Orlando’s winners and losers so far
The NBA Pre-Draft camp got under way on Tuesday in Orlando, Florida. Great coverage of all of the action so far has been provided by many reputable websites, but draftexpress.com has always been tops on my list.
Jonathan Givony, president of DraftExpress, characterized the first day as hectic and not a fair barometer of the talent at the camp.
It was hard to read too much into anything we saw in day one—players are being sent in and out of the game constantly, whistles are being blown in all directions, and turnovers, over-dribbling and bad shots abound. Isolated possessions gave you brief glimpses into some of the things these players can bring to the table, but for the most part today was about putting faces and names to the jersey numbers as your eyes constantly darted back and forth between the court and the roster list. Although we’ve seen all of these players on film repeatedly, and many of them in person during the regular season or in private workouts over the past few weeks, even we didn’t recognize everyone, largely due to the fact that many of the players here have lost significant amounts of weight since the season ended.
Likewise, Day 1 was deemed as “disappointing” by draftexpress.com writer Joseph Treutlein. But he states Day 2 went much better and figured many of the first day nerves had subsided for most of the players.
Treutlein categorizes certain players whose stock he believes are rising, staying the same and dropping. Some players are on his list that I actually talked about in some earlier posts. Sleeper Seniors Should I stay or should I go?
Rising
Malik Hairston Oregon
While he didn’t have a noteworthy statistical game, Hairston has clearly benefited from getting in better shape. He showed improved elevation, quickness and explosiveness and looked like a new player. He had some nice dunks and was particularly impressive with his vision and unselfishness. His team has great chemistry and he’s a big reason for that.
This is definitely a huge plus for Malik. A couple more solid days of play and you can mark him down as a 2nd round pick.
Pat Calathes St. Joes
Played a very well-rounded game, scoring 10 points with five assists in just 15 minutes. He showed off ball-handling skills unique for a player of his size. There aren’t many 6-10 players who can do some of the things he did today. He was in rhythm almost immediately both times he was called off the bench, showing terrific creativity and feel for the game.
Looks like I’m two for two so far. Where do I sign up DraftExpress? Can I start immediately?
Dropping
Wayne Ellington UNC
Struggled mightily, hitting 3-of-10 from the field with six turnovers. Looked unimpressive athletically and with his ball-handling. Hasn’t been hitting his jump shot since he arrived.
I’m telling you he’s got to come back for his junior year. Another couple of bad days and Wayne’s looking at shooting himself right out of the draft altogether.
Treutlein covered many more players than just these three. Some of them are
Patrick Ewing Jr. Georgetown
Ewing was on the “rising” list. As far as I’m concerned he can rise all he wants but there’s no way he gets drafted. Averaged 4.3 ppg in his four year career. Good luck.
Othello Hunter Ohio St.
Othello was on the “no movement” (staying the same) list. Saw this guy play a half a dozen times or so during his senior year. Athletic player but will have to settle for a playing career overseas.
George Hill IUPUI
George was also on the “no movement” list. I actually had the treat of seeing George Hill play in person once this past season. “Treat” might be overstating things a bit (a lot), but I came away sort of on the fence on whether or not the guy can even play in the D-League. He’s smooth, can handle the ball fairly well and has one of the best career field goal percentages I’ve ever seen for a guard, 53%. But not yet a NBA caliber point guard in the least bit. And at 6’2, a point guard is all he’ll ever be. Basically I’m saying George needs to return for his senior year and watch Steve Nash tapes or something.
Surprisingly Kyle Weaver (Washington St.) and Jamont Gordon (Miss. St.) passed up their camp invitations and are not participating. Both of their draft stocks are probably plummeting and are under the “dropping” category as of now. Does Weaver, a senior, know that he’s exhausted all of his college eligibility? At least Gordon can decide to pull out on June 16th and go back to school.
Hopefully I’ll have news from Day 3 of the Pre-Draft camp shortly.
Tags: College basketball, draftexpress.com, Kyle Weaver, malik-hairston, NBA Draft, NCAA basketball, Orlando, wayne-ellingtonRelated Stories
POSTED IN: College Basketball News, NBA Draft, Projections and Predictions
0 opinions for Orlando’s winners and losers so far
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: