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March Madness has been the primary stage for NBA Draft prospect over the past few weeks. But with games on hiatus until Saturday, a huge contingent of NBA scouts and GMs traveled to Chicago this week to attend the practices for the McDonald’s All-American game.

 

 

Yes, they are already on the hunt for the top player for the 2012 NBA Draft and many came away convinced that they found him.

 

 

Anthony Davis, a 6-foot-10, 200 pound forward from Chicago has been the talk of the town for months. But at the McDonald’s game — both in practices and in the game itself — he solidified his spot as the guy to beat for the No. 1 spot in the draft in 2012.

Davis has an unusual story. He was 6-foot-2 going into his junior year of high school — a point guard. But a crazy growth spurt added 8 inches to his stature. Many kids get clumsy or awkward when their body grows that fast. Not Davis. He’s rail thin, but still demonstrates the quickness, ballhandling and shooting abilities of a guard.

 

 

But it gets better. Sometimes those 6-foot-10 guards in a big man’s body are the bane of an NBA scout’s existence. They want their big men to rebound and block shots. That’s where they are most valuable to a NBA team. Davis, is doing that as well. He’s an aggressive rebounder, a big-time shot blocker and isn’t afraid to dunk over people. In other words, he’s the best of both worlds. Scouts are almost uniformly comparing him to a young Kevin Garnett.

 

 

Davis will be playing at Kentucky next year, and if he can live up to potential, he should be the odds on favorite for the No. 1 pick in 2012.

 

 

• Austin Rivers, son of Doc Rivers, may have the most complete game of any guard in the country. His high basketball IQ and killer instinct are super appealing. But his lack of size for his position and lack of explosive athleticism (he’s a good, but not an elite athlete) may lower his ceiling a bit. Rivers will head to Duke sitting at No. 2 on our 2012 Big Board.

 

 

Michael Gilchrist (committed to Kentucky), Bradley Beal (committed to Florida), James McAdoo (committed to North Carolina) and Myck Kabongo (committed to Texas) also drew a lot of praise from scouts as potential lottery picks in 2012.

We’ll break down the whole incoming freshman class a bit later … but you can also check out our player cards for the other potential one-and-done’s in the high school class of 2011 here.

 

 

• We’ve already had 12 college underclassmen declare for the 2011 NBA Draft. Only three of them — Tobias Harris, Reggie Jackson and Tyler Honeycutt — look like for sure first-round picks.

 

 

Meanwhile the only two underclassmen lottery picks to make their intentions known — Jared Sullinger and Tristan Thompson — are both saying that they are returning to school. Sullinger’s decision sounds like it’s pretty final. Thompson’s may not, however, be etched in stone. Sources say that his family has talked to a number of agents, but contrary to a recent report, he hasn’t made a decision.

 

 

We should be getting updates soon from a number of the top underclassmen. Sources say Kyrie Irving is leaning strongly toward declaring for the NBA Draft and should be making an announcement soon. Ditto for Baylor’s Perry Jones, UConn’s Kemba Walker and Kentucky’s Terrence Jones.

 

 

Sources say that a number of other prospects including Alec Burks, Jordan Hamilton, Scotty Hopson, Kawhi Leonard, Mason Plumlee, Jeff Taylor, Trey Thompkins and Klay Thompson are very likely to enter as well.

 

 

UNC’s Harrison Barnes continues to be on the fence however. He recently had his exit interview with head coach Roy Williams. In the interview Williams told Barnes that he would go somewhere between No. 5 and 11 in the draft, according to a source familiar with the discussion. I think Barnes will go higher — likely in the Top 3. The bigger question will be whether Barnes wants to return to a loaded UNC team next year to try to win a championship.

 

 

Arizona’s Derrick Williams and Kentucky’s Brandon Knight are also wildcards. While both players have explored their draft stock, it’s unclear from sources which way they’re leaning right now.

 

 

For a complete updated analysis on who’s in and out of the NBA Draft … click here.

 

 

• The deadline for college underclassmen to declare for the draft is April 24 this year. For players who want to test the waters (declare for the draft but not hire an agent to preserve their college eligibility) there is a pretty tight window for them to get in workouts with NBA teams.

 

 

While the NBA’s date to withdraw for the draft doesn’t come until mid June, the NCAA requires player to drop out by May 8. While it’s possible to do workouts (Jimmer Fredette worked out for four teams in that window last year) it’s challenging for most prospects to do it and still go to classes.

 

 

The league has been working on a fix for a while and as Draft Express reported on Wednesday, the Nets and other teams have tentatively scheduled a large group workout in New Jersey to try to get a look at them before the May 8 deadline. The workout would bring all 30 teams together, if it’s approved by the league.

 

 

It’s an interesting idea that was bounced around last year too. It certainly will allow underclassmen to get more feedback, but at the end of the day, probably won’t impact the draft much at all.

 

 

"We want to see the kids, get physicals, whatever," one NBA GM told ESPN.com. "But I don’t think it will change much. First of all, these large workouts are basically useless. They rarely have much of an impact on our scouting reports. More importantly, the workout will happen in late April. The draft is in late June. None of us are ready to commit to players in late April. If they need a guarantee that they’ll go in the first round like the Fredette kid did last year, they probably aren’t going to get it. If they do get it, it won’t be because of one workout. I think it’s a good thing and I support it. But it’s not a big deal."

[SwatLakeCityParticipant]

 Thank you for clearing up the confusion I had on Tristian Thompson and whether or not he has declared for the NBA draft. 

I think the fact that he will get to play with Myck Kabongo next year will play a big factor in his decision as it will with Jordan Hamilton and Cory Joseph.

[Da1potParticipant]

 I don’t know about Reggie Jackson being a "sure first-round pick" but I like this article nonetheless……

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