Wayne Selden has looked really good in the first half against Kansas State. He's just being much more aggressive instead trying to be the consummate, unselfish teammate. He's also shown some of the flashy passing I've read about. He's looking a bonafide NBA prospect.
Maybe the biggest change has been in his shooting mechanics. He used to bring the ball up over his head. Now his stroke is more classic looking. This is actually pretty stunning since when do players actually change their stroke during the season and take to it really well? Good for him and good for Kansas coaches not being afraid to "tweak" the game of a high recruit.
Whenever I wonder who Ainge is gonna take with the worst of the BKN/ATL pick, my head always comes back to Wayne Selden. He just looks like one of those, "I'm gonna average 12 points 3 rebounds and 3 assists and play good man-D at the 2 for the next 12 years' kinda guys. Like a slightly worse Wes Matthews. Great effort, good athleticism, willing to not be 'the man', which is a good thing sometimes.
Yeah but assuming that pick ends up around 16-18, I'm worried Selden will be gone by then or decided to wait until next years draft.
Yeah, maybe. DraftExpress has him slotted at around 20-something now, so there's a good chance he stays. I'm just sayin that's how I always thought of the 2nd pick going.
Honestly, I would forget about Draft Express and most of the mock drafts. They just skim the surface and rehash the same names over and over.
Selden should be a lottery pick and will be gone by the Atl/NJ pick. For those who have just seen a few of the Kansas games and are projecting off of that or Draft Express mocks, you are vastly underrating Wayne Selden. I have seen him play in person 10 to 15 times with BABC and at Tilton. He is a fantastic NBA prospect and I would call him more likely to be Mitch Richmond than Wes Matthews. He is a freak athletically and a dominant scorer. Very hard to show that right out of the gate playing for Bill Self.
Too bad Deandre Kane got hurt today. Was looking forward to possibly watching him and Selden match up on Monday. Kane and Melvin Ejim have proven to be two of the best players in the country and neither are mentioned in most mock drafts.
Semaj Christon is likely a lottery pick too and every bit the point guard that Ennis or Smart is. Would definitely take him over Levine and he is rarely mentioned by the draft guys either.
TJ Warren would be my pick with the ATL/NJ pick if he is around in the 20 range. Should be a perennial 20 point a game scorer in the NBA and a above average rebounder at the SF.
I like TJ Warren too but you're basically projecting him to be a perennial top 10 scorer. Maybe he will be but you seem to be underrating the difficulty of the accomplishment.
I'm pretty sure most of these draft sites as well as the ESPN guys (Goodman, Ford, etc) have actually seen the top prospects play many times in many different settings, including in practice. I like Selden too but like with your TJ Warren statement, I don't think you're judging Selden in the NBA context. He's a good athlete but not a fantastic one. I like the improvements he's made with his shot lately but I wouldn't throw out a name like Mitch Richmond. Prior to the last two games, he didn't look anywhere ready to enter the draft. He wasn't asserting himself offensively, was very turnover prone and had been benched multiple times. The light seems to have come on and if it has, I guess late lottery is possible.
Goodman sometimes, but I have never seen Chad Ford at a national prep, AAU or HS game and I go to a lot. I see Boeheim, Calapari, Calhoun, Danny etc. all the time. Ford and Goodman are not at the games for ESPN, that is why they have Adam Finkelstein. He and Paul are the insiders at ESPN.
Have you seen Selden play in person? No changes to his shot that I can see and if you saw him in person over the last several years (excluding severe ankle injury time) you would know that and what a freak athlete his is.
You would also know Selden has played against and excelled against the highest national competition since 16 years old. BABC 17U (he was 16) was a dominate national AAU team. Tilton School 2001-12 was a dominate (until injuries) national HS team. Better than Oak Hill, St. Anthony, Huntington Prep and Simeon. Selden has excelled at every level, been a great shooter and a freak athlete, yet you are only looking at his performance during a few tough Kansas road games against a zone? All the Kansas players struggled during that time.
How has Parker looked the last four games? Has he struggled a bit on 30% volume shooting against 4 unranked teams? It happens, but I am not just going buy the draft board hype without seeing for myself and going to what games I can. If Parker cannot shoot 50% or get a single assist against mighty ALON, why not question him in the "NBA ready context".
TJ Warren has been a dominant scorer at every level. He is 6' 8". Led ACC in shooting % (64%) as a freshman. Until Saturday's debacle, (NC State is a mess) he was averaging 23.4 pts on 54% shooting. Top five in the country. He led his National Champion Prep team in scoring and that team is likely to have four NBA first rounders.
No, never saw Chad Ford or Jeff Goodman at a Brewster practice, but I did see Calapari, Boeheim, Hoiberg and Kyrie Irving. Brewster's last several S/F and P/F have been C.J. Fair, Will Barton and Thomas Robinson. Jason Smith will tell you that TJ Warren was by far the most NBA ready scorer.
I watched Warren get 34 against Nerlens Noel and Goodluck Okonobah, when his teammate Mitch McGary could not even get a shot off without getting it blocked. Warren just lit it up effortlessly, while McGary (number one ranked HS player in the country at the time) scored only one basket.
Could I be wrong and both Warren and Selden be total busts? Sure, I am just a fan. I think Shabazz was still rated a top three pick at this time last year, so even ESPN gets the hype wrong sometimes. But I have seen Selden and Warren play consistently at awesome levels against national competition. Both have perfect builds and NBA bodies right now for their exact projected NBA positions at the two and the three. For now I am sticking with that.
Big game tonight! Probably no Deandre Kane, but watch Melvin Ejim tonight maybe matching up against both Wiggins and Embiid at times. If Kane somehow plays, I like ISU.
Topic: 2014 NBA Draft Discussion Thread (Read 127532 times)