Wiggins Not All That - Overrated?

[Galeto]

But when it was time to make a decision, Gerald green plummeted in the draft.

I guess they saw what a knucklehead he was and his obvious lack of skills.  18th was low but not too low.  Athletic ability makes scouts swoon.   DA picks guys who can play over athletes.   The athlete he picked JJJ could not play.

I like the fact that people are all over the board on this draft.   It means more will want to deal.  Some like this guy and others that guy and our pick will have more value if we trade.

If only Ainge wasn't so seemingly enamored with athletes. To be fair to him, all the guys he's picked were very good productive players in college, even JJJ who also had a lot of skill. But the list of guys who were ultimately more athletes than players goes beyond JJJ to include Banks, Gerald and Giddens. Skills-wise, he's also picked two of the worst ballhandlers in the league in Avery and Tony Allen.

  I'd guess that there are plenty of shooting guards that would look like they were among the worst ballhandlers in the league if you made them into point guards.

I doubt they would look as bad as Avery and Tony.  It's not the position and the defenders they go up against that make them look like such awful ballhandlers.  They are just bad ballhandlers.  Ballhandling ability can be judged on its own merits.  Avery doesn't have a left hand and he dribbles with his head down more than any guard I've seen in the NBA ever.  He also possesses no dribble moves like a crossover, between the legs dribble or behind the back dribble that can help him protect the ball from defenders or break them down.  His dribbling repertoire begins and ends with a basic right hand dribble.  Instead of making it look like he has the ball on a string, he makes it look like the ball has a leash on him.

Compared to Avery, Tony is almost a ballhandling wizard in the sense that he actually has a good crossover dribble and can dribble equally well with both hands.  Where Tony fails compared to the rest of the league is that he can't be counted on to dribble with any pace without losing the dang ball over his head.  I've never seen another player make the ball seem so dang inflated.

[PhoSita]

NBA scouts who have passed through Lawrence told me that they are unsure why everyone has labeled Wiggins as the clear-cut No. 1 overall pick.

"I certainly wasn't blown away by him," said one high-ranking NBA executive. "He was just OK. Average. I'm just not buying all this no-brainer stuff about him being the No. 1 pick. I just don't see it yet."

  This is pretty much the opposite of what I've heard from his proponents. He's supposedly a can't miss superstar, according to *all* the scouts.

I imagine there's some kernel of truth in this contrarian opinion from the article, but I feel like mostly somebody just wanted to get attention by saying the opposite of what everybody else was saying.

  If you read it closely it isn't "someone" saying that, it's multiple people from the nba.

Sure, I saw that.  But the guy writing the article also gets to choose how much of what they said he includes in the article, and what context he puts it in.

I just think when everybody is saying one thing about a player and you get one article saying something very far in the other direction, you ought to be skeptical of the outlier opinion.  Too much incentive to cash in on the Wiggins hype by presenting an in-depth "Pshhh he's no big deal" article about him.

[Celtics4ever]

It's all just an Ainge smokescreen, JK>

[BballTim]

But when it was time to make a decision, Gerald green plummeted in the draft.

I guess they saw what a knucklehead he was and his obvious lack of skills.  18th was low but not too low.  Athletic ability makes scouts swoon.   DA picks guys who can play over athletes.   The athlete he picked JJJ could not play.

I like the fact that people are all over the board on this draft.   It means more will want to deal.  Some like this guy and others that guy and our pick will have more value if we trade.

If only Ainge wasn't so seemingly enamored with athletes. To be fair to him, all the guys he's picked were very good productive players in college, even JJJ who also had a lot of skill. But the list of guys who were ultimately more athletes than players goes beyond JJJ to include Banks, Gerald and Giddens. Skills-wise, he's also picked two of the worst ballhandlers in the league in Avery and Tony Allen.

  I'd guess that there are plenty of shooting guards that would look like they were among the worst ballhandlers in the league if you made them into point guards.

I doubt they would look as bad as Avery and Tony.  It's not the position and the defenders they go up against that make them look like such awful ballhandlers.  They are just bad ballhandlers.  Ballhandling ability can be judged on its own merits.  Avery doesn't have a left hand and he dribbles with his head down more than any guard I've seen in the NBA ever.  He also possesses no dribble moves like a crossover, between the legs dribble or behind the back dribble that can help him protect the ball from defenders or break them down.  His dribbling repertoire begins and ends with a basic right hand dribble.  Instead of making it look like he has the ball on a string, he makes it look like the ball has a leash on him.

Compared to Avery, Tony is almost a ballhandling wizard in the sense that he actually has a good crossover dribble and can dribble equally well with both hands.  Where Tony fails compared to the rest of the league is that he can't be counted on to dribble with any pace without losing the dang ball over his head.  I've never seen another player make the ball seem so dang inflated.

  Again, I think it's a case of seeing these players in these positions more often than you'd see players on other teams in that position (if you'd see them in that position at all). You frequently see bad ballhandling from other teams, just not often enough by the same player to notice it. Plus there are tons of players who you've never seen try and run the point, and probably with good reason.

[BballTim]

NBA scouts who have passed through Lawrence told me that they are unsure why everyone has labeled Wiggins as the clear-cut No. 1 overall pick.

"I certainly wasn't blown away by him," said one high-ranking NBA executive. "He was just OK. Average. I'm just not buying all this no-brainer stuff about him being the No. 1 pick. I just don't see it yet."

  This is pretty much the opposite of what I've heard from his proponents. He's supposedly a can't miss superstar, according to *all* the scouts.

I imagine there's some kernel of truth in this contrarian opinion from the article, but I feel like mostly somebody just wanted to get attention by saying the opposite of what everybody else was saying.

  If you read it closely it isn't "someone" saying that, it's multiple people from the nba.

Sure, I saw that.  But the guy writing the article also gets to choose how much of what they said he includes in the article, and what context he puts it in.

I just think when everybody is saying one thing about a player and you get one article saying something very far in the other direction, you ought to be skeptical of the outlier opinion.  Too much incentive to cash in on the Wiggins hype by presenting an in-depth "Pshhh he's no big deal" article about him.

  They all control what they put in their articles and the context they put it in. Point remains, either he guy made up the quote and the discussions he had or the praise for Wiggins isn't as universal as so many claim.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I've said since day one the best player 8n this draft is Jabari Parker. Embid has incredible potential. I think Wiggins is good but the pressure and his poor shot will build against him.

Danny wants Jabari badly (in my opinion) and he'll give up pretty much everyone to get him. He's got the most complete game of all these guys and will only get slimmer and stronger and more athletic. His shot is beautiful and he can become a better version of Carmelo that plays defense and has the craftiness of Paul Pierce.

Agree here. I think Jabari Parker is the guy to watch. Hes talented but he's also got his head on straight. Hes the guy I'd like the to get.

Count me in this bandwagon. I've always like Parker over Wiggins due to his overall offensive ability. He's not as athletic as Wiggins but from what I've read from various mock draft sites, Jabari has a better all around game than Wiggins.

[Sketch5]

I've said since day one the best player 8n this draft is Jabari Parker. Embid has incredible potential. I think Wiggins is good but the pressure and his poor shot will build against him.

Danny wants Jabari badly (in my opinion) and he'll give up pretty much everyone to get him. He's got the most complete game of all these guys and will only get slimmer and stronger and more athletic. His shot is beautiful and he can become a better version of Carmelo that plays defense and has the craftiness of Paul Pierce.

Agree here. I think Jabari Parker is the guy to watch. Hes talented but he's also got his head on straight. Hes the guy I'd like the to get.

Count me in this bandwagon. I've always like Parker over Wiggins due to his overall offensive ability. He's not as athletic as Wiggins but from what I've read from various mock draft sites, Jabari has a better all around game than Wiggins.

Watching the video's of Wiggins and Parker I'd have to agree with you guys on this.

Wiggins is an athletic freak, but in all the video's I've only seen hi shoot a hand full of times. Parker on the other hand is a little athletic, but more on the PP or Melo type. Which Im totally fine with. He can shoot, and pass and get to the hole, plus he looks a bit stronger than Wiggins. I've been a fan since draft time when people were talking about this up and coming draft. And every one was on board with Wiggins, which I can see why. His video's are fun to watch, but they also don't show much. Parker is just a skilled player at this point. Which I'll take skill over athletics any day.

[D.o.s.]

For what it's worth, Michael Beasley had a better college career than Kevin Durant.