Drew Gordon only miss in NBA draft (joins Crowder in Dallas), K. Jones 2nd (Cav)

[bamamarquettefan]

BrewCity asked me after the analysis for any players that were missed in the draft.  I had to wait until after summer camps were settled, but there was really only one projected NBA starter and one future NBA contributor that were missed.  I did this just as a post script to the Round 2 on Cracked Sidewalks for future reference, but here it is:


A post script from after the draft, there were only two undrafted players who we view as misses.  The only absolute miss was Drew Gordon of New Mexico, who the Dallas Mavericks stat gurus immediately picked up for camp.  There were only three players NOT picked in the first round who we project as NBA starters within a few years, and Dallas ended up with two of them by grabbing Jae Crowder as well. Ironically, both players dropped only because it was perceived their size would be an issue for both of them - and we have them almost even, so there should be some great battles in summer practice between them.

The only other non-drafted player who we believe could contribute is Kevin Jones, who does project as a borderline NBA rotation player, and was a good pick-up by the Cavs.  Therefore, we are treating them as the 61st and 62nd pick, and added boxes below:




Draft
Name
Grade
Mock
Our Proj
Win%
Notes on 2nd round picks (1st round below)
61
Drew Gordon
A
39
16
53.0%
The only undrafted player we project to be a starter in the NBA within a few years.  Gordon was by far the best undrafted player with his 53.0% being above the 50.0% that typically projects and NBA starter, and well ahead of the 37.3% of the next best undrafted player, Kevin Jones. 
62
Kevin Jones
B
48
31
37.3%
A great pickup as a his 37.3% projected winning percentage is right at the borderline of a player who projects to make an nba rotation (37.5%), so getting him into camp gives them a free shot at a rotation guy while they are rebuilding.  Besides Gordon, one of only two undrafted players who we project to contribute - both probably passed up because of size.



There are a few other players we project a little higher than a few of the last picks in the draft, but really at that point you are picking players who probably do not make a rotation, so we can not say Scott Machado, Hollis Thompson, Tu Holloway, Henry Sims, Ken Horton, JaMychal Green or any of the others are "misses" in the draft.  Maybe you see a couple of them on NBA rosters at some point, but we do not project any of them as draft "misses."

[Dr. Blackheart]

Good stuff Bama as always.  I might add that Gordon may have missed because of his UCLA issues.  Not yet able to convince the NBA he has changed enough for a team to burn a draft pick, but talented enough to get scooped up quickly.  You think the Mavs were feeding the "issues" talk with some gamesmanship?

Saw that Shurna is going to the Hawks summer camp.  Any word on Buycks getting an invite?

[Jay Bee]

Saw that Shurna is going to the Hawks summer camp.  Any word on Buycks getting an invite?

Think Buycks was saying he's with OKC and another team in LV for summer league.

[77ncaachamps]

I saw Gordon in HS and his brother (Aaron) has a higher ceiling than him. Less of a frontcourt offensive presence but he gets up and down the court with ease.

[Jay Bee]

I saw Gordon in HS and his brother (Aaron) has a higher ceiling than him. Less of a frontcourt offensive presence but he gets up and down the court with ease.

Aaron is a future pro.  No doubt.

[cheebs09]

Think Buycks was saying he's with OKC and another team in LV for summer league.

Spurs is the other team.

[Bocephys]

Think Buycks was saying he's with OKC and another team in LV for summer league.

Did Buycks ever go to Europe last year, or did he just stay with the D-League?

[Jay Bee]

Did Buycks ever go to Europe last year, or did he just stay with the D-League?

Yes, he went to Belgium.  He didn't play a ton (14 games, averaged 11 mpg and almost 5 pts, but shot wasn't falling much for him), but his team won the championship (best of 5, game 5 went to OT and they won by a point).

[bamamarquettefan]

Any word on Buycks getting an invite?

Sorry for the delayed response, though others have answered basically.  Made the drive from Auburn to Milwaukee for a few business meetings, which my colleagues note always seem to coincide with Summerfest (best moment for a Southerner back in Milwaukee was Seth Avett yelling, "y'all yell so loud that they can hear you in Madison!" but I digress).

I'm really excited about the Spurs bringing Buycks in, first because they have the best evaluation of any club, so they see something, but also because there is a chance of a fit there.

Some bigger foreign teams looked at Buycks after his impressive showing in camps, and then he seemed to confirm he was NOT a point guard when he put up a 23 point, 0 assist game some big camp venue or exhibition.

However the other point guard - granted at a much higher level - that has made it big despite the "big physical scorer with too many turnovers who doesn't make the pass to set up the assist" is Russell Westbrook, who torched the Spurs out of the playoffs.  My hope is that the reason for the Spurs invite is the thought that Buycks might give you 8 or 10 minutes of defense against Westbrook and make Westbrook defend him hard since he might post up another guard.

Sure, below 50-50 that he makes it, but the Spurs are the right team to have him in and be thinking about him in that role, so believe he has a shot there.