spydy13
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Below is Chad Ford's ranking of the center prospects and their overall ranking in the draft. I have to assume that 1-5 will be gone by the time we pick. Upshaw seems to be exactly what we need: a big bodied, shot blocker. I'm sure we will go after someone that is more polished with the Haywood contract but I think we could still use another young guy to bang down low, especially with Andy's future in doubt.
1. Jahlil Okafor, Duke, Fr. (1)
2. Karl-Anthony Towns, Kentucky, Fr. (3)
3. Willie Cauley-Stein, Kentucky, Jr. (8)
4. Jakob Poeltl, Utah, Fr. (14)
5. Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin, Sr. (16)
6. Robert Upshaw, Washington, So. (29)
7. Dakari Johnson, Kentucky, So. (31)
8. Amida Brimah, UConn, So. (38)
9. Damian Jones, Vanderbilt, So. (39)
10. Kennedy Meeks, North Carolina, So. (59)
Other notable C prospects: Guillermo Hernangomez, Spain; Marko Arapovic, Croatia; Moussa Diagne, Senegal; Isaac Haas, Purdue; Ilimane Diop, France; Kaleb Tarczewski, Arizona; Yankuba Sima, Spain; A.J. Hammons, Purdue; Chinanu Onuaku, Louisville; Nikola Milutinov, Serbia; Josh Smith, Georgetown
We have nine centers ranked as potential first-rounders and five of them as potential lottery picks. That's extremely rare. This may be the best draft for centers we've seen in a decade.
Okafor and Towns are duking it out for the No. 1 pick. While Okafor looks like the better offensive talent, Towns has been a monster defensively and offers higher upside. Okafor is in the lead at the moment, but Towns is still very much in the conversation.
Cauley-Stein has taken another step toward guaranteeing a slot in the top 10. While he lacks offensive prowess, he's the most versatile defensive big man scouts have seen in a long time. He has the ability to guard all five positions on the floor.
Poeltl is another player whose defense is ahead of his offense right now. But every scout who has watched him play thinks he will be a starting big man in the NBA someday. Kaminsky is the other player who has a chance to crack the lottery. He's different from any other big on this board. His ability to stretch the floor is special. He might end up being a stretch-4 in the NBA.
There's a bit of a scrum here from positions No. 6 through No. 9. Upshaw has been a fast riser on the board. He's big, athletic and he's putting up impressive numbers coming off the bench for Washington. He actually leads every center in PER. Questions about his off-court issues and motivation will rise come draft time, but if he continues playing like this all season, he's going to keep moving up the board.
Johnson gets a bit lost at Kentucky playing behind Towns and Cauley-Stein, but he has been very solid and projects as a nice backup big who could start on some NBA teams. Brimah is very raw and can struggle when facing legit bigs (as we saw against Duke), but clearly has NBA size and talent. Jones may be the most underrated of the group. He hasn't played against elite talent but he'll get a chance to prove himself against Kentucky on Jan. 20. Meeks ends the list. He's been highly efficient for the Tar Heels, but lacks ideal size or athleticism for the position.
