The Next Level

[Carolina Speed]

I haven't followed as much college basketball this season, but have turned more attention to the NBA lately. I would be interested to know your thoughts Jack Lambert, Jimmy Chitwood, or anyone else, on the white college players that might play in the NBA. Thanks!

 

[Jack Lambert]

I haven't followed as much college basketball this season, but have turned more attention to the NBA lately. I would be interested to know your thoughts Jack Lambert, Jimmy Chitwood, or anyone else, on the white college players that might play in the NBA. Thanks!

I'd be happy to!

Jimmy or whomever can add their thought on the guys I list to if they want to as well. There are a few guys that I've watched a few times this year whom I think can succeed in the NBA.

The obvious name is Creighton's senior All-American, Doug McDermott. He has a really good offensive game, and he's been the Blue Jay's go-to guy this year. Most mock drafts I've seen have McDermott going anywhere from 16 to the mid 20's or so this next year.

Michigan's duo of Nik Stauskas and Mitch McGary should be playing in the NBA as well. Stauskas has vastly improved his game this year, with even Dick Vitale calling him a "PtPer" (Prime time Performer). I'm not sure when he'll come out, but it would serve him well to stay in college. McGary is also an intersting prospect. He brings a ton of athletic ability and energy to the Wolverines. His only problem right now is that he needs to play with his back to the basket a bit more rather than trying to play outside the paint. I expect these guys to both succeed in the NBA.

Another guy whom I think has a chance to be drafted in a couple of years in Butler's Kellen Dunham. This kid is easily the best player the Bulldogs have, and his shot is great. When Dunham gets going, he is unstoppable. He has really improved his all-around game this year, and will often play 35-40 minutes each game.

Arizona's 7-0 big man Kaleb Tarczewski is another guy whom I really like. His game has improved so much from this year to last; he's gotten much better. He still needs a bit of work, but when he comes out, he should be a lock first rounder if he keeps improving. He's a great athlete as well.

Wisconsin's Sam Dekker should also be in the NBA one day.

Some other guys who I like as well, Arizona State's big man Jordan Bachynski, BYU's Tyler Haws, Syracuse's Trevor Cooney, New Mexico's Alex Kirk, UCLA's Bryce Alford.

Some speculation here, as these guys are still High Schoolers, but here are some future names I've seen tossed around. Stephen Zimmerman, regarded as a Top 5 player in the 2015 class, and Luke Kennard, another top player from 2015. From next year's class, UCLA commit Thomas Welsh could make some noise.

I hope this helps!

 

[Carolina Speed]

I'd be happy to!

Jimmy or whomever can add their thought on the guys I list to if they want to as well. There are a few guys that I've watched a few times this year whom I think can succeed in the NBA.

The obvious name is Creighton's senior All-American, Doug McDermott. He has a really good offensive game, and he's been the Blue Jay's go-to guy this year. Most mock drafts I've seen have McDermott going anywhere from 16 to the mid 20's or so this next year.

Michigan's duo of Nik Stauskas and Mitch McGary should be playing in the NBA as well. Stauskas has vastly improved his game this year, with even Dick Vitale calling him a "PtPer" (Prime time Performer). I'm not sure when he'll come out, but it would serve him well to stay in college. McGary is also an intersting prospect. He brings a ton of athletic ability and energy to the Wolverines. His only problem right now is that he needs to play with his back to the basket a bit more rather than trying to play outside the paint. I expect these guys to both succeed in the NBA.

Another guy whom I think has a chance to be drafted in a couple of years in Butler's Kellen Dunham. This kid is easily the best player the Bulldogs have, and his shot is great. When Dunham gets going, he is unstoppable. He has really improved his all-around game this year, and will often play 35-40 minutes each game.

Arizona's 7-0 big man Kaleb Tarczewski is another guy whom I really like. His game has improved so much from this year to last; he's gotten much better. He still needs a bit of work, but when he comes out, he should be a lock first rounder if he keeps improving. He's a great athlete as well.

Wisconsin's Sam Dekker should also be in the NBA one day.

Some other guys who I like as well, Arizona State's big man Jordan Bachynski, BYU's Tyler Haws, Syracuse's Trevor Cooney, New Mexico's Alex Kirk, UCLA's Bryce Alford.

Some speculation here, as these guys are still High Schoolers, but here are some future names I've seen tossed around. Stephen Zimmerman, regarded as a Top 5 player in the 2015 class, and Luke Kennard, another top player from 2015. From next year's class, UCLA commit Thomas Welsh could make some noise.

I hope this helps!

Thanks Jack! It's nice to know there will be some guys coming through the pipeline so to speak in the future. It will be nice to add to what is a little improvement to the NBA as far as our guys are concerned.

I've always been a Duke fan, but there's no reason to watch them this year, so I turned my attention to the NBA where I've been pleasantly surprised. On any given night there's a dozen or more players that can put up good numbers and another 8-9 that really contribute. Most average around 16-19 points, but can put 20 or more on any given night. 4. Love, 11. Anderson, and 15 .Nowitzki are averaging over 20! And of course Love is the NBA's leading rebounder at 13.8/game, 5. Vucevic, 11.1, 10. Bogut, 9.7! With Hawes and Lee not far behind!

It seemed like all we heard about was Nowitzki for years. Now there's Love, Lee, Pekovic, Rubio, Anderson, Dragic, Parsons, Hayward, Vucevic, Hawes, Redick, Bogut, etc. Really a lot more guys to follow in the NBA than I can remember in a long time! I will look for the guys you mentioned in the future.

Again, thanks JL and hopefully we can keep sending more white players to the NBA!

 

[Jack Lambert]

No problem, Carolina! I'm happy to help! I agree with you in the fact that we do seem to have more whites excelling in the NBA right now then in years past. I hope this has a trickle down effect back into college basketball, so we can get even more whites in college basketball again. I can't believe how many great white players are in the NBA this year. Even some of my DWF friends are noticing how good they have been playing. When have we had this many teams to cheer for? Dallas, Golden State, Phoenix, Minnesota, and San Antonio just off the top of my head. This doesn't even count many of the players that you've mentioned either! I hope this trend continues.

Also, two more I forgot to mention a couple more of our white athletes that have pro prospects are in fact two Dukies in Alex Murphy and Marshall Plumlee. Murphy just saved his NBA prospects by transferring out, and assuming he goes to a white-friendly team, he should have a chance to get drafted in 2015. Marshall Plumlee NEEDs to do the same if he wants any chance like his brothers got. He will not play significant minutes at all next year with Duke's new crop of supa athletes coming in. Plumlee needs to transfer out of there and to a more white friendly program, such as Notre Dame, Butler, Gonzaga, Indiana, Michigan, etc.

Kyle Wiltjer, who wasted away on Calipari's plantation for two years, has transferred to Gonzaga, where he should be playing a lot the next couple years, and that should turn into a chance at being drafted. Speaking of Gonzaga, if he gets better, their 7-0 Polish big man, Przemek Karnowski should have a great shot to go in the first round. Also, guard Kevin Pangos is a lights out shooter who can create his own shot at times and is very athletic. Look for him in the NBA in two years.

BYU has a few players in the mix to get drafted in Tyler Haws, Eric Mika (not for a long while; he still needs to go on his mission), and new recruit (ESPN100) center Payton Dastrup may end up in the NBA as well.

Also, one cannot forget about the European prospects that will also be in the college ranks, or the NBA one day. There are plenty of good European prospects as well the next couple of years.

Many of the guys I've mentioned won't be coming out this next year for the draft, so as a result, looking at different mocks, this could be a rather dark year for our guys. The one I'm looking at has only 8 whites being selected the entire draft. One of them is Mitch McGary, whom I think should and will stay at Michigan.

 

[Freethinker]

Jack, that's a fantastic summary. I really don't have much to add other than an emerging point guard from Europe. Vasilije Micic, a 19 year old from Serbia, is being talked about as possibly the top PG in the 2014 draft. It's still VERY early in the season so I'll have to check back in on this guy to see if his hype holds up.

Also, Ohio State's Aaron Craft and Virginia's Joe Harris would make solid 2nd round picks for any number of teams.