[jamescmedlockParticipant]

If this guy isn’t taken at #2 or #3 then someone is getting another steal. This guy stepped up his game big time at the end of the season. I really think he should go before Thabeet. If he can keep developing his midrange game he will be a superstar. Thabeet will unfortunately just another Mutumbo.

[WälseParticipant]

Mutombo is a multiple time Defensive Player of the Year, many times all defense, and a probable hall of famer. not to mention his contributions off the court. i think anyone would be very “fortunate” to be like him. i’ve got steam coming from the top of my head as i right this because you’re casually dismissing Dikembe’s impact. unfortunately? what are you talking about? thabeet will never measure up to Mutombo. on the court, or in any other capacity. as far as Derozan, i agree, i think he may have the highest ceiling of anyone in this draft

[nthegoodlifeParticipant]

He’s another one of these “all the talent you could ask for” guys who is being picked off of potential. These are situations that solely come down to whether he will work or not. He showed promise in the tournament, but where was that the rest of the year. I hope he does well, only time will tell.

[billykParticipant]

If Thabeet is like Mt Mutombo I would pick him first overall in the draft…. I think DeRozan has a few things he needs to work on 3pt shoot, handles, passing.

[jamescmedlockParticipant]

If he’s lucky he’ll be almost as good as Mutumbo. Off court contributions are unmatched. However this is not NBANobelPeacePrize.com. Would I love to have Mutumbo on my team in his prime, sure. However he never won a title because he is a one dimensional player, which means at the end of the game it is up to someone else. Every draftee has some risk, and Thabeet and Rozen have about the same chance of being a flop as the other. The potential to become a superstar however is a little more probable with DeRozan.

[damaynman150Participant]

I love the kid and think he will b a stud… in the right situation (ie: Coach). With the right help, he has the tools to be the next Vince Carter offensively and if he can dedicate himself to the game, be the defender that Vinsanity never was.

He is in my personal Top 5 and I like him more than Harden (though he is lower in my mock…)

[bigboom1Participant]

Derozan does have as high as ceiling as anyone in the draft, although I dont know if he’ll ever be a franchise player because he defers to his teammates, not that it’s a bad thing at all. I’d rather have someone be moderately selfless with all that talent as oppose to someone with the same talent but considerably more selfish and craves to be “the man.” It is hard to judge if he’s gonna be someone who defers more to his teammates or someone who wants to be the man, as we’ve only really witnessed one season. Derozan also seems to know his limitations now and plays to his strengths, basically doesn’t have a big head. With that being said he seems to want to improve and is easy to coach, which is almost everything in basketball.

[Masrock]

Pre-draft workouts and measurements could change my mind. I still have him behind Harden and Jennings, for now.

[michaelds911Participant]

I would rather have Griff, Harden, Jennings, and Rubio. I just don’t see him developing into a prime-time NBA player. He doesn’t have too many skills he can lean on until he develops the rest of his game. Relying on solely athleticism doesn’t get you too far NBA, as we have all seen.

[Evan_MilbergParticipant]

I think after his performances toward the end of the season (particulary in Pac-10 play), it’s easy to hop on the DeRozan bandwagon. However, he struggled mightily up until then and was very inconsistent. I honestly would shy away from him if I was a GM, seeing as he’s one of the biggest risks in this year’s lottery. At best he’s Vince Carter, at worst Gerald Green, which means the team that takes him is making a huge gamble. The idea of him being a top 3 pick befuddles me.

[Al-Farouq AminuParticipant]

best case: Rudy Gay
worst case: Gerald Green

Thabeet looks more like a Hibbert to me than a Mumtubo…

I see Demar playing the 3 in the league because he lacks perimeter skills and ballhandling.
The way he does put backs and almost never shoot 3’s reminds me of Ronnie Brewer.

[WälseParticipant]

i personally hate the Vince Carter comparison. i’d say he’s closer to young Michael Finley. worst case Deshawn Stevenson. VC is, despite all his shortcomings, perhaps the most naturally gifted athlete to ever play basketball. in his prime the guys physical ability was second to none. plus, for a few years he was the most popular player in the NBA. 25+ ppg scorer. almost took T Dot to the finals. even if Derozan can develop his shot, handle, and passing to the level of VC he will still never match his athleticism. dont get me wrong, Derozan is a super athlete, but Vinsanity’s ladder has a few more rungs than everyone else’s. i remember Bill Walker (pre-injury) was compared to VC. laughable. same as Flight White. every nice dunker doesnt have to be compared to VC. best dunker who ever lived.

[AlexBoiiParticipant]

I agree with alphamale…I personally compare him to Trevor Ariza: a freak athlete who came out raw after his freshmen season ala DeRozan and has now found a nice niche with the Lakers. For DeRozan’s benefit, it would be best he fall a bit so his expectations aren’t incredibly high. Ariza benefited from being a second rounder to where anything he did positive on the court made him intriguing. DeRozen doesn’t need to fall (won’t anyway) that far, but falling out of at least the top 6 draft picks would benefit him.

[SlickParticipant]

DeRozan is terrible. He’ll be LUCKY to be a Travis Outlaw 7th man deep rotation type player. At best he’s like Outlaw more than likely he’ll be like James White. He’ll be this drafts Darrell Arthur.

Edit: I just saw the Ariza comparison above. That’s a good comparison. DeRozan is horrible on D though and Ariza is great.

[jsdghifadgfuiogjkaghsdauigParticipant]

Taken before “The Beat” is not going to happen…hes just another Gerald Green. I put money that derozan is going to be a bust. I wished him the best but he screwed up. He would have been a top 3 pick NEXT YEAR. He really needed his soph. campaign to develop those skills and become the player we all know he could be. Hey, maybe he should go to europe and get a year there lol.

Best Case: Gerald Green
Worst Case: James White

[damaynman150Participant]

No one can say his BEST CASE is Gerald Green. He is far more talented than Green ever was. His relative inconsistancy in college is a bit of a red flag though to be sure.

As for my earlier VC comparisons: Carter was, for a while, my all-time favorite player (I’m pretty young haha) and I realize it’s a bit hyperbolic. But to me DeRozan is not just “another dunker.” That said, he might never become the incredible pure scorer VC was but he could be a much better defender and still a freak finisher. Do I want him as my #1 option for a few years? No, but who knows, down the line he has that potential.

The statement that “Every nice dunker doesnt have to be compared to VC”: well that’s just ridiculous BECAUSE OF the fact that he was the greatest dunker. We all want to see how these high-fliers compare to the all-time greats. So its only natural, no?

[kphelpsParticipant]

Anyone can come to these message boards and claim, “he’s gonna be a bust” or contrarily “he’s going to be the next kobe/mike/dwade.” WHen it comes down to it you have to look at the facts and realize once these youngsters make it to the nba it’s up to that individual and his coaching staff to make the most of his talent and potential. DeRozan has superior athleticism which makes his potential pretty good. The kid has a high ceiling, but a looong way to go. We will just have to wait and see. Those of you who think your hunch on whether any given player is going to be a bust is worth noting, take a step back and realize you have no basis for your argument.

http://www.kvon.mybrute.com

[WälseParticipant]

best case Gerald Green. that’s crazy. of course he can be better than Gerald Green, who cant get on the court and was out of the league for a bit. also, he’s no James White. the greatest one foot dunker there’s ever been, who can’t dunk in traffic to save his life, because he is so frail and mostly limited to jumping off that one foot. a guy who cant even stick in the league at all. i get it, Derozan can dunk, but to just compare him to guys most fans have only heard of because of what they can do in dunk contests is selling Derozan’s talent a little short at this point. and damaynman150, if VC was your fave player, as he was mine, then you know Derozan cant compare to VC in the air, so you should be as disappointed by the comparison as i am. the ariza comparison isnt bad, but i certainly hope he’s better than that. i like to go with the young stackhouse.

[eprizzle14Participant]

Derozan can not slip past the Warriors, and did this guy say Thabeet will unfortunatly be Mutumbo. Thabeet will have to improve a lot in order to be Mutumbo.

[deuce4off]

Just another Mutombo? Damn I guess that’s a sh*tty outlook for a player or a team drafting Thabeet….?? Mutombo was only a 10-time NBA allstar and is 2nd all-time in blocked shots, teams will regret that huh? idiot

[deuce4off]

I don’t even want to read half of the posts on this site anymore due to the amount of ignorance that spews out of some of your minds. Some of you kids are f*cking clueless when it comes basketball.

[damaynman150Participant]

Cosign KPhelps: and others, youre right. DeRozan (& almost everyone else ever) < VC in the air. But not in terms of body size and general skill set. He's not there yet, and admittedly he may never be. But I think think this conversation has solved itself: We have all intelligently come to the consensus that DeRozan's ceiling ranges between a Trevor Ariza at worst, to Michael Finley most likely, to a more grounded, but better defensive Vince Carter at best. Or something like that.

If that's not worth a Top 10 Selection, then what is?

And @ deuce4off: relax. We all have opinions, some are agreed upon, others are not. But that's all they are: opinions so if you dont agree, deal with it. Dont b!tch about it. The only fact you helped establish here is that you're just about as ignorant as those you claim to got problems with…

[bron42Participant]

Even ignoring his off the court stuff, how many guys have changed the defensive big man mold like mutumbo? Theres been a ton of other skinny 7’0 guys who havn’t come CLOSE to changing games on defense the way he did. Mutumbo never won a tite because he was never on a great team. But his #8 seed did knock off a#1. His sixers team with iverson and a bunch of old guys did make it to the finals. He is a multiple DPOY winner and defensive first team etc…So ya, thabeet would be lucky to get there and not just be samuel dalmebert who never met his ceiling or sene who was never even average.

Demar can at best be a tmac type (vince is more musclar than derozan) but as of right now hes more like gerald green. Super athlete with low basketball IQ. Theres ton of out of this world athletes who never add to their game so they never reach their peak. Look at bill walker. hes been about the same since high school meanwhile for a while he was claimed to be the next vince. Demar will get you highlights now but hes got alot to work on to reach his max potential.

[bron42Participant]

actually right now demar isn’t better than green. If you watch high school tapes of them their almost EXACTLY the same with green being taller and a better outside shooter and possibly a better athlete. Only difference is he didn’t go to college. Derozan did and for the majority of the year looked completey lost with a few high lights, the same way green did when he went pro. Bein a athlete can only get you so far but if you can’t run plays right or turn into a defensive stopper than your not gonna get time. Just like james white who never improved since high school and is a average D-league player, let alone NBA bench warmer. I say a inbetween of demar turning into a travis outlaw type…freak athlete at first and then added to his game.

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

Thabeet is more athletic than hibert and blocks almost double the shots, but has no offense to speak of. I would take a guy who i know for a fact will get me 10 boards and block 3 shots over Derozans potential.

[michaelds911Participant]

Thabeet is definately not going to average 10 boards and 3 blocks his first few seasons. He needs to add some muscle before he can be that type of force on D and on the glass. He got pushed around too much in my opinion.

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

10 by accident at his height and athleticism. they can push him around all the way to 10 boards and 3 blocks.

[joecheck88Participant]

yea green is taller and probably jumps higher than derozan but gerald never went to college so we have never seen a glance at what he can do. atleast derozan went to college, then struggled and had to hear about how he wasnt producing, only to come on strong at the end of the year. it seems like he worked through a rough year to produce at the end.

[billykParticipant]

I dont see Thabeet averaging 10 rebounds a game he would even be on the court long enough to average that many rebounds and I dont think he would average 3 blks (until he gets a little stronger)….. Thabeet=Shawn Bradley (he wil get dunked on atleast 10 times next year).

[nthegoodlifeParticipant]

Does anyone else see Thabeet being on a lot of posters (haha). Seriously though, many of you are selling the original Mountain short. He controlled NBA games, Thabeet sometimes controlled college games. I think Thabeet is to slow to have the effectiveness of The Mount.

[Author]

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