Posts Tagged ‘2013 draft’

This Isn’t About The 2014 Draft For Cavs

May 22, 2013  ·  6:18PM

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Of course the Cavaliers are going to consider trades for the No. 1 pick. That’s not news and that’s not a Cleveland thing. Nerlens Noel has serious holes in his game – mostly anything to do with offense – and is coming off a torn knee ligament, and the Cavs have lived the youth movement long enough, so the only real development would have been to not open the phone lines.

There is the Lake Erie-sized bit of flawed logic being tossed around in the wake of the lottery win Tuesday night, though: One benefit to going with Noel over Kansas shooting guard Ben McLemore is that the Kentucky power forward-center does not expect to return until around Christmas, allowing the Cavaliers to build a better roster while simultaneously positioning themselves for a high pick in the loaded 2014 draft. Yes, because if there’s one thing fans should want after years of losing it’s to angle for another season of missing the playoffs.

Welcome to the Andrew Wiggins Effect. Wiggins is a Canadian who just played his senior season of high school in West Virginia, the son of former NBA veteran Mitchell Wiggins, and bound for Kansas. He would have, at the very least, challenged Anthony Davis for No. 1 in the 2011 draft as a junior, would have lapped the field this year, and is projected as the clear favorite to go first in 2014. Beyond Wiggins, several other major prospects could be in the next draft, from elite one-and-done freshman to returnees like Oklahoma State point guard Marcus Smart to international shooting guard Mario Hezonja.

The Bobcats, the Kings, the Pelicans, the Suns, the Magic – they are at least a year away from a playoff push. This isn’t that. The Cavaliers are in go mode. You take Noel if he is the best prospect on the board and then deal with the delay, not because missing months is a benefit.

Cleveland should absolutely be thinking postseason, as colleague John Schuhmann noted in his report from the lottery. It missed by 14 games in 2012-13, a pretty good distance, except that the team that finished eighth, Milwaukee, could lose important free agents, plural, while the Cavaliers are clearly in an upward trajectory. Anderson Varejao is expected back after being limited to 25 games, Kyrie Irving can be counted on for more than 59 games, and Dion Waiters and Tyler Zeller will be off the rookie learning curve. Fourteen games in the Eastern Conference is not exactly insurmountable.

The draft options are a trade, to add experience, or McLemore because he grades out as a better two-way prospect, even after taking Waiters in the lottery last June. Orlando, picking second, would then take whoever is left between Noel and McLemore, or possibly Trey Burke to address a need at point guard.

If the Magic don’t take him, Burke, the college Player of the Year from Michigan, is in a precarious spot. The Wizards are third, and they have John Wall. The Bobcats pick fourth and are liking Kemba Walker enough that point guard is far from a pressing concern. The Suns will pick fifth one season after spending big on free agent Goran Dragic and taking Kendall Marshall in the lottery. The unknown in Phoenix is the view of new GM Ryan McDonough, without any track record in the job.

That scenario gets Burke to the Hornets/Pelicans at six. That, in turn, would be trouble for Austin Rivers, but there was always a question whether New Orleans reached by drafting him to be a true point when a lot of teams saw combo guard. It’s hard to imagine Burke getting past the Hornicans. If he does, there is Sacramento with its annual point-guard decision in the draft.

The Burke picture is not unlike Damian Lillard in 2012, when he went into the draft as the top prospect at the position and lasted until No. 6 because many of the teams picking at the very top were already committed. Davis was the obvious No. 1 for New Orleans, followed soon after by the Wizards with Wall at 3, the Cavaliers with Irving at 4 and the Kings at 5 a year after they spent a lottery pick on Jimmer Fredette. Things seemed to work out for Lillard.

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Trey Burke Takes His Shot At No. 1

May 21, 2013  ·  3:07PM

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This is his last best chance to go No. 1 in the Draft, tonight as the lottery unfolds and Trey Burke plans to be watching on the big screen in the living room of his Columbus, Ohio, home and, as he put it, “hoping one of those teams gets the top pick.”

One of those teams with a pressing need for a point guard.

In what has been a Nerlens Noel-Ben McLemore world for much of the second half of the season in the race for No. 1, Burke is the other possibility, however distant, to crash the party. His decisions have been made with the coveted spot on June 27 in mind, too, and tonight the Michigan product needs the ping-pong balls to bounce just right. He’s a long shot anyway, but this is the shot.

Burke has circled Orlando, which has the greatest chance of landing No. 1, though mathematical probability has traditionally meant very little in the lottery. Detroit, too. And even Phoenix, which may come as news to the organization that a summer ago signed Goran Dragic and used a lottery pick on Kendall Marshall. (Or maybe he knows something that all bets are off with a new GM, Ryan McDonough, hitting town.)

“With the way we played this year, not only myself but how far my team went, I definitely think I have a winning mindset and a winning mentality,” Burke said. “I think I could be the No. 1 pick. If I don’t think that then I won’t be. So I definitely think so.”

He knows his stock went up when Marcus Smart returned to Oklahoma State rather than enter the Draft as the top point-guard prospect, creating a well-timed opening for Burke coming off a sophomore season as national player of the year. Burke weighed the Smart factor as he decided whether to leave Michigan. He factored in the realization that he not only would be the best player at his position in the Class of 2013, he could be the only one good enough for the top 10.

“Definitely,” said Burke, also aware of the concerns at measuring 5-foot-11 ¾ without shoes and 6-foot-1 ¼ with. “I looked at the whole draft and looked at everyone that was coming out. I realized that this isn’t one of the best drafts as far as point guards. I knew that that would help me out as well. Then again, I knew that I still have to continue to work and prove myself to these teams and coaches.”

Michael Carter-Williams of Syracuse, Dennis Schroeder from Germany and C.J. McCollum of Lehigh are also likely or possible lottery choices among point guards, though McCollum has been more of a combo guard. That could be it for the position in the first round.

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Noel Anticipating Christmas Return

May 17, 2013  ·  7:56PM

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CHICAGO – Potential No. 1 pick Nerlens Noel said his recovery from a torn knee ligament is going better than anticipated but that he expects to make his NBA debut sometime around Christmas, an assessment that should end speculation about whether he could be ready for the start of the season.

The Kentucky power forward/center is rivaled by only Kansas shooting guard Ben McLemore as the clear favorites to be chosen first overall in the June 27 NBA Draft. Noel has an edge in their head-to-head matchup but McLemore is a realistic option based on team need once the lottery order is set Tuesday. But Noel has the unique risk for a possible No. 1 of coming off knee surgery in March, late enough that he not only is unable to work out for clubs but also will force him to miss summer league and training camp.

His report on the current rehabilitation in Birmingham, Ala., offers the prognosis of a successful recovery yet also the reality he will probably miss at least the first two months of his rookie season. Noel said the timetable is based on what he calls ‘very encouraging’ feedback on the recovery efforts along with the initial estimate of needing six to eight months to get back on the court.

“I have no doubt that I will be 100 percent, [and] even better than before, especially with everything I’m doing now,” he said. “I’m strengthening everything – upper body, lower body. I’m sure I’ll be better than 100 percent when I get back.

“It’s [going] better than I expected. I expected to be moving at a fast rate, and I definitely am. I’ll be looking to make a comeback as soon as possible. I just want to make sure my knee is in a good state.”

While it is impossible to get a definitive read on the knee, there is the other update on his conditioning and prep work for the draft: Noel measured at 4.2 percent body fat earlier this week as part of all prospects from U.S. colleges going through physicals, a very good outcome for anyone but particularly a player who isn’t able to go through the same training regimen. He measured 6-foot-10 without shoes and 6-11 ¾ with shoes, and 206 pounds.

“There’s no risk at all,” Noel said of a being chosen first with the uncertainty of a knee injury. “I definitely have the mindset that I’m going to come back from this…. When I get back, I’m going to be the hardest worker I can be and do what I have to do to be the player I want to be and do good things for the team I get drafted by.”

Other news, notes and observations as the second and final day in the gym at the pre-draft combine concluded Friday afternoon:

  • Rudy Gobert, on the bubble for the lottery, scored points with teams by participating in drills when it has become common for most prospects with a good shot for the middle of the first round to skip the basketball portion of the event to protect draft stock. Front offices are annually frustrated by players ducking the competition. Gobert, a center from France, did not duck. “It shows that somebody’s aware,” one executive said. “The knock on him is that he doesn’t want to compete. Whether he listened to an agent or a coach or decided on his own, it’s a good sign that he’s here.”
  • Gobert looked stunned to learn there were doubts about his drive. But he did say he liked the idea of sending the message that he wants to face the top competition to get better after so far spending his entire career in Europe. Gobert also has the “Wow” factor with a wing span of 7-8 ½ and a standing reach of 9-7 in addition to standing 7-2 in shoes, meaning he can at least come close to touching the rim without jumping. His wingspan has been an obvious attribute for a long time, with people often asking him to stand and stretch his arms, just to get a look. One executive, seeing Gobert in person for the first time, said it’s a sight just to watch Gobert’s reach while standing next to another player. Teams want to fall in love with this guy. He had a disappointing 2012-13 in Europe, but with his potential plus the physical, Gobert easily moves into the lottery if he does anything in the individual workouts. He was No. 16 in the last NBA.com ranking.
  • Jeff Withey, center from Kansas, is aware teams like him around the middle of the first round for defense and rebounding, and has been working to improve his mid-range and post game since the end of the season. The result was some positive feedback off drills in the gym.
  • Steven Adams, was the big man who impressed the most in that area, showing a mid-range game that didn’t get noticed in one season at Pittsburgh. That Adams is expanding his game is especially noteworthy as a relatively inexperienced player, and very inexperienced at a high level of competition, after learning the game in his native New Zealand. He is an aggressive, fluid 7-footer.
  • Dennis Schroeder, the German point guard making a late charge up draft boards, has singled out Utah and Milwaukee as preferred destinations on draft night. The disclosure is particularly relevant because the interest may be mutual and both will probably be picking in the right range, with the Jazz at 14 barring a long-shot climb into the top three on lottery night and the Bucks at 15. As Schroeder himself pointed out, the Jazz have the position need as Mo Williams heads into free agency (with a good chance they’d have the need even if Williams wasn’t). When asked what he considered the best place to start his NBA career, he mentioned Utah first. Milwaukee is a possibility with Brandon Jennings about to become a free agent. That draft-night decision by the Bucks, if Schroeder is available at 15, will be as much about weighing their future with Jennings as weighing Schroeder. And if they draft one and re-sign the other, it creates trade chips. Schroeder said he has scheduled a work out with the Rockets as well as the Jazz and Bucks. Houston picks 18, though. At this rate, he’ll be long gone.
  • McLemore-Shabazz Muhammad was once shaping up as the best matchup once individual workouts got underway for the top prospects following the lottery. No more. Now it’s Schroeder-Trey Burke, even if Michael Carter-Williams, not Schroeder, remains the second-best prospect among point guards. The warp speed of Schroeder, the tournament-tested experience of Burke, the drive of both – that’s a great show.
  • One GM, on Tony Mitchell, once a possibility for the lottery but now trying to hold on to a spot in the first round after a difficult season at North Texas: “He’s the best athlete here. It’s not even close. He’s a freak of nature.”

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Another Hit To Muhammad Draft Stock

May 16, 2013  ·  8:01PM

CHICAGO – NBA executives are raising the possibility that Shabazz Muhammad could fall out of the first top 10 picks in the NBA Draft and possibly the lottery entirely, the latest draft setback for the UCLA swingman who began the season in the conversation for the No. 1 pick.

Muhammad being on the board until the middle of the first round on June 27 was once inconceivable, and still is to some within the league, for a prospect with the potential to be a scoring star. But in noting his selfish play, poor body language and the new perspective after the discovery Muhammad had been lying about his age, some teams had turned shockingly cold as the annual pre-draft combine Thursday began the first of two days of drills and workouts.

One executive said, on the matter of Muhammad dropping in the draft, “I’m not saying it happens. But I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Out of the lottery?” another personnel boss said. “I guess it’s possible.”

And from another head of basketball operations, without hesitation, when asked if Muhammad could fall from the top 14: “He could.”

The climate has turned so bad that another general manager savaged the prospect even while saying there is no chance Muhammad gets out of the lottery, and maybe doesn’t even reach double digits.

“It’s his overall attitude,” that executive said. “His presentation of himself. It’s an all-about-me presentation. I think that’s his biggest knock…. His selfish tendencies on the floor show up at certain times. But that’s what scorers do.”

Indeed, there is the possibility that Muhammad is in the common role of former high school phenom struggling to transition to the college game and now the pros, all with a large spotlight as a recruit expected to help rejuvenate a prominent program. It may simply be a matter of maturing, in play and personality.

Either way, Muhammad has a bad image as the draft approaches, and not just in the moment. Scouts and executives had been increasingly hard on him during his freshman season at UCLA, noting his selfish play with various versions of “He doesn’t get others involved,” the way a star should elevate an entire team. The concern among losing franchises that might take him near the top of the draft was that Muhammad would be little more than a stat stuffer. Clubs in the lottery that already had pieces in place worried that continued work as a volume scorer would create problems on a roster.

His play is the primary concern, but that hit also comes in the wake of the strange discovery in March by the Los Angeles Times that Muhammad, while listed as a 19-year-old by the school, was actually 20. While some teams have already gotten past the concern of what other secrets could jump out down the line, the real issue of the adjusted age became his development. He had been overpowering younger players in high school and some in the one college season, an advantage he would not have among grownups in the NBA, and he suddenly had one less year to develop. Muhammad, simply, was not as advanced for his age as once thought.

“I don’t think that’ll hurt me,” Muhammad said. “To know I’m 20, I’m still pretty young, one of the youngest guys in this draft. I’m just going to see where it takes me.”

Asked what questions he anticipates from teams once he sets a schedule for individual workouts following the lottery outcome on Tuesday night, Muhammad said, “It’s up in the air. It’s going to be really interesting, so I’m looking to that and looking forward to talking to teams and telling them a little bit more about myself.”

But, there will be birth-certificate questions.

“Probably so,” he said. “But I’m going to answer the questions truthfully and tell them what’s really going on.”

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McLemore Believes He’s Best Player In The Draft

May 15, 2013  ·  9:08PM

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CHICAGO – He spent the last several months lobbying through actions, with his play as a Kansas shooting guard, and then Ben McLemore finally said it.

He is the best player in the draft.

“Deep down I think I am,” he told NBA.com as the pre-Draft combine got underway with physical testing in advance of most players, but not McLemore and other top prospects, taking the court Thursday and Friday. “I have that mindset that I am. Just going out there and showing my abilities.

“People know what I did in college and know what I can do throughout my career. A lot of people know I really haven’t reached that point in my basketball life, so I know deep down inside that I have it in me. I’ve just got to keep working.”

The pre-Draft combine will be televised on ESPNU (10 a.m.-2 p.m. ET) and ESPN2 (2-3 p.m. ET) on Thursday and again on Friday at the same times and on the same channels.

Whether McLemore is actually first off the board on June 27 will depend partly, if not largely, on the results of the lottery – the winner will likely go for Nerlens Noel of Kentucky if it needs a big man and for McLemore if it needs a shooting guard. Neither has distinguished themselves enough to be the dominant figure of the Class of 2013.

Some teams might take Noel regardless of position because of the value of a defensive-presence at power forward or center, but others could be scared away by the risk of using the No. 1 choice on a player coming off knee surgery. On health reasons, McLemore is a safer bet and has a lot of upside as well.

“I think it’d be important to me, especially being the No. 1 draft pick and that a shooting guard [hasn't] been a No. 1 draft pick for a while, for years,” McLemore said. “It’d be very important to me to make history to me. It would be great to be No. 1, being able to help my family out.”

Meanwhile, injuries continue to create problems for teams hoping to begin to arrange individual workouts with possible first-round picks. With Noel, Anthony Bennett and Alex Len already out because of health issues that are scheduled to sideline them through summer league, Louisville center Gorgui Dieng and San Diego State shooting guard Jamaal Franklin were both in walking boots Wednesday. Dieng, No. 17 in the latest NBA.com ranking, reported a sprained right ankle suffered in a training session, Franklin a sprained left ankle in similar fashion.

Both described their injuries as relatively minor, though also enough to possibly delay the start to individual workouts. Dieng said he is scheduled to see a doctor on Monday and hopes to ramp up his conditioning with an eye toward full practices and scrimmages soon after.

Duke guard Seth Curry is also here to meet with teams, but estimated he is a month away from being able to return to contact work while recovering from the stress fracture in his right shin. The brother of Stephen and son of Dell is a possibility for the second round.

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Pre-Draft Camp Opens With Opportunities

May 15, 2013  ·  8:36AM

CHICAGO – Watch the narrative on the Draft begin to change, one general manager predicted.

Watch some front offices, in other words, suddenly talk up the Draft that for months has been universally regarded as weak, in an attempt to push more of a positive vibe for picks heading toward June 27. Part will be making the most of a bad situation, part simply focusing on the positives that do exist rather than continuing to lament the lack of star power, lack of depth and the lack of healthy top prospects. Or as one veteran executive put it rhetorically:

“Would you want a top pick this year?”

All of which makes the pre-Draft camp that opens here today and moves to the gym Thursday and Friday particularly intriguing, because of the greater chance than normal for dramatic shifts in stock. The swooning of past years, at least over a single prospect – like Anthony Davis last year — being as close to a sure thing in an otherwise-understated draft does not exist. A good showing at workouts at a private facility, along with individual interviews with teams, though, could mean a significant bump.

As always, many players projected for the lottery (and in some cases, with a chance for the top 12 or 14) will skip the basketball portion of this NBA job fair rather than risk hurting their stock. Most of those prospects will show for the interviews and the physicals, leave and choose spots for individual workouts after the lottery order is set May 21.

The twist this time is that three players in the top 10 in the latest NBA.com rankings won’t be able to take complete physicals either because of injuries that will also keep them out of tryouts leading to the Draft and Summer League after that: Kentucky power forward Nerlens Noel (No. 2), UNLV power forward Anthony Bennett (3) and Maryland center Alex Len (9).

Sixty-three players are on the latest (so-called) participant list for the largest annual gathering of team representatives, from top executives to scouts to coaches and medical staffs, and prospects, to be followed in the coming weeks by large workouts hosted by the Nets and Timberwolves. The primary event for international prospects, the adidas Eurocamp, will be June 8-10 in Treviso, Italy.

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Draft Watch: Myck Kabongo

February 24, 2013  ·  3:47PM

Myck Kabongo obviously needs time to get into a rhythm in his return from an NCAA suspension. In his four games back, averaging 37 minutes per outing, he has averaged 15.5 points, shooting 46.5 percent overall and 25 percent on threes, and has four assists against three turnovers.

Except that he doesn’t have much time. The University of Texas is likely down to single digits in games remaining, barring a postseason run off the current 12-15 mark, and their sophomore point guard is on the clock to avoid being locked into the second round. If he chooses to come out for the 2013 draft, patience is not an ally.

Kabongo, in a switch, actually needs the college season. That isn’t usually the case for players with an established portfolio, as was proven in 2011 when Kyrie Irving went No. 1 after being limited to 11 games by injury as a Duke freshman and Enes Kanter was No. 3 after spending his entire freshman campaign at Kentucky in NCAA jail.

The unique difference is that Kabongo has been backsliding for more than a year, since he arrived at Texas as a star recruit projected for the top of the lottery whenever he decided to turn pro. (That would also make him part of the growing Canadian footprint in the NBA, in the wave of Tristan Thompson, Andrew Nicholson, Cory Joseph, Kris Joseph and Robert Sacre, just before Anthony Bennett possibly goes in the top five in 2013 and current high school senior Andrew Wiggins, the phenom on the horizon for years, enters next season as the clear No. 1.) Kabongo can make up ground in pre-draft workouts that can dramatically alter a draft standing, in another sign of how much scouts and executives value entire seasons of college ball, but for now there is doubt whether he can even break out from the NCAA pack, let alone the NBA.

“I don’t know if he’s shown people enough,” one front-office veteran said. “I really don’t.”

And that’s after being very well known coming to Texas and a full season as a freshman of 9.6 points, 5.2 assists and 39 percent from the field. Kabongo was losing draft ground.

The suspension itself for the first 23 games of this season will be irrelevant in NBA minds if it does not show up as a pattern of behavior. The NCAA said in a statement he accepted airfare and time with a personal trainer and then “provided false and misleading information during two separate interviews with university officials,” and if the pros are willing to overlook college games, imagine how willing they are to overlook the college governing body. The part about lying to Texas will be the red flag.

Once Kabongo did come back, Feb. 13, the layoff was obvious. He couldn’t hit a shot and, worse, a point guard known for advanced playmaking skills was sloppy with the ball. Saturday night against Kansas State was more a little more encouraging – 24 points on eight-of-12 shooting, along with six rebounds, although also two assists and three turnovers.

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Draft Watch: James McAdoo

January 24, 2013  ·  5:26PM

This is not a disappearing act. That would be too harsh. James McAdoo is still the leading scorer for a high-profile program, North Carolina, with a chance to get back into the top 25.

But it is a dramatic hit to his draft stock. That would be reality.

“I just see a role player,” an NBA executive said. “And this is a guy you would have said was top 10 before the season for sure.”

Maybe even top five. But deep into what was supposed to be a sophomore season with the Chapel Hill spotlight mostly to himself, McAdoo has tumbled so far on team draft boards that it is not just possible he will slip entirely out of the lottery the night of June 27. It is easy to see happening.

The cause for the fall has been debated – some front offices say the perspective of time shows he was oversold as a freshman, others maintain McAdoo was lottery-level good last season before deciding to stay in school, only to have his lack of star power exposed once Harrison Barnes, Kendall Marshall, John Henson and Tyler Zeller left North Carolina as 2012 first-round picks.

“I think he’s still a phenomenal player,” said Zeller, now a Cavaliers center. “It’s just (opponents) can focus more on him whereas last year we had a lot more players that he kind of got away from and he could kind of slide in there and make it a little easier on himself.”

McAdoo, a distant relative of Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo, is averaging 14.7 points and 8.3 rebounds in 29.4 minutes while shooting 45.4 percent. One number that jumps out to NBA evaluators: he is a 6-foot-9 power forward with six blocks in 529 minutes. Even elite pro prospects not known for defense should get more than that by accident, especially when McAdoo should be dominating lesser opponents early in the season on muscle memory alone.

He is a good athlete, but the lack of a reliable perimeter game is a problem for any attempt to consider McAdoo at small forward. He rebounds well – 8.3 per game – but needs to get stronger to have that translate at the next level, and being a bad free-throw shooter (58.3 percent) means teams will have no problem with McAdoo getting the ball inside. Hack away. And while power forwards don’t need to be skilled passers, having more than twice as many turnovers (52) than assists (23) shows another glaring problem.

“I was really surprised,” an exec said after recently scouting Carolina. “He had so much more talent around him (last season). He didn’t have to be the man. I liked his upside a lot more than what I saw this year.”

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Draft Watch: The Kentucky Freshmen

December 3, 2012  ·  4:56PM

 

Watching the Kentucky star freshmen of 2012-13 is a reminder of the special level of the Kentucky star freshmen of 2011-12. That’s part of it, the new perspective of how unique Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist truly were in talent and leadership for first-year players on their way to going 1-2 in the draft.

The other part is that the current NBA-bound group has a long way to go to capture front offices, no matter the comparison. Possibilities, absolutely. Depth, yes, although, again, not like last season’s Wildcats that sent Davis (Hornets), Kidd-Gilchrist (Bobcats) and Marquis Teague (Bulls) to the pros after one season, along with sophomores Terrence Jones (Rockets) and Doron Lamb (Bucks) and senior Darius Miller (Hornets), and had all stick. But not the same early-season buzz.

This group is much more in the developmental stage, as much as Kidd-Gilchrist was desperately lacking a jump shot a year ago. That’s even with the best of the Kentucky prospects, Nerlens Noel, in the wide-open mix for the No. 1 pick in June, and even with the current possibility of four Wildcats going in the top 20. With so much time remaining, that means it wouldn’t be a shock if four go in the lottery, depending on who comes out and who returns for school.

Any school takes this so-called comedown, of course. It’s just that it is not the same in Lexington as 2011-12.

Noel is, like Davis, an immediate defensive presence as a big man and thin at 230 pounds, a shot blocker who quickly gets off the ground. He plays hard. Unlike Davis, though, Noel’s offense is nowhere. He will score very, very close to the basket, but is awkward with the ball. (Davis was so underrated on offense in his one season, because his defense was all the rage and because he was surrounded by so much talent.)

Archie Goodwin: There’s a lot of Eric Bledsoe, the current Clipper reserve, because of the blasts of speed in the open court and to get to the basket, and because Goodwin, like Bledsoe before him as a Kentucky one-and-done, needs to prove he can make the decisions of a top point guard and deliver the ball. If Goodwin begins to play more under control, he jumps way up the draft board.

Willie Cauley-Stein: More of a traditional wide-body center than Noel, an appeal to the NBA, and Cauley-Stein has some inside game. It’s hard to imagine him in the lottery without taking giant steps on the learning curve, or unless a lot of prospects stay in school, but it easy to see a future as a backup big.

Alex Poythress: He already has an NBA body for small forward at 6-7 and 240 pounds, but not the game, needing to show he can score off the dribble and from the perimeter rather than trying to overpower opponents. Those advances could come, though. If they do, Poythress easily jumps to the top portion of the lottery.

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European Star Keeps NBA Options Open

November 26, 2012  ·  4:06PM

Dario Saric, one of the top draft prospects in Europe, agreed to a four-year contract to play in his native Croatia, but has a buyout following each season that would clear the way for him to join the NBA without delay.

The real issue is Saric saying he will stay in the 2013 draft only if he has a top-10 promise, as reported on Twitter by Europhopes.com.

This could become a close call. One executive tells NBA.com, “Yes, he would be considered top 10 already.” Other front offices are not as convinced. So begins one of the interesting storylines heading to the June draft, with the obvious disclaimer that seven months is more than enough time for a teenager to change his mind and decide to stay in or out no matter what, just as college players in the United States say one thing during the season and another as the sound of the cash register gets louder.

Saric said he will sign Tuesday with Cibona in Zagreb, Croatia, according to Sportando.net. The contract provides a series of out clauses for the 18-year-old combo to leave for the NBA, with the amount to be determined as a percentage of his rookie deal, the same sliding scale, as opposed to a flat rate, used most recently when Jonas Valanciunas left Lithuania for the Raptors.

After a year when only one international product without experience in North America was drafted in the first round, Evan Fournier to the Nuggets at No. 20, the 2013 class could have two in the lottery and possibly the top 10: France’s Rudy Gobert, the top-rated prospect in Europe, and Saric.

Saric’s Cibona teammates will include Demond Carter (Baylor, Tulsa of the National Basketball Development League), Dustin Ware (Georgia), D.J. Strawberry (Maryland, Suns, Albuquerque and Reno of the D-League) and Justin Hamilton (Iowa State and LSU).

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