It was a pretty good night for Carolina as all four players in the mix went in the first round, as expected.
Harrison Barnes was probably the biggest disappointment, falling all the way to the #7 pick to Golden State. Guess all those teams he was working out for weren’t blown away by what they saw, despite him demonstrating some serious athletic gifts, like a massive vertical leap. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of player Barnes turns into next year and whether he becomes a catch-and-shoot player (the Warriors already have Steph Curry) or if he bulks up a bit more and decides to start taking it to the hoop.
Kendall Marshall, who everyone had predicted would be picked up by Dallas, instead rose to #13 and Phoenix. Are the rumors about Steve Nash leaving true? Could Kendall actually start next year? Everyone has been knocking his athleticism and offensive ability, but if he can dish out assists half as well as Nash, who cares?
John Henson went at #14 to the Bucks, where he probably won’t be called on to do much beyond come off the bench and block a few shots and grab a few rebounds. If we had to guess, we’d say it’s Henson you’ll be hearing the least about next season.
Tyler Zeller went to Dallas at #17. Seems like they got a good deal with that pick. One of the knocks on Zeller is that he’s been “oft-injured,” which is pretty ridiculous considering the nature of his injuries in college were freak things, not chronic problems like bulging disks. By the same logic, you could say that Kendall Marshall was of-injured because he got shoved out of bounds and had his wrist broken. Zeller is still 7-feet-tall and can run and shoot much better than most centers. He may not be that athletic, but he should have a decent if unspectacular career.[Update: Zeller was traded to Cleveland.]
What did you think of the draft?