Originally Posted by
nolaslim213
So someone PMd me asking for my top-7, and I'll just post it here:
1) Ben McLemore - Great tools, great athleticism, great shot, but he needs to be more aggressive. I think that was a product of him playing with a lot of seniors, so he deferred to them all season. He needs to be more selfish in the NBA, but he has serious talent. He's 21 though...
2) Nerlens Noel - Love his athleticism and potential do be a dominant defender/rebounder. He can finish around the rim in traffic, so he has really good PnR potential. Tore his ACL towards the mid-end of the season, so he could drop. I would love to get him at #4 overall if that's where we pick.
3) Shabazz Muhammad - A lot of people are down on him right now, but I'm not sure why. He has really good defensive potential, and he can score in every way possible. People say he is Melo-esque in that he can score in all facets of the game. People say he is a little undersized for the SF, but I call BS. The kid is 6'6, 220 with a 7-foot wingspan. He is a ruthless attacker, and he has that killer instinct, which I love. Fierce competitor, needs to be more efficient.
4) Marcus Smart - Very D-Wade-esque. Fills up the stat sheet, can't shoot the 3, good court vision. He's really strong and a tenacious defender. He'd play PG for us, but he is a combo guard and can play either like Wade. I like him, but his lack of a shot worries me. That can be worked on, though, and he has a rep for a good work ethic.
5) Tie between Porter and Oladipo.
5a) Otto Porter - He can't really create for himself too much, but he is the perfect role player. He can hit the 3, make the pass to the open player, rebound, defend, and he has a great basketball I.Q. He is sort of a poor man's Paul George if you want to look at it like that. Not as athletic as George, but Porter basically carried Georgetown all year (Georgetown had NO talent this year) and led them to the #2 seed. I'd be very happy with him.
5b) Victor Oladipo - Kid is Russell Westbrook athletic, and he is an even better defender/rebounder. He hits the 3 at over 40%, and he has a great passion for the game. Good overall basketball I.Q., and he improved each year he was in college (Junior this year). He is a SG, though, and we need a SF, and I'm not totally convinced he'd be able to play SF full time at only 6'4. He is strong and athletic, but that's still short. He'd be higher for me if I knew he could play SF.
7) Trey Burke - This guy reminds me a lot of Chris Paul, and that's easy to say because he is only 6'0, but he is a true floor general and leader. He has great court vision, and he is a real good defender. He can hit the 3, and he has a great basketball I.Q. Supposedly, he is the fiercest competitor the Michigan HC has ever seen. He gets pissed in practice when he loses a drill. I like that a lot.
8) Anthony Bennett - Offensively skilled PF, slightly undersized, but he has the strength to compensate. My main problem with him is that he really just doesn't even try defensively, and I hate that. He's going to put up big numbers in the league, but he's going to give up big numbers too. If he was a defender as well, he'd probably be in my top-5.
I'm not a big fan of Zeller and Alex Len. They have limited ceilings (especially Zeller), and they just never wowed me. Len isn't nearly aggressive enough for a 7-footer, and Zeller isn't long enough to be an NBA center IMO. Very short wingspan, and he didn't progress at all from his rookie season.