[llperez]

here is my rundown of the NBA prospects in the pac 10 heading into next season. I did not include any of the incoming freshman since i dont know enough about them to judge them and none at this point look to be 1 and done types. Overall the pac 10 is still down in NBA level talent and considering the 4 guys i consider to be first round talents are all underclassmen and might not even enter the 2011 draft, next year could see yet another bleak output of pac 10 draftees similar to the 2010 draft where only two players (quincey pondexter and landry fields) were selected.

Guys who look like legit first rounders:

1-Tyler Honeycutt (6-7 sf UCLA so.) I doubt you will find too many if any sites that rank tyler this high, so consider this one to be just my opinion. However, i feel quite confident he will make himself a household name amongst NBA scouts if not this year, then in 2012. He plays loooong. He makes up ground to get into passing lanes and get steals, block shots or rebound out of position as well as anybody in the conference. He missed almost all the non conference schedual last year with injury and got off to a slow start once he did get back in the lineup. But by seasons end, he was arguably the mvp for the bruins. He stuffs the stat sheet and is a guy who can flirt with a triple double many nights. I am not overstating this when i say he is the best passer i have seen at UCLA since Baron Davis. Problem is, he is always looking to pass and for him to establish himself as an nba player, he will have to become more of a one on one scorer. Dribbling and shooting both need much work. But put him on a court, and he impacts the game every way possible.

NBA comaprison: Austin Daye but more assertive around the basket

2-Abdul Gaddy (6-3 pg Washington so.) Gaddy was a top 10 recruit a year ago and the number 2 pg behind only John Wall, with that type of hype, he was a considerable let down in his first season. But dont let the stats fool you. He was playing on a very deep Washington squad that played 10 guys every night. He seemed to feel completely fine with just settling for getting the ball over halfcourt and fitting in without forcing anything. But the skills are all there. At 6-3 and close to 200 pounds, he has great size for a pg and combines that with elite quickness. He will still only be 18 years old when his sophomore season starts and has as much upside as anybody. He plays the pg position like a natural pg with his head up and always looking to hit the open man. His ball handling while going full speed and weaving through traffic while at the same time having his head up and reading the court is what makes him special. Like honeycutt, he could be more likely to enter the 2012 draft.

NBA comparison: think sebastian telfair if telfair had an elite nba pg body

3-Derrick Williams (6-8 pf Arizona so.) I think very highly of derrick the college player. He was the pac freshman of the year and is my pick to win conference player of the year honors as a sophomore. He has a very complete and sound game for a big man. Good hands, finishing ability, face up game. No real weakness. However, i have to admit im a little suprised to see this site have him as the #9 pick for next year at this point. At 6-8 235, he is a bit undersized for an NBA pf. He doesn’t overpower guys in the post and out banging guys in the paint isnt really his style. Thats gonna make it tough for him to play pf at the NBA level. I wouldn’t be surprised if he worked on his perimiter skills and entered the draft as a sf. His skills are far from being at a sf level right now, but with work he could be in the al farouq aminu mold.

NBA comparison: Al Farouq Aminu minus some defense

4-Klay Thompson (6-6 sg Washington State jr.) Klay is all over the place on NBA scouts radars. Espn seems to love him, Doug Gottlieb had him ranked as the number 6 best pro prospect going into next season. Jay Bilas said at the lebron james skills academy, which was stocked with a handful of top college players, that no player was better then Klay Thompson the last few days there. Having watched him my self, I see him as a late first rounder at this point. He is a knockdown shooter and he does not settle for strictly being a shooter ala jason kapono. Klay works on every aspect of the game and continues to show improvement with his off the dribble creating abilities. But far too often he is taken out of games for long stretches. Despite averaging 20ppg last season, he had trouble creating his own shot and often settled for difficult jumpers and consequently shot his team out of games when he was not hitting. These are areas where he certainly has the ability to miprove so it’s really hard to evaluate his stock at this point.

NBA comparison: Chase Buddinger less hops

 

other guys to keep an eye on:

Malcolm Lee (sg UCLA jr) solid all aounrd gaurd who must improve shooting.

Nikola Vucevic (c USC jr) led conference with over 9 rebounds as a soph

Jeremy Green (sg Stanford jr) knockdown shooter with NBA range

Jammelle Horn (sf Arizona sr) solid defender and shooter with good size

Michael Dunigan (c Oregon jr) still wainting for the guy who shows occasional flashes of inside dominance to be consistent

Mathew Bryan Ammaning (pf Washington sr) athletic defensive minded big with much upside

Isiah Thomas (pg Washington jr) think iverson type but at 5-8 he is fighting an uphill battle

Reggie Moore (pg Washington State so) last years runner up for freshman of the year is quick and pushes it well in transition.

[gregoden08Participant]

Does not have elite quickness…I am a fan of his, but he isn’t fast or athletic at all…Rather average to be honest. He has a great b-ball IQ and size for the position. Plus he’s incredibly young. He’s gonna be a good NBA player.

Agree with the rest of the list.

[llperez]

i dont know, he rarely took guys one on one last year in half court sets, but in occasions where he broke the full court press, i saw him blowing by guys like nothing. But maybe im wrong on that one.

I agree with all that from draft express except the doesnt push it part. He doesnt push it becasue he often just lets the game come to him and doesnt force his will on games. But when put in spots where he must push it, i never saw him have any problems breaking the press and advancing the ball quickly. The skills are ther, the mentality must come next. Considering he was 17 most of last year, im thinking he will come into his own in the next 2 years.

[TRC1991Participant]

good information except you were way off with the abdul gaddy and klay thompson comparisons

klay thompson is very smooth, not at all a superb athlete like budinger and reminds me more of a poor man’s Arron Afflalo hes 6’6” 200 lbs…he doesnt have an NBA body yet but he has an extremely nice outside shot, his strength is weak and hes still young but he can knock down open shots

abdul gaddy is not explosive or quick like telfair, hes like 6’3” 205 lbs. and bassy is like 5’11” 165…i dont see any comparions…im from seattle so i watched abdul play every game…hes SOO far away from playing in the NBA its not even funny, he just turned 18, he was below average in many games he was solid on defense but terribly passive and ineffective…think 2 years before he can be seriously considering the draft…poor man’s eric maynor

[gregoden08Participant]

Like you said, I am waiting for Dunigan to explode and be the player that everyone knows he can be. He reminds me of Jeff Pendergraph with more upside. I really hope Oregon runs the offense through him because nobody in the pac-10 will be able to guard him (except for Josh Smith).

[gregoden08Participant]

Has much more upside than Maynor does. He can be a better player IMO. He was a 17 year old playing in the pac-10 last year. He just wasn’t ready.

[flybobbyflyParticipant]

excellent post man. i really enjoyed your opinions on these guys

[JNixonParticipant]

Abdul Gaddy honestly reminds me of Mustafa Shakur. As of now, Gaddy isn’t good at any skill in particular. He’s just a raw player with good size and alright quickness and fluidity.

Klay Thompson can shoot it very well, but he’s not higher than a late 1st rounder. He’s not a shot-creator off the dribble, and he’s not very athletic. He’s also not a good defender. He reminds me of Morris Almond when he was in college.

[llperez]

taylor condrin- you basically said klay has a smooth game that reminds you more of afflalo then buddinger? Buddinger is way smoother then afflalo. Afflalo is know f ro being a nasty defender with an okay jumper, thats pretty much the opposite of how i see klay. Klay is more a fluid finnese type like chase.

As for gaddy adn telfair, i had a hard time coming up with a comparion, but style wise i think they play very similar. I brought up the size differential in my post as to being the biggest difference.

[Demarcus OnealParticipant]

What about freshman Josh Smith on Ucla wasnt he a Jordan all american and how can Reggie moore not make cut the 6-1 guard out of washington state the guy got bunnies also Natyazhko was getting notice from scouts out of the ukraine

[llperez]

demarcus oneal-i pointed out im not incuding incoming freshman hence no josh smith. As for moore, i included him in my others to be watched. The 4 i wrote extensively on are the only guys i fell strongly as first rounders, and it’s too early for me to give moore that label yet. But he is a guy that i will dfenitely have my eye on next year. As for natyashako, he looked like a role player whne i saw him but it’s hard for me to really see much in his game right now that says NBA player. He’s a big who plays on the permiter a lot and he only averaged 1.9ppg

[Demarcus OnealParticipant]

oh ok sorry my bad

[TRC1991Participant]

llperez i agree afflalo isnt the best comparison for thompson but i didnt wanna compare him to brandon roy even though he reminds me of brandon a lot just a poor man’s version…i guess he is smooth like chase but chase has serious athleticism and klay plays below the rim

[llperez]

yeah, i mentioned the less hops part and that might be an understatement. But style wise, personally i see them as damn near clones. Buddinger had a good all around game, a great spot up jumper, but despite his athleticsim, he often finished weak in traffic and was often taken out of games for extended periods. I just see a ton of similarities between the two minus the athleicism. Im not claiming to know more then anyone else on these guys, just throwing my two cents out there.

[llperez]

bump

[JNixonParticipant]

Here you go Quincey..

[Michael.S.Participant]

llperez…I got your thing

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