Curry, Lawson and Ellington enter loaded pool of guard talent in NBA Draft
As all eyes turn to today’s NFL Draft, why not take a moment for a little speculating about June’s NBA Draft.
Three significant underclassmen guards announced their entry into the NBA Draft this week – Davidson’s Stephen Curry and North Carolina’s Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson – joining a talent pool already loaded with guards.
Here are list of a few more who figure to be in the running to be top 20 picks in this year’s draft:
Ricky Rubio, Spain
James Harden, Arizona State
Tyreke Evans, Memphis
Brandon Jennings, Italy
DeMar DeRozan, USC
Eric Maynor, VCU
Gerald Henderson, Duke
Jrue Holliday, UCLA
Terrence Williams, Louisville
Jonny Flynn, Syracuse
Jeff Teague, Wake Forest
Patrick Mills, St. Mary’s
The question is, where are these three newcomers going to go? ESPN’s Chad Ford doesn’t even have Ellington in his top 30 available prospects, and while he did come up big in the Tar Heels’ championship run this season, he had to withdraw from the draft last year because of a lack of interest from NBA teams.
Lawson’s stock is up this year, and he has the reputation of being one of the fastest end-to-end point guard prospects in the draft. But will NBA GMs side with him over the just-as-quick and better-shooting Jonny Flynn, Eric Maynor or Jeff Teague?
Same goes for Curry. From a production standpoint, he’s light years ahead of everybody on this list except perhaps Lawson or James Harden. But he would likely enter the NBA as the league’s skinniest player, and given teams’ tendencies to let workouts and physical potential rule the day, it may be tough for them to take Curry over say, a DeMar DeRozan, Tyreke Evans or even a Jrue Holliday – all players with NBA-ready bodies and major upside.
Re: Lawson vs other speedy guards.
No.
Are Flynn, Maynor and Teague fast? Yes. Are they in the same valence shell as Lawson? Not even. Look at the scouting reports if you want to know what the scouts think. They have called Lawson’s combination of speed, strength and explosiveness, “unparalleled”. They use adverbs like “blazing”, “incredible”, “breakneck” and “near-blinding” when talking about Lawson’s speed.
You know what they say about the other guards? They’re quick and good at changing their speed. Lawson is excellent at changing his speed. He also has the footwork and the ball-handling to back it up. And, despite his 5’11″ height, arguably greater athleticism than some of the others.