20 Bosnia Second round to undrafted
95 Vasily Zavoruev SG 6-5 185 19 Russia Second round to undrafted
96 Marko Lekic PF 6-11 265 21 Serbia Second round to undrafted
97 Curtis Kelly SF 6-9 220 18 Connecticut Second round to undrafted
98 Marcelus Kemp SG 6-5 210 22 Nevada Second round to undrafted
99 Mike Conley PG 6-0 170 18 Ohio State Second round to undrafted
100 Ernest Kalve SF 6-8 207 19 Latvia Second round to undrafted

 

[Arizona's Finest]

I know it early to say this but I'm hoping Budinger blows up at UA gets us to the Final Four and then is drafted by the Suns with one of the picks. From what i can tell his skills and style are tailor made for a running/passing/shooting team like the Suns....but I'm probably getting ahead of myself.....

Next years draft looks amazing. Gotta love having three picks. And can't wait until we trade all three of them for a bag of basketballs and future cash considerations.

 

[tobiazz]

Looks like a PF-heavy draft. That's good if Amare ends up lame, but bad if we want to find Nash's successor. I really hope the Hawks don't end up in the top three!

 

[Russ Smith]

Looks like a PF-heavy draft. That's good if Amare ends up lame, but bad if we want to find Nash's successor. I really hope the Hawks don't end up in the top three!

I personally felt Ronald Steele of Alabama was a better prospect than any soph PG in this years draft and probably better than Marcus Williams too.

If you saw their game against UCLA in the NCAA tournament he totally outplayed Farmar, UCLA had to switch Afflalo onto him because he was keeping Alabama in the game just about single handedly.

 

[hcsilla]

Steele is a very talented scorer, quick, explosive, does attack the rim, has a textbook J but I didn't really see him to run his team. He is a typical scoring PG ala Gilbert Arenas.

 

[Russ Smith]

Steele is a very talented scorer, quick, explosive, does attack the rim, has a textbook J but I didn't really see him to run his team. He is a typical scoring PG ala Gilbert Arenas.

I don't know, I admit I haven't seen him play a ton. I saw him play against Memphis this year, he had a really bad game against Darius Washington and I thought "overrated". Then I found out later he'd been playing hurt.

The other thing is this year Alabama lost their best post, Chuck Davis to injury, so he had 1 less scorer to go to. I really didn't pay much attention to him until I was watching the NCAA's and then I thought he was really impressive against Marquette and I thought he was the best player on the court in the UCLA game and I'm a UCLA fan. I recall the guys on Bruinzone were all saying the same thing boy that kid Steele is good, we were very fortunate to survive them.

I checked his stats on ESPN's site and their scouting report says true PG, always looks to pass first. But I admit I have only seen him a few times and maybe saw him at his best. 47% as a freshman, 42 as a soph, but he played a TON of minutes his soph year, over 38 a game, that will wear you down and hurt your shooting %.

As a UCLA fan my opinion tends to be biased towards how someone plays against UCLA, and he was probably the best PG we saw last year. That's why I like Gansey so much, he killed UCLA.

 

[hcsilla]

As a UCLA fan my opinion tends to be biased towards how someone plays against UCLA, and he was probably the best PG we saw last year. That's why I like Gansey so much, he killed UCLA.

Gansey killed a lot of other teams too, I just can't believe that he went undrafted.

 

[abomb]

Wikipedia says OJ Mayo turns 19 this November, so wouldnt he be eligible for the 2007 NBA Draft?

 

[Assface]

17 Ante Tomic C 7-2 237 19 Croatia Lottery to mid first round
Tomic is big time prospect. He has a rare combination of size, skill and athletic... more

Please tell me there isn't really someone named A. Tomic.

 

[Divide Et Impera]

Please tell me there isn't really someone named A. Tomic.

I guess he could be nicknamed "A-Bomb"....

If he gets picked by PHX, abomb will have to change his name....

 

[abomb]

I guess he could be nicknamed "A-Bomb"....

If he gets picked by PHX, abomb will have to change his name....

Ha ha. Suprisingly, A-Bomb is also the nickname of Lakers 2005 Pick Andrew Bynum. I got my nickname when he was still watching Scooby Doo though.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Ha ha. Suprisingly, A-Bomb is also the nickname of Lakers 2005 Pick Andrew Bynum. I got my nickname when he was still watching Scooby Doo though.

wow - I know Bynum didn't do much his first year, but it's pretty rough to dub him a bomb already!

 

[Russ Smith]

Wikipedia says OJ Mayo turns 19 this November, so wouldnt he be eligible for the 2007 NBA Draft?

Have to be 19 AND one year out of HS.

Still say he signs a shoe contract, plays overseas one year and then goes to the NBA but apparently he's visiting USC right now. He's been quoted several times saying he still doesn't know if he's going to college, even after the rule changes. I think he plays in europe for a year and then "signs" with Andy Miller as his agent. Signs in quotes because the rumor is he's been dealing with Miller for quite awhile now.

 

[Gaddabout]

wow - I know Bynum didn't do much his first year, but it's pretty rough to dub him a bomb already!

Yet I can't think of another player who's more ready to dominate the Turkish leagues.

 

[abomb]

Have to be 19 AND one year out of HS.

Still say he signs a shoe contract, plays overseas one year and then goes to the NBA but apparently he's visiting USC right now. He's been quoted several times saying he still doesn't know if he's going to college, even after the rule changes. I think he plays in europe for a year and then "signs" with Andy Miller as his agent. Signs in quotes because the rumor is he's been dealing with Miller for quite awhile now.

OK. I thought it was just 19, like Fitz leaving Pitt early since he was 2 years removed from HS.

 

[F-Dog]

Wouldn't surprise me if the Suns targeted Rudy Fernandez with one of their later picks. He'll probably be taken by the team right before Cleveland's pick.

I'm not sure how he'd fit in with the Suns, but I'm a fan of "Big Baby" Davis. He reminds me of Oliver Miller, without the wingspan.

Afflalo seems like an NBA bust to me, but Mbah a Moute looked pretty good against Arizona. I'll have to pay attention to him when I'm watching UCLA next year.

Should be interesting to see Chase Budinger in action. The last UA recruit with that kind of hype was Shakur, or maybe even Jason Gardner.

 

[Russ Smith]

I'm not sure how he'd fit in with the Suns, but I'm a fan of "Big Baby" Davis. He reminds me of Oliver Miller, without the wingspan.

Afflalo seems like an NBA bust to me, but Mbah a Moute looked pretty good against Arizona. I'll have to pay attention to him when I'm watching UCLA next year.

Should be interesting to see Chase Budinger in action. The last UA recruit with that kind of hype was Shakur, or maybe even Jason Gardner.

Davis is really out of shape, UCLA ran him right out of the game. He also gets away with a lot of offensive fouls in college that he won't in the NBA. But he has great hands and a soft touch.

Afflalo, he's a terrific defender, arguably the best in the Pac 10(says Lute olson), he simply owned Malik Hairston head to head their first 2 seasons, Hairston was higher rated out of HS and is still higher rated, but Afflalo absolutely shuts him down head to head. AA's shot is too flat, he's not quick, not a great leaper, and he needs to improve his ballhandling, but he's as hard a worker as UCLA has ever had, even Wooden said it, he's a terrific defender too. I think he has a chance to be a Bruce Bowen type of player in the NBA but it's going to take him time to find the right role on the right team, if he comes out next year, or stays for 4, he still may go undrafted. Great kid, my favorite Bruin on the current team. Key for him is extending the range on his shot and improving his handle.

Luc is good but he's a tweener, not enough offense to play SF yet, and too small to play PF. Amazing hands, another really hard worker, extremely coachable, but his shot has to get better to make the NBA.

Budinger is for real, he was UCLA's prime target and broke Howland's heart, spectacular leaper and his jumper is getting better and better from what I read. Had he gone to UCLA I'd say he probably stays a few years because he plays volleyball too, UA doesn't have a volleyball program so my guess is, he plays one year and goes NBA.

 

[overseascardfan]

I know it early to say this but I'm hoping Budinger blows up at UA gets us to the Final Four and then is drafted by the Suns with one of the picks. From what i can tell his skills and style are tailor made for a running/passing/shooting team like the Suns....but I'm probably getting ahead of myself.....

Next years draft looks amazing. Gotta love having three picks. And can't wait until we trade all three of them for a bag of basketballs and future cash considerations.

Technically we have one if the BOS/CLE pick is in the Top 10 and the ATL pick is in the Top 3. I doubt the CLE pick will be in the top 10 though, and be careful we may sell of picks next year, we have a 3 year streak going.

 

[panfolk]

The idea that leaves a smile on my face is that, under the CBA, the Suns couldn't trade out of the draft even if they wanted to and thought it was wise (which I doubt). In 2007/2008 I'll get to watch someone other than Barbosa learn the game (he's getting frustrating even when I consider his playoff scoring).

 

[Errntknght]

The idea that leaves a smile on my face is that, under the CBA, the Suns couldn't trade out of the draft even if they wanted to and thought it was wise (which I doubt).

The CBA doesn't prohibit the Suns from opting out of the 2007 draft - unless they have already traded away their 2008 first round pick. (What you have done in past drafts, including the one just past, sets no limits at all on what you may do in future drafts.) The CBA prohibits you from trading to a state where you have no first round pick in two consecutive future drafts.

 

[panfolk]

The idea that leaves a smile on my face is that, under the CBA, the Suns couldn't trade out of the draft even if they wanted to and thought it was wise (which I doubt).

The CBA doesn't prohibit the Suns from opting out of the 2007 draft - unless they have already traded away their 2008 first round pick. (What you have done in past drafts, including the one just past, sets no limits at all on what you may do in future drafts.) The CBA prohibits you from trading to a state where you have no first round pick in two consecutive future drafts.

And thus my smile was smoted.