Espn insider?

Na, don’t be cheap

Na, don’t be cheap

Yeah no problem man!

1. Which NBA player does C.J. McCollum remind you of?
David Thorpe: I see a lot of John Jenkins in him. And that’s not the knock you think it is — Jenkins was drafted too low last year. McCollum looks as if he can be an excellent shooter, and though his wingspan is good, I prefer to just consider arm length, and that looks to be excellent. Great shooters who can be solid defenders are so valuable — you can see that by watching the Spurs.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Fran Fraschilla: George Hill. Like McCollum, Hill was a scoring machine at the mid-major level at IUPUI before being selected in the first round of the 2008 NBA draft. Hill averaged almost 22 points a game as a junior and shot 45 percent behind the arc, but also showed the ability to run a team from the point guard position. McCollum should make that transition just as smoothly.

Dave Telep: Chris Duhon. These are two guys with competitive streaks that run deep. McCollum can live by the jump shot, and there’s a liveness to his body that Duhon once had. With these two, you can’t be fooled by the baby faces.

Amin Elhassan: Goran Dragic. This might seem like it’s out of left field, but I see a lot of Dragic in McCollum. Dragic is bigger and more athletic, but there are definitely similarities as far as size, scoring ability (especially in transition) and playmaking.

Paul Biancardi: Kirk Hinrich. McCollum shoots it better and deeper, but he is not quite the defender Hinrich is. Both guys are more shooting guard (70/30 percent) than point guard. Both are great character players and competitors and both are better playing off the ball.

2. Which NBA player does Shabazz Muhammad remind you of?
Thorpe: Sam Young and Quincy Pondexter. If he can learn to be a great corner shooter, he’ll be more like Pondexter. If not, his toughness and length can find him some minutes, but it’s hard to see a lot of them absent a sweet shot.

Fraschilla: Marcus Thornton. Like Muhammad, Thornton is a “catch-and-shoot” guy with a low assist rate. At UCLA, 76 percent of Muhammad’s shots were jumpers, and he had a measly 5.8 assist rate. Thornton has averaged 14 points a game over his five-year NBA career on 37 percent 3-point shooting. That should be Muhammad’s career arc as well.

Telep: Xavier Henry. Muhammad is a tough comparison, because the guy I knew from his high school days was so fiery as a competitor it makes explaining his freshman season at UCLA difficult. Like Henry, Muhammad has a powerful frame and scorer’s mindset.

Elhassan: Al Thornton. He’s not nearly as athletic as Thornton, but Thornton is not in the league anymore. Muhammad is a “what you see is what you get” type of player, without a whole lot of upside. He’ll be able to score, but not at an elite level, and not with any other value provided.

Biancardi: Anthony Peeler. Muhammad scores over his right shoulder, beats you on straight-line drives and putbacks. Both are power players who love to make hard dunks. They both play like a power forward in a guard’s body.

3. Which NBA player does Tim Hardaway Jr. remind you of?
Thorpe: Xavier Henry. His looks and his production do not match up. I like his pedigree, and his stroke suggests he should be a good shooter one day. His solid skill set and poise would look far better if he were a great shooter too.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Fraschilla: C.J. Miles. Although they have been on different career paths to the league, with Miles coming right out of high school in 2005, there are similarities. Both are 6-6 shooting guards who are average 3-point shooters and have the length and athleticism needed to play the position. Hardaway Jr. may not be excited by the comparison, but Miles is a double-figure scorer entering his sixth year in the league.

Telep: Daequan Cook. Both of these guys came up and earned their reputations as players who could bust it from deep. They share similar athletic traits and often times leave you wanting them to do more off the bounce.

Elhassan: Martell Webster — but a smaller, poorer-shooting version of Webster. Hardaway’s niche is as a decent shooter who likes to use his size on the block in mismatches, something Webster did a lot more of earlier in his career. Hardaway’s shooting has to improve in order for him to stick in the league.

Biancardi: Courtney Lee. Hardaway can get his shot off the dribble better than Lee and neither has great size. Lee is a better shooter, especially from the corners, and Hardaway can really see the floor. Both are good character players who have a strong understanding of the game.

4. Which NBA player does Victor Oladipo remind you of?
Thorpe: Dwyane Wade. A light version though, in that he just may not get to Wade’s level as a pure scorer. But the NBA game is wider and longer than the college version, which provides far better spacing for Oladipo to operate in the gaps in a half-court offense. He’ll score better than he did in college, and he’ll be a plus defender, too — like Wade.

AP Photo/Doug McSchooler
Fraschilla: Wade. This is the logical NBA comparison for Oladipo. He and Wade are similarly sized explosive wing athletes who relentlessly attack the basket. Both have improved their offensive skills over time and are less reliant on just athleticism. Both players were coached by Tom Crean at the college level. Oladipo would love to enjoy the same career path as Wade.

Telep: Andre Iguodala. The average NBA fan has no idea Iguodala barely averaged double-digits in high school. To me, both of these guys are athletic late-bloomers who began their collegiate careers as defensive stoppers and only later would explode as scoring threats.

Elhassan: Leandro Barbosa. I have to give credit to Kris Habbas of NBAdraftinsider.com for that one. Barbosa and Oladipo are similarly built, with blazing quickness and an ability to turn the corner even when forced to take a wide angle. Barbosa’s a better shooter, but there’s no reason to believe Oladipo can’t continue to improve.

Biancardi: Tony Allen. Both are elite wing defenders who make a living shutting down the opponents’ best offensive perimeter threat. Oladipo affects the game in transition and competes for the entire possession and game. However, both are erratic shooters.

5. Who best exemplifies the phrase: ‘The best never rest?’
Thorpe: Oladipo, just based on film. He seems to play a relentless style of basketball. His speed allows him to get even more done than what we should expect thanks to that style of play.

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Fraschilla: Oladipo. There is no denying how much he has improved in three seasons at Indiana, and it has been evident in what he has accomplished. The fact that he came to Indiana as a lightly regarded recruit and will likely end up as a top-five pick speaks for itself.

Telep: Oladipo. Three years ago it was ludicrous to think he could have played in the NBA. Only through diligent attention to detail, improved fundamentals and confidence did he make it this far. He willed himself to be an offensive player.

Elhassan: Oladipo, without question. When you look at where he started, it’s truly amazing, especially considering it’s hard to argue that he was “undervalued.” He made significant improvements every year to get to this position.

Biancardi: McCollum. Watching McCollum from high school through college go from a good mid-major recruit and work himself into this position — a potential lottery pick — is remarkable. He was the Ohio Gatorade player of the year, which speaks volumes about his character as well.

Yeah no problem man!

1. Which NBA player does C.J. McCollum remind you of?
David Thorpe: I see a lot of John Jenkins in him. And that’s not the knock you think it is — Jenkins was drafted too low last year. McCollum looks as if he can be an excellent shooter, and though his wingspan is good, I prefer to just consider arm length, and that looks to be excellent. Great shooters who can be solid defenders are so valuable — you can see that by watching the Spurs.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Fran Fraschilla: George Hill. Like McCollum, Hill was a scoring machine at the mid-major level at IUPUI before being selected in the first round of the 2008 NBA draft. Hill averaged almost 22 points a game as a junior and shot 45 percent behind the arc, but also showed the ability to run a team from the point guard position. McCollum should make that transition just as smoothly.

Dave Telep: Chris Duhon. These are two guys with competitive streaks that run deep. McCollum can live by the jump shot, and there’s a liveness to his body that Duhon once had. With these two, you can’t be fooled by the baby faces.

Amin Elhassan: Goran Dragic. This might seem like it’s out of left field, but I see a lot of Dragic in McCollum. Dragic is bigger and more athletic, but there are definitely similarities as far as size, scoring ability (especially in transition) and playmaking.

Paul Biancardi: Kirk Hinrich. McCollum shoots it better and deeper, but he is not quite the defender Hinrich is. Both guys are more shooting guard (70/30 percent) than point guard. Both are great character players and competitors and both are better playing off the ball.

2. Which NBA player does Shabazz Muhammad remind you of?
Thorpe: Sam Young and Quincy Pondexter. If he can learn to be a great corner shooter, he’ll be more like Pondexter. If not, his toughness and length can find him some minutes, but it’s hard to see a lot of them absent a sweet shot.

Fraschilla: Marcus Thornton. Like Muhammad, Thornton is a “catch-and-shoot” guy with a low assist rate. At UCLA, 76 percent of Muhammad’s shots were jumpers, and he had a measly 5.8 assist rate. Thornton has averaged 14 points a game over his five-year NBA career on 37 percent 3-point shooting. That should be Muhammad’s career arc as well.

Telep: Xavier Henry. Muhammad is a tough comparison, because the guy I knew from his high school days was so fiery as a competitor it makes explaining his freshman season at UCLA difficult. Like Henry, Muhammad has a powerful frame and scorer’s mindset.

Elhassan: Al Thornton. He’s not nearly as athletic as Thornton, but Thornton is not in the league anymore. Muhammad is a “what you see is what you get” type of player, without a whole lot of upside. He’ll be able to score, but not at an elite level, and not with any other value provided.

Biancardi: Anthony Peeler. Muhammad scores over his right shoulder, beats you on straight-line drives and putbacks. Both are power players who love to make hard dunks. They both play like a power forward in a guard’s body.

3. Which NBA player does Tim Hardaway Jr. remind you of?
Thorpe: Xavier Henry. His looks and his production do not match up. I like his pedigree, and his stroke suggests he should be a good shooter one day. His solid skill set and poise would look far better if he were a great shooter too.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Fraschilla: C.J. Miles. Although they have been on different career paths to the league, with Miles coming right out of high school in 2005, there are similarities. Both are 6-6 shooting guards who are average 3-point shooters and have the length and athleticism needed to play the position. Hardaway Jr. may not be excited by the comparison, but Miles is a double-figure scorer entering his sixth year in the league.

Telep: Daequan Cook. Both of these guys came up and earned their reputations as players who could bust it from deep. They share similar athletic traits and often times leave you wanting them to do more off the bounce.

Elhassan: Martell Webster — but a smaller, poorer-shooting version of Webster. Hardaway’s niche is as a decent shooter who likes to use his size on the block in mismatches, something Webster did a lot more of earlier in his career. Hardaway’s shooting has to improve in order for him to stick in the league.

Biancardi: Courtney Lee. Hardaway can get his shot off the dribble better than Lee and neither has great size. Lee is a better shooter, especially from the corners, and Hardaway can really see the floor. Both are good character players who have a strong understanding of the game.

4. Which NBA player does Victor Oladipo remind you of?
Thorpe: Dwyane Wade. A light version though, in that he just may not get to Wade’s level as a pure scorer. But the NBA game is wider and longer than the college version, which provides far better spacing for Oladipo to operate in the gaps in a half-court offense. He’ll score better than he did in college, and he’ll be a plus defender, too — like Wade.

AP Photo/Doug McSchooler
Fraschilla: Wade. This is the logical NBA comparison for Oladipo. He and Wade are similarly sized explosive wing athletes who relentlessly attack the basket. Both have improved their offensive skills over time and are less reliant on just athleticism. Both players were coached by Tom Crean at the college level. Oladipo would love to enjoy the same career path as Wade.

Telep: Andre Iguodala. The average NBA fan has no idea Iguodala barely averaged double-digits in high school. To me, both of these guys are athletic late-bloomers who began their collegiate careers as defensive stoppers and only later would explode as scoring threats.

Elhassan: Leandro Barbosa. I have to give credit to Kris Habbas of NBAdraftinsider.com for that one. Barbosa and Oladipo are similarly built, with blazing quickness and an ability to turn the corner even when forced to take a wide angle. Barbosa’s a better shooter, but there’s no reason to believe Oladipo can’t continue to improve.

Biancardi: Tony Allen. Both are elite wing defenders who make a living shutting down the opponents’ best offensive perimeter threat. Oladipo affects the game in transition and competes for the entire possession and game. However, both are erratic shooters.

5. Who best exemplifies the phrase: ‘The best never rest?’
Thorpe: Oladipo, just based on film. He seems to play a relentless style of basketball. His speed allows him to get even more done than what we should expect thanks to that style of play.

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Fraschilla: Oladipo. There is no denying how much he has improved in three seasons at Indiana, and it has been evident in what he has accomplished. The fact that he came to Indiana as a lightly regarded recruit and will likely end up as a top-five pick speaks for itself.

Telep: Oladipo. Three years ago it was ludicrous to think he could have played in the NBA. Only through diligent attention to detail, improved fundamentals and confidence did he make it this far. He willed himself to be an offensive player.

Elhassan: Oladipo, without question. When you look at where he started, it’s truly amazing, especially considering it’s hard to argue that he was “undervalued.” He made significant improvements every year to get to this position.

Biancardi: McCollum. Watching McCollum from high school through college go from a good mid-major recruit and work himself into this position — a potential lottery pick — is remarkable. He was the Ohio Gatorade player of the year, which speaks volumes about his character as well.

Espn has the worst comparisons when it comes to the NBA draft.
CJ McCollum = John Jenkins, Chris Duhon ???
Victor Oladipo= Iggy( Had better handles and Court vision) ,D Wade ( Better handles, creating his shot, passer etc..) ????????

Espn has the worst comparisons when it comes to the NBA draft.
CJ McCollum = John Jenkins, Chris Duhon ???
Victor Oladipo= Iggy( Had better handles and Court vision) ,D Wade ( Better handles, creating his shot, passer etc..) ????????

Victor Oladipo compared to Leandro Barbossa and Iggy… I think ESPN gave me cancer.

Victor Oladipo compared to Leandro Barbossa and Iggy… I think ESPN gave me cancer.

This is garbage.

…John Jenkins is a catch and shoot player…

This is garbage.

…John Jenkins is a catch and shoot player…

I don’t mind the Hardaway to Webster comparison

I don’t mind the Hardaway to Webster comparison