Official 2009 Draft Thread

[binkar]

Anyone have any thoughts whether BJ Mullens would be a serious candidate for #14. Even though he is young (a freshman at Ohio State) he seems to have the tools to develop. I saw his interview at HoopsHype and I was impressed although his thoughts about himself are lofty (which I like). He is now projected to go #19 at Draftnet. I like that he is a solid 7', has an NBA body, considered fluid and he is light on his feet. Also it doesn't hurt he can hit the outside jump shot. I've always passed over him in the past, but now I'm reconsidering. One has to gamble a bit to get a quality center for the future at #14. At worst, he seems to be a taller version of Nick Colison.


http://www.nbadraft.net/players/bj-mullens



__________________________________

I agree with you, but that is a severe understatement IMO. The guy is one of the best athletes at his size I have ever seen, but there are plenty of incredible athletes that never develope (see Swift, Stromile). Wether he ever develops into a good NBA player is yet to be seen, but the guy has some serious skills. That said, I wouldn't be ecstatic if we drafted him nor would I be upset.

 

[Mainstreet]

I agree with you, but that is a severe understatement IMO. The guy is one of the best athletes at his size I have ever seen, but there are plenty of incredible athletes that never develope (see Swift, Stromile). Wether he ever develops into a good NBA player is yet to be seen, but the guy has some serious skills. That said, I wouldn't be ecstatic if we drafted him nor would I be upset.

I watched some video on Mullen and I must say I am more than impressed. I wasn't looking at the level of talent he played against but I just focused on his athletic ability on a basketball court. Someone will have to talk me down about not drafting Mullen if he is available. He has some serious hops, athletic ability, fluid moves and the body of a center. He even has a frame to add more weight. One can say he hasn't fully developed yet as a center, but he is only 20 years old. He certainly knows what to do with a basketball when he gets it inside. There are some other players I like a lot but one does not pass up on talent like this in a big man. I think people are going to be kicking themselves for years if they do. See link to Draftnet. for some video. There is more on Youtube.

Tune back in later when I get excited about another player.

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/bj-mullens

 

[Chaplin]

I watched some video on Mullen and I must say I am more than impressed. I wasn't looking at the level of talent he played against but I just focused on his athletic ability on a basketball court. Someone will have to talk me down about not drafting Mullen if he is available. He has some serious hops, athletic ability, fluid moves and the body of a center. He even has a frame to add more weight. One can say he hasn't fully developed yet as a center, but he is only 20 years old. He certainly knows what to do with a basketball when he gets it inside. There are some other players I like a lot but one does not pass up on talent like this in a big man. I think people are going to be kicking themselves for years if they do. See link to Draftnet. for some video. There is more on Youtube.

Tune back in later when I get excited about another player.

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/bj-mullens

At #14, I'm sold on Mullens. I'd still like Earl Clark if he's there, but Mullens might not be a bad consolation.

 

[overseascardfan]

At #14, I'm sold on Mullens. I'd still like Earl Clark if he's there, but Mullens might not be a bad consolation.

Definitely a lot of potential, but I would go for more of an immediate impact guy like Flynn or James Johnson who could come in and start right away. If we got a second 1st rounder then I would take a gamble on him, there are some that will say he didn't even start in college but look at guys like Andrew Bynum, Tyson Chandler, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Corey Maggette most of them didn't go to college and took a couple of years before they became productive players. Corey Maggette went at #13 depite 1 year at Duke and not starting. Mullin is a better project than Lopez because he has more skill and potential.

 

[Andrew]

I am always completely clueless when its draft time, I never pay attention to college ball and that always takes me out of the loop.

 

[Errntknght]

draft time???

 

[binkar]

Austin Daye worked out for the Suns on Sunday...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4204118&name=katz_andy

 

[binkar]

Blair, Budinger, Henderson, Lawson, Holiday, Johnson, and Daye have now all worked out for the Suns. A total of 12 people but I don't know the others.

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2009/05/26/20090526sunsprospects0527.html

The lack of coverage is very discouraging and disappointing.

 

[binkar]

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/PaulCoro/54121

 

[Mainstreet]

I am always completely clueless when its draft time, I never pay attention to college ball and that always takes me out of the loop.

I try to watch at least some college basketball which really helps when looking at talent. It's much better to watch the players in a game. However, even without that experience, I suggest you go to the following sites and read and then watch as much video as you can find. It will help a lot.

See the following to sites:

http://www.nbadraft.net/2009mock_draft

http://www.draftexpress.com/index.php

 

[binkar]

Wow I guess this boards interest in this draft is next to nonexistent now. There is 10 times more talk on the Lakers, Nuggets, Cavs, and Magic then there is on the players the Suns may draft.

 

[Mulli]

Wow I guess this boards interest in this draft is next to nonexistent now. There is 10 times more talk on the Lakers, Nuggets, Cavs, and Magic then there is on the players the Suns may draft.

Isn't that as it should be? The Suns are barely in the lottery slots. How much can one talk about such a pick?

 

[binkar]

Because there are plenty of players out there who could be a difference maker for this franchise for a really long time. Are you implying that the draft is completely irrelevant?

 

[Cheesewater]

Isn't that as it should be? The Suns are barely in the lottery slots. How much can one talk about such a pick?

...said the Lakers fan.

 

[Cheesewater]

The Suns should take the best shooter available.

Take Wayne Ellington.

 

[overseascardfan]

I am torn between Flynn or Johnson. Flynn would give us an electrifying young PG but Johnson would fit in perfectly at the 3 and could play the 4 in a pinch and with Amare's health concerns, he may have to.

 

[LV-Suns]

Pre-draft numbers out.
DraftExpress

Earl Clark's numbers really stands out.

 

[Ronin]

Andy Katz on First Take:
Teams are falling in love with Sam Young.(Pitt)
Damion James has withdrawn from the draft and is headed back to Texas.


Crap I wanted to take James with a second round pick.

 

[Ronin]

Deadline for players to withdraw from the NBA draft is today @ 5 p.m

 

[Ronin]

Latest Update: 10:09 AM

-Wake Forest’s Jeff Teague will announce shortly that he’s staying in the draft and hiring agent Mike Conley

You must be registered for see images attach

of BDA Sports, a source told DraftExpress.

-Following a series of strong workouts in front of virtually every team in the NBA, Omri Casspi has decided to keep his name in the draft, a representative of his agency CAA told DraftExpress.

-Last word is that Patrick Mills is leaning towards staying in the draft. He works out for the Oklahoma City Thunder today.

-Luke Harangody has not received a guarantee from any NBA team as of yet, but may still stay in the draft regardless, a source close to the situation told DraftExpress. Harangody would like to stay in the draft, particularly if he feels good about his chances of being drafted in the late first or early second round. A final decision will be made Monday.

-Boban Marjanovic and Vladimir Dasic have both withdrawn their name from the draft, according to their European agency Beobasket.

-Nemanja Bjelica will withdraw, his agent Herb Rudoy told us this weekend.

-Sergey Gladyr is leaning towards withdrawing his name from the draft, his agent Bouna Ndiaye told DraftExpress this weekend, unless he receives a commitment from a team drafting in the second round.

-Anton Ponomarev will withdraw, his agent Bill McCandles told us this weekend.

http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/Jonathan-Givony/#New-Jersey-Group-Workout-Wrap-Up-3259

 

[Ronin]

Early-Entry Chatter

Latest Update: 12:40 PM


-Taj Gibson has elected to stay in the draft, a source close to the situation tells us. Gibson is working out in Utah today with Tyler Hansbrough

You must be registered for see images attach

, and based on the feedback he's received from NBA teams, he feels comfortable about being drafted in the late first round.

-Nick Calathes is “98%” staying in the draft, according to a source close to the situation, despite the fact that he has no guarantees in the first round. He is working out in Oklahoma City today, owners of the #25 pick. This move will take a great deal of pressure off him next year, as he won’t have to worry about his draft stock in what is sure to be an up and down rookie season in Europe.

-Christian Eyenga is “still debating” whether to keep his name in the draft or not, according to a source close to the situation, but the “gut feeling” is that he’ll end up staying in. Eyenga is a great case of the new approach many agents are taking towards European players, as he is clearly trying to avoid the restrictions of the NBA’s

You must be registered for see images attach

rookie scale for first round draft picks by entering the draft at a very young age (19).

Our understanding is that he “wouldn’t be too distraught” by going undrafted, but that there are still a number of teams with high-level scouting in Europe who are familiar enough with him to potentially take a gamble on him in the mid to late portion of the second round. As you can read in Eyenga’s scouting report from November, we’re talking about a very physically gifted wing player with tremendous athleticism and upside. Once you get past the first 30-35 picks or so, there aren’t many players in this draft who share his upside, even if he’s still a very raw player from a skills standpoint. A team looking to conserve cap space, lacking in roster spots and/or possessing multiple draft picks could find him very intriguing in the second round.

It will be very interesting to see where he ends up, should he indeed decide to stay in.

http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/Jonathan-Givony/#New-Jersey-Group-Workout-Wrap-Up-3259

 

[Ronin]

Early Entry Withdrawal Deadline Rumor Millby: Jonathan Givony - PresidentJune 15, 2009Early-Entry Chatter

Latest Update: 5:32 PM

-Nick Calathes has elected to stay in the draft, as anticipated.

-Milan Macvan and Aboubakar Zaki have withdrawn their name from the draft, according to their agent David Bauman.

-Christian Eyenga has elected to stay in the draft, as we anticipated in our article below, according to his agent Andy Miller.

-Ukrainian Sergey Gladyr has surprisingly elected to stay in the draft, his agent Bouna Ndiaye told us. Ndiaye was looking for a commitment from a team drafting in the second round, and it looks like he received it. While Gladyr is still very young, he's already a big time athlete and shooter/scorer, and from what we saw at the Eurocamp in Treviso, he could end up being a great value pick in the second round for some team.

-Paulao Prestes has withdraw from the draft, his agent told us.

-Chinemelu Elonu has elected to stay in the draft.

-Austin Daye has elected to stay in the draft.

Latest Update: 4:18 PM

-Patrick Mills is staying in the draft, according to a source close to the situation.

4:03 PM Update

-Luke Harangody is returning to school, a source close to the situation told DraftExpress.

3:13 PM Update

-Greivis Vasquez is returning to Maryland, a source close to the situation told DraftExpress.

-Jodie Meeks is staying in the draft according to numerous media outlets.

1:50 PM Update

-Ricky Rubio will keep his name in the draft, his agent Dan Fegan told DraftExpress. Clearly the rift between Rubio and his Spanish team DKV Joventut is too deep to mend at this point, and with the team strapped for cash and not playing in next year’s Euroleague, that does not appear to be a situation that Rubio is interested in returning to.

http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/Jonathan-Givony/#Early-Entry-Withdrawal-Deadline-Rumor-Mill-3260

 

[WildBB]

Pre-draft numbers out.
DraftExpress

Earl Clark's numbers really stands out.

Yeah, 5 bench reps. Dude needs a strength coach.

 

[MastersofCombat]

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2009/
http://scoutingthenba.com/

 

[Ronin]

A number of agents seem to have heard similar things or just don’t want to get anywhere near this situation, and both Jrue Holiday and Stephen Curry are currently refusing to work out for Golden State. The same goes for Ricky Rubio and Tyreke Evans.

-In the unlikely case that Rubio slips past Sacramento, it appears that Washington will not hesitate to pick him if they feel like he’s indeed the best player on their draft board. The prevailing sentiment at the moment is that Rubio is not in a position to return to Joventut, and that he may have lost some of the leverage he once had by keeping his name in the draft and suing his former team.

Many feel like Rubio would be a good fit in Washington playing alongside Gilbert Arenas, but Rubio’s camp apparently does not agree with that notion at all.
-We’re hearing that DeJuan Blair is in pretty good shape at the moment, and he continues to have very strong workouts that are easing the concerns teams have about his knee. Blair’s draft range looks pretty steady between 12 and 16, although he will work out for teams above and below those picks. Don’t be surprised to see a team like Oklahoma City or Portland try to make a move for him on draft night, as both organizations are reportedly very high on him.

-Does B.J. Mullens have a promise from Chicago at 16? That doesn’t seem to make a great deal of sense considering that he’s working out for Philadelphia at 17 later this week…The talk of a promise started once Mullens pulled out of the New Jersey Nets group workout, but it’s possible he just didn’t want to deal with the prospect of matching up with Luke Nevill again. Mullens really struggled in the two previous group workouts that they went head to head.

-The Oklahoma City Thunder are reportedly in Los Angeles right now visiting with Hasheem Thabeet and watching him work out.

-Earl Clark is having some very strong workouts as of late, and is rising back up teams’ draft boards. He was very good in Minnesota apparently, and is strongly in the mix in New Jersey (#11), Charlotte (#12), Phoenix (#14) and Detroit (#15).

http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/Jonathan-Givony/#Word-on-the-Street-June-16th-3263