I will go with Jeff Teague. He had a poor ending to the season--what did Sugar Ray Leonard say--fans remember the last 10 seconds? but he looked like a combination of Tony Parker and Allen Iversen the first half of the year--injury? But the bottom line--he has by far and away the best combination of athletic ability and quickness to go with legit 6-2 size. Before he hit his year end slump--he was talked about as high as slot 3. If we look at effective efficient production from the guard position--he is way up there with anyone. He gets to the basket at will hes one of the bets defenders in the draft he plays way above the rim best first step in the draft under rated shooter good rebounder from the guard position. He just has that elite level type of athletic ability that translates so well in the NBA

Earl Clark. We know D'Antoni loves guys who can play multiple positions and I can see Clark playing the 3,4,5. Clark does nothing really well but he does everything pretty decent. He'll have his games where he puts up 30 but next game he'll come back with like 5. I can see him being a better version of Boris Diaw.

Gerald Henderson. Usually has to guard the opponents best wing player and does so well. He really gets after guys on D. He's a great passer and has a high BB IQ. He fits the bill for what DW has been talking about, a defensive minded player that can do a lot of things. He's a little smallish but at 6'5 its not a disaster.

Austin Daye

I'll go along with Teague. Teague was my #1 guy for the Knicks until I re-evaluated Curry's overall game recently. I want a lead guard in here to run the show in a BIG way. We've got to start there IMO.

Curry 1
Teague 1a

You really can't go wrong either way. Curry gets the slight edge because of his unbelievable ability to shoot the rock and put the ball in the net and because he really did show a rare ability, esp. for a player so young, to switch positions and really excel in a new, much more demanding role. He really doesn't get enough credit for that (I know I didn't give him enough early on). He's got a superb BBall IQ, seems to have close to an NBA-ready game and there's always the friendship with LeBron to consider (if drafting him helps lure LeBron, great. If not, we still drafted a very good player)... Both Curry & Teague are different players, they'll take care of business in different ways, but I think both will be excellent pros. Teague's the whole package, he just needs to get better at certain things and I think he will. If Teague were a baseball player, he'd be considered a '5 tool' guy. I just really have a feeling about this kid Curry now. I really think he's gonna be a dynamite player despite only possessing the average to slightly above average athleticism...

Not sure if you can really call him a dark horse (some really like him, others don't) but I really like DeJuan Blair a lot. Forget the "he's too small" stuff. That's all garbage. He's probably at least 6'7" in shoes with an incredibly strong/solid base down below plus he's rumored to have at least a 7'3" wingspan. Combined, that's plenty of size. PLENTY. The rebounding ability is just incredible (over 12 rebs/per in under 30 minutes a game) and I think he'll be a better offensive player in the pros than what he's already shown in college, which hasn't been too shabby btw. I think eventually you're looking at a guy whose gonna be able to shoot it really well in the 15-17' range, post up and score on guys with ease (bigger players, smaller, quicker.. it won't matter) and be able to take guys off the dribble at will with his impressive quickness and mobility - and he's gonna be able to do all of that at a very high level. He seems super-serious about the draft, vowing to get his weight down about 10-15 pounds by the time the NBA Combine roles around and work on his already impressive quickness and decent jumpshot while focusing on trying to play more above the rim now. Great personality too - always smilin' and seems to really be having fun out there. I love this kid. I think he's gonna be a terrific NBA PF. I'm really gonna be rooting for him.

------------------------

Both Sam Young and DaJuan Summers will become solid SFs in the NBA IMO...

Other "off-the-radar" players that will surprise in the NBA if given a chance:

Taj Gibson - Seasoned 2-way, athletic PF that will make an excellent rotation player. 2nd best shot-blocker in this draft. NBAdraft.net now has Taj going 26th to the Bulls and to be honest, that doesn't even surprise me. He's a real good player, better than most give him credit for.

KC Rivers - 2-way SG who plays very good defense (really gets up and crowds his man well) with a nice jumpshoot and good size at 6'5". Good rebounder too for a guard.

AD Vassallo - Very smooth, shows nice passing ability & a good understanding out there, quality shooter, excellent size for an NBA 2 at 6'6". Might be able to play some 3 along the way as well.

Jack McClinton - 6'1", not a true point but has enough handle, quickness and court awareness to play some point. Big-time scorer - excellent jumpshot with NBA 3-pt. range and can also get to the rim at will. The knock on him, besides not being a pure PG, is that he can't finish around the basket but to be honest, I've haven't seen that. Played well against top competition this year too, another good sign. By comparison, Eddie House is an excellent shooter for the Celtics but a little one dimensional as a scorer IMO. This kid's more than that.


[Edited by - finestrg on 05-23-2009 12:46 PM]

Blair has already had 2 knee reconstructions.

Posted by purple012870:

Blair has already had 2 knee reconstructions.

Yup. 2 ACLs. But he played at an incredibly high level last year for Pitt. All indications point to that being behind him now. He may slip because of that though. He'd be a gamble top 6 or so but in the 10-20 range or below he's a great pick with tremendous value...

[Edited by - finestrg on 05-21-2009 1:09 PM]

Posted by BRIGGS:

I will go with Jeff Teague. He had a poor ending to the season--what did Sugar Ray Leonard say--fans remember the last 10 seconds? but he looked like a combination of Tony Parker and Allen Iversen the first half of the year--injury? But the bottom line--he has by far and away the best combination of athletic ability and quickness to go with legit 6-2 size. Before he hit his year end slump--he was talked about as high as slot 3. If we look at effective efficient production from the guard position--he is way up there with anyone. He gets to the basket at will hes one of the bets defenders in the draft he plays way above the rim best first step in the draft under rated shooter good rebounder from the guard position. He just has that elite level type of athletic ability that translates so well in the NBA

I'll go with Holiday #1, Clark #2 or Mullens #3 because we are so desperate for a BIG body.

Posted by LivingLegend:

Posted by McK1:

Austin Daye

Apparently 1 GM called him the most talented player in the draft but fears of immaturity and lack of toughness / NBA body holding him back.

Jared Jefferies part 2

This guy.

The guy I wanted last year late was Courtney Lee and he was bringing the ball up late in the game last night. I think Mills could be that kind of player and I hope the Knicks will trade down and take Mullens and Mills