Brandon Rush
Rush has spent some time working on his body since the season ended, that much is evident. His upper body looks quite a bit more toned these days, although his lower body still needs some work. His wingspan is fantastic, likely somewhere in the 7-foot range, and he really knows how to use it to its fullest to get his shot off with his high release point.
Rush’s strength and size makes shooting from behind the NBA 3-point line a piece of cake in this setting. He looked effortless knocking down shot after shot, and only needed a glimpse of daylight to spot up while being defended in a fairly competitive pickup game by
Bobby Simmons. He also defended him extremely well on the other side of the ball, using his length and height to contest his shots effectively, and not being afraid to fight back when the much stronger veteran took him down to the paint and posted him up.
In terms of weaknesses, Rush’s ball-handling skills are clearly a work in progress—the ball slows him down and he struggles a bit to beat guys off the dribble. The obvious lack of aggression he showed at times offensively at Kansas wasn’t something you could really measure in this type of setting. Still, teams are going to like the things that he brings to the table—size, athleticism, length, perimeter shooting, and excellent defensive ability—the combination of which is pretty hard to find in an NBA swingman, and could make him a very safe pick starting in the late lottery.
There were rumblings here in Chicago that Phoenix in particular at #15 has taken a liking to him.
Less than a year removed from the ACL surgery that forced him to return to Kansas last season and indirectly helped him win a national championship, Rush’s athleticism is slowly returning to the level it was prior to his injury. It wouldn’t be surprising if he looked a lot more explosive in his rookie season than he did in his final year in college, ala
Carl Landry, as it often takes up to 18 months to fully recover from the surgery (which many players now return much stronger from.)
Thoughts from Procopio: “
Brandon Rush is one of the top wing players in the draft. No one plays off the ball better than him. He brings a lot of things to the table, starting with his very good size, which allow him to play either the 2 or the 3. He is long, athletic, and has a great basketball IQ. He can already make shots from deep. You can run him off pick and roll plays, pin downs, and he’s great in transition.
He reminds me of
Caron Butler. He has the ability to handle the ball, spot-up and make deep shots, and defend. He can do so much. The sky is the limit for him. I think in time, he develop into a team’s second or third best player. He can be a top 50 player in this league without question, because he can do so much, and he’s so athletically gifted. At that position you need, length, speed, size, and skills-- and he has all that. Some of the 2’s in this draft are very limited, very undersized. This kid can do a lot of things. He’s been going full speed since he got here. He has a lot of upside. He’s a guy you have to discuss from 5 on. You can put him in the same breath as Gallinari,
Eric Gordon. He needs to learn some things, but I really like
Brandon Rush, I’m a big fan. Whether we trained him or not.”
