NBA Draft: Ricky Ledo leaning towards enetering the draft
He should come out with this draft being incredibly weak at the top and no clear #1. No reason he can't go top 10 despite him not even playing. There also seems to be a tremendous amount of talent coming in the next few years, especially next year. No reason he can't be a better prospect than McLemore either like you said. I am starting to sour on McLemore a bit. I think he deserves to be a lottery pick but not #1 like he very well could go in this draft.
He won't go top ten, his age and the fact that he hasn't prove himself at the college level will be redflags for alot of teams, his play style isn't exactly team oriented either, despite that I see a team taking a chance with him late lotto to mid first; he has alot of talent he's just rusty and will take a little while to come on. This draft isn't incredibly weak; there's not alot of star power in the draft but there are alot of good players that will be good role players for teams for a long time
"Incredibly weak at the top, no clear #1" and "not a lot of star power" is essentially saying the same thing, so we agree. I also agree that this could possibly be an incredibly deep draft with players who have long NBA careers. This draft's lack of star power is the reason a guy who didn't play has the possibility to go top 10. I don't see too many guys with his skill set, size, and athleticism either. Rather take a chance on him and teach him how to play team, winning basketball, than take Cody Zeller and wish that he gains athleticism and finishing ability, and learns how to rebound, and etc.
Ledo is certainly a top 10 talent, I see him as Tyreke Evans with a smooth jumpshot (I know scary thought), but the red flags and one year off will make him drop outside of top 20. I can see a playoff team drafting him in the 1st round and bring him along slowly off the bench.
I'd say he's a borderline first round talent but combine the fact that he's not playing with the question marks surrounding his readiness / character / off court issues and he'd be making a horrible decision by leaving, and him going first round is highly questionable. Players normally take a step back when they miss an entire year of competitive games. He's got a flashy highlight video, but so do a gazillion guys that aren't NBA players. Jereme Richmond is just one cautionary tale....... Is a team really going to be willing to give him a guaranteed deal and wait for him with so many red flags? Unlikely. Granted, I'm not privy to this kid's situation, but would be a shame for him not to make it because he left too early. Teams will not give him the benefit of the doubt unless he blows the doors off in workouts. Prove yourself in college games if you're really an NBA talent and ensure your future while developing your skills.
Had Shabazz been ruled ineligible for the season he still would have been a lock for the top 3 despite being unproven and Muhammad just cant dream of doing the things with the ball that ledo can. Im not sure ive seen shabazz create his own shot once this season off the dribble
Ive Always thought it was a big reach to take a 2 guard so high in the draft who cant create there own shot much like Ben Mclemore and Bradley Beal. Thats why the 2 guard spot is the weakest position in the NBA right now theirs just not to many players who have the ability to do things that ledo can. Guys like Bradley Beal and Klay Thompson will have limited upside because of that.
Ledo is a lottery talent which other draft experts say he can still go this year.
You guys are trippin if you think Ledo is even better then Archie Goodwin let alone talking about drafting him over guys like Bazz and Zeller. Stop looking at the mystique and start.looking at reality as wings go Bazz, B Mac, Goodwin, Porter, Smart and MCW are all easily better prospects just off the top of my head.
I agree with Aran's take on Ricky. His vagabond prep career seemed like a series of questionable decisions, so him declaring wouldn't surprise me at all.
I also think that Chad Ford's comment was kinda irresponsible as well. What workouts are he referring to? There is no testing process any more for prospects to hinge their decisions on.
@LakeShow that was probably the best question I ever heard anybody ask Aran and you should really make a separate post to ask him that, cuz thatd be a great forum discussion. I truly hope Cauley Stein stays and I wouldnt be surprised if guys like Zeller, Len, GRIII stay.
Negative, Mo Harkless got drafted for a number of reasons one of them being that he dominated the best conference in basketball the Big East as an 18 year old and put up numbers that a Big East vresh hasnt put up Since Iverson.
Harkless also had his best.games. against the best teams and owned Terrenc
e Jones when he played Kentucky and had a great game out hustling and at times even looking lile the best athlete on the floor which is saying a ton.
Plus he measured in at a legit 6'9" and his growth plates are still open. The Sixers drafted him to initially back up the SG and SF spot while Rod Thorn said he eventually expected Mo to grow into a 6'11" PF.
And Harkless was the 3rd best defender in the draft behind Davis and MKG.
So as you can see theyre situations are and wil be alot different. I think Ledo is already older then Harkless too. Ledos situation will be more like Jeremy Tylers.
I saw one of his high school games and was blown away. I expected to see a player who settled for jumpshots and had questionable decision making, and there was some of that but his overall skill level was phenomenal. Not only that, but how he processed the game and could see things nobody else on the floor saw was impressive and what you'd like to see from a possible future pro playing against high school kids. He's an outstanding ballhandler, has very good athleticism, smoothness, fluidity, change of direction and most surprising of all, his passing ability is excellent. I didn't see the selfish gunner I had read about. There was nothing he couldn't do on the offensive end at a very high level. He's just very fun to watch.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Ledo go ahead of Goodwin. Goodwin's shot well thus far, better than expected but I'm not enamored with his overall playing style. I like his aggressiveness to the hoop but he does it with too much tunnel vision and rarely makes plays off it. I see him as sort of a Jerry Stackhouse, a very good athlete with nice size for a 2-guard but could struggle with low shooting percentages and turnovers.
@JoJo I was lovimg your post up until you compared Goodwin to Stackhouse. Arcnie is a combo guard with great handles and range out to the NBA 3. Stack was a SF who had poor handles and got all his pointclose to the basket and from mid range, and never could create for tea,,ates..
Listen I always thought Ledo plays just like T Mac and had similar potential, I was also convinced he was gonna light it up as a freshman and put Providence in the national spotlight much li,e Bennett is doing at UNLV.
Does anybody know what Ledos wingspan is? It must be atleast 7" and length at his position is a huge deal.
But wings are odd they dont always translate this is why he should go to Europe or the D League if he wants to declare he needs the experience. This isnt an Enes Kanter situation because Ledo isnt 6'11" 270 of pure Turkish brute force.
Guys like Quincy Miller and Will Barton who were stars in HS and productive in college didnt e go in the first.
Stackhouse was a good passer. He had two seasons in which he averaged over 5 assists a game and several in which he had over 4 assists. You can't put up those numbers without being at least a solid passer. Stackhouse was great at getting to the line but he shot such low percentages overall and from three that he was an inefficient scorer despite all his free throws, which is hard to do. He was not a shotmaker, to say the least. He was also very turnover-prone so there were a lot of negatives to his game.
In college, Stackhouse shot a good percentage. Just doing it in college doesn't mean it's going to transfer to the pros. That's sort of what I feel might happen with Goodwin. He's shot well from three thus far in a small sample but I still have my doubts about how legitimate that is. His shooting is still a work in progress and while he can make some difficult finishes around the basket, he can get too out of control to make a shot. I don't think he'll be allowed to run point ever so I could see him as a low-percentage shooting guard who gets to the line a lot, can pass some but also turn the ball over. Like Stackhouse a bit. Stackhouse was every bit the athlete that Goodwin was at the same age, I'd say probably even more explosive.
Ricky Ledo is leaning towards entering the NBA Draft despite not being eligible to play this season. Everyone on here raves about Ben Mclemore while i still think that ledo is the better talent. I haven't seen a 2 guard with his offensive skill set in quite some years.
http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/225351/Ricky_Ledo_Could_Declare_For...
you wont find players at the high school or college level who can do what ledo can
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH8stctEEYQ