With everyone figuring Rudy Gay to be the #1 pick in the draft even after his tournament performance, does anyone else think it should be someone else?
I think that Tyrus Thomas of LSU is pretty much what most GM's have been trying to draft the last few years (Chandler, Diop, Brown), but much more productive on a higher level. He seems like he'd be the most likely person to have a huge career both right away and overall.
Gay reminds me of a poor mans Andre Iguodala, less defense, and physicality, but more hype..

Tyrus Thomas wouldnt fit in to well with the Bobcats at #1 but would do well with the Bulls at #2 with the Knicks pick

what about ron jeremy... I mean Adam morrison and his porn stache...

I think Rudy has had a very disappointing season, I expected him to dominate this year and he's done nothing even close to that. He's been very unimpressive for the most part, most of his big games have been against weak competition where he can dominate with his physical advantages. When he plays better competition, he tends to disappear and only settle for jumpers. For someone as athletic as he is, it's rediculous he doesn't get to the rim more and take 10 trips to the freethrow line.

I think the #1 pick will likely be Lamarcus Aldridge if he declares. I'm not completely sold on Tyrus Thomas yet, we could be seeing Stromile Swift part 2 in him. I think Aldridge is the only player in this draft that you can confidently say won't be a bust, the rest of the candidates may all potentially struggle.

Aldridge is another guy who could go #1 without much criticism but it must be concerning to most GM's and owners to watch him be repeatedly pushed out of the block by Big Baby from LSU, in that game it didnt seem like he got a shot that he wasn't fading away on or shot from an uncomfortable position. Big Baby isn't on anyone's draft list, and I'm guessing that most NBA players are stronger and more mobile than he is. Thomas seems like he has a Garnett-like skillset while Aldridge has Camby-like skillset. Not saying either is a bad thing.

I haven't seen big baby, only highlights... seems like a newer version of tractor trailer... maybe a little better...

I wouldn't put Big Baby in the Tractor Traylor/fat college center category quite yet, he's really agile for his ridiculously heavy frame and he makes clutch shots pretty regularly. I would put him in the middle of the Charles Barkley to Tractor Traylor spectrum...
As for Morrison, I wonder if he will have to keep the porn moustache after he signs his first Pony/Converse sneaker deal... (wouldnt it be sweet if he wore chuck taylors?)

What a sucky year to have the #1 pick. There isn't a clear number one. ESPN had their draft lottery thing for a while, several different names would come up, Rudy Gay, Aldridge, Thomas. That Andrea Bargnani guy was high. So was Morrison. I'm not sure any of them are can't miss prospects. I'd much rather have the 3-5th pick at this point. Heck, I even saw Joakin Noah pretty high on that thing. Granted all I've sene is from the tourney, but that guy really doesn't have much of a post game from what I saw. He just seems to me to be a less athletic version of Tyrus Thomas. That Thomas guy can block shots though, man.

I'm with you on this one. I havent seen any player so far that strikes me as the "foundation of the franchise" label usually associated with the Number 1 pick. Some good players, but no one stands out as really being an All-Star someday.

I saw the ESPN thing too and a lot of those guys are going to have problems. I know people like the big athletic project type guys because of their "upside," but I think a lot of that hope is badly misplaced. If they are so athletic and skilled, they (freshman or not) should be dominating what is now weak college competion. A lot of those bigs arent doing that. And if those athletic guards cant hit the short NCAA trey with consistantcy (when their physical talents easily get them good looks they wont get in the NBA), pro scouts also seem to be placing too much on "hope" rather than "reality."

As to who will be No 1... Probably either Morrison or Aldridge. Both are fairly safe picks that likely wont be absolute busts and those still All-Star potential. And GM can gladly point to "everyone else had him rated high" if the pick doesnt pan out. In a draft were there is no clear cut impact savior to the franchise, those are good picks.

I would say Gay, Morrison, or Brandon Roy

noah baby, best big in the nation.

let's hope he passes down the chance of the #1 pick and goes on for back to back championships at UF.

Getting a bit ahead of yourself aren't you?

nope

Wow....one college player averages 14 points and 7 boards a game for one season and he's already the best big man in the nation!??! Also..funny thing that you haven't learned the lesson of NOT looking past George Mason. Hope the actual players don't take after that...otherwise they are gonna get blown out. I don't think that will actually happen..I like Billy Donovan as a coach....but you never know.

Also, Noah is not the best big man..even in his own conference. That'd be Davis..you know..the guy who averaged 4 more points a game and 2 more assists and has had just as big an impact on this tourney than Noah.

Noah may eventually be better than Davis in the NBA...but not right now.

Obviously no dominate #1 pick like in past years. I think there are a lot of good players who will help out a team, but nobody I see that is going to dominate.

way to point to points and boards and leave out the other stats and the intangibles that make noah the best big in the nation.

There's two different meanings to "the best big in the nation." One, the best college player from this year. And two, the best prospect loved by the scouts. Noah loses on both counts.

Shelden Williams was easily the best college big man this past season. That one was easy.

Aldridge is the best big prospect loved by the scouts. This could change, but I dont think Noah will be the one to pass him.

Those are two more things than your blind statement that he is the "best big man in the nation" with absolutely zero backup. Big man from LSU is better right now. More points and boards per game and has a bigger impact on the game..and is pretty agile for his size and even has a bit of range on his jump shot. Ultimately, Noah will probably be a better pro b/c of his height, but right now Davis is better.

I'd love to hear all these "intangibles" that he has that NOOOO other big man has...lol. "Intangibles" is just code word for "well, he plays for the team I root for, so I say he's the best."

www.nbadraft.net

They got Tyrus Thompson going first, which I think will happen. His stock is real high and he's gonna have to declare if it looks as if he'll be #1. First pick next year is already ordained to be Oden. Tyrus will be a defensive beast immediately, much better than Stromile Swift, but how long will it take for him to have the offensive skills to pour in 15 a night? I say about three years.

Joah Kim 2nd - his stock is also the highest it will ever be. Most scouts say he is two years away from being an NBA starter, but he definitely has tons of upside. I see him becoming a much more skilled Tyson Chandler.

Adam Morrison 3rd - bit of a surprise there, but I think he belongs in the top 5 and will make the biggest impact his rookie year. A better Dunleavy, but not close to the skills of a Bird.

Lamarcus Aldridge 4th - serviceable big man, could be pretty good in two years but must show some all-around improvement.

Rudy Gay 5th - has tons of potential, but not ready for the NBA yet. I think he should wait another year and be a top 3 pick, but he did turn it on for UCONN during the tournament. Has the ability to one day be a Paul Pierce type player.

That's a pretty good site, gilbertology.

Most helpful when one's trying to keep up with the Euro players (and up to this year, high schoolers).


As a MoValley fan, nice to see O'Bryant's stock rocket up.

I've seen a lot of mock drafts popping up with Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah going 1 and 2. This is just more proof of a weak draft this year with those 2 prosepects getting a lot of exposure during the tournament. I would normally say that eventually things will settle down and those two guys would go much lower in the draft, but in the years group they could go there.

I dont think Thomas is even the best prospect on his own team. Davis seems to have a much more developed game and strength and size to go with it. All Davis has to do is stay away from the dinner table (I keeping getting visions of Oliver Miller here).

I see Lemarcus Aldridge going first

2nd

They say this weak draft crap about 4 out of every 5 years, and generally they end up proven wrong for all but one of them. This sort of draft tends to be the type where there are a lot of sleepers in the late first round and second round.

The first pick will be J.J. "Big Baby" MorrGayNoahison.

Im interested to see where the foreign players go in this draft. I've seen a highlight on utube of that Bargani kid and he looks pretty filthy. Nice size, handles, athleticism and shot. I can't see him dropping past the 5th pick. I also just raid a pretty interesting article on this African kid, Saer Sene, that's stock is soaring on draftexpress, heres the Link

I was just looking at nbadraft.net's mock draft for 2007 and jesus, its deep. Joakim Noah went from 1st on their 2006 board to fith on their 2007. Anyone know anything about the other highschoolers outside of Oden?

I dont give any site credibility if it has Mike Gansey going in the first round

When people mention a weak draft, most of the time they are talking about the upper half of the lottery. They're talking about the amount of cant-miss-impact-star players. And their really arent that many this year (or in any year for that matter). There's a lot of good players that might be good complimentary stars, but I have a hard time finding anyone that I think will be the anchor for a particular team. Two years ago was a very strong draft and people were calling it that at the time.

Whether or not the late first round and early second picks are going to pan out refers to the depth of the draft, and most people consider this a different topic. The success of the players is judged totally different than the lottery picks. If the guy is in the league 10 years, he was a good pick. That being said I think the depth of the draft this year is good. A lot of college seniors will go low and end up playing in the NBA for a while.

Mike Gansey I've watched play the past two years and he was by far the best player on WVU, better than Pittsnoggle. He deserves to be a late first round/early second round pick. He's quick, an amazing shooter, and has the confidence to hang in the league. He'll make a solid back scoring pg. Look at steve nash, ppl were ragging on him outta Santa Clara but his game was similar to Gansey's. Well, not that similar.

Watch out for Brandon Roy, I forgot about him but he has a good shot at being ROY.

My 2nd round sleeper in this year's draft is James White, and not just because he went to my hs for two years and is from my hometown. This kid has the best hops I've seen, I think he can be as good as Gerald Greene, he is like Green with more hops. He can dunk one or two handed from the free throw line after drinking 6 beers at 5am in the morning. That's how much he can fly. I've even seen him do a between the legs from just inside the free throw line. Look for him in the NBA dunk contest if he makes the league.
He'll pull out a dunk from the three point line

I really like Brandon Roy..I think a solid pick maybe for the late first or 2nd ropund would be Chris Hernandez of Stanford. Kid is a very solid point guard. I think Rudy Gay is a little soft.

i disagrre and i think tyrus thomas would fit well into the bobcats team, hes the kind of player they dont have. besided in the NBA you draft for potential anyways

Its a soft draft this year for sure. No real solid sure fire all stars, but lots of players who can fill roles and make some kind of an impact. I expect the Bulls to make a splash this year though, with the picks they have in the draft plus how sucessful they were this year, this draft could really solidify them as a title contender again.