The NBA Pre-Draft Camp in Orlando has begun. After one day, Dominic McGuire has decided that he's NBA-bound and will hire an agent. According to ESPN, that leaves seven players (Ohio State's Daequan Cook, Marquette's Dominic James, Texas A&M's Joseph Jones, Virginia's Sean Singletary, Nevada's Ramon Sessions and Marcelus Kemp, and Clemson's James Mays) competing in the camp who have not signed with an agent. Barring injury, Daequan Cook will stay in the draft and sign with agent Mike Conley Sr.
According to Aran Smith of NBADraft.net, there were some notable absences from the draft which include the following players, all of whom are bubble 1st-rounders.
* Sean Williams, PF/C, Boston College. I have a sneaking suspicion that a team drafting from 22-30 will draft Williams due to his defensive upside. Of course, Williams has a well-documented past and this raises another red flag for his character.
* Nick Fazekas, PF, Nevada. Plain and simple, Fazekas is a bubble guy. Right now, he's at the tail end of the 1st round on my board, but his absence may allow for another power forward to showcase his talent and move up the draft boards.
* Alando Tucker, SF, Wisconsin. Tucker is a victim of his own college success. If the NBA Draft operated on merit, then Tucker might not be tagged with the much-maligned "tweener" label.
* Gabe Pruitt, PG, USC. Pruitt is considered to be the 4th-best point guard (Conley Jr., Crittenton, & Law) in the draft, but missing out only allows for Ramon Sessions to fight for that spot.
* Arron Afflalo, SG, UCLA. Despite his failings against Florida in the NCAA Tournament (twice), Afflalo is the type of guard with a steady chip on his shoulder. The strongest franchises who are drafting at the close of Round 1 will get the sense that Afflalo will take it to the naysayers wherever he gets drafted.
* Sean Williams, PF/C, Boston College. I have a sneaking suspicion that a team drafting from 22-30 will draft Williams due to his defensive upside. Of course, Williams has a well-documented past and this raises another red flag for his character.
* Nick Fazekas, PF, Nevada. Plain and simple, Fazekas is a bubble guy. Right now, he's at the tail end of the 1st round on my board, but his absence may allow for another power forward to showcase his talent and move up the draft boards.
* Alando Tucker, SF, Wisconsin. Tucker is a victim of his own college success. If the NBA Draft operated on merit, then Tucker might not be tagged with the much-maligned "tweener" label.
* Gabe Pruitt, PG, USC. Pruitt is considered to be the 4th-best point guard (Conley Jr., Crittenton, & Law) in the draft, but missing out only allows for Ramon Sessions to fight for that spot.
* Arron Afflalo, SG, UCLA. Despite his failings against Florida in the NCAA Tournament (twice), Afflalo is the type of guard with a steady chip on his shoulder. The strongest franchises who are drafting at the close of Round 1 will get the sense that Afflalo will take it to the naysayers wherever he gets drafted.
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3 comments:
I know you've been consistent in repping Afflalo, but I see a big drop in the draft.
He isn't a good fit at 2, even for a team who is looking to add depth.
While I won't sit here and list everyone I'd take before him, I rate him as a mid-second round talent.
I just don't see him translating into NBA-production.
I may eat these words...but I doubt it.
Two things.
First, I think I have Afflalo in a fair spot and San Antonio needs a player like him.
Here's where others with 2-round mocks have Afflalo going:
NBADraft.net: 28
DraftExpress: 33
CHN: 27
HoopsAddict: 27 (only a 1-round mock, but the research by Eric G. Satterwhite is spectacular.)
Others having him high doesn't validate my repping of him, but I'm not on an island.
Second, how do you rank your shooting guards 1-10? There will be a run at them in the final 1/3 of Round 1.
I realize I'm definitely out on the island, but I was just commenting towards the one guy's mock I knew.
Honestly, the guy could go higher than you have him, because of that exact run you mentioned that could, or should, happen.
But I remain highly skeptical, even if it's just a hunch.
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