There has been a trend in recent drafts that have seen athletic wings far exceed their daft positions. Paul George and Kawaii Leonard are the prominent examples, but even players like Chandler Parsons, KJ Mcdaniels, Andre Roberson have provided the kind of value for where they were picked that can put a team over the top. The league has arguably stronger at the wing than its ever been and with rising stars like Andrew Wiggins, Lance Stevenson(2014 Version), and Gordon Haywood joining the established powers like Lebron, Durant, and Rudy Gay. It's arguably more important than ever to have players that can compete the league's best on the wing.
Enter Justise Winslow...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03pEeZT_KLMThe majority of attention put to a wing in this draft has fallen on Stanley Johnson and Rightfully so. at 6'7 245 Johnson has the ideal body, mindset and skillset for a prototypical NBA Caliber wing. He leads one of the best team's in the nation in scoring and is doing so in a way that should translate to the next level. These qualities however are likely to score him out of our picking range however. Luckily overlooked in Johnson's shadow however, is a 6-foot-6, 225 pounds monster devoted to improving his already strong skillset.
espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/12247953/duke-blue-devils-justise-winslow-unique-blend-talent-genes-work-ethic
This year "Winslow, who averages 10.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, is making 46.5 percent of his 2-point shots, and he's shooting 37.3 percent from 3-point range."
Here is a player that has strong pedigree, being the son of Rickie Winslow a member of Phi Slamma Jamma as a freshman on Houston's 1984 Final Four team, as well as a strong work ethic, much like Johnson, would routinely wake up at 5:30 to improve his game before school every day.
On top of the intangibles Winslow plays within himself, not dominating the ball but also not being known to be unselfish to a fault. According to Coach K...
"He's efficient, he doesn't need the ball long," Krzyzewski said. "Justise is a really easy guy to play with because the ball doesn't die in his hands. Usually, when he has it, he has it for a short period and something good happens with him."
He's not getting the Jeff Green "needs to be more aggressive" moniker because, arguably unlike Green, he effects the game in many other ways beyond his scoring. Based on the quote Winslow seems like the ideal kind of player for Brad Stevens' system.
Stanley Johnson is still the prize of the class from the wing, but if our pick falls in the 7-12 range we could do far worse than taking a player like Justise Winslow.
Assuming we have have the 7-12th pick...
A. Would you be ok with us drafting a wing over a center?
B. Would Jusitise Winslow be that wing over someone like Hezonja?
C. Would Winslow be enough of a prize to use a high pick on?