People say this is the biggest summer for the Bulls, I agree somewhat but looking at all these phenoms in Highschool that could come out next year, I AM AMAZED.. Take a look at some..
Greg Oden
Birthdate: 1/22/88
NBA Position: Center
College: Ohio State
Class: HS Senior
Ht: 7-0
Wt: 245
Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
High School: Lawrence North
2005
Stats
NBA Comparison: David Robinson
Strenths: Incredibly fluid athlete for a 7 footer... Tremendous speed in the open court ... A center with his agility and talent comes along roughly every 10-15 years ... Extremely quick and explosive ... Enormous potential ... His game has improved significantly from his sophomore to junior seasons ... Starting to understand how to use his body and how dominant he can be ... Big defensive presence, and a terrific shot blocker with great length, timing and instincts ... Excellent rebounder ... Soft touch around the basket ... Has developed a decent turnaround hook with his right hand ... Very good passer with nice court vision (averaged 3.7 assists per game as a junior) ... Quality kid with a great attitude ... Very coachable, listens and wants to improve ... Team player with a winners mentality ... Improving on a daily basis ... Decent free throw shooter at 64% but needs to and should improve upon it (improved considerably from 51% as a sophomore) ...
Weaknesses: Soft spoken. Very humble personality, which is a positive and a negative in that some would like to see him develop more of a swagger of confidence, but Duncan and Robinson were/are both silent (humble) assassins ... Needs to add more nastiness on the floor to dominate ... Still raw in terms of post moves, they are developing, but still have a ways to go ... He is so dominant on the high school level he hasn't needed to develop any range or post skills ... Doesn't have the ability to create offense for himself as he can overwhelm anyone he faces with his size and athleticism ... Still scores mostly on ally oops and put backs ... Has nice touch, but needs to develop a consistent mid range shot (ala Robinson) ... Strength wont be an issue for him ultimately, but right now he needs to add muscle to his upper body and legs ... Almost too unselfish ...
Outlook: The top candidate for the number 1 pick in the 2007 draft, one year removed from high school ... A year of college should give him a great stepping stone for the NBA.
Kevin Durant
Birthdate: 9/30/88
NBA Position: Small Forward
College: Texas
Class: HS Senior
Ht: 6-10
Wt: 190
Hometown: Suitland, MD
High School: Montrose Christian
2005 Stats
NBA Comparison: Tracy McGrady
Strengths: His upside is out of this world ... This kid is not even begining to scratch the surface of his potential ... Looking at him you see his frame is going to fill out in 3-4 years ... Very fluid athlete with explosiveness ... He plays hard and is still learning the game ... Provided he works hard, Durant is going to be a special player in the league who will be able to do many different things on the court ... Not aggressive enough to be like KG, but skilled enough down the road to contribute like a AK47 or a Grant Hill... Developing inside outside game ... Can shoot the 3 and flush in transition ... It is scary to think of what he could be like if he puts on 15 lbs of muscle and developed a handle, a 2010 version of KG!
Weaknesses: His (lack of) stength is his major weakness, and he really needs to put on weight or he wont be able to do much in the NBA except shoot deep 3s or score in transition like Darius Miles of 4 years ago ... Needs to become more aggresive, develop more nastiness ... Still developing a game off the dribble ... Defensively he needs to move his feet better and keep his hands active on the ball ... Oak Hill is giving him the work ethic he will need in the long run, since he most likely wont be going to college ...
Brandan Wright
Birthdate: 10/5/87
NBA Position: Power Forward
College: Undecided
Class: HS Senior
Ht: 6-10
Wt: 210
Hometown: Nashville, TN
High School: Brentwood Academy
2005 Stats
NBA Comparison: Kevin Garnett
Strenghts: His wingspan is unparalleled in the game of basketball. He has like an 8 foot wingspan.... He has just enormous potential. Blocks shots and rebounds the ball well... Has great hands and good footwork... Has a good handle for a big guy, which enables him to rebound and take it coast to coast ... The game just comes so easy to him you just conastantly are like "did he just do that?" Truly a freak of nature in terms of athletic ability, agility and mobility, he simple has the ability to do anything and everything on the basketball court that he wants to do ... Runs the floor exceptionally well ...
Weaknesses: He still must put on a lot of weight ... Though you'll be amazed at the things he can do, he will also leave you wondering "if", what if he played harder? What could he have done if he would have rebounded harder? ... At the high school level he should be able to average 40 points, 20 rebounds and 15 blocks, and that should be every night if he played as hard as he could and went after the ball like Garnett ... His shot from outside needs major work but he is just such a talent he is able to get by and still have 25 ... Increased strength will come in time but the sky's the limit for this guy if he pushes himself and gets pushed to be great ...
Thaddeus Young
Birthdate: 6/21/88
NBA Position: Small Forward
College: Georgia Tech
Class: HS Senior
Ht: 6-8
Wt: 210
Hometown: Memphis, TN
High School: Mitchell
2005 Stats
NBA Comparison: Tayshaun Prince
Strengths: Elite level athlete ... Extremely fluid and explosive ... Blessed with incredible gifts ... Prototypical small forward ... Has the advantage of being left handed, making him tougher to defend ... Has great length for a wing player ... Strong competitor ... Outside shooting and shot off the dribble have shown solid improvement ... Foot speed and length make him a terrific pressure defender ... Triggers the press defense well with his speed and quickness ... Great attitude, hard worker. Excels in the classroom with a 4.0 GPA ... His potential is incredible, but he still needs to gain confidence in his abilities and body strength ...
Weaknesses: Still a bit inconsistent shooting the ball from outside, but showing vast improvement ... Skills are still raw ... Ball handling can be sloppy at times ... Needs to add a great deal of weight, right now he can get pushed around inside. Another 20 pounds of muscle will make him a lot stronger on the glass and finishing in traffic ...
Alls I can say is.. WOW, I hope if we dont have a shot at Oden we go after Durant!! 6'10 And plays SHOOTING GAURD?!?! Thats insane. If we cant get him then we go after Wright. 07 will be IMO the biggest summer in NBA history and the biggest draft. Because in 07.. Mello,Lebron,Wade,and Hinrich will all be free agents, two of those 4 are already superstars. Then in the draft (assuming they all come out) Will be the biggest draft since the Lebron-Mello draft IMO.
What do you think?