HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

Alex’s Weekly Update: One of the more interesting prospects Boston College point guard Reggie Jackson. There was a chance he would return to the Screaming Eagles for his final season, but he’s apparently received some assurance he’ll be taken in the first round. New York could take him with the 17th overall selection to bolster its depth at point guard, but there might even be a lottery team willing to take a chance on Jackson before that. Like current Knicks point guard Toney Douglas, Jackson has an enormous wingspan (reportedly seven feet), which obviously is a tremendous defensive advantage in the NBA. But unlike Douglas, Jackson is a traditional point guard who quarterbacks an offense.

Joel’s Weekly Update: The weak gets weaker this week with the news that Terrence Jones has removed his name from the field of potential draftees. Jones would have fallen into the lottery pretty easily this year, but with the recruiting class Kentucky is bringing in next year it’s hard to blame him for wanting to stick around see how that plays out.

As for the guys that are actually still in the field, I’m finding that there are guys available in the 20s and 30s that look like they’ll be able to contribute a lot more quickly than many players projected in the Top 20. With so many international prospects and college freshmen dominating the tops of teams’ draft boards, it looks more and more like bad teams will take risks (especially bad teams with multiple high picks, like Cleveland, Utah, and Washington), while more established players with lower ceilings will fall to playoff contenders, where they could potentially contribute right away. Duke’s Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler are two great examples of this, as are Trey Thompkins, Justin Harper, Reggie Jackson, and JuJuan Johnson.

Yannis’ Weekly Update: Nobody jumped up higher on my draft board from last week to this week than former Kansas freshman Josh Selby and it wasn’t unexpected at all.

Selby had a really tough year at Kansas, being suspended for the first month by the NCAA and then injured for the majority of the second half of the season. Anyone who saw him play at high school knew that Selby wasn’t his regular self there during the final stretch. He was plagued by injuries much more than a lot of people realized, but word is that’s all a thing of the past. Selby is back to 100% and really impressing right now during the workout process.

He’s not a point guard and it’s highly unlikely that he’ll ever become one during his professional career. That does hurt him a bit considering that he doesn’t have ideal size for a shooting guard. He is a gifted scorer, though, that is going to be able to contribute offensively immediately. Now that he’s back to full speed his decision to leave early makes a lot more sense because he’s probably going to be a lottery pick.

Luke’s Weekly Update: The 2011 NBA Draft has been tabbed as weak and with some of the top prospects opting to return to school rather than stare down a potential lockout at the pro level, the class has become even more thin. That being said, this class has some real boom or bust potential.

Bismack Biyombo has a chance to be a dominant defensive player in the NBA while Jan Vesely has a blend of size, skill and athleticism rarely seen, on any level.

Without a great deal of depth, this is an opportunity for teams to swing for the fences and hope a player like Tristan Thompson can use his phenomenal athleticism to become an outstanding basketball player. With so few sure things, the 2011 NBA Draft could play out in a variety of different ways and will certainly be entertaining for all parties involved.

Steve’s Weekly Update:  As we have made our way around the country looking at draft prospects there are three guys that are just too intriguing to look past – Willie Reed from St. Louis, Joe Trapani from Boston College and Michigan’s Darius Morris.

Willie Reed is such an interesting prospect – he is extremely long and ferocious around the basket. He is an aggressive dunker, loves to bang in the paint and has proto-typical NBA size and length.

Reed was unfortunately linked to a sexual assault issue that took place in his apartment, an allegation he was ultimately cleared of. In fact he was watching TV in the living room area and had no idea anyone was in the dorm, let alone being involved, but that hasn’t stopped his name and his character from coming into question in the NBA draft process. Willie is actually a pretty nice kid and really wants to work to improve. Willie may be a stretch in the first round, but second round picks we designed for exactly what Willie is – a dare to be great project that could have tremendous upside.

Joe Trapani does not leap off the page in any discernable way, however when you watch Joe play five-on-five his value comes to light pretty quickly. Joe is a decent defender, with a solid basketball IQ. He never plays outside of his game and he is an above average defender.

When you look at the careers of guys like Brian Scalabrine or Pat Garrity, the resemblance Joe has to both is uncanny.

Trapani is a stretch as a draft pick, but he really looks like a solid vet-camp invite who could surprise teams once they have a long look at him.

Darius Morris is such an interesting player. His resemblance to Portland’s Andre Miller is uncanny, not just in his physical appearance, but in how he plays. Darius is a much better shooter than Andre and a little more athletic than Andre coming in. Morris showed his biggest weakness – being very streaky – however when Darius is on, he is impressive.

Long arms, quick first step. Power above the rim and a decent jump shot good out to NBA three.

Darius is not going to unseat the top three point guards, but when you get to guards four and five on the depth chart, Darius could challenge for their draft spot.