Early Declarers for the Draft

[fairweatherfan]

Somehow I think Thomas Robinson will have a successful NBA career. He's a good leader, and a great athlete. I believe he will be the 2nd pick above Kidd-Gilchrist

Robinson kinda reminds me of what Leon Powe with good knees might play like (he's bigger and stronger too though).  Looking forward to seeing how he translates to the NBA. 

[jr_3421]

a question for the board...i know sometimes teams "sell" first round picks. does this happen with second round picks as well? if so, danny may be tempted to do so given the evenness of player talent deep into the draft.

I think that's how we got Bill Walker.

[clawlin]

Khris Middleton, SG/SF from Texas A&M, has declared for the draft.  He got injured early in the year, but before that, he was projected as a mid to high first round pick this year.  He produced pretty decently when he came back, and is projected to go somewhere in the second round, depending on his workouts.  I say we take a flier on him.  Low-risk, High-reward!

[Galeto]

Robinson kinda reminds me of what Leon Powe with good knees might play like (he's bigger and stronger too though).  Looking forward to seeing how he translates to the NBA.

I like this theoretical comparison.  They're similar size and skill levels--rebound, get to the line frequently--but Thomas has the athleticism that Powe lost after tearing his ACL two times.

I don't think Thomas becomes a star without improving his outside shot or developing a more skilled post game.  You can say that about any player, I mean, even Dwight Howard for all his size and athleticism has an excellent jump hook with either hand but Thomas at around 6'8 really needs to be more skillful.

[shiggins]

Somehow I think Thomas Robinson will have a successful NBA career. He's a good leader, and a great athlete. I believe he will be the 2nd pick above Kidd-Gilchrist

Robinson kinda reminds me of what Leon Powe with good knees might play like (he's bigger and stronger too though).  Looking forward to seeing how he translates to the NBA. 

I see a young Amare

[Yoki_IsTheName]

Khris Middleton, SG/SF from Texas A&M, has declared for the draft.  He got injured early in the year, but before that, he was projected as a mid to high first round pick this year.  He produced pretty decently when he came back, and is projected to go somewhere in the second round, depending on his workouts.  I say we take a flier on him.  Low-risk, High-reward!

i agree. most mocks had him high before he got injured. It is a low risk high reward pick.

[jgod213]

Some more newsworthy nuggets as of this morning...


Trey Burke to return to Michigan for sophomore season
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120409/SPORTS0201/204090399#ixzz1reIcq2e4

To no one's suprise, Baylor men’s basketball sophomore forward Perry Jones III has declared for the 2012 NBA Draft.
http://www.baylorbears.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/040912aac.html

Vanderbilt's John Jenkins to enter NBA draft.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120409/SPORTS0602/304090054/Vanderbilt-s-John-Jenkins-turning-pro?odyssey=mod|breaking|text|FRONTPAGE

Oregon State junior guard Jared Cunningham will forego his senior season and enter the 2012 NBA Draft, the school announced Monday.
http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/09/4401615/oregon-states-cunningham-enters.html#storylink=cpy

[Chris]

Somehow I think Thomas Robinson will have a successful NBA career. He's a good leader, and a great athlete. I believe he will be the 2nd pick above Kidd-Gilchrist

Robinson kinda reminds me of what Leon Powe with good knees might play like (he's bigger and stronger too though).  Looking forward to seeing how he translates to the NBA. 

I see a young Amare

The problem is, I think Robinson is closer to 6'7", and Amare is a legit 6'10".

The guy he really reminds me of is Millsap.  He is probably a better athlete (although Millsap is more athletic than he is given credit for), but I think they have a similar style.  Very solid floor game for a big man, but really takes the ball hard to the hoop and plays bigger than his height.

I also see a little Blake Griffin in him as well.

[indeedproceed]

Somehow I think Thomas Robinson will have a successful NBA career. He's a good leader, and a great athlete. I believe he will be the 2nd pick above Kidd-Gilchrist

Robinson kinda reminds me of what Leon Powe with good knees might play like (he's bigger and stronger too though).  Looking forward to seeing how he translates to the NBA. 

I see a young Amare

The problem is, I think Robinson is closer to 6'7", and Amare is a legit 6'10".

The guy he really reminds me of is Millsap.  He is probably a better athlete (although Millsap is more athletic than he is given credit for), but I think they have a similar style.  Very solid floor game for a big man, but really takes the ball hard to the hoop and plays bigger than his height.

I also see a little Blake Griffin in him as well.

6'10 in shoes, 7'1 wingspan. Found it from 2 sources.

[Chris]

Somehow I think Thomas Robinson will have a successful NBA career. He's a good leader, and a great athlete. I believe he will be the 2nd pick above Kidd-Gilchrist

Robinson kinda reminds me of what Leon Powe with good knees might play like (he's bigger and stronger too though).  Looking forward to seeing how he translates to the NBA. 

I see a young Amare

The problem is, I think Robinson is closer to 6'7", and Amare is a legit 6'10".

The guy he really reminds me of is Millsap.  He is probably a better athlete (although Millsap is more athletic than he is given credit for), but I think they have a similar style.  Very solid floor game for a big man, but really takes the ball hard to the hoop and plays bigger than his height.

I also see a little Blake Griffin in him as well.

6'10 in shoes, 7'1 wingspan. Found it from 2 sources.

Robinson, or Amare? 

[erisred]

Sullinger's officially in:

http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2012/story/_/id/7774756/jared-sullinger-ohio-state-buckeyes-announce-entering-draft-source-says

I think he's being severely underrated right now.  Would love to see him slip to us.

DraftExpress has him going sixth in their mock draft.  How is that undervalued (or relevant to the C's)?

NBAdraft.net had him going at 15, so who knows? He is underrated at the moment.

Maybe I underrate Sullinger, but I see him as another Marcus Fizer...a great college player who's game doesn't translate to the pros. I expect Sullinger to get picked in the lottery and within a year or two be considered a bust. If he had (or develops) a consistently good 20 foot jumper and the lateral quickness to guard NBA PF's to go along with his big butt inside power game I might have to change my mind, but frankly, I'll believe it when I see it from Sullinger.

[indeedproceed]

Somehow I think Thomas Robinson will have a successful NBA career. He's a good leader, and a great athlete. I believe he will be the 2nd pick above Kidd-Gilchrist

Robinson kinda reminds me of what Leon Powe with good knees might play like (he's bigger and stronger too though).  Looking forward to seeing how he translates to the NBA. 

I see a young Amare

The problem is, I think Robinson is closer to 6'7", and Amare is a legit 6'10".

The guy he really reminds me of is Millsap.  He is probably a better athlete (although Millsap is more athletic than he is given credit for), but I think they have a similar style.  Very solid floor game for a big man, but really takes the ball hard to the hoop and plays bigger than his height.

I also see a little Blake Griffin in him as well.

6'10 in shoes, 7'1 wingspan. Found it from 2 sources.

Robinson, or Amare? 

Robinson. Stoudemire was 6'8.5 without shoes, 6'10 with (7'2 reach)

Millsap was 6'6.25 w/o shoes. 6'8 with. 7'2 wingspan.

[jgod213]

Sullinger's officially in:

http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2012/story/_/id/7774756/jared-sullinger-ohio-state-buckeyes-announce-entering-draft-source-says

I think he's being severely underrated right now.  Would love to see him slip to us.

DraftExpress has him going sixth in their mock draft.  How is that undervalued (or relevant to the C's)?

NBAdraft.net had him going at 15, so who knows? He is underrated at the moment.

Maybe I underrate Sullinger, but I see him as another Marcus Fizer...a great college player who's game doesn't translate to the pros. I expect Sullinger to get picked in the lottery and within a year or two be considered a bust. If he had (or develops) a consistently good 20 foot jumper and the lateral quickness to guard NBA PF's to go along with his big butt inside power game I might have to change my mind, but frankly, I'll believe it when I see it from Sullinger.

Sullinger probably is what he is at this point, but i don't think that's a terrible thing. 

You don't see many big men with that old school back-to-the-basket game anymore.  He can finish with both hands, he likes physicality, and he's a fierce competitor.  Perhaps a rich man's Craig Smith? If he can develope a deeper jump shot he can be much more than that.  I think that's worth a pick around the 15 range.

[Galeto]

There is no way Thomas Robinson is 6'10.  As imprecise as eyeballing a player's height on TV may be, guys who are 6'10 stand out, especially in college.  Robinson didn't noticeably tower over guys.  He looked like a big NBA small forward height-wise, around 6'8 in shoes.  I think he measures out similarly like Derrick Williams did last year, 6'7 1/4 w/o shoes, 6'8 3/4 with.

The measurements from the summer camps are unreliable.  The Amare camp listed Robinson's height as 6'10 in shoes.  At the same camp,  Mitch McGary supposedly measured 6'11 in shoes but at the recent Hoops Summit, he measured 6'9 in barefeet and 6'9 3/4 in shoes, which could be normalized to 6'10 1/2 in NBA protocol.  Sometimes the wingspans they give are laughably too short.

This speculating about a player's height down to fractions of an inch, in shoes no less, is pretty silly but there are some really big PFs at the top of the positional charts along with the shorter Love.

[raynman]

Somehow I think Thomas Robinson will have a successful NBA career. He's a good leader, and a great athlete. I believe he will be the 2nd pick above Kidd-Gilchrist

Robinson kinda reminds me of what Leon Powe with good knees might play like (he's bigger and stronger too though).  Looking forward to seeing how he translates to the NBA. 

I think Robinson is an athletic David West.. Would love to have him in green!