JR Smith and Deng tidbits

[PantherPaul]

From ESPN Insider

LOS ANGELES -- High school phenom J.R. Smith surprised a group of NBA scouts on Thursday when he showed up with several other SFX players and completed a workout for the Nuggets, Lakers, Clippers and Jazz.

After the workout, Smith told Insider he had hired agents Arn Tellem and Bob Myers and would be forgoing his college eligibility to stay in the draft. Smith had committed to North Carolina before a string of impressive performances at several high school all-star games.


Some scouts are calling J.R. Smith the top high schooler in this year's draft.
"I think I'm ready. I've ready elevated my game to a higher level," Smith told Insider. "The (high school) all-star games convinced me that I have what it takes to play in the NBA."

Smith had few surprises left on the court. His workout just confirmed what scouts already knew. He showed deep range on his jump shot and extraordinary leaping ability in a number of drills during a 45-minute workout with Texas' Byron Mouton and Texas Tech's Andre Emmett.

Afterward, one NBA scout predicted big things for Smith. "He's the best high school player in the draft from a preparedness standpoint," the scout told Insider. "He's got a great, NBA body and athleticism, and he's probably the best shooter in the draft. He's also got some star quality about him. I think at the end of the day, he's going to be the first two guard taken in the draft."

That assessment matches up with what Smith heard from the NBA draft committee when he submitted his name. "I got great feedback from the NBA (draft) committee," Smith told Insider. "I was told I could go anywhere (from) No. 1 to No. 16."

With so few players ready to make an immediate impact in the league, expect Smith to continue to rise on draft boards as we get closer June 22. That combination of athleticism, strength and shooting ability is very tough to beat when it comes to drafting a two guard.

# Will Bulls draft Deng at No. 2? This really shouldn't come as a surprise, but a Bulls source told Insider this week that if Chicago ends up with the No. 2 pick and Emeka Okafor is off the board, the team likely will trade the pick or draft Luol Deng at No. 2.

 

[PantherPaul]

and mock draft for top 14

Player Age Pos. From Stock
1. Emeka Okafor 21 PF UConn
The best college player? Has an NBA body, dominating defense and emerging offense.
2. Dwight Howard 18 PF High School
The top high school player. Scouts compare him to KG. Others to Kwame Brown.
3. Luol Deng 19 SF Duke
Not quite Carmelo, but in a weak draft, he's still a top five pick if he comes out.
4. Shaun Livingston 18 PG High School
Has great size (6-7) and unbelievable court vision, but he's awfully skinny.
5. Josh Smith 18 SF High School
He's an athletic, do it all small forward who runs the floor and shoots the three.
6. Martynas Andriuskevicius 18 C Lithuania
He's in the draft. Word is that the Suns are in love.
7. Devin Harris 20 PG Wisconsin
Another fast riser. Good athlete, scorer and passer. Should impress in workouts.
8. Josh Childress 20 SF Stanford
A high riser based on his length, athleticism and ability to do it all. The next George Gervin?
9. Ben Gordon 21 PG UConn
Big time scorer who really helped himself in the tournament.
10. Andris Biedrins 18 PF Latvia
He's tall, athletic and plays great defense. Still a little raw offensively however.
11. Pavel Podkolzine 19 C Siberia
He's high risk, high reward. Huge and athletic, but very, very raw.
12. Kosta Perovic 19 C Serbia
A very skilled big man who's had success in Europe. Needs to get stronger.
13. Andre Iguodala 19 SG Arizona
Great athleticism, strength and passing abilities. Needs to work on the jumper.
14. Peja Samardziski 18 C Serbia
Very skilled big man. But have enough teams seen him play?

 

[Elric]

He's thinks he has elevated his game because of a few HIGH SCHOOL all-star games and he's ready to contribute to an NBA team right away Any bets on how long his butt warms the bench his first couple of NBA seasons?

 

[batgrafix]

http://insider.espn.go.com/insider/story?id=1807855

LOS ANGELES -- Here's the funny thing about teenagers and the NBA Draft. One minute they can look like super heros and the next . . . like they should seriously consider spending a few years in college. Just a day after high school phenom J.R. Smith told Insider that he hired an agent, destroying his college eligibility, he went into a workout in front of the Blazers and Jazz and laid a tremendous egg.

Smith, who was working out against Texas Tech's Andre Emmett, was awful. Insider was in the Santa Monica gym on Friday to witness the massacre. Smith's outside jumper, the one he stunned scouts with at the high school all-stars games, was in rare poor form. His shot kept coming up short in shooting drills and looked even worse when Emmett put a hand in his face. But that wasn't the real concern. It looked like Smith hurt his shoulder near the start of the workout. Even if the injury wasn't serious, scouts have seen enough of him to know that he's a great perimeter shooter. One bad shooting day in a gym won't kill your stock.

What will do it, however, is laziness. Smith had zero energy in his workout and a total lack of intensity. For most of the workout he was going at half speed and Emmett made him pay. Emmett consistently drove past Smith when he had the ball. Smith's defense was almost no-existant. offensively, Smith struggled to get by Emmett and settled for pull up jumpers that rarely found his mark.

After the workout, one of the scouts in the gym remarked to me that the workout was one of the worst they've seen in a while. "I'm not sure what was going on," the scout told Insider. "Did he have a late night partying and just wasn't ready to play? Or is this how the kid is in these situations? Maybe he just doesn't practice or play hard. I was totally unimpressed. Totally."

That doesn't bode well for Smith. Both the Blazers (No. 13) and the Jazz (No. 14 and 16) were both seriously considering Smith with their picks. While one workout won't kill you, it's tough to imagine that either team could feel good about taking him after what they saw on Friday.