NBA Draft

[Cdizzle]

Hopefully Early and McDermott both kill it, for a long, long time. I think they are both walking into good situations for themselves.

I do wish Early had locked up some money for himself, and the prestige of a 1st Round pick for WSU. That kind of thing is very useful for recruiting.

[Shoxfan11]

Doug is going to play in the NBA for a dozen years. Always be a solid contributor and be on teams that do nothing but win.

The Korver comparisons are laughable to me. Doug is head and shoulders above Korver.

Head and shoulders above one of the best shooters in NBA history?

[UNIFanSince1983]

This guy on Bleacher Report gave the Knicks an A+ on their draft basically just because of Early.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2111 ... ds/page/18

I think both Early and McDermott will be great in the NBA. I really was hoping McDermott would go to Charlotte, but since Vonleh fell to them at 9 I am not sure they had a choice. I think both are in decent situations though. Obviously, McDermott is in a better situation with the Bulls being in not as much turmoil, and ready to win now.

[rlh04d]

Hard to believe Cle isn't one of the 30 best players in the country. Still think he'll be a solid pro.

Doug went right about where he was predicted to go. Should be really interesting to see how his game translates to the pros.

I think the random SF from Brazil that was drafted as a long term project pushed Cle down to the second. Without him he would have been late first.

Good for Cle, though. He'll be playing in his hometown with his mom nearby. And the highest draft pick by NY. Great deal for him, even with less money.

McDermott got really lucky with the Bulls. That might have seriously increased his longevity in the league.

[glm38]

Doug is going to play in the NBA for a dozen years. Always be a solid contributor and be on teams that do nothing but win.

The Korver comparisons are laughable to me. Doug is head and shoulders above Korver.

Head and shoulders above one of the best shooters in NBA history?

Korver is a great shooter and has had a good career but he's kind of one dimensional even on the offensive end. I agree with BCPanther that McD has a lot more all around ability and potential.

[CBB_Fan]

I thought both McDermott and Early went to good situations. Doug needed an organization that was, well, organized. A lot of NBA teams rely too much on isolation play and force players to try and do things they aren't completely of, ex: Kings. The Bulls are well run, well coached, and had a need. They'll be able to hide him on the court with their defense, and will make good use of his off-ball movement and shooting talents (which IMHO would have been wasted at any higher pick).

Early was bumped down to the 2nd round for mostly financial reasons. NBA teams that want to sign FAs and compete for championships would much rather keep the money by picking up a foreign player they won't have to play than pick up a college player that they would have to pay. But Early landed in a good spot.

Don't get me wrong, the Knicks have been a badly run organization for a long time. They overspend, make bad trades, and their play is mediocre. But now they have Phil, and the culture has changed. I believe that Early has a good chance to start or be the first off the bench for them, and they view him as essentially their first round pick. He also gets to play close to home and might get to spend time with Toure'.

Like McDermott, I think Early needed to go to the right team to be successful. For Doug, that was mostly a factor of finding a good fit for his skills and problems. For Cleanthony, a lot of it is cultural. He is a very emotional player, and I think the Knicks will help to contain that. In his first year, he often would take himself out of games after one early mistake cost him his psyche. Later on, Marshall found ways to keep him focused and channel his energy. I think Phil (and Fisher) will do that for him in New York, and being at home will be good for him.

[saluki762]

I suspect that Early to the 2nd round has more to do with need than talent. Most predictions had Early in the bottom 5 of the 1st round. These are the elite teams who will typically draft on need and not talent. Were there any teams in this portion of the draft that had SF as a big need? So many publications had Early to the Spurs as a prediction. I never believed it because he is the same player as Leonard who was just the Finals MVP and is younger than Early. Didn't think the Spurs would use a 1st round pick for a back up to their youngest player and Finals MVP.

Early was clearly talented enough to go in the 1st round, unfortunate for him, he may not have been a fit for the teams picking there.

[TheAsianSensation]

Early is a lottery pick if you could somehow magically transpose him to the 2013 draft class. I wouldn't worry much about what it means.

Big couple of years coming up for the Valley. We need McBuckets and Early to show that you can make it in the NBA by coming through the MVC. That's also why Baker's development is also important.

[Redbird23]

I love McDermott going to the Bulls, he's the shooter they have desperately needed.

[glm38]

Carmelo Anthony is going to resign with New York. That sucks for Cle IMO. Less playing time for sure. I could see it being valuable if Carmelo was the type of player that could mentor Cle but I don't see that happening. Carmelo is a one dimensional ( all offense/ no D) type player who has never really been a winner.

I still think Cle has a good NBA career but I don't think this bodes well for his 1st year.