NBA Draft 2011: Enes Kanter and the 10 Riskiest Prospects

At some point during the live telecast on June 23's NBA draft, the following phrase or something like it will be heard: "That was a risky pick right there."

Sometimes, the risks taken on draft day pan out, like when the Minnesota Timberwolves selected Kevin Garnett straight out of high school in 1995, making him the first high school player selected in the first round since Moses Malone; or when the Los Angeles Lakers traded Vlade Divac to the Charlotte Hornets on draft day in 1996, for a shooting guarding from Lower Merion, Pennsylvania named Kobe Bryant.
At other times though, the risk costs a general manager or team president his job, like when Michael Jordan made Kwame Brown the first pick in the draft for the Washington Wizards. Brown flopped, Jordan came back to play for two more years, and then was told the ownership stake he formerly had in the team would not be sold back to him upon his third retirement.
Risks are taken every year on draft day, and they will be this year as well. Whether or not they will pan out is anybody's guess, but the guys on this list are the ones most likely to hear that familiar phrase attached to their name on June 23.


1. Enes Kanter

This picture right here is one of very few of Enes Kanter in a Kentucky Wildcats uniform. Kanter was declared ineligible for the entirety of the season and never suited up for a single game during his time in Lexington.

Kanter, by all acounts, has as much talent in his seven-foot frame as any other player in the draft. But the team that selects him has to understand that by the time the presumed lockout is over, it will have been well over a year since Kanter last played in an organized game that counted.
At 19 years old, he's already very talented, and he has a lot of room to improve. However, pinning the hopes of a franchise on a 19-year-old with very little playing experience in the lead up to the draft has to cause teams a little concern. 

2. Jimmer Fredette

Jimmer Fredette is one of the more polarizing players in recent draft history.

There are those who swear he can contribute at the NBA level, either as a starter or off the bench. Others though, doubt that a player who for most of his college career had the ball in his hands all the time can make the transition to being a role player at the next level. 

The bigger (biggest) concern about Jimmer, though, is his defense. He was practically a sieve on that side of the ball during his tenure at BYU, and the guards at the NBA level are obviously much tougher to defend than those in the Mountain West Conference.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Bismack Biyombo

Bismack Biyombo is supposedly 18 years old. There are some who believe he could actually be as old as 23-26, and that is cause for concern. 

If Biyombo isn't really 18, then his raw talent isn't "potential," it's "lack of an offensive game."
Any time you're looking at drafting an international player, there also have to be concerns about culture adjustment, whether they can play the NBA style of basketball and whether they can handle increased playing time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Kemba Walker

 Kemba Walker is a shoot-first point guard. Unless he can be an efficient enough scorer like Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook or Deron Williams, he won't be doing enough for his team in the NBA.

Walker is a great leader, but NBA point guards need to be able to get easy shots for their teammates. Walker struggled with turnovers a little bit at Connecticut and didn't have a great shooting percentage - he shot just 42 percent from the field and 33 percent from three point range.

If teams don't have to respect his jumper and can force him into turnovers, he can't be a starting point guard. 

At just 6'1", Walker may also struggle to defend bigger guards at the next level, and that is cause for concern as well.

 

 

 

 

5. Jeremy Tyler

 One year after Brandon Jennings blazed the trail for high school athletes to play in Europe for a year instead of going to college, Jeremy Tyler took it to another level. Tyler decided to forego his senior season in high school and instead play two years as a professional.

Tyler didn't fare that well in his first international season but was slightly better this year. He's impressed in workouts so far, but his stock has dropped considerably from where it was when he was a high school junior.

He showed fairly bad decision making in this experience, and teams don't like bad decision making. Someone will take a flyer on Tyler either late in the first round or in the second round, but had he stayed in America, he might have gone much earlier on draft night.  

6. Jonas Valanciunas

 With a buyout that could be worth up to a reported $3 million, Valanciunas could have some trouble leaving his current team, Lietuvos Rytas. 

Because NBA teams can only pay up to $500,000 toward a player's buyout clause, Valanciunas could be on the hook for up to $2.5 million, and with a lockout likely looming, he may not be able to recoup that money in salary.

Valanciunas could then decide to stay in Europe, which is why it could be risky to take him. The longer he stays, the longer he is not contributing on an NBA roster. 

 

 

7. Josh Selby

 Josh Selby came into Kansas as the highest rated point guard in his class but did not impress much in his only season in Lawrence. 

He was suspended for the first nine games of the year and then missed a few more with an injury before coming back and not contributing all that much.

Kansas was just fine without him for most of the year, and when he got back, he didn't really fit in their slow-paced big-man-centered offense. Selby has been working hard to prove that he can be a better player at the NBA level, but the concern about a drop off has to be there. 

8. Marshon Brooks

 Marshon Brooks had an incredible four-year career at Providence, culminating last year with a 24.6 points per game scoring average, good for second in the country. That sounds like the exactly the recipe an NBA team would look for in a shooting guard.

However, the Providence teams that Brooks played on were simply not good teams. The Friars finished above .500 only once in his four years, falling to Miami in the NIT his sophomore season.

There's a lot to be said for how well Brooks played during his college career, but teams may worry that he is simply a guy who can put up impressive stats on a bad team. He'll have to adjust to not having the ball in his hands as much and becoming a complementary player. 

9. Charles Jenkins

 Charles Jenkins played at his college basketball at Hofstra.

The quality of competition at Hofstra is not even in the same stratosphere as the NBA.

Jenkins, like Walker and Fredette, is a score-first point guard who is used to dominating the ball. He'll have to make adjustments in the NBA in order to be successful, while adjusting to the much tougher competition. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Jordan Hamilton

 Jordan Hamilton had a really impressive season for Rick Barnes and the Texas Longhorns this season, and at 6'9" and 220 pounds, he has the size to play either small forward or power forward in the NBA.

The one knock on Hamilton is his shot selection, and NBA teams will just not tolerate a rookie getting too shot happy and always calling their own number.

There was a perception that Hamilton was a selfish basketball player who only looked for his own offense, and that will have to change as he moves forward. Hamilton is a highly skilled basketball player, and he knows it.

That plays to his advantage because he is supremely confident in his own abilities, but it can also work to his detriment if he gets too self-involved on the court. 

With the NBA Draft approaching, NBA Mock Draft season is here. Stay tuned to Bleacher Report for updated mock drafts, along with the latest NBA Draft news, analysis, rumors and predictions.

NBA Draft 2011: Enes Kanter and the 10 Riskiest Prospects

By Jared Dubin (Contributor) on June 12, 2011

bleacherreport.com

Howlin’ T-Wolf’s Mock Draft 1.0

Being no stranger to the NBA Draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves should be pros at this. And, as a fan of one of the lottery’s likely contestants every year, so should Howlin’ T-Wolf. With that said, from now up until the actual NBA Draft, Tom and I will tackle the task of role-playing every GM for each team in the league by alternating picks throughout the first round. Shouldn’t be too hard, right? But with the “David Kahns” of the NBA world today, believe me, it’s much more difficult to predict one’s fate than it seems.

We will release three total mock drafts: This one, one in two weeks and one the night before the draft. As always, feel free to criticize accordingly. Just please be kind.
Without further adieu, here we go!

Pick:	Team:	Player:	Analysis:
1.		Derrick Williams	While Irving may be the more popular pick for the number one slot, Cleveland is in desperate need of an impact player, and small forwards generally have a bigger impact than point guards, scoring-wise. Besides, with the 4th pick in the draft, the Cavs will almost certainly have another good point guard prospect available to them, if they decide that Baron Davis isn't the direction they want to go. - Tom Westerholm
2.		Kyrie Irving	Tom somehow lets the BPA fall, but it's only the first mock draft; he'll quickly learn the Cavs won't let him drop. For now, maybe Cleveland's brewing something up with their two top-4 picks but who cares? The Wolves are now left with a decision though: Do they keep Irving and ditch Rubio and the entire 2008 Draft, or turn around and trade Irving to a desirable seeker? I think they trade it, but the options are plentiful meaning the tide has turned in Minneapolis. - Jonah Steinmeyer
3.		Brandon Knight	By all accounts, the Jazz are (understandably) hesitant to place all their trust in the injury-prone Devin Harris, and want one of the premier point guard talents available in this draft. While Kemba Walker may have had more success than Knight in college, Knight's height advantage could push him up ahead of Walker, especially considering how enamored Utah's scouts have reportedly been with Knight's workouts. - Tom Westerholm
4.		Enes Kanter	Building around Williams and Kanter could be a lot worse. Cleveland leaves the first round with two serious players with an emphasis on toughness. After being shown as weak and jealous when LeBron left, they turn things around and rebuild their team around some physically tough players. Kanter fits that mold and establishes their front court. - Jonah Steinmeyer
5.		Jonas Valanciunas	Valanciunas is a bit of a high-risk, high-reward prospect…a raw PF/C with lots of length and potential. He is (by all accounts) very good in the pick and roll offense, which will obviously help him immensely in the NBA game. He is also an excellent offensive rebounder. Whether Toronto regrets getting another thin, jumpshooting big man not known for his defense to run with Andrea Bargnani remains to be seen. - Tom Westerholm
6.		Kawhi Leonard	Chad Ford has Leonard going here in his mock, and so do I. Leonard will come in and immediately and hyperactively improve the Wizards' perimeter defense. He will also help out on the boards. The question-mark around Leonard is whether he can shoot or not. But a 15-minute session in Chicago revealed a new shooting stroke and more certainty that he doesn't fall out of the top 10. He goes 6th to the Wizards. - Jonah Steinmeyer
7.		Kemba Walker	Last season Sacramento was very high on talent and very low on maturity. Walker's incredible run to the NCAA championship demonstrated not only his superb athletic ability, but also his knack for helping a young, inexperienced team grow up in a hurry. Sacramento's roster needs a player like Walker the way peanut butter needs jelly. - Tom Westerholm
8.		Bismack Biyombo	Remember the glory days in Detroit? My, how the mighty have fallen. And fallen hard. The Pistons try to regain some of that bad-boy mentality back by grabbing Ben Wallace 2.0. Biyombo will anchor one of last year's softest interior defenses and bring some enthusiasm back into the Palace. You can only hope. - Jonah Steinmeyer
9.		Marcus Morris	While Charlotte could go any number of directions with this pick, the ultra-efficient Marcus Morris gets the nod here. While his height and wingspan are both concerns, his incredibly polished offensive game is enough to make Charlotte pull the trigger. In college, Morris shot 59.7% from the field, while shooting both jumpers and playing in the post, and he could be a good shot in the arm for Charlotte's often stagnant offense. - Tom Westerholm
10.		Jan Vesely	The Bucks need some help taking the pressure off of Brandon Jennings. They're aging perimeter isn't going to do the job any longer, so the Bucks take Vesely in hopes of revitalizing that perimeter. Vesely is an athletic and thunderous type player; he likes to dunk. He'll be able to give the Bucks an option running off of screens and taking it to the rim. Solid pick for a borderline playoff squad. - Jonah Steinmeyer
11.		Tristan Thompson	While there is much better talent than Thompson available still at this point, much of it is at positions where Golden State is already relatively well off. By picking Thompson, the Warriors get a combo forward who plays with a lot of energy; someone willing to go flying after loose balls on every possession…just what the doctor called for coming off the bench. - Tom Westerholm
12.		Klay Thompson	With tons of options, the Jazz take Thompson here. They're going to need perimeter help with AK-47 and CJ Miles possibly leaving for free agency. They also don't have any pure shooting guards who can really shoot the ball. Thompson has Ray-Allen-esque accuracy and will spread the floor for Utah's bigs down below. - Jonah Steinmeyer
13.		Markieff Morris	While Channing Frye's ability to stretch the floor is undoubtedly useful, adding some toughness at the 4 would be an excellent idea for the Suns. Markieff Morris would add just that. Morris has been projected as a great one on one defender and a good rebounder at the NBA level, despite his relative shortness and lack of length. On offense, Markieff isn't as polished as his twin brother, but he can finish around the basket, and his spot-up jumper is reliable, if not spectacular. - Tom Westerholm
14.		Chris Singleton	Once again, the Rockets were the best non-playoff team in the league. What's going to push them over the hump? Yao Ming, not this pick. But Singleton will help bolster a mediocre defense at best and slide nicely into a role player behind Chase Budinger. - Jonah Steinmeyer
15.		Jimmer Fredette	We all know what Jimmer is and what he isn't, and that could be attractive to some teams, since this draft is full of unknown quantities. Indiana could use some instant offense coming off their bench, which Jimmer will provide, while giving Darren Collison a rest. Hell, they could possibly play together in some rotations. - Tom Westerholm
16.		Donatas Motiejunas	Elton Brand is an old, brittle man. And even though he's coming off a pretty good year, you can't deny the fact that he's already 32. The 76ers snap up the fourth international forward in the first 16 picks, and couldn't be happier. A near 7-footer with pro experience overseas will instantly improve their depth on the bench and give them a nice heir to Brand once he finally decides to hang things up. - Jonah Steinmeyer
17.		Alec Burks	Somehow, as Jonah and I made our picks, Burks slipped through the cracks until at 17 I realized "Wait a sec, Alec Burks is still available!" New York is hoping NBA GM's make the same mistake, as New York would benefit greatly from his presence. Burks' ability to score both off the dribble and from a catch-and-shoot situation make him very dangerous on the offensive end. In Mike D'Antoni's system, should New York hang on to him as a coach, Burks could flourish and average ridiculously inflated offensive stats; good for every party involved. - Tom Westerholm
18.		Jordan Hamilton	Just when the Knicks thought they got a steal, the Wizards nab up Jordan Hamilton. One of the best pure scorers in the draft, he'll have a great season playing next to John Wall. His shooting ability gives him the chance to score from outside and certainly tall long enough to get to the rim. Wizards will score a lot of points next year, but it always comes down to defense and coaching. - Jonah Steinmeyer
19.		Nikola Vucevic	Listen, if you are 7'0 tall and able to run the length of a basketball floor, there's a decent chance someone will spend a draft pick on you. Combine that with great touch around the basket and a decent jumpshot, plus a fairly weak draft, and you could be a top 20 pick! All of those factors are enough to push Nikola Vucevic into the arms of the Bobcats, who could desperately use a few good big man after spending most of a season starting Kwame Brown at center. - Tom Westerholm
20.		Marshon Brooks	Brooks' stock is rising, perhaps beyond being picked this low. Regardless, the Wolves end up with a player that will space the floor with his driving abilities and has no fear of finishing at the rim. Wayne Ellington is a beloved player, but there comes a time when upgrades need to take place. This one is a must as the Wolves finally receive a true shooting guard with good potential. - Jonah Steinmeyer
21.		Reggie Jackson	Looking for someone to fill in for Brandon Roy on his annual trip to the injury list, Portland could do much worse than Reggie Jackson. At 6'3, Jackson boasts a 7'1 wing span and incredible athleticism, the combination of which is enough to have mid to late first round teams very interested. His three point shot and pull up jumper were both much improved this season at Boston College, as was his ball handling, meaning he could play point as well, should 61-year-old Andre Miller go down with an injury. - Tom Westerholm
22.		Tobias Harris	The Nuggets are going to go through some growing pains with their roster over the next couple of years. They have decisions to make on who to build around. I feel that, given they make some right moves like moving Al Harrington, Harris would be a great upside pick for them. He's a classic do-it-all player with a great head on his shoulders. It remains to be seen whether he's a 3 or 4, but it shouldn't matter. Nuggets reluctantly take him at 22. - Jonah Steinmeyer
23.		Josh Selby	Drafting purely off potential, by drafting Selby, Houston would be picking one of the most frustrating college players of the past year: a talented scorer who doesn't always take good shots, and a talented passer who doesn't always pass. Injuries and a suspension badly hampered his game, and took him out of any rhythm he might have developed at Kansas. But he is undoubtedly talented at putting the ball in the basket. One of the big question marks in the draft, Selby could be worth a late first round pick for a team that can absorb an intrepid attitude and turn him humble. Under Kevin McHale, though, I have my doubts. - Tom Westerholm
24.		Kyle Singler	With only one pick in the 2011 Draft, I see the Thunder doing their best to find someone with the energy, hustle and toughness OKC is infamous for to backup star Kevin Durant. Coming from the pretentious program at Duke, Singler will fit the high character mold set in OKC. It may be viewed upon as a reach, but with no other chance to grab a player of his caliber, I think Sam Presti grabs him while he can. - Jonah Steinmeyer
25.		Kenneth Faried	There's a possibility the Celtics lose Glen Davis to free agency in the offseason, so they could use a big, hustling body coming off the bench. Lucky for Boston in this mock draft, Faried fell far enough to present them with just that. Faried's height (6'7) doesn't leap off the page for a power forward, but his athleticism, intelligence, and work ethic all bode well for his NBA future. - Tom Westerholm
26.		Davis Bertans	Even though the Mavs are in the midst of a championship run, come offseason time there will be no denying their lack of youth. Bertans is a lights-out shooter with size (Sound familiar?) He's fielding comparisons to the one and only Dirk Nowitzki. It's wrong to say Dirk's reign is over in D-town, but soon it will come. Bertans is a nice asset to stash away until that time actually comes. - Jonah Steinmeyer
27.		Tyler Honeycutt	New Jersey, being yet another team that needs talent at just about every position, is yet another team that's difficult to project. But at 27, New Jersey could do a lot worse than Tyler Honeycutt, who at 6'8 is a long, athletic small forward. His defensive game has impressed scouts throughout the season, as he is very active in the passing lanes with his long arms, and actually led the Pac-10 in blocked shots last season. His offensive game is still raw, but his passing ability is excellent, and his shot has great form and is still improving. - Tom Westerholm
28.		Nikola Mirotic	The Bulls are the real deal behind Derrick Rose. All they need are a couple of extra pieces. Mirotic has lottery talent but has a major buyout to deal with. The Bulls take him at 28 hoping, in a few years, he can join them and add more to the puzzle. - Jonah Steinmeyer
29.		Jeremy Tyler	The Spurs, at 29, are awarded the luxury of gambling on Tyler, who instead of playing in college for a year before entering the pros, decided instead to play abroad. Now eligible for the draft, Jeremy Tyler has been turning heads, and despite never having played a basketball game on the collegiate level in the US, is considered a likely early second round pick. But San Antonio could use an athletic 6'11 post, especially if he could come in behind Tim Duncan and learn from one of the best post players in history. Worth a shot, anyway. - Tom Westerholm
30.		Travis Leslie	Leslie is one of the most athletic players in the draft; a human highlight film, if you will. Adding that alongside the most exciting point guard in the league could be a Sportscenter Top 10 duo in the making. Leslie also fills out the Bulls roster and their need for a shooting guard. - Jonah Steinmeyer

Howlin’ T-Wolf’s Mock Draft 1.0
May 26th, 2011 Jonah Steinmeyer
howlintwolf.com