New and Improved 2008 Draft Prospects Thread

[azirish]

Hawes was certainly this season's version of Chris Kamen, ie a good low post scorer who can rebound of limited athletic ability.

 

[404959]

personallythe suns need to get anyone that is able to get some rebounds and play hard nosed defense. the suns have everyone they need offensively.

 

[azirish]

personallythe suns need to get anyone that is able to get some rebounds and play hard nosed defense. the suns have everyone they need offensively.

Not according to D'Antoni. He wants five 20 ppg threats on the floor who will share the ball.

In any case, I think the Suns should be looking at bigs unless they get into the Mayo/Rose range in the draft. One guy that has not been brought up is Serge Ibaka of Congo. Slam had an nice writeup about him. Slam lists him at 6'8" but both DX and nbadraft.net show him at 6'10".

http://www.slamonline.com

Serge Ibaka, 6-8 power forward, Congo: Perhaps the most NBA-ready prospect in New Orleans, Ibaka, who already plays pro ball for a junior team in Europe and is considering putting his name in the 2008 NBA Draft (thanks for the info, Lang), is a powerful and explosive athlete who mainly does his damage around the rim. A force on both ends, he’s an intimidating defender and rebounder who finishes everything around the rim, has efficient post moves and gets out in transition very well.

Here is a video which appears to be from Spanish junior league. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMP7pn6VNYQ


DX lists him at the #11 pick in the 2008 Mock

http://www.draftexpress.com/viewprofile.php?p=1302

August 5, 2007
Serge Ibaka announced his presence in a big way to those who were not familiar with him, showing an incredibly intriguing combination of size, strength, athleticism, and skill. Ibaka has an NBA body already despite being listed at 17 years old. Some people here have already raised an eyebrow or two regarding whether that’s accurate, but there is no denying that the kid is an excellent prospect. To give you an idea of how athletic Ibaka is, consider the mini-combine conducted here to measure vertical leap. Ibaka started off by hitting the maximum point, and then after the bar was raised even higher, shocked everyone in attendance by again hitting the maximum point on the apparatus a second time. Clearly this method of measuring was not intended for players like him.

Once the games actually started, Ibaka mixed things up with a couple of outstanding dunks as well as by knocking down some jump-shots. His skill level is really promising for a player with his physical tools, and once he really starts to figure out how to use his body and develop better decision making skills, the sky is really the limit for him. At times he seemed to rush things by taking off balance shots with a hand in his face or looking out of control with his dribble. These are the type of things that only lots of playing time and high-level experience can help him iron out, so it will be fascinating to see how he continues to progress over the upcoming season. Ibaka unfortunately didn’t play much against the 08 American team because of cramps.

August 8, 2007
For Team Africa, the most intriguing player to follow was obviously Serge Ibaka. We’ve talked about him on a few occasions over the past few months so we’ll touch briefly on what we liked about him as well as what he needs to continue to improve.

Standing 6-10 with a ridiculous wingspan and near-jaw dropping athleticism, Serge obviously looks the part of your typical NBA lottery prospect. But unlike most African players, he also plays like one too. We’re not used to seeing big men come off curls and pull up fluidly for a catch and shoot 17 footer, but this is a semi-polished weapon that Ibaka already has in his arsenal. He fell in love with it too much at times during certain games (he wanted to prove himself so bad that he shot virtually everything that came his way), but also took time to go inside the paint at times to throw down some monster dunks in traffic. Ibaka even knocked down a 3-pointer during one occasion, showing off the type of versatility you don’t expect on first glance.

Just as important is the potential he shows as an outstanding shot-blocking threat, being incredibly quick off his feet, but also showing great timing to rotate from the weakside and erase shots from above the top of the square. He plays hard for every minute he’s out on the floor, often skying from out of nowhere to hammer home an offensive rebound, accompanied by a primal scream.

On the downside, Ibaka often plays like a guy who has still learning the nuances of the game. He is almost a black hole as noted with his passing skills, and doesn’t always show the best feel for the game with his decision making skills. He has some basic pivot moves he can go to, but is not enough of a back to the basket presence to take advantage of his considerable physical advantages at this level. Ibaka will need plenty of patience and experience to round out his game and help translate his phenomenal potential into big-time production, but he’s already a pretty impressive prospect who is capable of changing a game on both ends of the floor. He’s signed to play in the very competitive Spanish second division (LEB) for the next as one of only two import players for L’Hospitalet, but does have an out in his contract for a big team like Tau Vitoria for example to swoop in if his agents feel that is the right move for him development-wise. His Spanish agent, Gerard Darnes of U1st Sports

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, told us that Ibaka is entering the 2008 draft “for sure”.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Not according to D'Antoni. He wants five 20 ppg threats on the floor who will share the ball.

In any case, I think the Suns should be looking at bigs unless they get into the Mayo/Rose range in the draft. One guy that has not been brought up is Serge Ibaka of Congo. Slam had an nice writeup about him. Slam lists him at 6'8" but both DX and nbadraft.net show him at 6'10".

http://www.slamonline.com



Here is a video which appears to be from Spanish junior league. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMP7pn6VNYQ


DX lists him at the #11 pick in the 2008 Mock

http://www.draftexpress.com/viewprofile.php?p=1302

that dude is the very definition of "project." i mean, we don't even know how he'd look posting up a chair!

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

I swear we've talked about this Ibaka guy before, he looks a foot taller and 5 years older than all his competition in all the vids. Didnt we have a thread about him already this summer? Please someone else confirm that.

 

[SunsTzu]

that dude is the very definition of "project." i mean, we don't even know how he'd look posting up a chair!

Yeah, I'll laugh at any team who picks this guy in the 1st round. That is also one of the worst "highlight" videos I have seen trying to pump a players stock. All it really shows is he is bigger than the guys he is playing against and moves fairly well. I read somewhere he is supposed to have a 40 inch vert but he is getting little lift in that video and doesn't seem all that quick off his feet.

I don't understand how a person who was being critical of Ricky Rubio for being a hyped european youngster would be intrested in someone whose game is likely on par with Mbenga's.

 

[overseascardfan]

If we're looking at bigs:

PF Darrell Arthur - All around game, will shine for KU this year.

PF Richard Hendrix - A little undersized but can rebound and defend.

C DeAndre Jordan - Will be this year's best Frosh big man.

PF Alex Stephenson - Raw and a role player last year but will get more time to show skills this year.

C Deon Thompson - Really surprised last year for UNC.

PF Jordan Hill - Lots of potential must show it on the court this year.

PF Jeff Pendergraph - May not put up Ike Diogu numbers but is considered one of the Pac 10's best F's.

PF Taj Gibson - I think he is the best PF in the country this year.

Others : C Kevin Love, C Brook Lopez, PF Robin Lopez, PF Derrick Caracter, PF Michael Beasley

 

[slinslin]

Michael Beasley possible Marion replacement with Altantas top3 pick (knock on wood).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuA_5Y3xWn0
Check the Sequence at 00:37, I dont care about poor competition or anything but that kind of body control on the layup is usually only seen in great players.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9u0JWU3Tdc&mode=related&search=

I see you listed him as a PF above. He will be a SF in the NBA most likely (offensively at the very least). His game seems to be all about running, slashing, dunking and shooting and not work in the paint all that much.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Michael Beasley possible Marion replacement with Altantas top3 pick (knock on wood).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuA_5Y3xWn0
Check the Sequence at 00:37, I dont care about poor competition or anything but that kind of body control on the layup is usually only seen in great players.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9u0JWU3Tdc&mode=related&search=

I see you listed him as a PF above. He will be a SF in the NBA most likely (offensively at the very least). His game seems to be all about running, slashing, dunking and shooting and not work in the paint all that much.

the kid can flat out ball. i didn't realize his stroke was so nice. mayo, rose, beasely . . . yes please.

 

[mathbzh]

the kid can flat out ball. i didn't realize his stroke was so nice. mayo, rose, beasely . . . yes please.

We would be lucky to get one of them... it will not happen

 

[Russ Smith]

If we're looking at bigs:

PF Darrell Arthur - All around game, will shine for KU this year.

PF Richard Hendrix - A little undersized but can rebound and defend.

C DeAndre Jordan - Will be this year's best Frosh big man.

PF Alex Stephenson - Raw and a role player last year but will get more time to show skills this year.

C Deon Thompson - Really surprised last year for UNC.

PF Jordan Hill - Lots of potential must show it on the court this year.

PF Jeff Pendergraph - May not put up Ike Diogu numbers but is considered one of the Pac 10's best F's.

PF Taj Gibson - I think he is the best PF in the country this year.

Others : C Kevin Love, C Brook Lopez, PF Robin Lopez, PF Derrick Caracter, PF Michael Beasley

We'll see on Jordan, Love outplayed him head to head several times in HS camps but I know he's bigger and more athletic, just needs to get stronger.
I've heard he has a very high ceiling but I really haven't seen him play.

I like Gibson a lot too despite my dislike for how he got into college, he's there now so I won't hold it against him. The one thing with him is he's already 22 so while he is still getting stronger, he's closer to his physical peak than your normal soph in college would be. In his case because of his pre college experiences(home schooling, 2 prepschools who had no athletic facilities) he never really lifted before he got to USC. Great rebounder, blocks shots, he reminds me a bit of Rodman, better offense, not as athletic as Rodman in his prime. I think he has a chance to be a late lottery pick.

I like Hendrix too nice lowpost game. I was very underwhelmed with Arthur, the talent is obvious but he doesn't like to play in the paint at least not yet.

Jordan Hill is an absolute athletic freak, has no idea what he's doing on the court yet but the talent is pretty impressive.

I don't think Robin Lopez is nearly as good as these guys now, needs much more time his offense is way behind his defense.

I have to see Caracter this year, last year I was really unimpressed, when you consider how hyped he was in HS he didn't do that much. I know he was out of shape, got suspended etc, but when he did play I didn't see much. But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt this year.

 

[hcsilla]

I have to see Caracter this year, last year I was really unimpressed, when you consider how hyped he was in HS he didn't do that much. I know he was out of shape, got suspended etc, but when he did play I didn't see much. But I'll give him the benefit of the doubt this year.

At the end of last season Caracter started to show why he was praised by many people.

He is big, muscular, dynamic, a good leaper and a bruiser type rebounder. He has to polish his low-post moves and add face to basket game to his arsenal but he is a promising prospect. He reminds me of Al Jefferson with a bit more shotblocking.

Not to mention that his team can easily win next year's championship.

 

[Russ Smith]

At the end of last season Caracter started to show why he was praised by many people.

He is big, muscular, dynamic, a good leaper and a bruiser type rebounder. He has to polish his low-post moves and add face to basket game to his arsenal but he is a promising prospect. He reminds me of Al Jefferson with a bit more shotblocking.

Not to mention that his team can easily win next year's championship.

When did he transfer to UCLA?



I agree Louisville is loaded this year and I did look up his numbers and you're right he really came on late. He was great against Stanford in limited minutes but then kind of came up short against A&M fouled out in 7 minutes!

He's been hyped for so long I guess I sort of expected more which probably wasn't fair given the amount of games he missed.

 

[Russ Smith]

FYI for Suns fans who covet OJ Mayo and haven't heard.

Monday news came out that USC soph guard Daniel Hackett's got a broken jaw wired shut and out at least 6 weeks. The claim is that in a pickup game Mayo got a rebound, turned, and inadvertently hit Hackett breaking his jaw in 3 places.

There are rampant rumors that it was in fact a punch after the 2 had been jawing. THere's prior history, in AAU ball in summer of 06 they were jawing back and forth during a tournament in Oregon and Mayo's buddy Bill Walker sucker punched Hackett from behind.

Hackett is insisting it was an accident but every account you read about it they bend over backwards to stress accident to the point that you start wondering why are trying this hard?

I was half expecting a story by today that Mayo had broken his hand in a "fall" in practice but nothing yet so if it was a punch, he apparently didn't hurt himself.

 

[Russ Smith]

FYI for those who think Kevin Love is too heavy take a look at this pic from UCLA media day, he looks positively skinny. Kid on the left is Chace Stanback another frosh who will be a nice player but nobody expects much from him right away like they do from Love.

 

[panfolk]

A few questions:
Anybody know when Batum's season starts in France?
Can a first round draft pick be left overseas for a year?
Is Love athletic enough for the Suns?
Is there anybody out there that doesn't see Rose as a potential heir to Nash's throne?
Are there interesting prospects for the Suns' own pick or will we sell again?

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

FYI for those who think Kevin Love is too heavy take a look at this pic from UCLA media day, he looks positively skinny. Kid on the left is Chace Stanback another frosh who will be a nice player but nobody expects much from him right away like they do from Love.

yeah, not as much mushy as before, but hardly the image of strength. still looks doughy. again, color me skeptical.

 

[mathbzh]

A few questions:
Anybody know when Batum's season starts in France?
Can a first round draft pick be left overseas for a year?
Is Love athletic enough for the Suns?
Is there anybody out there that doesn't see Rose as a potential heir to Nash's throne?
Are there interesting prospects for the Suns' own pick or will we sell again?

Batum season as already started.
I didn't see him.
In two games and 53 minutes his stat line his:
9 pts (1/3 2pt, 2/6 3pt, 1/2 FT) / 4 rbds / 6 ast / 1 bs / 1 st / 6TO

 

[Russ Smith]

yeah, not as much mushy as before, but hardly the image of strength. still looks doughy. again, color me skeptical.

Strength was never his problem he was overweight before. He's slimmed down a lot. I would love to know how much weight he actually lost. He's never going to be an explosive athlete but I do expect him to be really good. Not sure how he'll translate to the NBA yet but he looks to be in terrific shape now so that's one less concern I have. If you look at the media day pics though he does look to be in the 6'9" to possibly 6'10" range at best.
There's a pic of him standing near J'Mison Morgan a kid UCLA is recruiting and he's clearly shorter than Morgan who's listed at 6'11", so Kevin "might" be 6'10" but probably a shade under.


The funniest moment of his media day was when he "outed" Mayo for punching a teammate. Love was asked about it and said he'd be careful to not hit Collison with an elbow in practice and then he said "elbow, yeah right" and then explained he was not only friends with Mayo but friends with Hackett(they were on the same AAU team in HS one year) and that he would never hit a teammate with a fist or hand or even an elbow intentionally. Pretty obvious he was saying look USC can say what they want but I know them both and I know the truth is OJ punched him and broke his jaw.

Should add, I HATE the new UCLA uniform, with the gold C. I guess it represents UCLA being the first school to reach 100 national championships but nobody will get that from seeing a gold C, and it just looks stupid IMHO. Hope they rethink that one.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Strength was never his problem he was overweight before. He's slimmed down a lot. I would love to know how much weight he actually lost. He's never going to be an explosive athlete but I do expect him to be really good. Not sure how he'll translate to the NBA yet but he looks to be in terrific shape now so that's one less concern I have. If you look at the media day pics though he does look to be in the 6'9" to possibly 6'10" range at best.
There's a pic of him standing near J'Mison Morgan a kid UCLA is recruiting and he's clearly shorter than Morgan who's listed at 6'11", so Kevin "might" be 6'10" but probably a shade under.


The funniest moment of his media day was when he "outed" Mayo for punching a teammate. Love was asked about it and said he'd be careful to not hit Collison with an elbow in practice and then he said "elbow, yeah right" and then explained he was not only friends with Mayo but friends with Hackett(they were on the same AAU team in HS one year) and that he would never hit a teammate with a fist or hand or even an elbow intentionally. Pretty obvious he was saying look USC can say what they want but I know them both and I know the truth is OJ punched him and broke his jaw.

Should add, I HATE the new UCLA uniform, with the gold C. I guess it represents UCLA being the first school to reach 100 national championships but nobody will get that from seeing a gold C, and it just looks stupid IMHO. Hope they rethink that one.

interesting what he had to say about mayo. kid's just seem to got too much 'tude.

and i hadn't noticed the "c," but i completely agree with you . . . not a fan. kinda cheesy.

 

[Russ Smith]

interesting what he had to say about mayo. kid's just seem to got too much 'tude.

and i hadn't noticed the "c," but i completely agree with you . . . not a fan. kinda cheesy.

Yep how many people are going to see the Gold C and go oh that's roman numeral for 100? Most people are just going to go that's stupid, which I agree with.

Mayo is a hell of a player and he's not the first kid to punch a teammate in practice, Collison did it to Farmar 2 years ago. But when you fracture someone's jaw in 3 places and he's out for at least 6 weeks, it's a bigger deal and it makes you wonder why USC is covering it up if that's indeed the truth.
Hackett insists it was an accident but even USC insiders like Scott Wolf are saying there were multiple witnesses who saw the punch.

That said I still say Mayo is going to put up 40+ more than once this year in Pac 10 games. We haven't seen a scorer like him in the conference since Shareef, and since he'll be PG a lot and have the ball, he'll get more shots than Shareef did. In the end I think Love will contribute more to winning than Mayo will because of his passing and rebounding, but Mayo may score 20-25PPG.

 

[AZBALLER]

That said I still say Mayo is going to put up 40+ more than once this year in Pac 10 games. We haven't seen a scorer like him in the conference since Shareef, and since he'll be PG a lot and have the ball, he'll get more shots than Shareef did.

Eddie House???

 

[overseascardfan]

That said I still say Mayo is going to put up 40+ more than once this year in Pac 10 games. We haven't seen a scorer like him in the conference since Shareef, and since he'll be PG a lot and have the ball, he'll get more shots than Shareef did. In the end I think Love will contribute more to winning than Mayo will because of his passing and rebounding, but Mayo may score 20-25PPG.


I don't know I think with a talent like Gibson down low he won't be the focal point of the offense.

 

[mathbzh]

Batum season as already started.
I didn't see him.
In two games and 53 minutes his stat line his:
9 pts (1/3 2pt, 2/6 3pt, 1/2 FT) / 4 rbds / 6 ast / 1 bs / 1 st / 6TO

Batum last game:
32 minutes 16 pts (8/16 - 0/4 3pt) / 6 rbds / 3 ast / 2 st / 1 TO / 2 PF

There is a report on this game here : http://www.europeanprospects.com/

 

[Russ Smith]

Eddie House???

Good call I looked him up and he was actually better than I remembered I always thought he was a gunner but his FG% was higher than I realized at ASU.