2006 NBA Draft Prospects

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Point guards lead class of '06
By Chad Ford
ESPN Insider

Top 5: PG | SG | SF | PF | C



The apocalypse that was supposed to be the 2006 NBA draft has yet to materialize.

Forecasts of doom and gloom were prevalent among NBA scouts upon learning that the NBA would adopt a 19-year-old age restriction this season.

While everyone would love to have Greg Oden to bolster a pretty pathetic center crop, the rest of the draft still has quite a bit of talent, especially at the point guard and power forward positions.

After discussing things with several NBA scouts and GMs, here's our first position-by-position preview of the top NBA draft prospects.



POINT GUARDS
Rank Name Ht, Wt, Year College/Country
1. Rajon Rondo 6-2, 175, Soph. Kentucky
Great athlete, defender and distributor, but needs to work on that jump shot.
2. Daniel Gibson 6-2, 190, Soph. Texas
The complete package, though some scouts see him as more of a scoring PG.
3. Marcus Williams 6-3, 205, Junior Connecticut
Has some fans, but his off-the-court problems and lack of athleticism may hurt him.
4. Mardy Collins 6-6, 205, Senior Temple
Big point guard can play two positions, but was disappointing at the Under 21s.
5. Sergio Rodriguez 6-3, 180, 19 years old Spain
A year ago, everyone was in love with him, but after an injury-filled season, he's slowly coming back to form.


Others to watch: Darius Washington Jr., Memphis; Jordan Farmar, UCLA; Gabriel Pruitt, USC; Greg Paulus, Duke; Mario Chalmers, Kansas; Terrell Everett, Oklahoma; Mustafa Shakur, Arizona; Dee Brown, Illinois; Justin Gray, Wake Forest; Ronald Steele, Alabama; Jeff Horner, Iowa; Taquan Dean, Louisville; Carl Krauser, Pittsburgh; Jose Juan Barea, Northeastern; Chris Hernandez, Stanford; Tim Smith, East Tennessee State; Churchill Odia, Xavier; Uros Tripkovic, Serbia; George Tsintsadze, Russia


SHOOTING GUARDS
Rank Name Ht, Wt, Year College/Country
1. Ronnie Brewer 6-7, 200, Junior Arkansas
Versatile combo guard could go in top 10 if team feels he can play point full-time.
2. Malik Hairston 6-6, 200, Soph. Oregon
Scouts compare him to a bigger, more versatile Quentin Richardson.
3. Marko Tomas 6-8, 210, 20 yrs. old Croatia
Another combo guard who can play three positions, his contract with Real Madrid could pose buyout problems, however.
4. Guillermo Diaz 6-3, 180, Junior Miami
Another combo guard. Amazing athlete and scorer, but can he play the point?
5. Jawann McClellan 6-5, 220, Soph. Arizona
Started coming on at the end of the season, should see more time this year.


Others to watch: Hassan Adams, Arizona; J.J. Redick, Duke; Brandon Rush, Kansas; Richard Roby, Colorado; Denham Brown, Connecticut; Shannon Brown, Michigan State; Maurice Ager, Michigan State; James White, Cincinnati; Rashad Anderson, Connecticut; Brandon Roy, Washington; Costas Vassiliadis, Greece; Marko Belinelli, Italy; Vasily Zavoruev, Russia; Viktor Keirou, Russia; Marcus Vieira de Souza, Brazil


SMALL FORWARDS
Rank Name Ht, Wt, Year College/Country
1. Rudy Gay 6-9, 220, Soph. Connecticut
An early consensus top-three pick, but scouts worry about his lack of an in-between game.
2. Adam Morrison 6-8, 200, Junior Gonzaga
The second coming of Larry Bird or Wally Szczerbiak? Tough, cocky and knows how to score, but is he athletic enough to be an NBA star?
3. Nemanja Aleksandrov 6-11, 210, 19 years old Serbia
Once tapped as a potential top pick, scouts will watch closely to see how he recovers from ACL surgery.
4. Rodney Carney 6-7, 205, Senior Memphis
Amazing athlete, but scouts all say that he's too soft.
5. Juan Palacios 6-8, 240, Soph. Louisville
Tough, powerful forward who can defend three positions. Offense is coming around.


Others to watch: Jeff Green, Georgetown; Jared Dudley, Boston College; Davon Jefferson, JUCO; Steven Smith, LaSalle; Corey Brewer, Florida; Marcus Slaughter, San Diego; Brandon Bowman, Georgetown; Nik Caner-Medley, Maryland; Mike Hall, George Washington; Lior Eliyahu, Israel; Luka Bogdanovic, Serbia; Vladimir Veremeenko, Belarus; Damir Markota, Croatia; Damjan Rudez, Croatia; Dusan Sakota, Greece

POWER FORWARDS
Rank Name Ht, Wt, Year College/Country
1. Andrea Bargnani 7-0, 225, 19 yrs old Italy
The closest thing to Dirk that Europe has produced, but aggressiveness is an issue.
2. LaMarcus Aldridge 6-11, 225, Soph Texas
Very skilled big man could be a top-10 pick if he progresses and stays healthy.
3. Tiago Splitter 7-0, 240, 20 yrs old Brazil
He's big, experienced and tough, but his offense is still a work in progress.
4. Shelden Williams 6-9, 245, Senior Duke
A rebounding and shot-blocking machine who led Team USA at the World University Games.
5. Al Horford 6-9, 235, Soph. Florida
Long, athletic big man has an NBA body. Just needs experience and strength.


Others to watch: Josh McRoberts, Duke; Julian Wright, Kansas; Taj Gray, Oklahoma State; Eric Williams, Wake Forest; Matt Haryasz, Stanford; Paul Davis, Michigan State; Nick Fazekas, Nevada; Craig Smith, Boston College; Glen Davis, LSU; Pops Mensah-Bonsu, George Washington; Kevin Pittsnogle, West Virginia; Torin Francis, Notre Dame; James Augustine, Illinois; Jason Fraser, Villanova; Paul Millsap, Louisian Tech; Ekene Ibekwe, Maryland; Oleksiy Pecherov, Ukraine; Vladimir Veremeenko, Belarus; Mirza Teletovic, Bosnia

CENTERS
Rank Name Ht, Wt, Year College/Country
1. Josh Boone 6-10, 240, Junior Connecticut
Was miserable toward the end of the season, raising questions about his heart. On size and athleticism, however, he's a lottery pick.
2. C.J. Giles 6-11, 230, Soph. Kansas
Giles is very raw, but he's long, athletic and can block shots. Needs to stay out of foul trouble.
3. David Padgett 6-11, 250, Soph. Louisville
He transferred from Kansas to Louisville. Has talent, but it's all projection at this point.
4. Kosta Perovic 7-3, 245, 21 yrs old Serbia
Had a very solid season for Partizan last year. Lack of athleticism is the only thing scaring NBA teams off.
5. Peja Samardziski 7-1, 255, 20 yrs old Serbia
Ditto for Samardziski. He's got great size and good skills, but he's not a great athlete.


Others to watch: Randolph Morris, Kentucky; Shagari Alleyne, Kentucky; Mamadou Diene, Baylor; Yemi Nicholson, Denver; Mohamed Kone, Valpo; Ante Tomic, Croatia; Mirza Begic, Croatia; Semih Erden, Turkey; Dimitri Sokolov, Russia; Pavel Mroz, Poland; Tan Zhendon

 

[Karma]

Point guard and center will likely be our target come next summer, although plenty of things could change between now and then.

 

[cdt]

I love Rudy Gay his comparison is Scottie Pippen, I like Boone but I'm not sure he reminds me of Olowakandi It'll be interesting to see who we get.

 

[PIP]

Pippen my ass..

The second coming of Pippen wears #9 for the sixers right now...

Boone is the best c ? It might not get any thinner then that....He is like an athletic Gadzuric (shhh.. don't want to wake the Buck fan up)

But that is not all that impressive..

I think we have a player in L-JAX33 that is better then morrison...

 

[TJ_4_CV31]

Pippen my ass..

The second coming of Pippen wears #9 for the sixers right now...

Boone is the best c ? It might not get any thinner then that....He is like an athletic Gadzuric (shhh.. don't want to wake the Buck fan up)

But that is not all that impressive..

I think we have a player in L-JAX33 that is better then morrison...

Your losing it fast LePip. Dan Gadzuric is the most athletic "true" center in the NBA. He'd run circles around Boone. Verajao is Gadzuric's mini me. Dan's stats: 7.3ppg, 8.3rpg, 1.4blocks, 54%fg, 22mpg

Dalembert: 8.2ppg, 7.5rpg, 1.6blocks, 52%fg, 25mpg
Haywood: 9.4ppg, 6.8rpg, 1.6blocks, 56%fg, 27mpg
Chandler: 8.0ppg, 9.7rpg, 1.7blocks, 49%fg, 27mpg
Dampier: 9.2ppg, 8.5rpg, 1.7blocks, 55%fg, 27mpg

Dan Gadzuric = Underrated

LePip, Andrew Bogut will surpass the "stellar" stats of the Great centers listed above in his rookie year. The Bucks will be one of the few teams in the league (Chicago...with Curry) that can say that they have two of the league's top 15 centers on their roster.

Morrison compares to a young Larry Bird (I don't buy it but that's what they say). And Luke, well, last years first 10 games says it all: 2.9ppg, 0rpg, 0asstpg

Anyways, slow, unathletic small forwards like Morrison and Jackson don't last long in the NBA. Career bench players unless they are lights out shooters like Bird, Mullin, and Majerle. Very "riske" draft picks imo.

 

[PIP]

You do realize.. Luke Jackson played 17 seconds a night don't you ?

He hurt his back in the summer league, but tried to play through it..

Look he will be better then KORVER... BOOK IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He is not just a catch in shoot player.. Luke can pass, and hopefully his "D" is as advertised..

He is a flat out scorer... I watched him drop 41 on Igoudala in college... The kid can play..

He could be a Majerle type..

 

[Karma]

Gadzuric is an energetic bigman and underated player on the boards. His offense is quite raw, but not awful. However what places him below the Chandler's, Dalembert's etc is his defense. He does get overpowered. He isn't strong at all defensively.

As for Jackson, how can you possibly gauge him from 40 minutes of injured time on the NBA court. I cannot and I am a Cavs fan, so how can you as a casual observer?

 

[PIP]

Karma.. Let the Record show, this paticular individual has GOO GOO eyes for Gadz :chuckles:

Gadz is the greatest of all time... Just nod and agree, that's all you can do.. :chuckles:

 

[cdt]

Gadzuric and his rediculous afro and constant duhhhhhh expression isn't underrated. He is nice to come in run around and stuff and look cool but put a true center on him and he will back down faster then ruanu in a fight with a guy in front of pier 1 imports. Chandler would make Gadzuric look lost out there he is more powerful better defender by leaps and bounds and a better offensive game. Curry would like...well shaq backing down bogut.

 

[highplainsdrifter]

Ruanu told me he loves Rudy Gay! He has that special somethin....

Who is #9 for Philly, Igoudala? Hes Pippen already eh? Over Hughes?

Shame on you for awakening the TJ. We will now have to read 10 pages of posts about Danny Gadz.......

 

[PIP]

Ruanu told me he loves Rudy Gay! He has that special somethin....

Who is #9 for Philly, Igoudala? Hes Pippen already eh? Over Hughes?

Shame on you for awakening the TJ. We will now have to read 10 pages of posts about Danny Gadz.......

Yes IGGY is the prototype Pippen.. or RAW pippen..

He is LONG like Scottie, athetic like Scottie, and could mold Into that same stlye of Defender...

Trust me, Scottie is my favorite of all time, Not just part of my SN.

I've never seen a player come as close in terms of size, Tmac had the capabilities, but he tends to focus a bit more on his offensive game..

Iggy might be a little more athletic, but he is about the defense and plays with the same energy.. He is PIPPEN2K

 

[TJ_4_CV31]

Gadzuric is an energetic bigman and underated player on the boards. His offense is quite raw, but not awful. However what places him below the Chandler's, Dalembert's etc is his defense. He does get overpowered. He isn't strong at all defensively.

As for Jackson, how can you possibly gauge him from 40 minutes of injured time on the NBA court. I cannot and I am a Cavs fan, so how can you as a casual observer?

Karma, Gadzuric is plenty strong enough defensively. The only guys that overpower him are the guys that overpower everybody (Shaq, Yao, Z, ect.).
Gadz was one of the Bucks more dependable players last year...particularly in the second half of the season. I like Gadz better than Dalembert who behind Nene may be the most overrated bigman in the league. In their last head to head matchup, Gadz posted 21pts and 20rebs on a defenseless Sam Dalembert. Total domination.

I'll admit, Luke Jackson is one of the Cavs that i'll be watching with particular interest this season. My Cav fans tell me that he is a diamond in the rough. Every roster tends to have a player like this. If he is as good as some of you think he will be, then I have definitely underrated the strength of the Cavalier bench. Based on the hype around "LJax", I'm expecting 9pts, 4rebs, and 3asst in this, his "rookie" season. If he can get that, then you guys have something to build on. I think Sasha will be replaced by a better player.

 

[highplainsdrifter]

Here we go, brace yourselves Cavs fans for Danny Gadz life history........ :chuckles:

 

[cdt]

This is Cavs Talk if he goes "buck" wild infante will come in here and lay down the law. This is for Cavalier talk not the Milwaukee Bucks 2005-2006 Media Guide..

 

[Karma]

Look TJ, I do believe Gadzuric is a handy center. I at times in the last 12 months have mentioned him as a candidtae to come to Cleveland if we could make it work. His athletic game would be a nice foil with Ilgauskas. However there is a reason why he plays just 22mpg. He has many holes in his game. That was an impressive game Gadzuric had on Dalembert. One game doesn't make a season or a player.