Ut oh...Grant out of the 1st round? Ennis to the T'wolves

[HyattsCuse]

Just read Jeff Goodman's mock draft 3.0 on ESPN Insider.

No sign of Grant in the first round. First time I have seen that in any mock draft so far.

He also has Ennis going to the Timberwolves. Interesting analysis though:

"Analysis: Flip Saunders isn't sold that Ricky Rubio is his point guard of the future, and drafting Ennis could allow him to move bothKevin Love and Rubio in deal(s). Ennis is a pure point guard like Rubio, but is far more consistent and a better shooter."

 

[Madbiker]

Hope not. The T-Wolves are one of those awful franchises that has no clue what the hell they are doing...ever. Stay far away Tyler.

 

[Trueblue25]

Minnesota, where promising Syracuse players go to die.

 

[Melancer46]

It's not gonna happen. Flip will get fired if he gets rid of Rubio. The fans can handle losing Love because he's expressed his desire to get out, but Rubio loves it there and is a huge fan favorite. Not to mention Ennis probably isn't an upgrade over him anyways. If they had a chance at getting Exum or something, sure, but to make a lateral move at best while getting rid of your fans' favorite player will not fly.

 

[RF2044]

I honestly believe that Grant will slip into the first round, but I'm seeing a lot of mock drafts where he's not being projected there. If it ends up working out that way, it will have been a disastrous decision to go pro.

 

[AZOrange]

I honestly believe that Grant will slip into the first round, but I'm seeing a lot of mock drafts where he's not being projected there. If it ends up working out that way, it will have been a disastrous decision to go pro.

I'm kind of the opposite of you here. I'm thinking he's likely a 2nd rounder

 

[two3zone]

I'm honestly more concerned with Ennis slipping into the 20s than Grant not being a first round choice.

 

[skurey]

I know it doesn't bode well for future NBA success as you get further down in the draft but I would like to see one of our players get drafted by a well coached, good organization.

 

[Melancer46]

I'm honestly more concerned with Ennis slipping into the 20s than Grant not being a first round choice.

Same. There's so few teams that need a PG that if Payton jumps ahead of him, he could easily slide to at least 20.

 

[Full_Rebar]

Ennis will get picked by Toronto if he's still there. Grant will end up moving back into the 1st round as he makes it around to workouts with teams picking late.

 

[SUintheVille]

What was Grant projected to be when he declared? If he goes 2nd or even late 1st, I assume that is below where he apparently thought he'd go. Seems to be a common theme. Ennis falling out of the lottery would be along the same lines. Hope the guys can rise. At least get Grant into the 1st round and guaranteed. He seems too athletic not to be.

 

[OrangeDW]

I'm kind of the opposite of you here. I'm thinking he's likely a 2nd rounder

According to all the experts here though, "you've GOTTA go!"

 

[TexanMark]

Grant has millionaires in the family tree...so stupid to go now.

 

[SUFan44]

Grant has millionaires in the family tree...so stupid to go now.

Millionaires who have supposedly spent a good portion of what they made already...

 

[scottynguyen]

A. Ennis goes lotto
B. Grant falls out of 1st round

I would be less surprised by B. He really could have used another year to raise his stock. And that's the first time I've said any SU guy could use another yr since Donte.

 

[Briancuse]

A. Ennis goes lotto
B. Grant falls out of 1st round

I would be less surprised by B. He really could have used another year to raise his stock. And that's the first time I've said any SU guy could use another yr since Donte.

I have been saying from day one that both needed another year, and I think both will wind up regretting their decision, esp grant.

 

[Orangeyes]

It's not gonna happen. Flip will get fired if he gets rid of Rubio. The fans can handle losing Love because he's expressed his desire to get out, but Rubio loves it there and is a huge fan favorite. Not to mention Ennis probably isn't an upgrade over him anyways. If they had a chance at getting Exum or something, sure, but to make a lateral move at best while getting rid of your fans' favorite player will not fly.

No one has seen Exum enough to even know if he is a 1 or a 2.

Folks are getting dizzy with excitement over a guy who played against awful competition.

What are you basing elevating him this high in the draft?

 

[CusefanATL]

According to all the experts here though, "you've GOTTA go!"

Who here said that about Grant?

I remember it being overwhelmingly the opposite.

Ennis' decision was a bit more polarizing for a few reasons - but I think even the people that thought Ennis should go, didnt think he would be a great pro - just said his stock wouldn't be higher.

I know it's fun to bash forum behavior - but I dont really understand this 1.

 

[CusefanATL]

Millionaires who have supposedly spent a good portion of what they made already...

You said "supposedly" so you have an out... but that is a rumor with literally nothing to back it up.

"Boeheim wiped his ass with a $100 bill yesterday" holds the exact same weight as "the grants are in financial trouble"

I am not saying it is true or untrue - just that it is a rumor. I have no idea what Boeheim wipes his ass with.

 

[MaxwellCuse]

You said "supposedly" so you have an out... but that is a rumor with literally nothing to back it up.

"Boeheim wiped his ass with a $100 bill yesterday" holds the exact same weight as "the grants are in financial trouble"

I am not saying it is true or untrue - just that it is a rumor. I have no idea what Boeheim wipes his ass with.

Rumor has it JB is so financially successful he now pays someone else to wipe his ass.

 

[Halfmooncuse]

He had his ass removed and thats the reason his press conferences are a little nasty. And why he's not taking anyone elses shat anymore.

 

[Flacusian]

I hope that both of them are selected in the 1st round and the higher the better. I also hope that they are able to carve out a significant and successful NBA career but beyond that, once a player opts to go to the NBA I'm not as interested in them as I am while they are still Syracuse players. I'm much more interested in whether DC2 can rehab well enough to come back and help us this coming season or if Cooney will become more consistent as a deep threat for the team.

 

[Melancer46]

No one has seen Exum enough to even know if he is a 1 or a 2.

Folks are getting dizzy with excitement over a guy who played against awful competition.

What are you basing elevating him this high in the draft?

I disagree with the first sentence because Exum can play either position. That's part of the allure with him. He's a good fit with pretty much anyone in the backcourt because of his versatility position-wise.

Second, NBA guys have seen enough of him to determine that he's one of the top 4 players in this year's draft, so it doesn't really matter how much of him the general public has had a chance to see, but you also don't need to see him against elite competition to see why he's such a great prospect. From the moment he's drafted, he'll immediately be one of the fastest and quickest players in the NBA, and he'll have one of the best first steps in the league. That speed and quickness on a 6'6" guy whose standing reach is almost the same as Julius Randle is just insane. Add in the fact that he's such a creative finisher around the rim and has great instincts both in terms of when to attack and when to distribute, and you have all the makings of one of the next elite guards in the NBA.

Personally, whenever I've seen him play he's reminded me of a young, healthy Brandon Roy. Roy had a better handle and was able to use that to beat his guy off the dribble, whereas Exum is more in the MCW type of mold where his ball-handling isn't great, but his first step is so good that he can beat his man at will anyways, but their approaches to the game, finishing abilities, and lack of outside shot are very similar.

 

[Orangeyes]

I disagree with the first sentence because Exum can play either position. That's part of the allure with him. He's a good fit with pretty much anyone in the backcourt because of his versatility position-wise.

Second, NBA guys have seen enough of him to determine that he's one of the top 4 players in this year's draft, so it doesn't really matter how much of him the general public has had a chance to see, but you also don't need to see him against elite competition to see why he's such a great prospect. From the moment he's drafted, he'll immediately be one of the fastest and quickest players in the NBA, and he'll have one of the best first steps in the league. That speed and quickness on a 6'6" guy whose standing reach is almost the same as Julius Randle is just insane. Add in the fact that he's such a creative finisher around the rim and has great instincts both in terms of when to attack and when to distribute, and you have all the makings of one of the next elite guards in the NBA.

Personally, whenever I've seen him play he's reminded me of a young, healthy Brandon Roy. Roy had a better handle and was able to use that to beat his guy off the dribble, whereas Exum is more in the MCW type of mold where his ball-handling isn't great, but his first step is so good that he can beat his man at will anyways, but their approaches to the game, finishing abilities, and lack of outside shot are very similar.

Can I ask you who he was playing against & when? Is there any video of him vs NBA talent or high D1.

I read a report that he is being over-hyped based on his play against weak competition.

 

[Melancer46]

Can I ask you who he was playing against & when? Is there any video of him vs NBA talent or high D1.

I read a report that he is being over-hyped based on his play against weak competition.

Here's a link to when he played in the Nike Hoop Summit against the Harrisons, Kasey Hill, Jabari, etc.

If you just want to skip to his highlights against them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAdbE72z2VE

Here's a link to his performance against Spain in the U-19 tournament. Also, he was only 17 at the time. The three really good teams he faced in that tournament were Spain, Lithuania, and Serbia (especially Serbia, whose PG is expected to be a late first-early 2nd round pick if he remains in the draft), and against them, he averaged 24 points, 3.5 assists, and 4 rebounds on just under 38 minutes per game. He shot 43% from the field and 29% from 3 (he's admittedly not a very good shooter at this point, and he attempted 8 3's per game in this sample size).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IBvtMkkEdA

If you go to this link, there's four videos posted right at the top of the page that are a collection of some of his high school games if you want to get a better idea of what he was facing in Australia. I think his high school championship game is one of them.
http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1323408&start=180

Also, I'm not sure if you have access to ESPN Insider or not, but Kevin Pelton basically created a statistical model that takes prospects U-19 stats and creates a correlation to their NCAA stats to get an idea of how Exum compared to Ennis and Smart, and he basically had Ennis beaten in every category. I think according to Pelton's model, Smart and Exum are the top two players in the draft regardless of position.
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draf.../2014-nba-draft-taking-closer-look-dante-exum

There's also a good read on him here that compares him to Ennis and Derrick Rose (the guy that Exum says he's tried to model his game after):
http://deanondraft.com/2014/02/05/the-exum-factor-how-high-is-dantes-peak/