[JazzinSLCParticipant]

I remember how far a talented big guy like DeJuan Blair slipped last year in the draft (because of the ACL issues), and am wondering if Cousins will be that guy this season (for mental and or emotional/character issues). How far might he drop? If you were a team, picking from spot 3 on down, would you draft him?
He’s a high risk, high reward kind of guy. He could be an 8 time all-star, or a complete bust.

[JazzinSLCParticipant]

Teams concerns over his weight and conditioning.

[OldSkoolBasketballParticipant]

I think 6 is the farthest he will drop.

[sheltwon3Participant]

I agree he will fall no farther than 6 but we are saying all this without putting into team workouts. He could also move up but right now they hype is against him.

[HotSnotParticipant]

Its a huge risk. The thing is… its all how you justify the pick. Blair was an exception to the rule. No ACL’s. He could have come out and blew out either knee again in his first year and his conditioning was already suspect at draft time. If you were the GM who drafted him despite the red flags with a loto/mid 1st pick, everyone would be calling for your head. How could you not see the signs they’d ask? No GM wanted to risk their jobs on him when there was a ton of prospects in good physical condition still on the board.

Cousins is different. All it takes is one GM to really want the guy and be comfortable with him at the pick he goes at. Cousins has more raw talent and better physical tools then Blair. I don’t see Cousins dropping past 5, even if it means another team trades up to get him.

Its all just guess work though.

[McWinningParticipant]

Lol what has he done that shows he has a bad attitude, i mean Daniel Orton his teammate walked out of a game literally, and also during that game Cousins had to stop him from getting into a fight.

People should be talking about Ortons attitude, instead of Cousins.

[juves4783Participant]

he can go anywhere from 2-6. he’s 6-11 and reports are he came in at 290 lbs chiseled. i think when you consider his mental issues; i have a hard time believing gm’s fault a guy that plays with emotion. this guy didn’t get into any off the court problems, which would concern teams. this draft is pretty weak at the center position and this guy can play both the center and power forward positions right away. any of the top 6 teams could use this guy to add some versatility and a solid skill set to their frontline.

[Dhamp2Participant]

I WOULD TAKE DEMARCUS COUSINS WITH THE SECOND PICK IN THE DRAFT. IF HE GOES BELOW PICK 5, I’LL BOYCOT THE NBA NEXT YEAR!!!

Dhamp2…the greatest basketball mind in the world. Next to Hubie Brown anyway.

[sammybuckeye13Participant]

Yeah, he’s not dropping past 6. I personally have no problem with the supposed “problems” that he has. He’s not insufferable like Zach Randolph (was?), out of shape, lazy or selfish. He’s passionate. He occasionally gets frustrated because he wants to win, and I really like that in him, because that’s so rare in big men today. He’s not passive, and doesn’t hang around at the top of the key. He knows how to get in position, exceptionally deep in the post, and he knows exactly what to do when he gets the ball. I really hope he decides to participate in a good amount of one-on-one drills, I want to see him overpower these guys and dominate. He averaged 25 points and 16 rebounds per 40 minutes at Kentucky, and that was playing alongside two other potential lottery picks. Cousins is as motivated as anyone in the draft, which he’ll prove the moment he steps on the court next year.

[kingsfan1018Participant]

I’m hoping my Kings pick him up at 5 . He’s gonna prove everyone wrong .

[sheltwon3Participant]

That is my hope as well Kingsfan. I think him and Tyreke would just be physically imposing to many teams. I would rather he lose 10 lbs though. He moves like if he were smaller he could do more things.

[Dr.RedParticipant]

I would be shocked if the Wolves do not take him at 4, but there is no way Sac allows him to slip past them at 5. He may have some Rasheed Wallace-type on court emotion issues, but teammates love him (except Daniel Orton, apparently) and he hasn’t had much in the line of off the court issues. I think he will mature quickly and be a top 5 center in the league for years to come. There just aren’t too many guys who have his package of size, strength, and skill/IQ. His defense is a little suspect, but he seems, to me, to be a guy who wants to be great and win, so i think he will work on that. He isn’t the most athletic big man around, but he’s strong as hell. Have you seen him at the Combine? Dude is massive and cut! I don’t see any weight issues at the moment… Wish I could have seen some of his mobility with that added muscle, but he is pretty fluid with his movement for someone of that size. I think he is the real deal…

[sheltwon3Participant]

There is already talks about Philly moving down to take Cousins at 4. I think this is going to happen. Sacramento is going to get screwed. The could take Monroe though who it would appear has measure at 6’11” and he seem slightly taller than Cousins which surprised me. They could also got Wesley Johnson but I doubt that. Wesley Johnson could fall. Maybe Detroit take hims and trades Prince for a 5.

[sheltwon3Participant]

I am not knocking if he is in shape but being someone that has carried extra lbs even though I look in good shape. That extra weight limits what i can do athletically and also it is more tiring regardless if it is muscle. You can increase muscle strength without adding as much bulk muscle. Cousins already has a wide thick frame so 270 or 275 would be Ideal for him. I think Dwight Howard is 280 right now.

[HotSnotParticipant]

that we are all even talking about this. Realistically, If cousins isn’t the top prospect based on talent he should be no less then third after Wall and Turner. The fact that all these Mocks have him going any lower is really absurd. He is a true and talented five. They are so hard to come by and these mocks have 2 teams passing on him completely?

The 2 hardest positions to get on a team are the PG and Center. There’s tons of little guys looking to break into the league but it takes a real special one with great vision to man the point. As for center, like HP in cars… theres no replacement for displacement. PHX would kill for a center right now against LA. They are getting bombed inside and there is nothing they can do about it…Nothing. Even undersized bigs get it done… Millsap, Blair and Big Baby who gets blocked like 40% of the time he puts up a shot. As long as Cousins doesn’t get arrested you have to take him.

It might actually make some sense for Philly to take Cousins and pass on Turner. Philly has Dalemberts expiring contract and Brand at the four. Plug Cousins at the five and keep Speights coming off the bench at either spot. Turner could then fall to the Nets at 3.

Too many trades and picks that actually makes sense.

[JuCoopParticipant]

I pray he falls to 7th so the Pistons can scoop him up.

[kanebangerParticipant]

he will be a bust

[sheltwon3Participant]

I think Minny will trade up and take Turner and more than likely NJ will take Favors leaving Philly to grab Cousins. The key thing is what will NJ do. They could throw a wrench in this trade. Favors is such a good pick for NJ that is would be stupid for them to risk not taking him to make a trade with Cousins but maybe Toronto would give them Bosh for Cousins though.

[sheltwon3Participant]

He is number 5 in most mocks and moving up. His range right now is 2- 6

[Charlie SheenParticipant]

Kings at 5 and as for the weight issue the training you do in the NBA adds a lot of muscles look at Melo Bron and Wade they came in and were thin now they are ripped and I noticed how lean Aldridge and Howard were and now their ripped. Cousins has a killer instinct and knows that he could be the best Center in the league in a few years so he will work his tail off and turn 15 of those extra pounds into raw muscle and work on his foot speed

[BlueLacesParticipant]

If the Wolves aren’t able to move up to number 2 and grab Turner, I am hoping they don’t make the mistake of not drafting Cousins. Drafting Cousins would make Jefferson expendable and they could bring in a SF that way.

[sacphil_08Participant]

This is absolutely killing me as a kings fan for a couple of different reasons. I’m a kings fan and the fact that we are 5th was really disheartening. Also i’ve seen minny on some mocks projected to take him. Last year on mocks im sure they werent expecting minnesota to draft 3 pgs but they did. What david kahn does is anyone’s guess. He could trade jefferson or love and draft cousins, but i wonder how effective they could be. They wouldnt be very fast of a team considering love isnt the fastest guy obviously and cousins is huge so theyd become very half court oriented, and with flynn at point i think they would be better suited for a more uptempo game. Another thing as a kings fan we have to consider is if petrie even wants to take cousins if hes available. If you think about it, monroe is in essence a “petrie pick” someone who is highly skilled and talented with a high IQ, but he is not as passionate or as gritty as cousins but he doesn’t have character issues (that anyone is complaining about) so maybe petrie would feel better about drafting him, but im tired of bigs that can pass and play the high post well and shoot or whatever we need to get tough inside. Last year i think rubio was petrie’s pick but im almost positive that the maloofs stepped in and said to take tyreke so it’s tough to say at this point. It’s early on in the process and petrie hasn’t been reported to have spoken or worked out cousins. I’m also afraid of philly trading down with minnesota which i feel would definitely be philly’s way of saying that they are taking cousins as he and brand would be a great combo up front. I’m scared as all hell right now though to be honest. Wes johnson will be exactly as hes advertised but id much rather have cousins because there won’t be another one of him for a long time.

[germukParticipant]

THANK YOU! Finally someone agrees with me. Cousins’ attitude problems have been really overblown, he just acts like a kid sometimes.

[doubledribblerParticipant]

Cousins is a hard guy to figure out. I think he had an impressive season and personally I thought he was UK’s best player for the season. That’s not a knock on Wall, but there was no one at his position that was on his level in college. So despite the great season you wonder how good he is, even if he goes against these other big guys in the workouts. I think the guy is worth the risk though, considering how little talent is out there at the position. Everyone that plays the position mainly gets drafted based on potential, but at least you know this guy can rebound and score. At worst I see him like Zach Randolph. Not great, but you can do a lot worse than 20 and 10 every year. I just hope the guy doesn’t end up at Golden State. There is no way this turns out well if Nelson is there. I can picture Sprewell vs. Carlesimo part II.

[knicksfan7Participant]

I want Cousins to go to the Kings the most because I truly believe it is the best fit for him. He needs to go somewhere where he isn’t the franchise, in SacTo it’s Evans. Cousins is not a leader, but that’s fine, he can be a #1 option scorer while Evans leads the team. If he were to go to a team that made him the #1 option overall, I would expect him to put up the numbers (20 and 10), but the teams record would be around 28-54.

[doubledribblerParticipant]

@knicksfan7 I expect that he’s going to end up on a bad team no matter what, so that’s part of the belief for the 20 and 10 numbers, but I don’t think he will put that up his first year no matter what team he is on. Any of the teams picking are likely to be bad teams for at least the next 2 or 3 years. Wizards might be able to escape that with some help in free agency, but they aren’t going to draft Cousins.

[morgatilParticipant]

I actually agree with DHamp for the first time ever.

Skip on Cousins, besides the Wall pick, and you will regret it as long as you are a GM.

This guy will be close to a 20 and 10 guy right out of the gates as a rookie.

And yes, his attitude? What attitude? He just wants to win. The whole Louisville elbow thing…. do some research, that kid who received it shoved both Bledsoe and Cousins in pregame as they were running around the half court line. He had it coming. That’s why Bledsoe got T’d up so fast and was so irritated to start that game.

[morgatilParticipant]

If he were to drop to the Pistons, it would make my season……. but it is not going to happen.

[KevinDurantRocksParticipant]

Have a hard time in there first year due to the fact that most of them never faced the height and physical power by there adversaries

[KevinDurantRocksParticipant]

Have a hard time in there first year due to the fact that most of them never faced the height and physical power by there adversaries

[KevinDurantRocksParticipant]

Have a hard time in there first year due to the fact that most of them never faced the height and physical power by there adversaries

[morgatilParticipant]

Oh come on…. if Taj Gibson can thrive, I am sure Cousins will be ok.

[stanford hoops]

wait a min..how is he a huge risk and big emotional porblems?..he has zero off the court issues. he gets upset during games…whoaaaaa thats huge emotional issues. i dont see less emotional issues with him then in rasheed when he came out and he had multiple techs in college

[sacphil_08Participant]

I think this would be a fair assessment if cousins wasn’t 6-10 with a 7-4 wingspan and 292 lbs. He’s a huge freak of a person and I think most centers will be afraid of him rather than vice versa. Especially if you consider that he plays with a tenacity that hardly any bigs play with I’m the league nowadays and he is that huge. He’d be able to impse his will way more than anyone else could on him. So honestly I don’t see that being an issue

[sheltwon3Participant]

Cousins has NBA game and size but needs to improve conditioning but that should be taken care of by tip off with summer league and all that other stuff.

[stanford hoops]

Yeah i doubt these other grown professional basketball centers are gonna be scared of cousins just because he’s big. there are bigger guys in the nba. they will look at him as a rookie who they think they are better then and try to dunk on. where do some of ya’ll come up with these opinion seriously..lol….”centers will be scared of him”…i hope that was a joke. if this was highschool then maybe but these are grown men who play proball and go against the likes of shaq and d howard. i seriously doubt they will be scared of this 19 year old

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