'07 Draft Watch: End of summerposted: Friday, September 29, 2006 | Feedback | Print Entry

This is a dead time for most NBA scouts, but I thought it would be a good time to catch up with them on some prospects that intrigued them this summer.

We already talked about how some of the top college prospects performed as counselors at the Nike Camp as well as how a number of top international prospects fared at the World Championship.

There were several other important scouting events this summer, including the Pete Newell Big Man Camp in Las Vegas, Michael Jordan's Flight School in Santa Barbara and the European Under-20 Championships in Turkey.

I talked to a handful of NBA scouts who attended the events to get their take on the standouts.

Here are five guys who made significant impressions:

DeVon Hardin, C, University of California: Hardin had shoulder surgery this summer and was limited to footwork drills, but he still found a way to be the standout at the Big Man Camp in Vegas.

Hardin has the combination of body, athleticism and, apparently footwork, that scouts love in a big man. With Leon Powe off to the Celtics, Hardin will be the main man in the paint for Cal this year. Scouts already love his defensive timing as a shot blocker. If he improves offensively, he has a chance to move way up the draft board.

Chase Budinger, SG, University of Arizona: Incoming NCAA freshmen Greg Oden and Kevin Durant get all the press, but it's been Budinger who's generated the most buzz this summer as a member of what one scout calls the best high school class ever.

Blessed with elite athleticism and a beautiful outside stroke, Budinger wowed several talent evaluators with his play as a counselor at Jordan's Flight School. "He really dominated," one evaluator said.

While there's no question that Budinger needs to add strength to his skinny, 6-7, 190-pound frame, several scouts are predicting that he'll be the best player, right away, on a stacked Arizona squad and could be heading to the draft, as a potential lottery pick, next summer.

Julian Wright, SF, Kansas University: Wright has the tools to be a tremendous NBA player. He's blessed with good size, super athleticism, exceptional energy and a fantastic basketball IQ. There isn't a position on the floor that he can't play and he spent some of the time at Jordan's camp playing point guard.

If he could ever figure out how to stick an 18-foot jump shot with any consistency, he'd be unstoppable. Still, despite that significant Achilles' heel, some are comparing him to a young Scottie Pippen and see him as a lock for the Top 10 if he decides to declare in 2007.

Thaddeus Young, SF, Georgia Tech: One guy that may have hurt himself a little was Young. Considered one of the top high school prospects from the class of 2006, there are growing questions about Young's best position in the pros. He doesn't possess the perimeter game to be an outstanding three, but he lacks the strength and footwork to be a four in the pros.

His inability to sink a perimeter shot at the Flight School combined with his struggles to go right really limited his effectiveness. As several scouts have mentioned over the course of the past few weeks, think the second coming of Al Harrington -- a good but not great player. He may need to stay in college a few years before making the jump to the NBA.

Mantas Kalnietis, PG, Lithuania: Surprisingly, Kalnietis got some playing time for Lithuania at the World Championship in Japan. But where he really shined this summer was for Lithuania at the Under-20 European Championships.

Kalnietis, whom we profiled in June at the Reebok Eurocamp in Italy, is a crafty, aggressive, 6-5 point guard with excellent athleticism and shooting ability (though he did struggle from the perimeter at the Under-20s). His activity at both ends of the floor earned him minutes in Euroleague play for Euroleague power Zaligris Kaunas last season, and his role is expected to expand this year.

He will battle Russian point guard Anton Ponkrashov as the top international point guard taken in next year's draft. But given scouts' concerns about Ponkrashov's athleticism and Kalnietis' strong play this summer, we've moved Kalnietis ahead on the Top 100. In a very weak draft for point guards, it's not impossible that Kalnietis could be the second or third point guard taken in 2007 if he declares.


'07 Draft Watch: The Japan editionposted: Wednesday, September 6, 2006 | Feedback | Print Entry

NBA scouts were out in force at the World Championship in Japan the past couple of weeks scouting a number of intriguing prospects for next year's draft. An unusual number of young international players played significant roles for their teams in the Worlds and gave NBA scouts a chance to gauge their skills against some of the best competition in the world.

Having a big game or two (especially against Team USA) can do wonders for a prospect's draft stock. So who helped themselves the last few weeks? Insider spoke with NBA scouts who were in Japan to get their takes.


Tiago Splitter, F/C, Brazil (currently ranked No. 9 in our Top 100)
Stats at Worlds: 30.4 mpg, 16.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg on 64-percent shooting

Splitter has declared and withdrawn from the past three drafts. Next year, he's in no matter what as a draft-eligible, 22-year-old.

Every year scouts rank him as a potential late lottery pick, but he's been unable to secure a promise from an NBA team in the Top 10, leading him to withdraw.

Splitter actually had a strong showing against the U.S. in Athens and has been playing on one of the best teams in Europe, Tau Ceramica, for the past several years, so he's no secret.

Still, scouts have to be pleased with his progress. Splitter always has been a tenacious defender and rebounder. His offense, on the other hand, has come along much slower … but it's coming along.

Splitter's best game came against Greece when he tallied 18 points and 8 rebounds against one of the biggest and strongest front lines in the tournament. That feat was an accomplishment that none of the U.S. big men could duplicate in their loss to Greece.

Splitter also had a nice showing paired against 2003 No. 1 pick Andrew Bogut and Australia. Splitter had 16 and 6 against Australia, but more importantly, he helped hold Bogut to a horrible 3-for-11 performance in the opening game.

No scouts that Insider spoke with believe Splitter is going to be an NBA superstar. But given his size, toughness, defense, experience and burgeoning offensive game, the three NBA scouts I talked with all had him rated as a Top-10 prospect for the 2007 NBA draft. If he has a big year at Tau this season, he could creep even higher.


Marco Belinelli, SG, Italy (currently ranked No. 29)
Stats at Worlds: 21.3 mpg, 13.5 ppg on 35-percent shooting


Belinelli didn't have the greatest tournament shooting the ball (his specialty) but he hit his shots when they counted against Italy's toughest opponent -- Team USA. Against the U.S., he scored 25 points, hitting four 3-pointers and helping to keep Italy in the game. He even played some point guard for Italy in that game, showing off his versatility against a tenancious U.S. defense.

He is known as one of the best long-distance shooters in Europe, despite his dismal 28.6 percent clip from downtown in the tournament. He's a better shooter than he showed in Japan and has deep NBA 3-point range.

What impressed scouts was that he was more aggressive putting the ball on the floor and attacking the basket. He has NBA athleticism, quickness and hops, but over the course of the last 18 months, too often has settled for his jumper in Euroleague and Italian league play.

Seeing him attack the rim, and do it by going past world-class athletes from the U.S., was a good reminder of his other talents.

While he doesn't project as a superstar in the NBA, his versatility, shooting and knack for scoring will make him an intriguing commodity on draft night. Right now we have him ranked at No. 29 in the Top 100. But as draft day gets nearer and some of the prospects ranked ahead of him choose not to declare for next year's draft, he could move up.



Jianlian Yi, F, China (currently ranked No. 12)
Stats at Worlds: 17.6 mpg, 6.2 ppg, 5.7 rpg


Yi is one of the great mysteries of international ball. At one time, people were convinced that he was born in 1984, then 1985, but when China announced his birth date as 1987 two years ago, just about everyone raised their eyebrows. How old is he? Does it even matter? To the first question, no one knows. I spoke to two scouts who spend a lot of time in China and both told me that they thought he was older than his listed birth date, but didn't have a firm grip on just how much older he is. As to the second question, it depends on who you ask. If he's really that young, then Yi is doing amazing things for a kid his age. If he's really 22, then he's been dominating at international junior tournaments against kids two to three years younger than him. That matters.

Regardless, scouts came away impressed with what they saw of Yi at the Worlds. While the Chinese coaches inexplicably didn't play him much, he also had his best game against Team USA, posting a line of 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 24 minutes.

Yi has the size, skill and athleticism to be a legit NBA lottery prospect. The question is: When will China allow him to come over?

There was talk that he'd declare for the draft last season, but at the last second, he couldn't get permission.

This week the talk is that he'll definitely be in the draft, especially after impressing scouts in Japan (the rest of his games were less impressive, but scouts blamed much of that on coaching and opportunity). But given China's reluctance to fully open its borders to the NBA, I'll believe it when I see it.

If Yi declares, he's got a good shot of going in the lottery as long as teams can be persuaded that he will be able to come directly to the NBA and won't have to leave every summer (and thus stifle his progression) and go back to China. If they can't get those assurances, he might slip a little bit until the upside outweighs the risk.


Rudy Fernandez, SG, Spain (currently ranked No. 44)
Stats at Worlds: 18 mpg, 9.1 ppg, 50.9-percent shooting


Fernandez was a hot name three years ago, but he has seen his draft stock take a hit the past two seasons. Injuries, a poor pre-draft workout, and his inability to add more muscle to his thin frame have him on the out list now among many scouts.

That's why Fernandez's play at the Worlds was so crucial. He needed a big stage to reassert the promise that had scouts talking about him as if he were a potential lottery pick in the 2003 NBA draft. The results were generally mixed. Fernandez's strongest games were against weaker opponents like Panama and Serbia-Montenegro. In those matchups, he showed off his athleticism, slashing ability and his improved 3-point range. However, once the games got more serious, Fernandez's role lessened. While scouts continue to remain intrigued with his potential, all three I spoke with continue to claim that Fernandez's physical development will be key. He's got to add more muscle and show that he can play through the season without injuries before he'll get any consideration again in the first round.

He was unable to show either in Japan. He'll have to have a great season in Spain before scouts will start jumping back on his bandwagon.


Brad Newley, SG, Australia (currently ranked No. 73)
Stats at Worlds: 20.5 mpg, 8.2 ppg, 46-percent shooting, 43 percent from 3


Newley declared for the 2006 NBA draft, worked out for a half-dozen teams and played in the Orlando pre-draft camp this spring. Scouts raved about his toughness, basketball savvy and his quickness off the dribble. However, he was unable to distinguish himself at the draft camp and made a quick decision to pull out of the draft and try things again next season.

I personally was impressed with what I saw over a one-week period of his training at Tim Grover's ATTACK Athletics in Chicago alongside Shannon Brown, Rajon Rondo, Dee Brown and other top prospects. While the game was clearly more uptempo than what he was used to, he fit in.

Newley made another important step toward the NBA this summer with a solid performance for Australia. Like several of the other prospects on the list, his best game was also against the U.S. He posted 15 points and knocked down three 3-pointers against the U.S. in a blowout loss.

Another year fine-tuning his jump shot and another spring getting acclimated to the speed of the NBA and Newley is a likely second-round pick with a shot at the late first round.




Uros Tripkovic, G, Serbia-Montenegro (currently ranked No. 41)
Stats at Worlds: 15.8 mpg, 5.7 ppg on 37 percent shooting


Tripkovic widely has been regarded as the best Serbian NBA prospect the past few years, but his progress last season took a downward turn and wasn't helped by a lackluster performance in the Worlds.

As it stands Tripkovic is a bit of tweener, even in Europe, and scouts are concerned about how his game translates in the NBA. His shot hasn't been falling with nearly the accuracy it once did and there are questions about his ability to handle the speed and strength of NBA two guards.

While scouts still love his skill set and pedigree, he's going to need a huge year in Europe to get back into the serious draft talk.