NBA Draft: Stock Watch

Posted on 25. Nov, 2009 by Justin Shulman in nba-draft

NBA Draft 2010-Stock Watch

It isn’t quite March when college basketball is at it’s pinnacle, but there has been a lot of buzz early on about some new faces in new places, some underclassmen stepping into the limelight, and some of the freshman living up to potential. The non-conference slate of games and the early season tournaments are often a great opportunity for NBA prospects to showcase what they have and generate a set of expectations, scouts can come to expect from them the rest of the way.

Players who have taken advantage of their early season opportunities:

Evan Turner-Ohio State-Junior

No player in college basketball has come out of the gate with numbers like Evan. Two triple doubles in his first four games will open a few eyes. Already viewed as a lottery pick in the pre-season, Turner may have already sealed that fate. At 6-7 he has all the measurables to play the swing positions but because Ohio St does not have a true point guard Turner has put some of those skills on display. Kind of reminds me of a young Anfernee Hardaway.

Current Draft Projection: #3 to #9

Wesley Johnson-Syracuse-Junior

Johnson took the garden by storm after leading his Syracuse squad to the 2K Sports title with wins over Cal and UNC. After spending all of last year dominating in practice, Johnson finally got his opportunity and made the most of it. A 6-7 athletic freak, Wesley has been unguardable. He is stroking from the outside, attacking the rim, getting into the passing lanes, and contesting anything and everything near his own basket. In his two day display at the garden he poured in 42 pts, 20 rebounds and 7 blocks. That won him MVP of the tournament, put him on the national radar and surely caught the eye of every scout in America. Seems to be the closest thing to Shawn Marion I have seen in years.

Current Draft Projection: #7 to #20

Al Farouq-Aminu-Wake Forest-Sophomore

Last year Aminu played a complimentary role on a star studded cast that sent two players to the league in the first round. Anyone who watched that team play more than once knew that the best player was still a freshman. With the white gloves off Farouq has been let out of the cage and has become the team’s best player and go to scorer. One of the knocks on his game was that he is 6-8 and did most of his damage from 6 feet and inwards. Thus far Aminu is averaging 23.3 pts per game through three contests and has been showing shooting range out to and beyond the three point stripe. The most impressive part about those stats is he is only attempting eleven field goals per game. If he can maintain this torrid pace against some of the tough ACC competition, scouts will be talking about Aminu in the top five picks.

Current Draft Projection: #6 to #12

Players who have yet to take advantage of their opportunities:

Devin Ebanks-Sophomore-West Virginia
Ebanks came to West Virginia last year as a talent but was red flagged by scouts as having some character flaws. Those concerns were put to rest as Devin was only in the spotlight because of his play. He simply dominated toward the end of the season and took the Big East tournament by storm grabbing 18 rebounds in one of the games. Heading into the season, experts have had Devin pegged as a top ten draft pick. That said nobody has a read on why Devin has yet to suit up. His Mountaineers look sharp without him and all we have heard is that he is out of the line-up for personal reasons. This is the most sure fire way to get back into the national spotlight for the wrong reasons. Until Ebanks plays, I don’t think he has hurt his stock much, but he has given nothing to the perception that it is on the rise.

Current Draft Projection: #11 to #20

Jon Henson-Freshman-North CarolinaHenson came into his freshman season as the next UNC prodigy. Standing 6-10 with a wingspan over seven feet and the skill set of a perimeter player experts were anticipating Henson as a sure fire lottery pick. Thus far, Roy Williams has had difficulty getting Henson into the rotation. This is partially due to the fact that Henson doesn’t really have a position and because the heels are loaded in the frontcourt. In addition, Henson’s body desperately needs to fill out. All of these factors will be become strengths over time and I still anticipate Henson to be a lottery pick but it might not be this year. Should he declare at season’s end, Henson will find his way into the first round on potential alone, but his game has yet to suggest he can back it up.

Current Draft Projection: #17 to #30

Tags: Al-Farouq Aminu, Devin EBanks, Evan Turner, Jon Henson, Wesley Johnson