Aaron Brooks, PG, Senior, Oregon: Most mocks have him going at the end of the first round now, but I wanted to mention him just because I really hope Phoenix picks him up with the #29. A Brooks/Barbosa bench backcourt will strike fear into all the plodding teams in the league. (On the NCAA front, Oregon is going to miss Brooks more than most realize. More on that in upcoming weeks when we finally get around to making college posts.)
Aaron Afflalo, SG, Junior, UCLA: I see no reason why he can’t be Raja Bell. Granted, Afflalo struggled mightily against Corey Brewer in their two meetings, but when he’s not the focal point of every team’s defense I think he’ll have a chance to be a solid NBA player for a while.
Alando Tucker, SG, Senior, Wisconsin: The other week, Carter mentioned Tucker as this year’s potential “Solid College Guy Who Falls into the Second Round and Succeeds Anyway.” I don’t see it. Kammron Taylor was this team’s best player by the end of the year, and when Tucker was scoring he was doing his best work from the post, which he won’t be able to do in the NBA.
Morris Almond, SG, Senior, Rice: He can shoot and score. That will buy him a career.
Marcus Williams, SG, Sophomore, Arizona: No work ethic—I think Lute wanted him to leave. Regularly got outplayed by less talented players in college. Flashes of brilliance. Looks somewhat like Jason Kidd’s son (mostly the mustache).
Jared Dudley, SF, Senior, Boston College: You don’t make All-American teams for three years by accident. Like many others, I don’t know why people are surprised he’s impressing at workouts and camps.
Gabe Pruitt, PG, Junior, USC: Apparently people are under the impression he’s a really solid shooter. That is not quite true; he’s a streaky shooter…from the college three. Solid college player, pretty tall for a point, but not strong. There’s not anything I think he does particularly well. Also a victim of the greatest college sports prank in history.
Reyshawn Terry, SF, Senior, UNC: Every time I saw him at Carolina, he looked really talented but out of place because they were playing a college game and not an NBA game. So his numbers are lower than his talent would suggest. Weirdly, those guys tend to not do so well one they get to the real league.
Aaron Gray, C, Senior, Pitt: The definition of stiff. I hope he somehow sneaks into the first round just so I can write a paragraph-long screed against whoever takes him.
Petteri Koponen, PG, Born 1988, Finland: I really want to see him succeed. Check out this awesome video of him throwing an alley-oop to Nicholas Batum (the real Air France). Now, that’s the only thing I’ve ever seen him do, but it’s awesome. And he’s Finnish! The best since Paavo Nurmi! And his team is the Honka Playboys!!! I kinda want to see the Warriors get him just so I can buy a Honka Playboys throwback.
Taurean Green, PG, Junior, Florida: Yes, all he did was win. But when you watched the Gators play, did he ever really impress you? He always seemed like the fifth-most important player on the floor to me, and with the emergence of Chris Richard in the last tournament Green might have been the sixth-most important guy. Now, obviously, he’s the point guard, and he deserves some credit the supernatural chemistry they had. I don’t think he’s any better than Aaron Miles, though, and he didn’t get much more than a little stint with the Warriors. You could do worse in the second round, but I don’t understand the first round talk. There’s a reason he’s not in this goofy picture.
Nick Fazekas, PF, Senior, Nevada: Really should have come out earlier. His stock dropped oncec people realized he's not a banger. He has good range, but it’s not that good—he seems more like a good shooter for a big guy than an actual good shooter.
Dominic McGuire, SF, Junior, Fresno St: One of my favorite players in the draft. With a jumper, he’s a clear first-rounder. Fantastic athleticism, does a little bit of everything. His inability to perform consistently at Cal is yet another example of how Ben Braun doesn’t know how to coach offense.
Glen Davis, F, Junior, LSU: Needs to lose weight, but if he does that he’s not nearly as intriguing. Like Fazekas, I think he gets press because he’s good at stuff that people his size don’t usually do. Not really sure where he fits in: he would be a small four but he’s not fast enough to play that regularly. One of my favorite NBA Comparisons on nbadraft.net; I’m pretty sure they list him as Rodney Rogers just because they’re both 6-8 and fat.
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