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Our annual list looking at this year’s draft’s top prospects by category (top 5 lists). 25 categories including athleticism, speed, strength, explosiveness, shooters, passers, defenders, and many more.

A look back at past year’s top 5s:
2009 Draft Top 5 lists
2008 Draft Top 5 lists

Athleticism:

1. John Wall
2. Terrico White
3. Armon Johnson
4. Stanley Robinson
5. Avery Bradley

Strength:
 
1. Luke Harangody
2. Kevin Seraphin
3. Trevor Booker
4. Daniel Orton
5. Patrick Patterson

Speed:

1. John Wall
2. Ishmael Smith
3. Denis Clemente
4. Armon Johnson
5. Ben Uzoh

Explosiveness (Guards): 
 
1. Terrico White
2. John Wall
3. Armon Johnson
4. Avery Bradley
5. Eric Bledsoe

Explosiveness (Forwards): 
 
1. Stanley Robinson
2. Derrick Favors
3. Wes Johnson
4. Trevor Booker
5. Ed Davis

(Un)Athletic: 
 
1. Omar Samhan
2. Brian Zoubek
3. Daniel Clark
4. Solomon Alabi
5. Ryan Wittman
 
Length: 
 
1. Hassan Whiteside
2. Larry Sanders
3. DeMarcus Cousins
4. Cole Aldrich
5. Marqus Blakely

Shooters:
 
1. Ryan Wittman
2. Andy Rautins
3. Jon Scheyer
4. Luke Babbitt 
5. Lazar Hayward

Ball Handlers:
 
1. Evan Turner
2. Devan Downey
3. John Wall
4. Sherron Collins
5. Lance Stephenson

Passers: 
 
1. Greivis Vasquez
2. Greg Monroe
3. Nemanja Bjelica
4. Evan Turner
5. Darington Hobson 

Defenders:
 
1. Hassan Whiteside
2. Jarvis Varnado
3. Avery Bradley
4. Derrick Favors
5. Hamady Ndiaye

Rebounders: 
 
1. DeMarcus Cousins
2. Cole Aldrich
3. Larry Sanders
4. Art Parakhouski
5. Derrick Favors

Post Skills:

1. Omar Samhan
2. Luke Babbitt
3. Cole Aldrich
4. DeMarcus Cousins
5. Miroslav Raduljica
 
Competitors: 
 
1. Greivis Vasquez
2. Luke Harangody
3. Evan Turner
4. John Wall
5. Gordon Hayward
 
Warriors/Toughness:

1. Patrick Patterson
2. Trevor Booker
3. Luke Harangody
4. Sherron Collins
5. Lazar Hayward

Versatility: 
 
1. Evan Turner
2. Nemanja Bjelica
3. Mikhail Torrance
4. Greg Monroe
5. Damion James

Basketball IQ: 
 
1. Jon Scheyer
2. Andy Rautins
3. Greg Monroe
4. Evan Turner
5. Thomas Heurtel

Best Potential: 
 
1. John Wall
2. Derrick Favors
3. Evan Turner
4. Al-Farouq Aminu 
5. Paul George
 
High Risk/Reward: 
 
1. DeMarcus Cousins
2. Hassan Whiteside
3. Terrico White
4. Daniel Orton
5. Lance Stephenson 
 
Low Risk: 
 
1. Evan Turner
2. Patrick Patterson 
3. Wesley Johnson
4. Cole Aldrich
5. Lazar Hayward
 
Overrated:

1. Solomon Alabi
2. Quincy Pondexter
3. Kevin Seraphin
4. Ekpe Udoh
5. Darington Hobson  

1st Round Sleepers: 
      
1. Patrick Patterson
2. Elliot Williams
3. Paul George
4. Hassan Whiteside
5. Armon Johnson
      
2nd Round Sleepers: 
      
1. Stanley Robinson
2. Gani Lawal
3. Dominique Jones
4. Nemanja Bjelica
5. Lazar Hayward
      
Free Agent Gems (Likely Undrafted):

1. Ryan Thompson
2. Landry Fields
3. Ben Uzoh
4. Hamady Ndiaye
5. Edwin Ubiles

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19 Comments

  1. Excellent Article
    I thoroughly enjoyed reading this very interesting take on the draft. Well Done!

    However, I have to put in a plug for my boy Luke Harangody, whom NBADraft.net buried deep into the 2nd round. He’s my 2nd round sleeper.

  2. Evan Turner #3 in Top Potential
    I agree he’s top 5 in potential, but if this sight thinks he’s #3 in Top Potential why is his potential rating out of 10 only an 8? There are like 10 or so guy’s on this draft rated higher than Turner. Players like Aminu and George are rated a 9 so why are they behind Turner? I believe Turner has more potential than either of the 2 but still, its weird how they rate his potential a 8 and he’s #3 in Top Potential

  3. Speaking of Sleepers…
    I like Andy Rautins as a nice pick for someone in the late 2nd round. He can shoot the lights out, has pretty decent size, and is a better defender than people realize. He should make a nice role player off the bench in the NBA which is really all you can hope for with a late 2nd round pick.

    http://twitter.com/hagem050

  4. nice but…
    I dont really get why it doesnt reflect the scoring in these same areas they’ve done for each player. Babbit is ranked behind Schyer but Babbit is a 9 of of 10 and Schyer an 8 out of 10 in shooting. Maybe they dont update the scoring that often.

    Vasquez ranked first in passing? really?

    Cousins not ranked at all in Strength….none of those guys would be able to move him off the blocks, especially Harangody

    Is Cole Aldrich that Low Risk? He could be drafted in the top 10 (likely). If you’re drafted in the top 10 you are expected to either start at some point or play a big role off the bench. I dont dislike his game, but I dont know that you can say he’s definitely going to live up to the level of his pick. That said, Im not sure who I’d put in his place 🙂

    • Missing from the list
      Da’Sean Butler is one of the best competitors in this year’s draft, he should be on the list. He hit a quite a few game winners this season and took over the team when there were losing and brought them back to victory. From everything that I have been hearing about him, despite the knee injury in the final four, several NBA teams are talking about picking him late first round / early second.

  5. Mac Koshwal???
    This kid has been on the worst team in the big east for the past three years with no help the next best player was shooting 36% from the field, but Koshwal has managed to shoot over 52% from the field and 9.3 rebounds in his three years at depaul. Just another kid that can play from the class of 2007 he is a sleeper!!!

  6. Sherapin..
    How can u call the guy overrated when u NEVER saw him play? Following this idea all those late first rounder spent on europeans are just wasted picks just cuz they are not highly advertised and people did not see them play for a long time. Then people like Beaubois, Ibaka or Rudy come over and ooooops. Overrated????
    I just don’t understand these articles sometimes…

    And Zoubek should be a top 5 rebounder.

  7. On Seraphin – It would have

    On Seraphin – It would have been nice to see him compete or even workout leading up to the draft but he is injured. We did however get a chance to watch him play and practice live in Portland at the Hoops Summit in 2009. And have caught some game tapes of him from this season. Have you EVER seen him play? He’s a beast, but he’s still being drafted on potential, which may or may not be reealized.

  8. I think when watching game
    I think when watching game tape Stanley Robinson looks like the best athlete in college or 1A or 1B, seeing him run the court and spring up for a dunk or a rebound really has to be seen in person to see how ridiculous he is

  9. Jerome Randle is a top 5 ball
    Jerome Randle is a top 5 ball handler for sure

    Wall is NOT the fastest, Clemente or Smith deserves that

    Crawford is a sleeper pick for 2nd round top 5 IMO

    And Bledsoe overrated? How when nobody and I mean NOBODY thought he’d be going to the NBA after one year of college?

  10. i find it curious that
    aminu shows up only on the “potential” list…if he’s not that great at anything, where does his potential come from?
    i think he’s a “potential bust”. personally

  11. Mason Jr.
    A great free agent would have been anthony mason jr. He will be impressing a lot of people and will be a successful ufa – because of his phenomenal skills

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