Day 4 in Orlando
Draftexpress.com President Jonathan Givony gives us a final look at how well certain players performed on Friday.
David Padgett Louisville
David Padgett put on a passing clinic, rebounding from two underwhelming performances to show NBA executives in attendance just what he can bring to the table as an extremely heady high-post center who makes everyone around him better. He finally played a bit more aggressively looking for ways to make his presence felt offensively, not just looking to pass the ball unselfishly on every possession like he did previously. He showed nice footwork in the post to go along with his crafty head-fakes and ability to finish with either hand. He often lacks the athleticism to finish many of the moves he creates for himself, but hopefully he will be able to improve on that as his body gets healthier. He’s a really interesting player who would be well served to develop a deadly jump-shot teams need to respect from 16 to 18 feet.
It’s too bad Padgett had such injury trouble in college because otherwise he would have been a likely first round pick. I wouldn’t be surprised if David eventually makes a roster, but it won’t be likely for a couple of years.
Othello Hunter Ohio St.
Othello Hunter again put his impressive physical tools in display, to the tune of 11 points and 14 rebounds (7 offensive) in 25 minutes. His length and athleticism allow him to make plays that other big men here aren’t capable of, and he’s made a strong case for himself to be drafted or get a long look in summer league/training camp. He still has a lot of upside to continue to improve.
Maybe he will prove me wrong and a team will draft him. He could just go on to have a 10+ year career in the NBA too. And maybe Kwame Brown will finally live up to all the hype?
Jeremy Pargo Gonzaga
Jeremy Pargo had a game-high 20 points (7-16 FG, 5-7 FT) to go along with 4 assists. Unfortunately, he also had 6 turnovers and missed three of his four 3-pointers. He pushed the ball up the floor extremely well, showed terrific explosiveness getting by his man and giving himself options in the half-court, and also flashed some glimpses of solid court-vision, but his poor decision making led to way too many turnovers, which has typically been his problem. Going back to school and improving his decision making skills looks like a very good option at this point.
Jeremy has shown up on a lot of draftexpress.com write ups. I hope he knows what his chances are. If not, look out D-League.
Robert Vaden UAB
Robert Vaden finished off the camp with another fairly solid performance, scoring 11 points in 21 minutes to go along with 3 assists and no turnovers. He’s really impressed with his ability to move off the ball, read screens and find open shots for himself, elevating sharply and creating separation from his defender and throwing the ball in the basket with machine like efficiency, despite his violent leg kicks. He’s really strong and has clearly worked on his body since the season ended, and did a much better job playing within the offense and setting up teammates than he did earlier in this camp. On the negative side, he’s not the most athletic or creative player you’ll find in terms of his ball-handling skills, favoring his right hand strongly and struggling to finish that at times around the rim. It appears that he’ll be returning to school, and it will be interesting to see what kind of year he has next season.
If Vaden were to stay in the draft, I would not be shocked. He’s already 23 and having already sat out a year because of a transfer, it would probably be wise just to throw his hat in the ring and if all else fails, just hope to get signed by some team’s summer league squad.
DraftExpress believed that Gary Forbes was the MVP of the camp. You would think his overall performance would catapult him into the first round, but apparently he will still be a 2nd round choice.
Regardless, he’s clearly the MVP of the pre-draft camp by a fairly large margin, and has helped his stock considerably from being projected as a late second round pick on our board. You would think that he’d have a chance to maybe get some looks in the late first based off what we’ve seen here at the pre-draft camp in years past, but most NBA people we spoke with did not agree with that. We will have to wait and see…
Hey, Gary sure made an impression on at least some of the teams. I’ll go out on a limb and say 1st round selection for Gary Forbes.
Tags: College basketball, college hoops, David-Padgett, draftexpress.com, Gary Forbes, jeremy-pargo, NCAA basketball, Ohio-State, Robert VadenRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Miscellaneous, NBA Draft, Projections and Predictions
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