LSU freshman Tyrus Thomas and UConn sophomore Rudy Gay will declare for the NBA draft. ESPN has Thomas as the #2 overall pick (behind Joakim Noah) in their latest mock draft, while Gay, who was once considered a candidate to be the top overall pick, has slipped to #8. Gay’s performance in the tournament was unremarkable, and questions linger about his heart and his ability to take over games.
Thomas, on the other hand, showed a lot in LSU’s Elite Eight game against Texas. Matching up with LaMarcus Aldridge, he scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while holding Aldridge to just four points on 2 of 14 shooting. Otherwise, his tournament was unremarkable, as he averaged only 7.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in the other tournament games. In his defense, he only put up 4.3 shots in those four games.
Meanwhile, Joakim Noah appears to be the favorite to be the #1 overall pick. Only he’s staying in school. Overall, I like his game. He is a fierce competitor, a great shotblocker and is effective in the post. However, his jumper currently looks like that of a middle school girl and I’m not too sure how quickly this will improve. He really looks lost on the perimeter. Since he’ll probably play power forward early in his career, he’s going to need a face up jumper. Another year in school will help, but his stock isn’t going to be any higher than it is right now.
