Shabazz Muhammed may fall out of lottery? (NBA.com)

[BleedGreen1989]

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.”

Man this kid was on the top of my wish list and still is I suppose. Anybody who falls out of the lottery obviously has flaws but I think he's an ultimate "swing for the fences" prospect

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Im actually all for moving up for him. It'll be a blessing if he falls at 16.

He has the potential to be an All Star compare to the others, flaws aside.  I'd be happy if he wears Celtic green.

[BleedGreen1989]

Im actually all for moving up for him. It'll be a blessing if he falls at 16.

He has the potential to be an All Star compare to the others, flaws aside.  I'd be happy if he wears Celtic green.

Yea I really like him. It would be awesome if he fell out of the lottery

[Fafnir]

I don't think he falls that far. Too much talent even with all his warts.

[lightspeed5]

We need him to drop... sully dropped to us, now we need shabazz and we'd be set for the next 10 years

I agree though that he wont fall to us.

[slamtheking]

At first I was thinking if a kid with that much talent drops you have to take him but the more I hear about him the more it sounds like he'd bring back the era of Curtis Rowe and Sidney Wicks to the Team.  (or at least the Ricky Davis/Mark Blount era)

[CoachBo]

Shabazz is an NBA bust looking for a place to happen. Quickness is average, BBIQ isn't much.

He'd make Gerald Green look like a good pick.

[indeedproceed]

This is interesting, because it shows the division clearly on Shabazz:

“He was simply awful today,” one GM told us about Shabazz Muhammad. Slow, stocky, selfish, can't jump, only drives left, he couldn't buy a basket from outside. Did he even want to be here?” We heard others echo similar thoughts.

“I'm kind of warming up to Muhammad,” a number of different executives expressed. “There's no doubt he was the best player in his group. You gotta love that hunger to score. He's an aggressive, competitive kid. He got after it today. I didn't like him during the season but I'm starting to see what all the hype was about.”

From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com#ixzz2ThURHidh
http://www.draftexpress.com

[Eja117]

This is interesting, because it shows the division clearly on Shabazz:

“He was simply awful today,” one GM told us about Shabazz Muhammad. Slow, stocky, selfish, can't jump, only drives left, he couldn't buy a basket from outside. Did he even want to be here?” We heard others echo similar thoughts.

“I'm kind of warming up to Muhammad,” a number of different executives expressed. “There's no doubt he was the best player in his group. You gotta love that hunger to score. He's an aggressive, competitive kid. He got after it today. I didn't like him during the season but I'm starting to see what all the hype was about.”

From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com#ixzz2ThURHidh
http://www.draftexpress.com

Is "one GM" the brother of "an anonymous source" or the sister of "a source that spoke on the condition of anonymity"?  The second sentence isn't even written correctly. "I'm kind of warming up" said a number of different executives?  That's an interesting sentence for an entire "number" of "different" executives to express. 

[indeedproceed]

Yeah the contextual phrasing is weird, but if you go on to read the entirety of the article, he's just lumping multiple similar statements together. Still, pretty stark disparity.

[indeedproceed]

I will say that, knowing myself as I do, Id convince myself that Shabazz would be the steal of the draft if we landed him. But until we do, I think he's going to be pedestrian in the NBA.

[Eddie20]

One GM or Executive, I forget which, was quoted as saying that going left Muhammed is a top 5 pick, but going right he's a top 20. My biggest concern though is Muhammed's age and style. He has simply overpowered opponents in HS and college, but at 6-6 he's going to have a lot of trouble doing that against other SF's.

[CelticConcourse]

Please derop!

[diconzo]

I think Shabazz will have better luck as a SG who plays like Ray (I really hope he falls to 16 or we make a move to get him) moving off screens and getting set up for open threes. The only time he should be dribbling is to create his own shot. Not a play maker at all but we wouldn't need that of him. (I also bet that it would come as his game developed) As for the age thing, yes he is a year older, but he's still only 20! He has so much room for improvement to learn the NBA system and he's extremely competitive, so as long as he puts effort in on D he'll be effective.

[Atzar]

Bigger OJ Mayo.  Probably without the occasional ability to make plays for others.