Post by Washington Weasels on Jul 24, 2013 23:50:13 GMT
With the draft slowing to a crawl, I am taking time to recap the first 3 picks of our rookie draft.
The Washington Weasels had the first pick in a rookie draft with not a lot of superstar talent, but has very good roleplayers. The Weasels ended up taking a bit of a risk by selecting Cody Zeller with the 1st pick. Zeller, who was the 3rd pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, impressed scouts with his amazing combine statistics and very good play in the summer league. Through 4 games in Vegas, Zeller averaged 16.5 ppg with a FG % of 52% and a FT $ of 72.2%. What was more impressive was the fact he got 9.3 rebounds per game. Rebounding has been something many scouts have criticized Zeller about, but he proved in the summer league that he can grab some boards. Scouts are still not impressed with his lack of wingspan( his wing span is 6'8" when he is about 7'0") and his lack of strength in the post, and how that lack of strength will effect him in the NBA. Will Zeller's impressive combine numbers and summer league stats translate to the pros, or will his wingspan and post weakness hinder him in the NBA?
With the 2nd pick in the draft, the Fighting Mike Browns selected Otto Porter. Otto has come off to be a jack of all trades, good in all areas, but not great in any. He is believed to be fighting Trevor Ariza for the starting small forward job. He fits perfectly with John Wall and Brad Beal, so he is one of the front runners to win the Rookie of the Year award. However, he had a less than impressive showing in the summer league. Through 3 summer league games, Porter averaged 6.3 ppg, 3.70 rpg, and 1.0 apg. The more troubling part of his stat line was that he did this all while shooting 30% from the floor and 33.3% from the free throw line. Will these troubling summer league stats be a prequel to his career or will he be one of the front runners for Rookie of the Year like everyone expected.
With the 3rd pick of the draft, the Minnesota Muskies selected Victor Oladipo. Victor Oladipo was one of the surprises of the past NCAA season, coming out of no where to be one of the leaders of the Indiana Hoosiers. Based on his impressive play, he climbed up the prospect ladder and ended up being taken 2nd by the Orlando Magic. This pick by the Magic was sort of a head scratcher by the Magic, because Oladipo was a SG and arguably the Magic's best player, Aaron Afflalo, is also a SG. Sure enough, the Magic plan to move him to PG. Whether he or Jameer Nelson starts is still up in the air, but he sure proved in the Summer League why he was the 2nd pick. Through 4 games, Oladipo averaged 19 ppg, 4.30 rpg, and 5.0 apg. The red flags in his stat line though were that he shot 37.5% from the floor and turned the ball over 4.8 times per game. Watching Oladipo play you can clearly see the kid has talent, some have called his a young Dwayne Wade, but can he translate his talent to the PG position and cut down on his turnovers enough to beat out Jameer Nelson for the starting spot.
Meanwhile, the 1st pick of the NBA Draft Anthony Bennett still remains on the board. Other highly rated prospects still to be taken include, Nerlens Noel, Ben Mclemore, and Trey Burke. When will these guys be taken, and more importantly, by who? We will see how it all plays out in the rest of our Rookie Draft.
The Washington Weasels had the first pick in a rookie draft with not a lot of superstar talent, but has very good roleplayers. The Weasels ended up taking a bit of a risk by selecting Cody Zeller with the 1st pick. Zeller, who was the 3rd pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, impressed scouts with his amazing combine statistics and very good play in the summer league. Through 4 games in Vegas, Zeller averaged 16.5 ppg with a FG % of 52% and a FT $ of 72.2%. What was more impressive was the fact he got 9.3 rebounds per game. Rebounding has been something many scouts have criticized Zeller about, but he proved in the summer league that he can grab some boards. Scouts are still not impressed with his lack of wingspan( his wing span is 6'8" when he is about 7'0") and his lack of strength in the post, and how that lack of strength will effect him in the NBA. Will Zeller's impressive combine numbers and summer league stats translate to the pros, or will his wingspan and post weakness hinder him in the NBA?
With the 2nd pick in the draft, the Fighting Mike Browns selected Otto Porter. Otto has come off to be a jack of all trades, good in all areas, but not great in any. He is believed to be fighting Trevor Ariza for the starting small forward job. He fits perfectly with John Wall and Brad Beal, so he is one of the front runners to win the Rookie of the Year award. However, he had a less than impressive showing in the summer league. Through 3 summer league games, Porter averaged 6.3 ppg, 3.70 rpg, and 1.0 apg. The more troubling part of his stat line was that he did this all while shooting 30% from the floor and 33.3% from the free throw line. Will these troubling summer league stats be a prequel to his career or will he be one of the front runners for Rookie of the Year like everyone expected.
With the 3rd pick of the draft, the Minnesota Muskies selected Victor Oladipo. Victor Oladipo was one of the surprises of the past NCAA season, coming out of no where to be one of the leaders of the Indiana Hoosiers. Based on his impressive play, he climbed up the prospect ladder and ended up being taken 2nd by the Orlando Magic. This pick by the Magic was sort of a head scratcher by the Magic, because Oladipo was a SG and arguably the Magic's best player, Aaron Afflalo, is also a SG. Sure enough, the Magic plan to move him to PG. Whether he or Jameer Nelson starts is still up in the air, but he sure proved in the Summer League why he was the 2nd pick. Through 4 games, Oladipo averaged 19 ppg, 4.30 rpg, and 5.0 apg. The red flags in his stat line though were that he shot 37.5% from the floor and turned the ball over 4.8 times per game. Watching Oladipo play you can clearly see the kid has talent, some have called his a young Dwayne Wade, but can he translate his talent to the PG position and cut down on his turnovers enough to beat out Jameer Nelson for the starting spot.
Meanwhile, the 1st pick of the NBA Draft Anthony Bennett still remains on the board. Other highly rated prospects still to be taken include, Nerlens Noel, Ben Mclemore, and Trey Burke. When will these guys be taken, and more importantly, by who? We will see how it all plays out in the rest of our Rookie Draft.