Greg Smith

* Birthday: 1/8/91
* NBA Position: PF/C
* Class: Sophomore
* Ht: 6-10
* Wt: 249
* Hometown: Fresno, CA
* High School: Westwind Academy
* Team Site Profile
* Statistics

NBA Comparison: Waymon Tisdale

Strengths: Has a tremendous package of size and strength for an 18 year old freshman (born January 1991) ... Has the body and willingness to play physically inside the paint ... Has a huge frame with wide shoulders and thick legs making it difficult to move him around in the post. It's scary to think how strong he will be in a few years ... Unlike many players with his dimensions, Smith has nice agility and athleticism ... Also shows excellent quickness on post moves ... Has excellent hands to corral rebounds and post passes ... Already showing signs of a developing post game, which should continue to expand as he becomes more the focal point of the offense ... Very strong attacking the rim converting on a lot of And-1s ... Strength allows him to convert well after contact ... Gets a lot of ally oop and put back dunks ... A coachable kid with a strong work ethic ... Shows an excellent attitude and eagerness to improve ... Hustles for rebounds and appears to play with a high motor at all times ... Shows nice touch on his shot with the ability to convert on baby hooks ... Shows good use of both hands in the post ...

Weaknesses: While he appears to be an excellent post prospect, his post game remains very raw. Post moves need refinement. He should develop some drop step moves and work with coaches on developing a few go to moves ... Needs to improve from the free throw line (shooting around 50% from the FT line 9 games info his freshman season). This becomes particularly important considering his bruising style of game and amount of trips to the line he figures to get in the future ... Needs to improve on his shooting range ... Better conditioning will help his transition game. Right now much more effective in the half court ... He's a little pigeon toed, and isn't great at running the floor but should be able to improve that with effort put into conditioning ... Defensively he gives good effort but is not a force as a shot blocker. Could develop these skills in the future but appears to be more explosive on the offensive end of the floor ...

Keith Benson

* Birthday: 8/13/88
* NBA Position: Center
* Class: Senior
* Ht: 6-11
* Wt: 225
* Hometown: Farmington Hills, MI
* High School: Country Day
* Team Site Profile
* Statistics

NBA Comparison: Steven Hunter

Strengths: Late blooming bigman "hiding out" at mid major Oakland University ... An excellent athlete particularly considering his size ... Owns a big wingspan (7-foot-2 roughly) ... Showed a lot of improvement between his freshman and sophomore seasons (5.2 & 3.5 to 14.3 & 7.8) ... Appears to still have a fair amount of room to improve ... Great in the open floor, runs very well ... Offensive skills are a work in progress but beginning to show nice development ... Has a solid jump hook ... Excellent touch on mid range shots ... Effectively uses the glass ... Completes a lot of ally oop dunks ... Shows nice touch and the ability to effectively use both hands around the basket ... Uses his size well to create a big target in the post, and displays solid footwork ... Does a good job fighting for low post position ... Also shows the ability to put the ball on the deck effectively ... Good rebounder with understanding of position ... Appears to be highly coachable. Plays with solid intensity and a growing understanding of the game ... Does a good job of protecting the ball and limiting turnovers.

Weaknesses: Strength is his biggest hurdle. Still needs to add a lot of core strength ... At his current weight, he'll get pushed around in the paint at the next level ... Born in 1988, there is still hope that he can add a fair amount of muscle ... Will need to put weight on without affecting his mobility ... Appears 3-4 years of work in the weight room away from finding his optimum playing weight ... Needs to prove himself against better competition ... Level of competition leaves a lot to be desired ... Makes a lot of impressive plays, but how he plays against players his own level is a bit of a mystery ... More proficient playing on the right block ... Decent free throw shooter at 67%, should look to improve some.

NYKBocker wrote:

Moonangie wrote:6'11" and he weighs only 225? Now that's just about skin and bones, no?

Yeah, but a mid to late 2nd rounder for Keith Benson could be worth the pick.

Benson is for real and he'll move into the 1rst round once camp and workouts start watch. He's like a more defensive LaMarcus Aldridge

Nalod wrote:
Does anyone know how many picks get bought and sold the last few years?

with Euros gettng drafted and staying abroad I would think teams with full rosters still prefer to have player assets growing than a short cash infusion.

I don't think I recall more than one or two picks ever being sold at a given draft.

With the pending CBA, I could see picks becoming more valuable.

nyshakespeare wrote:Wasn't Jerome Jordan purchased for $1 Mil last year?

The Bulls have the 28th & 30th picks.

The Lakers have four second round picks. One from New York.
Might be able to get a least one with their huge luxury tax bill.

Cavs, Clippers, & Kings each have two second rounders apiece.

There is said to be some competition in buying picks. One team
being the New Jersey Nyets.

Yeah, there is some competition in buying picks, but the ace we have is Donnie. Be thankful there.
We are barren, we most certainly will buy a pick or two.

nyshakespeare wrote:Wasn't Jerome Jordan purchased for $1 Mil last year?

The Bulls have the 28th & 30th picks.

The Lakers have four second round picks. One from New York.
Might be able to get a least one with their huge luxury tax bill.

Cavs, Clippers, & Kings each have two second rounders apiece.

There is said to be some competition in buying picks. One team
being the New Jersey Nyets.

I think buying picks is very feasable and targeting these 2 players. Both players are projected 2nd rounders by both NBADraft.net and DraftExpress.com

Juice wrote:

NYKBocker wrote:

nyshakespeare wrote:Wasn't Jerome Jordan purchased for $1 Mil last year?

The Bulls have the 28th & 30th picks.

The Lakers have four second round picks. One from New York.
Might be able to get a least one with their huge luxury tax bill.

Cavs, Clippers, & Kings each have two second rounders apiece.

There is said to be some competition in buying picks. One team
being the New Jersey Nyets.

I think buying picks is very feasable and targeting these 2 players. Both players are projected 2nd rounders by both NBADraft.net and DraftExpress.com

I believe picks can be purchased but not without sacrifice from us. We're going to have to give up something to get the players we have our eyes on.

You can outright purchase picks from other teams. I believe the max is $3M.

Juice wrote:

NYKBocker wrote:

Juice wrote:

NYKBocker wrote:

nyshakespeare wrote:Wasn't Jerome Jordan purchased for $1 Mil last year?

The Bulls have the 28th & 30th picks.

The Lakers have four second round picks. One from New York.
Might be able to get a least one with their huge luxury tax bill.

Cavs, Clippers, & Kings each have two second rounders apiece.

There is said to be some competition in buying picks. One team
being the New Jersey Nyets.

I think buying picks is very feasable and targeting these 2 players. Both players are projected 2nd rounders by both NBADraft.net and DraftExpress.com

I believe picks can be purchased but not without sacrifice from us. We're going to have to give up something to get the players we have our eyes on.

You can outright purchase picks from other teams. I believe the max is $3M.

Go back and look at the drafts from 2007 until now, look at my past few posts..... and connect the dots

The only team that bought picks outright for cash in multiple succession recently was the Rockets. They bought 3 picks I believe between picks 30-44 and paid $2mil/per. The draft history makes it pretty clear how to establish market value on picks wherever they lie.

Here is one example.
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/knicks_get_jerome_jordan_in_trade_FG5kUI3A7wwVUPnia1U9oM

Knicks get Jerome Jordan in trade with Bucks
Knicks Blog
Berman on Twitter

Associated Press

Last Updated: 6:09 PM, July 8, 2010

Posted: 5:34 PM, July 8, 2010
More Print

MILWAUKEE -- The Bucks have traded the draft rights to 2010 second-round pick Jerome Jordan to the Knicks for cash considerations.

The 7-1, 253-pound Jordan averaged 15.4 points and 9.4 rebounds in his senior season at Tulsa.

Jordan was the No. 44 overall pick and one of three second-round draft picks made by the Bucks. Milwaukee also took guard Darington Hobson and forward Tiny Gallon. The Bucks took forward Larry Sanders with the 15th overall pick in the first round.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/knicks_get_jerome_jordan_in_trade_FG5kUI3A7wwVUPnia1U9oM#ixzz1Mvw87Fw6