Big East NBA Draft prospects

[Omaha1]

I'm not a real big NBA fan but I've been trying to keep tabs on what is being said about Doug McDermott's NBA prospects. By all accounts he did really well at the combine this week. I'm really interested to see what happens with Semaj too.

Michigan's Nik Stauskas, Creighton's Doug McDermott, Michigan State's Adreian Payne, Virginia's Joe Harris, Cincinnati's Sean Kilpatrick and North Dakota State's Taylor Braun went through a combination of drills, 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 games for a couple of hours while I sat courtside. Here's what I learned."
...
During early shooting drills, Stauskas had the lead early, hitting 47 of his first 50 attempts. At the end of the workout, it was McDermott who couldn't miss, beating everyone with 13 3-pointers in 35 seconds. Usually in these types of workouts, it's the rims that get weary. Here, it was the nets that were worn out by the end. And that longer-distance NBA 3-point line? None of the players had any issues with it. All of them have deep, effortless range.

Of the crop, Stauskas looks like the best shooter off the dribble. That's going to make him appealing to teams that want more than just a shooter. McDermott has a picture-perfect release off the catch. His shot looks the same every time.

...

Shots are logged every day. Each player takes roughly 100 3-point attempts during a workout. On most days, Stauskas and McDermott are shooting about 85 percent. That's really remarkable.

...
McDermott looked a little leaner than I saw him in college play, and he was moving well laterally in drills -- a key indicator for NBA teams worried about whom he'll guard at the next level. He's still not going to be an all-world defender, but on the other end, he's going to be hard to stop. I was impressed with his arsenal of offensive moves Tuesday. While he might struggle a bit defensively, he's going to be a matchup nightmare on the other end. If you guard him with a 4, he's going to take you outside. If you try to guard him with a 3, he has a terrific array of post moves.

McDermott is No. 13 on our Big Board, and I could see him cracking the top 10 in certain scenarios."

[flyerlax06]

Unbelievable that Bryce Cotton didn't get an invite to the combine. It was painful watching Aaron Craft trying to hoist NBA 3's when knowing Cotton shattered a 3 pt shooting workout record at his Sacramento Kings workout. I'm not sure if it's his agent's fault (he is basically their most high profile client) or if the NBA is really that bad but it sucks because being at the combine is critically important to being drafted.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/draft/mock-draft

CBS Sports Mock NBA Draft – May 21, 2014

Doug McDermott, PF, Creighton - # 9 (Gary Parrish), # 15 (Zach Harper), # 9 (Matt Moore)

Semaj Christon, PG, Xavier - # 28 (Gary Parrish), # 60 (Zach Harper), # 59 (Matt Moore)

Bryce Cotton, PG, Providence - # 57 (Gary Parrish), Not Drafted (Zach Harper), Not Drafted (Matt Moore)


http://www.nbadraft.net/2014mock_draft

NBA Draft.net – May 20, 2014

# 8 - Doug McDermott, SF, Creighton

# 28 - Semaj Christon, PG, Xavier

Not Drafted - Bryce Cotton, PG, Providence


http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2014/

DraftExpress.com – May 20, 2014

# 8 - Doug McDermott, SF, Creighton

Not Drafted - Semaj Christon, PG, Xavier

Not Drafted - Bryce Cotton, PG, Providence


http://sports.yahoo.com/news/2014-nba-m ... 01275.html

Yahoo! (first round only) – May 20, 2014

# 9 - Doug McDermott, SF, Creighton

[Dew]

Updated:

9. Charlotte Hornets (from Detroit): Doug McDermott, SF, Creighton.
Charlotte is one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA. Why not add the best shooter in the draft in Dougie McBuckets? The team that takes McDermott will know what it is getting: one of the few guarantees in this draft. If you’re still doubting McDermott as an NBA prospect, you haven’t been paying attention. Just ask the players at the Team USA minicamp in Las Vegas last summer, where NBA stars like Kyrie Irving kept looking to find McDermott for open threes.

2nd round sleeper- Bryce Cotton, PG, Providence.
Revealing a bit of my FOX Sports 1/Big East bias here. But what isn’t to love about a tough kid who was recruited by exactly one Division 1 school out of high school and who by his senior year was a McDermott away from becoming Big East player of the year? No player in college hoops played a higher percentage of his team’s minutes than Cotton.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/mock ... fts-060214

[Chalmers0]

It's pretty crazy how much scouts/experts/anyone is varying on their opinion of where Semaj goes. I really hope he sneaks into late 1st round like some still think, or at least land with a team in the 2nd round with a need. Would really hate to see him leave early from a really good situation and be stuck in the D-League or Europe.

[GumbyDamnit!]

Semaj reminds me a lot of Kyle Lowry when he was a soph at Nova, and decided to leave early. Great instincts, can do a lot of things well, + defender, + athlete; both at the same stage had not yet developed reliable outside shots. JW made mention that a few GM's told him that they would take Kyle if he fell to them in the late first round, so Jay advised him to go. I hope Semaj is hearing something similar from NBA teams. If a sure 1st rounder, you jump. If not... With another year he could develop an outside shot and maybe move up to be a Top 15 player next year. Wish this kid well. Hoping for the best for him.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

Semaj reminds me a lot of Kyle Lowry when he was a soph at Nova, and decided to leave early.

Semaj Christon's NCAA Stats (2 seasons): http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/pla ... ton-1.html

Kyle Lowry's NCAA Stats (2 seasons): http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/pla ... wry-1.html

Kyle Lowry's NBA Stats (8 seasons): http://www.nba.com/playerfile/kyle_lowr ... stats.html

Interesting comparison. Kyle just completed his best season in the NBA, averaging 17.9 points, 7.4 assists, and a career-best 38% from downtown.

[TheHall]

Semaj reminds me a lot of Kyle Lowry when he was a soph at Nova, and decided to leave early. Great instincts, can do a lot of things well, + defender, + athlete; both at the same stage had not yet developed reliable outside shots. JW made mention that a few GM's told him that they would take Kyle if he fell to them in the late first round, so Jay advised him to go. I hope Semaj is hearing something similar from NBA teams. If a sure 1st rounder, you jump. If not... With another year he could develop an outside shot and maybe move up to be a Top 15 player next year. Wish this kid well. Hoping for the best for him.

Kyle has one thing that Semaj doesn't...strength. That one difference is a huge factor too for KL's success in the NBA. KL w/out his strength is just another fast, small, ok shooting PG. The fact that he is soo strong for his position and he knows exactly how to use it is why he has carved a nice niche for himself in the NBA. It's also bought him time to learn the NBA and increase his bball IQ & PG skills. I think the same can be said about Randy Foye (Jersey!). Although I'm not nearly as familiar with Semaj's game as the 2 nova ballers, I believe he's a different type of player and his path to success will possibly depend more on his ability to create for himself/others and/or his ability to defend 1's, 2's & some 3's.

Funny thing is I actually found it more risky/surprising when KL declared than Semaj. I just hope Semaj's path doesn't turn out more like Waayans, even though Waayans may still prove himself in time.

[butlerguy03]

I'd love it if Semaj fell to the Pacers at #57.

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/2014-nba-m ... 18863.html

2014 NBA Mock Draft: Take 4 - Yahoo! - 6 hours ago

14. Phoenix Suns: Doug McDermott, Creighton, SF, 6-8, 218
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http://www.nbadraft.net/2014mock_draft

NBA Draft.net – May 20, 2014

# 8 - Doug McDermott, SF, Creighton

# 28 - Semaj Christon, PG, Xavier

Not Drafted - Bryce Cotton, PG, Providence

nbadraft.net - updated June 20, 2014

# 14 - Doug McDermott, SF, Creighton

# 44 - Semaj Christon, PG, Xavier

Not Drafted - Bryce Cotton, PG, Providence

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http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2014/

DraftExpress.com – May 20, 2014

# 8 - Doug McDermott, SF, Creighton

Not Drafted - Semaj Christon, PG, Xavier

Not Drafted - Bryce Cotton, PG, Providence

DraftExpress.com – updated June 20, 2014

# 8 - Doug McDermott, SF, Creighton

Not Drafted - Semaj Christon, PG, Xavier

Not Drafted - Bryce Cotton, PG, Providence