NBA Draft Stocks-Big Ten Conference

Posted on 10. Feb, 2010 by Justin Shulman in nba-draft

With about a month's worth of games remaining on the regular season schedule, NBA draft prospects are jockying for position on the big boards. NBA teams have their scouting systems out in full force and everything around this time of the year starts to get magnified and scrutinized. With the lights shining bright, here are a few players from the Big Ten Conference taking advantage of the opportunites, and a few players standing still and not seizing the moment.

Stock Rising:

Evan Turner, Ohio State (Junior)

After opening the season with the second triple double in the history of Ohio State basketball, Evan Turner has not slowed down. Playing the point for Ohio State this season has only made Turner even more versatile in the eyes of scouts as he projects out as a wing player in the league. Turner is leading the conference in both points per game (19.7) and rebounds per game (9.4) while also averaging 5.8 assists. Turner spent six games on the bench nursing an injury during the month of December and the Buckeyes were lost without him. Of all the skills that Turner brings to the table, the most evident trait lacking during the six game stretch was the leadership and respect he commanded. Turner will be able to guard multiple positions in the NBA and has a unique combination of size and skill that doesn't exist in this draft at the guard position. After John Wall, Evan Turner is without question the safest pick in this draft. He has the rare combination of size, skill, experience, upside and intangibles.

Robbie Hummel, Purdue (Junior)

Hummel grabbed the attention of scouts in his freshman season at Purdue by coming in and showing off a very versatile game. Robbie goes after it, gets on the floor, rebounds, shoots the deep ball and even plays some point forward. Last season, Hummel regressed battling a back injury that derailed the notion that Robbie would one day be drafted. But his junior season has proven to be the comeback that scouts were looking for. The boilermakers jumped out of the gate winning 14 games in a row before losing three consecutive contests in the same week. They have since won five straight and are one of the most dangerous teams in the country. Hummel is averaging 16.5 ppg and 7.2 rebounds along the way. He won't fool anyone with his athleticism but Hummel also won't be outworked similar to a former Purdue star named Brian Cardinal. So long as Purdue keeps winning, scouts are going to take further notice of their healthy leader. Should Hummel declare for June's entry draft, expect to hear the deputy commissioner call out his name in the second round.

Treading Water:

Kalin Lucas, Michigan State (Junior)

Ever since Lucas has suited up for the Spartans, the team has been a perennial winner. Last season, Lucas even guided the team to the final game in Indianapolis but decided to come back to school. The NBA made the decision to stay in school easy as it was a deep point guard class. A year later and the Spartans are again a top 10 team in the country. Yet even with a weak point guard class in 2010, scouing services and experts aren't sending any love Kalin Lucas's way. It's almost as if Lucas is seen in the same light as another Spartan alumnus Mateen Cleaves. Lucas will have to settle being a great college point guard who will never crack the first round of the NBA draft regardless of personal achievements and team successes.

Stock Falling:

Manny Harris, Michigan (Junior)

Manny Harris made such a smooth transition his freshman season at UM that scouts were considering him to be a late first round pick. Harris' team didn't have much success and he decided to hang around and push his way up the draft board. His progress thus far has not been significant and now his upside is almost viewed as having peaked. Harris' personal statistics just haven't flourished from a progression standpoint the way scouts would have expected. A 6-5 shooting guard, striping it at 28% from beyond the arc is not going to cut it in the league. Michigan has lost five of their last six games and Harris was suspended for one of the losses due to an undisclosed incident in practice. Harris was once thought of as the guy who was going to bring Michigan basketball back to prominence but instead has just become another good college player to come through the program. A second round pick is the best case scenario for Manny.

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