[NCarmean18Participant]

 Not only are there "steals" in an NBA Draft, but there are also things known as reaches, as well.  A reach is whenever a team tries to go after a prospect much sooner than they are projected to go.  I have already given my opinion as to who were the steals in the draft, and now I will express my feelings on the players who had been reached for.  

1.) Dion Waiters (Drafted #4 overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers).

Dion Waiters is a good player and a good scorer.  Don’t get me wrong, I think he will be a good player in the league.  Do I think he will be a superstar?  No.  Do I think he will be an All-Star?  Probably not.  

Look, I know the guy is a high-volume scorer who can create offense for both himself and others, but being taking at 4 is absurd.  Waiters has never starter a game in college, and has came off of the bench his entire tenure at Syracuse University.  

Dion Waiters has all of the intangibles to be a good player in the league, but he seems to fit the role of bench scorer to me.  A guy who can come off of the bench for 20 minutes a night and create some offense to take some of the pressure off of Kyrie Irving.  That’s it.  A top-notch sixth man is all I see out of Waiters, but that is just my opinion. 

If it were me in that Cleveland Cavalier draft room, I would have drafted Harrison Barnes without thinking twice about it.  

2.) Terrence Ross (Drafted #8 overall by the Toronto Raptors). 

This is where I’m going to get some hate mail.  Let me start off by saying that I am not against Terrence Ross as a prospect at all.  I think Terrence Ross is a very good player and I also think that he is a very good scorer and will help out the Toronto Raptors tremendously by spreading the floor.  

However, I still think 8 was a little high for Terrence Ross, especially considering some of the top-rated shooting guards were still available in Austin Rivers in Jeremy Lamb.  

To me, Rivers and Lamb both have more potential to be All-Stars than Terrence Ross does, so I would have preferred one of them to get snatched up by the Raptors before Terrence Ross.  

However, strategically this pick was more effective than drafting Rivers or Lamb.  They need 2 things.  A small forward, and offensive perimeter players.  Ross is 6’7", and while his natural position may be the shooting guard, you throw him in the starting rotation at the 3 along with DeRozen, Barg, Valanciunas, and maybe Steve Nash?  You have a very valuable starting lineup and a nice core of offense in Toronto. 

Overall, I think Ross is a very good offensive prospect and will probably turn out to be a very nice scorer in this league, I just would have liked to see Rivers or Lamb go here instead. 

3.) Miles Plumlee (Drafted #26 overall by the Indiana Pacers).

Ahh yes, all of Duke fans’ dreams have come true.  Not only was Miles Plumlee drafted, but he was drafted at the tail end of the first round.  Look, I know he has the size and strength to be an effective player in the NBA, but taking him at 26th?  Seriously?  The Pacers could have easily gotten a better pick than Miles Plumlee.  

Plumlee has the size, but he lacks the consistancy.  He had flashes of brightness this past season, but he also looked as dull as a burnt light bulb at other times.  

To me, Plumlee is a nice energy big you could have drafted late in the second round.  He could have played at the tail end of your bench and play as a decent backup who can grab some rebounds and light as spark with his energy.  Nothing more.  I think this may have been one of the worst picks in this year’s draft.  

I don’t see Plumlee as a starter in the league.  I see him as a career backup PF/C who can come in and play 10 minutes, block a shot, and grab a few rebounds, that’s it.  

Indiana could have drafted Perry Jones III, and they took Miles Plumlee.  I think that sums it up right there… 

[bigheavyParticipant]

 1)Miles Plumlee had no place in the first round he was barely a second round pick…                                                  2)Dion Waiters at no. 4 makes no sense with Barnes still on the board…                                                                            3)Myers Leonard I don’t think he will be as productive as big men drafted late in the 1st (Fab, Ezeli etc.)

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