Branden Dawson

Ive seen Dawson play vs Duke and UNC and I have been really impressed by his play too. As you said above, he is big, physical, and athletic which makes him a nice rebounder and inside scorer. He is listed on ESPN as a SF, but I see him more as a PF. In both games he seemed to do more work inside than out. Dawson should be a nice prospect in 2013 or 2014 draft, but he will definitely help the Spartans this year though.

 He is like Azibuike, but Azibuike wasn’t physical in college. He looked like an NBA swingman but he was never tough at Kentucky. Dawson also doesn’t show Azibuike’s shooting ability. Dawson, to me, is something like a Ryan Gomes or a James Johnson-type. He’s physical and strong as a tweener forward, but I definitely think he can function on the wing. He’s like 50-50 as to whether he seems like more of a SF or PF to me, but he’s definitely able to comfortably play both from what I’ve seen. He should have a very nice career for MSU and I think he projects as a SF as a prospect.

Dawson plays close to the basket and rebounds at a high rate but I see a full-time small forward in the league. The issue with tweeners is always in terms of the defensive end. Typically you’ll hear "Too small to go inside, not quick enough for the wing." In Dawson’s case that won’t apply because he’ll be able to defend on the perimeter at a high level. Positions don’t matter as much offensively if you can definitely guard, especially in the case of a guy who plays with such a high motor and attacks the offensive glass.

I ultimately see another guy in that raw, high motor, rebounding small forward mold, i.e. Shawn Marion, Gerald Wallace, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. His perimeter skills will only improve