NBA Draft 2009 Preview: Shooting Guards

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If you are looking for a franchise shooting guard in the 2009 NBA Draft, you best look elsewhere. There are some solid rotation players, and maybe someday an all-star or two amongst the group, but it is a position that is lacking in both star power and depth this year.

The head of the class is James Harden from Arizona St. In two years, he has helped turn the Sun Devils program around, being one of the most productive players in the country. While he is not blessed with great athletic ability, he is a very crafty, refined player. He is a silky smooth left-hander, with the ability to both hit the outside shot and get to the rim and score. He can rebound, pass, and defend. He will not wow you in any area, but he is just a very solid player. He will be helped by the weakness of the draft, as it should propel him into the top 5 and likely the top SG off the board.

Next there is Tyreke Evans, who is more of a combo guard from Memphis. While he predominantly played the point in his one year, shooting guard looks like his more natural position. He is a very athletically gifted player, and should be able to get to the rim at the next level. If 2 guard does wind up being where he plays in the NBA, he should be able to score and defend very well and be a solid starter on a good team.

Next is DeMar DeRozan from USC. He is one of the 3 most athletically gifted and overall talented players in the draft, but his production did not match his talent in his lone season at USC. He has all of the physcial tools necessary to be a great player, but he was plagued by inconsistency. At times he looked like a star, and at other times he looked like, well, a freshman. If he can continue to improve his jump shot and work on bringing his best every night, he could be a steal for someone in the late lottery.

After that are a couple of tweeners... guys that played the 3 in college but might be better suited for the 2 in the NBA. Gerald Henderson from Duke is one of the most athletic players in the Draft, but he will likely fall out of the lottery. There are questions about his jumpshot and handle, and so it's hard to project his role in the NBA. He can defend, and he can use his athleticism on the break (which makes him ideal for a running team), but he might be a little limited other than that. Terrence Williams from Louisville is a guy that got better and better as his career went on. He doesn't do anything exceptionally well, but he solid all across the board. He is a solid shooter, great rebounder, and great passer. He can be a really good role player on a solid team.

So there are no real stars at the SG position of this year's NBA Draft, and there's not a lot of depth, but there are some guys that should be solid NBA players. James Harden looks like the best of the lot, but there are a few guys here that should have nice, productive careers in the NBA.

NBA Draft 2009 Preview: Point Guards

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With the NBA moving more and more towards faster basketball by rewarding the drive-and-kick style of offense, point guards are more important than ever in the NBA. Looking at the impact of guys like Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and even Derrick Rose this year, having a good PG can completely turn around a franchise. In the 2009 NBA Draft, point guard looks like the strongest position, both in terms of talent and the top and depth throughout the first round.

The first point guard off the board will almost certainly be Ricky Rubio, the youngster from Spain. He showed his talent and potential in the 2008 Olympics, where as a 17-year old the Spaniard more than held his own against the best competition in the world. There is definitely a lot to like about Rubio. He is a true PG, with innate ability to lead an offense, get others involved, and take charge and score when his team needs it. He is creative offensively, and can find passing lanes and create plays seemingly out of nothing. He is not a great shooter yet, but he has very good form, and his great FT shooting (80%) suggests he will grow into a very good shooter. To top it all off, he is very charismatic on and off the court, which is perfect in the business in the NBA. He's the best PG in the draft, and he could go as high as 2 to Memphis and no lower than 4 to Sacramento.

After that, things get a little more interesting. The next wave of guys to go look like hybrid PG/SG rather than true point guards. First, there is Stephen Curry from Davidson. He played mostly SG in college (though did transition to PG his junior year), but will likely be too small to play SG in the NBA. But he is the best shooter in the draft, a prolific scorer who can create his own shot or get one off quickly off of a screen, and he will be a potent offensive threat in the NBA. There are some concerns about whether he can effectively run an offense or be a solid defender at the next level, but he did help alleviate some of thos with his play this season.

Next there's Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans, two highly touted one-and-dones with loads of talent. Evans played PG at Memphis last season as a freshman, but the 2 guard might be his more natural position. He can score and defend, but there are certainly some questions about how well he can an offense. Jrue Holiday has all the tools to be a very good NBA player, but his production did not jump out at anyone in his one year at UCLA. He has the tools to be a great defender, but he is not a very natural scorer right now. Also, though he played PG and that looks like his natural position, he didn't play it full-time last year with the Bruins, as they had Darren Collison to help carry that load.

Perhaps the biggest unknown in the whole draft is Brandon Jennings. He was a high prospect before last season, and had committed to Arizona before deciding to spend the year playing in Europe. However, his playing time was sporadic, and scouts really did not get a great chance to watch him play. In addition, they haven't been able to see him in very many workouts either. The talent certainly appears to be there, but there are a lot of unknowns surrounding him, which could cause his stock to drop.

The class is rounded off with guys who produced a lot at the college level, but who have questions about how their game will translate at the NBA level. First is Johnny Flynn from Syracuse. He has all of the physical tools of strength and quickness that you look for, but there are concerns about his height and shooting ability from the outside. Then there is Ty Lawson from North Carolina, who might be the quickest and fastest player in the draft, but again, there are concerns about his height and shooting ability. Eric Maynor was a great college player for VCU, and he is certainly remembered for his game-winner against Duke in the NCAA Tournament. He is an opportunistic defender and good leader offensively, but he doesn't really stand out in any one area. Last, there is Darren Collison, who may have been a lottery pick if he had come out after his sophomore year, but now might struggle to get picked in the first round. You know what you are getting with him... great shooter and great on-the-ball defender. There are some questions about his size, but he should be a productive NBA player.

So the point guard position looks to be the deepest in this year's NBA Draft. With star power of Rubio at the top, and depth throughout the first round, look for many point guards to be taken in this year's NBA Draft. There might not be any future MVP's within the group, but there will be a lot of solid NBA players.

NBA Draft 2009: Center Prospects

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Although the NBA appears to be changing to more of a transition game dominated by guards and wing players, big men can still rule the game. With a dearth of high-quality big men, teams are always searching for centers that can play enar the basket, affecting the game on both ends of the floor. For that reason, they are sometimes willing to reach on big men, or take projects who have the potential to be game-changing centers down the road.
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The 2009 NBA Draft appears to be a fairly weak draft class, but there is still some talent at the center position.

Assuming we count Blake Griffin from Oklahoma as a Power Forward, Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet looks like he will be the first center taken in the 2009 NBA Draft. At 7'3'', he is still a very raw player, but has matured significantly on the court during his 3 years as a member of the Connecticut Huskies. He is a huge presence on the defensive end, and has the ability to alter games by blocking shots or forcing opponents to alter a ton of shots. Offensively, he is getting better but is still very raw, and scores most of his points on either putbacks or dunks.He is a project on the offensive end, but should make an immediate impact on the defensive end with his size and shot blocking instincts. He looks to be a top 3 pick in the draft.

BJ Mullens from Ohio St. appears to be the only other center who looks to be a viable first-round candidate if he chooses to stay in the draft. He only played 1 year for the Buckeyes, and is very much a long-term prospect who will be drafted based on his potential. He was a talented recruit coming out of high school, but had an up-and-down season for Thad Matta and the Buckeyes. He only averaged 8.8 PPG and 4.7 RPG in his freshman campaign, which are not exactly inspiring numbers, especially since he was a year older than many other freshmen in his class. He is very talented athletically, but there are concerns about how good of a basketball player he actually is. His basketball IQ is not that great, and his rebounding numbers are very mediocre for someone his size. Plus, there are concerns about his consistency, because that was lacking. His physical tools will probably get him drafted sometime in the first round by a team enamored with his talented, but it could be a while before he produces in the NBA.

These are really the 2 legit center prospects in this draft. Big men like Blake Griffin, Jordan Hill, or James Johnson probably will be able to play center at times, but they are more natural power forwards. So with the 2009 NBA Draft class shaping up to be a very weak one, this is most obvious when looking at the centers, which will probably have minimal impact in the NBA outside of a couple players.