Insider top 10 draft picks

[sunsfn]

ESPN.com: NBA
Friday, May 13, 2005
2005 NBA Draft Top 10s


By Chad Ford
ESPN Insider

With the first NBA draft camp in Portsmouth, the Euroleague Final Four, Nike Hoop Summit and the McDonald's All-American game behind us, it's time to do another comprehensive update of our Top 10 rankings by position.


The consensus top five? Marvin Williams, Paul and Bogut are clearly the top three. Deron Williams, Raymond Felton, Fran Vasquez, Danny Granger and Gerald Green are somewhere in the next group. A few players like Martynas Andriuskevicius and Monta Ellis are watching their stock fall while a few darkhorses in Portsmouth including Cincinatti's Jason Maxiell, North Carolina's Jackie Manuel and UT-Chatanooga's Mindaugas Katelynas helped their stock.


TOP 10 POINT GUARDS
Rank Name Ht, Wt - Age School/Country
1. Chris Paul 6-1, 195 lbs - Sophomore Wake Forest
2. Deron Williams 6-3, 210 lbs - Junior Illinois
3. Raymond Felton 6-0, 180 lbs - Junior North Carolina
4. Jarrett Jack 6-3, 200 lbs - Junior Georgia Tech
5. Monta Ellis 6-3, 175 lbs - HS Senior Lanier High School (MS)
6. John Gilchrist 6-3, 200 lbs - Junior Maryland
7. Roko Leni Ukic 6-5, 185 lbs - 20 yrs Croatia
8. Nate Robinson 5-9, 190 lbs - Junior Washington
9. Dee Brown 5-11, 185 lbs - Junior Illinois
10. Luther Head 6-3, 200 lbs - Senior Illinois


Best of the rest: Daniel Ewing, Duke; Will Conroy, Washington; Filiberto Rivera, UTEP; Chris Thomas, Notre Dame; Travis Diener, Marquette; Carl Krauser, Pittsburgh; Anthony Roberson, Florida; Aaron Miles, Kansas; Orien Green Louisiana-Lafayette; Jose Juan Barea, Northeastern; Chris Hernandez, Stanford; David Logan, Indianapolis; Bryan Hopkins, SMU; Ivan Koljevic, Serbia; Ender Arslan, Turkey; Marcelo Huertas, Brazil

Wait until next year: Daniel Gibson, Texas; Ronnie Brewer, Arkansas; Mardy Collins, Temple; Guillermo Diaz, Miami; Uros Tripkovic, Serbia; Rajon Rondo, Kentucky; Marcus Williams, UConn; Curtis Stinson, Iowa State; Jordan Farmar, UCLA; Mustafa Shakur, Arizona; Justin Gray, Wake Forest; Jeff Horner, Iowa; Taquan Dean, Louisville; Darius Washington Jr., Memphis; Tim Smith, East Tennessee State; Churchill Odia, Xavier; Sergio Rodriguez, Spain; George Tsintsadze, Russia; Cenk Akyol, Turkey


TOP 10 SHOOTING GUARDS
Rank Name Ht, Wt - Age School/Country
1. Gerald Green 6-7, 210 lbs - HS Senior Gulf Shores Academy (TX)
2. Antoine Wright 6-7, 210 lbs - Junior Texas A&M
3. Martell Webster 6-7, 235 lbs - HS Senior Seattle Prep (WA)
4. Marko Tomas 6-8, 210 lbs - 19 yrs Croatia
5. Rudy Fernandez 6-5, 200 lbs - 19 yrs Spain
6. Rashad McCants 6-4, 200 lbs - Junior North Carolina
7. Francisco Garcia 6-7, 190 lbs - Junior Louisville
8. Julius Hodge 6-7, 205 lbs - Senior North Carolina State
9. Salim Stoudamire 6-1, 185 lbs - Senior Arizona
10. Louis Williams 6-2, 165 lbs - HS Senior South Gwinnet Academy (GA)

Best of the rest: Von Wafer, Florida State; Brandon Rush, HS senior; Thabo Sefolosha, Switzerland; Kelenna Azubuike, Kentucky; Bracey Wright, Indiana; Tiras Wade, Louisiana-Lafayette; Nikolaos Zissis, Greece; Alex Acker, Pepperdine; Jackie Manuel, Kansas; B.J. Elder, Georgia Tech; Romel Beck, UNLV; Keith Langford, Kansas; Alan Anderson, Michigan State;

Wait until next year: Malik Hairston, Oregon; Hassan Adams, Arizona; Jawann McClellan, Arizona; J.R. Giddens, Kansas; J.J. Redick, Duke; Roy Bright, Cincinnati; Rashad Anderson, UConn; Brandon Roy, Washington; CJ Miles, HS senior; Costas Vassiliadis, Greece; Marko Belinelli, Italy; Vasily Zavoruev, Russia; Marcus Vieira de Souza, Brazil

TOP 10 SMALL FORWARDS
Rank Name Ht, Wt - Age School/Country
1. Marvin Williams 6-9, 230 lbs - Freshman North Carolina
2. Danny Granger 6-8, 235 lbs - Senior New Mexico
3. Nemanja Aleksandrov 6-10, 220 lbs - 17 yrs Serbia
4. Joey Graham 6-7, 220 lbs - Senior Oklahoma State
5. Yaroslav Korolev 6-9, 215 lbs - 18 yrs Russia
6. Ersan Ilyasova 6-9, 220 lbs - 18 yrs Turkey
7. Kennedy Winston 6-6, 230 lbs - Junior Alabama
8. Linas Kleiza 6-8, 233 lbs - 21 yrs Missouri
9. Mickaël Gelebale 6-7, 210 lbs - 22 yrs France
10. Matt Walsh 6-7, 205 lbs - Junior Florida

Best of the rest: Ryan Gomes, Providence; Mindaugas Katelynas, UT-Chattanooga; Milan Majstorovic, Serbia; Luka Bodganovic, Serbia; Shawne Williams, HS Senior;Dijon Thompson, UCLA; Rawle Marshall, Oakland; Jawad Williams, North Carolina; Eddie Basden, Charlotte; Sean Banks, Memphis; Quemont Greer, DePaul; Steven Smith, LaSalle; Marcus Slaughter, San Diego; Brandon Bowman, Georgetown; Mike Hall, George Washington; Mike Bell, Florida Atlantic; Carlos Powell, South Carolina; Omar Thomas, UTEP; Keith Brumbaugh, HS Senior; Dusan Sakota, Greece; Stefano Mancinelli, Italy; Zhu Fangyu, China; Ivan Chiriaev, Russia

Wait until next year: Rudy Gay, UConn; Andrea Bargnani, Italy; Adam Morrison, Gonzaga; Jared Dudley, Boston College; Rodney Carney, Memphis; Jeff Green, Georgetown; Juan Diego Palacios, Louisville; Corey Brewer, Florida; Vladimir Veremeenko, Belarus; Damir Omerhodzic, Croatia; Regis Koundjia, LSU; Damjan Rudez, Croatia; Ricky Sanchez, Puerto Rico;

TOP 10 POWER FORWARDS
Rank Name Ht, Wt - Age School/Country
1. Chris Taft 6-10, 250 lbs - Sophomore Pittsburgh
2. Fran Vazquez 6-10, 230 lbs - 21 yrs Spain
3. Martynas Andriuskevicius 7-3, 230 lbs - 19 yrs Lithuania
4. Tiago Splitter 6-10, 240 lbs - 19 yrs Brazil
5. Hakim Warrick 6-8, 218 lbs - Senior Syracuse
6. Sean May 6-9, 260 lbs - Junior North Carolina
7. Andray Blatche 6-11, 230 lbs - HS Senior South Kent (CT)
8. Charlie Villanueva 6-11, 240 lbs - Sophomore UConn
9. Wayne Simien 6-9, 255 lbs - Senior Kansas
10. Ike Diogu 6-8, 255 lbs - junior Arizona State

Best of the rest: Ronny Turiaf, Gonzaga; David Lee, Florida; Brandon Bass, LSU; Axel Hervelle, Belgium; Erazem Lorbek, Skipper Bologna (Italy); Angelo Gigli, Italy; Lawrence Roberts, Mississippi State; Jason Maxiell, Cincinnati; Pops Mensah-Bonsu, George Washington; Kevin Pittsnogle, West Virginia; Torin Francis, Notre Dame;Michael Harris, Rice; Chevon Troutman, Pittsburgh; Ivan McFarlin, Oklahoma State; Jeremiah Massey, Kansas State; Chuck Hayes, Kentucky; Taylor Coppenrath, Vermont; Juan Mendez, Niagara; Yiannis Bouroussis, Greece; Drago Pasalic, Croatia; Uros Slokar, Slovenia;

Wait until next year: Shelden Williams, Duke; Taj Gray, Oklahoma; Al Horford, Flordia; Josh McRoberts, HS Senior; Julian Wright, HS Senior; Tyler Hansbrough, HS Senior; Amir Johnson, HS Senior; Oleksiy Pecherov, Ukraine; James Augustine, Illinois; Nick Fazekas, Nevada; Ekene Ibekwe, Maryland; Paul Davis, Michigan State; Craig Smith, Boston College; Glen Davis, LSU; LaMarcus Aldridge, Texas; Vilmantas Dilys, Lithuania; Ian Mahinmi, France; Miguel Marriaga, Venezuela

TOP 5? CENTERS
Rank Name Ht, Wt - Age School/Country
1. Andrew Bogut 6-10, 240 lbs - Sophmore Utah
2. Johan Petro 7-1, 250lbs - 19 yrsFrance
3. Randolph Morris 6-11, 250lbs - FreshmanKentucky
4. Andrew Bynum 7-0, 300lbs - HS SeniorSt. Joseph's High (NJ)
5. Channing Frye 6-11, 250 lbs - senior Arizona
6. Peja Samardziski 7-1, 255lbs - 19 yrsMacedonia
7. Deji Akindele 7-0, 240 lbs - sophomore Chicago State
8. Jared Homan 6-10, 250 lbs - senior Iowa State

Others to watch: Dwayne Jones, Saint Joseph's; Marcin Gortat, Poland; Mustafa Al-Sayyad, Fresno State; D'or Fischer, West Virginia; Mohammed Kone, Southern Idaho (juco); Edu Hernandez-Sonseca, Spain; Luke Schenscher, Georgia Tech; Matt Nelson, Colorado State; Ioannis Bourousis, AEK (Greece); Lucas Tischer, Brazil; Moussa Badiane, East Carolina; Rob Rothbart, France; Ante Tomic, Croatia

Wait until next year: Josh Boone, UConn; Kosta Perovic, Serbia; Andrew Bynum, HS senior (UConn); Semih Erden, Turkey; Mile Ilic, Serbia; Martin Iti, Charlotte; Dimitri Soklov, Russia; Pavel Mroz, Poland; Tan Zhendon, China.

---

 

[coloradosun]

It is interesting that they have Jawad Williams as a small forward listing him at 6'9". To me that means that he would fit in perfectly with the Suns since he could possibly play 3 positions. Not sure why he is dropping in most mocks to the second round but in may be due to the number of players declaring. My guess is that he may move up when some of the guys withdraw their names.

 

[PhxGametime]

Jawad Williams is like the perfect PF for this team, if rebounding doesn't turn into too much of an issue in Playoffs...

All the Prospects I wanted are too high now, Deron Williams and Raymond Felton probably were never in contention (although I've been high on them all year) but Granger, Warrick, Blatche, Graham, Green, Wright, etc. moved up.


McCants, Garcia, Badsen, J Williams, and Bass are still available most likely, according to Ford's article and there should be a few PF's to choose from. There might not be a lot of stars but it looks like a pretty decent Draft IMO...

 

[Tank]

If for some reason we were not able to resign JJ after this summer, I would like to see us get Wright from A&M. Yes I'm biased, but when I was watching him this year, I kept thinking of JJ. Can shoot from outside, create own shot, play D, and handle the ball.

Here's to hopin he turns into a good pro

 

[coloradosun]

If for some reason we were not able to resign JJ after this summer, I would like to see us get Wright from A&M. Yes I'm biased, but when I was watching him this year, I kept thinking of JJ. Can shoot from outside, create own shot, play D, and handle the ball.

Here's to hopin he turns into a good pro

Tank

Your take on Wright is almost dead on, draftcity.com just did an update on his profile and it shouts out JJ.

Bball

If we are out of the running for Joey Graham, it sounds like his brother Stephan Graham (profile reads like a Jim Jackson clone with hops) may be a back up plan in the second round. Draftcity.com just did an update on him as well and after some early May workouts it sounds like he has impressed them and a lot of scouts. I would love it if the Suns would pick up another second round pick and take both S.Graham and Diener as projects. If we can get a player like Jawad Williams or Sean May in the first and add two guys like Graham and Diener, cut lose McCarty, Shirley and Outlaw, (non contributors anyhow) I think the Suns could have a pretty good roster next season and the following season. If the second rounders don't pan out, we can start all over again in the following drafts. Again with our cap situation and long term contracts with the starting five, having second round contracts may be a good thing in the short run instead of veteran minimums.

All of the four possibles mentioned above seem to be good character guys and would fit in with the existing squad.

 

[PhxGametime]

Can you post Stevie Graham's stats? I can't get to ESPN... I'm really not sure of his stats but there are times that he suprises and looks like his brother on court - I don't think he has great stats though?


I plan on starting to watch a lot of the Prospects the Suns start to bring in on visits, if I can... the Suns should still be in Playoffs though? When I wrote those Draft reports or Scouting reports on 1st and 2nd Rounders - I really hadn't made one before and I need to refresh my memory on a few of them. Although it's easy to remember Prospects you're high on but I'd like to see Travis Diener again, if they bring him in, although I think he's hurt - maybe I'll sneak a few games in there...


When would the NBA Finals last too? Teams have started working out 2nd Rounders I believe - I haven't heard anything about the Suns though...


After reading some of Chad Ford articles and rebounding not being too much of an issue - Jawad is moving up my Draftboard. At 6'9 can play the 3/4 (the position I crave in Draft) and can really shoot the ball, unlike maybe some of the burly PF's that make 10-15 3PTers - you just don't know how that compares to NBA 3PTer's and Jawad appears to have the range out to NBA range. Granger, Warrick, Blatche, Graham, etc. all are out of range right now for the Suns and with the character issues with Charlie Villanueva - Jawad is moving up... I just don't know too much about Diener.

 

[fordronken]

Will Amare get mad if we don't draft a center? Should we care?

 

[sunsfn]

Stevie Graham stats.........


Season Averages
YR GMS MIN PTS REB AST TO A/T STL BLK PF FG% FT% 3P% PPS
2004-05 31 33.9 17.8 6.0 2.2 2.4 1/1.1 1.2 0.7 2.5 .501 .691 .447 1.44

2003-042830.413.54.12.32.11.1/10.90.32.4.368.626.2971.07
2002-032831.814.56.61.82.31/1.31.30.72.7.364.611.3821.03


More stats from another source (Oklahoma State)
Season Averages
YR GMS MIN PTS REB AST TOA/TSTLBLKPFFG%FT%3P%PPS
2004-05 33 17.9 6.5 3.2 1.1 1.61/1.5 0.5 0.1 1.8. 483 .725 .455 1.46

 

[sunsfn]

Will Amare get mad if we don't draft a center? Should we care?

I do not think the suns will draft a center, because there is no one on the first pick worth choosing. Johan Petro and Andray Batche are both very young and will not contribute fast enough for the suns at this time.
(that is unless they are high on them anyway)

Maybe they think highly of Channing Frye, but it appears he may go before their pick. (Maybe not)
I think they will try to sign someone as a free agent to play the center and P.F. position to relieve Amare. But, he will have to be someone who can score, or he will not get playing time.

I look for the suns to draft the best player available and that will probably be a S.F./O.G. swing player. There are a number of them available this year.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

My guess is Suns pick will be traded to sign JJ.

 

[PhxGametime]

Are those Stevie Graham or Joey Graham stats? I doubt Stevie averaged 17.8 Points, they're both brothers and maybe you go them mixed up?

I will check now...

 

[Gaddabout]

If you recall, I mentioned my friend the NBA scout who loves Shawne Williams, thought he would be a second-round steal for someone. Compared him favorably to Joe Johnson. He's sounding more and more like Stephen Jackson. Here's ESPN's take on the kid:

Shawne Williams
Small Forward | 6-9, 220
High School

Notes: Williams averaged 30 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists per game for Laurinberg Institute from North Carolina. The Tennesee native put up 15 points and 6 rebounds on 6-for-11 shooting at the Jordan Classic. Williams has declared for the draft, but he hasn?t hired an agent. He?s committed to Memphis if he pulls out of the draft.

Positives: Williams has got great size, athleticism, ball handling, shooting skills and versatility for the position. He averaged nearly a triple double in high school and has point forward type skills.

Negatives: Williams' bad shot selection, questionable work ethic and the tendency to disappear for huge stretches has hurt his draft stock considerably over the second half of the season. He just needs a few years of college to polish off the rough edges.

Summary: Several scouts Insider talks to were high on Williams in February. But since then, it seems like everyone has basically abandoned the idea that he's first-round material. Everyone, that is, but Williams. Several NBA GMs were shaking their heads when Williams declared for the draft last week. Williams isn't ready. He's probably a second-round pick right now. A year or two at Memphis, however, and he has the potential to be a big-time prospect.

 

[PhxGametime]

He averaged like 6 Points a game - at a wing position, so he'd probably be an Undrafted FA...


The Suns have the right to match JJ's contract, so I doubt they'd Trade #21 just to save a few dollars... last year was different because they needed to get lower under the cap, to offer more money. You never know, if they'll Trade Pick but the Pick will be cheap for 5 years and I doubt they'd be able to Draft this high for awhile or find a player similar in FA that cheap?

 

[PhxGametime]

Shawne Williams if he can, should go to school - he could be a Lottery Pick if he went to school. He has the tools, that's for sure but I only have him rated in 2nd Round as well, at least right now.

Rashard Lewis and Stephen Jackson became pretty decent players though, in the 2nd Round. He could be a steal, down the road... I'm liking Eddie Badsen and Jawad Williams as steals in the 2nd Round right now, although with so many underclassmen, there should be quite a few steals in 2nd.

 

[PhxGametime]

"questionable work ethic"

Wow that's what I'd worry about the most because he has potential to be pretty good but the workouts could move him up Draftboard, I honestly only saw him like 3 minutes LOL but he has size, and looks pretty athletic, and the stats look impressive...

I want to see Gerald Green's stats in H.S - the game I watched, he didn't contribute much in rebounding, steals, or block shots, etc. but it was only 1 game - he has top notch athleticism, and can shoot lights out but the other areas of game will really move him up... most of the STAR H.S Prospects are stat sheet stuffers. Stoudemire, James, McGrady, Garnett, Bryant, etc. all put up numbers across board...

 

[PhxGametime]

If you recall, I mentioned my friend the NBA scout

Which team, did he Scout for? Did he make decent money? Scouts are cool...

 

[coloradosun]

Will Amare get mad if we don't draft a center? Should we care?

I think by getting someone in the 6'9" range would do as much to help, remember the combination of Dice and Amare worked very well at the end of the '04 season. In this offense it is better to have someone smart and mobile than big and bulky, if Hunters game progresses mentally there may be no need to draft a center.

 

[coloradosun]

Bball

Here is the updated profile on draftcity.com for S.Graham dated 5/14/05

http://www.draftcity.com/viewprofile.php?p=443

It notes that Stephen played some point guard in HS and then grew into his PF body. He is the same size as JJ2 and possibly the same ball handling skills. Does not have the same shot as his brother but they think he could develop one.

His espn profile

http://www.sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=3425

 

[Gaddabout]

Which team, did he Scout for? Did he make decent money? Scouts are cool...

He's currently considered a free-lancer, which can also be described as unemployed. I think he'd call himself semi-retired if pressed about it. He's been around. I met him through a mutual friend with the Vancouver Grizzlies years ago, and made contact with him again via Percudani for a Suns draft chat I was going to host. We've exchanged e-mails ever since. He was recently employed for some advance scouting across seas, I think in Europe. He's an expert in the American college scene, though. We chat about once every six months.

I asked him to hop on this board the last time we spoke, but he considers that unprofessional. He said he would never share confidential information his employer paid him to gather, although his lips are pretty loose when he talks to me. I try to share what I can remember he tells me.

 

[Gaddabout]

I think by getting someone in the 6'9" range would do as much to help, remember the combination of Dice and Amare worked very well at the end of the '04 season. In this offense it is better to have someone smart and mobile than big and bulky, if Hunter games progresses mentally there may be no need to draft a center.

The Pistons get away with Sheed and Ben Wallace at 4/5, and those guys are interchangeable power forwards. I think the center position has been redefined over the years to allow for those kinds of combos, especially the fast-break style both the Pistons and the Suns like to play.

 

[Gaddabout]

This guy sounds interesting. If he's got truly great athleticism, it might be worth the reach at No. 21. Problem is when he's in the high post or finding some place reasonable on the floor when Amare's setting up for L-screen.

Deji Akindele
Center (Rank: #9) | 7-0, 240
Chicago St (Lagos, Nigeria )

Draft Projection: Late first round possible, likely second rounder.

Notes: Akindele spent much of last summer working out with former Michael Jordan trainer Tim Grover, and is back at Hoops Gym this summer preparing for the draft. He's declared, but hasn't hired an agent.

Positives: Akindele has good hands, great athleticism and shot-blocking skills. A former soccer player from Nigeria, Akindele also possesses great footwork around the basket.

Negatives: He's still raw offensively, but the scouts claim he also has shown great improvement in the paint. He's aggressive defensively, maybe too much, as foul trouble has been a problem all year.

Summary: This year's total draft sleeper, Akindele appears on very few NBA scouts' top-anything list. However, two scouts who have followed him closely swear he has serious potential. He has played just three years and is still learning the game, but they've been impressed with the learning curve. In most seasons, a guy like Akindele would be a late-second-round curiosity. Still is. But in a draft bereft with centers, if he gets into Chicago and impresses, his stock will sky rocket.

 

[PhxGametime]

I think by getting someone in the 6'9" range would do as much to help, remember the combination of Dice and Amare worked very well at the end of the '04 season. In this offense it is better to have someone smart and mobile than big and bulky, if Hunter games progresses mentally there may be no need to draft a center.

That's why, I'm not as high on Ike Diogu and other bulky/burly PF's - although it started a heated discussion. If there is 1 out there with Rodney Rogers ability (excellent 3PT shooter and can run the court, and yet rebound) - Brandon Bass was the closest I've seen but I watched 2 games and he's not really a 3PT shooter but can make a few... Bass just looks like an impressive athlete.

Jawad Williams might be more of the 4 out of him and Stoudemire, but I haven't seen a lot of 4/5's that could be there at #21.

 

[coloradosun]

Gaddabout

In regards to Akindele, it is interesting that he has a soccer background ala Nash.

There is a need to have one 7 footer on the team but I don't think we need two. So if Hunter is coming back I doubt Akindele or any other 7 footer is on their radar.

 

[Joe Mama]

Shawne Williams did not ensure his name in this year's draft. He is going to attend the University of Memphis.

Joe

 

[coloradosun]

Although it's easy to remember Prospects you're high on but I'd like to see Travis Diener again, if they bring him in, although I think he's hurt - maybe I'll sneak a few games in there...

... I just don't know too much about Diener.

Sounds like Diener is already getting some attention, working out for the Bucks, Nets and Knicks. He is scheduled to head west and work out for the LAC, LAL and Warriors, no mention of the Suns. here is the link

http://www.draftcity.com/headlines.php#802

pan down, second story on May 17th.

Some impressive stats on Diener in the 2004 NCAA tournament run to the final four with Dwayne Wade, he had 23 assists and only 4 turnovers up to the semi final game with Kansas, that's almost a 6/1 ratio in playoff conditions.