Kentucky Wildcats 5 for Friday: Recapping the "Kentucky Effect" in the draft
By Paul Jordan
All the frustrating seems to have come to an end and paid off as Enes Kanter was drafted number three overall by the Utah Jazz. And it seems to be a good fit. The Jazz got the big man they coveted and the Jazz fans seem happy with the decision.
He checked in at 262 pounds, with just 5 percent body fat. Draft analysts said Kanter is a perfect fit for the Jazz because he is a high-IQ and high-character player.
Fans, unlike a year ago when they booed the choice of Butler star Gordon Hayward at No. 9, cheered when Kanter’s name was announced.
If Jazz fans were happy, the Pistons fans were ecstatic over the selection of Brandon Knight. After Kanter was picked, there was an influx of foreign big men and Knight fell to number eight. As a result, Detroit was quick to snatch up Knight, who did not even officially work out for them. Most fans and pundit are calling Knight the “steal of the draft” and Team prez Joe Dumars seems to agree:
Another big surprise of the night was Josh Harrellson going at number 45 to the New Orleans Hornets who then sold the pick to the Knicks. Jorts joins a playoff roster, but there is a lot of uncertainity in New York with the roster and he could find a challenge for playing time. Regardless, the draft for centers was thin and Jorts caught the eye of Donnie Walsh:
Harrellson is far from your prototypical post-up center, but he can face and shoot, is a tireless offensive rebounder and attacks the basket with two hands. At Kentucky, he also demonstrated he makes wise decisions with the ball and rarely turns it over.
He even can make the occasional three, but Harrellson must develop a mid-range game if he intends to be a scorer at the pro ranks.
Despite using his massive body to his advantage down low and always exerting maximum effort to physically wear down his opponents, defense is Harrellson’s weakness. Even though Harrellson has a large frame, he hasn’t been blessed with the length or foot speed of many of the NBA’s starting centers.
If Harrellson wants to be taken seriously and expects to see any playing time as a rookie, working on his conditioning is imperative. In the event the Knicks sign a center through free agency or trade, Harrellson could even become expendable.
I know that Magic fans wanted to see the Magic make a major trade last night, and while that did happen, the Magic helped themselves with the addition of DeAndre Liggins with the 53rd pick. Honestly, Orlando is not a team that needs to be tore down and rebuilt however, and Magic GM Otis Smith and Liggins himself weigh in on the draft pick:
Smith envisions Liggins as someone who can guard opposing point guards, shooting guards and small forwards.
“Probably more than anything else he’s a tough kid,” Smith said. “He works. He’s not afraid to work. He’s one of those guys that we can throw into different situations. Probably the biggest thing about him, I think, is he can defend multiple positions.”
Shooting is not Liggins’ best attribute, but after dreadful long-range shooting seasons as a freshman and sophomore, he upped his 3-point accuracy to just over 39 percent during his final season.
“My toughness will carry on towards the Orlando Magic,” Liggins said. “As you’ve seen at Kentucky, I bring toughness to the team. I competed. I was the reason why we won some games.”
After last night’s action, Kentucky now has three duos on NBA rosters: Patrick Patterson a
nd Chuck Hayes in Houston, Tayshaun Prince and Brandon Knight in Detroit, and Daniel Orton and DeAndre Liggins in Orlando. John Calipari has sent 9 players to the NBA in two seasons and UK 10 over the last three, which is almost a NBA team in itself and when you look at who will go after this next season (italics), it’s obvious Lexington should just get their own franchise.
PG
John Wall
Brandon Knight
Eric Bledsoe
SG
Jodie Meeks
Doron Lamb
SG
DeAndre Liggins
Darius Miller
PF
Patrick Patterson
Terrence Jones
C
DeMarcus Cousins
Daniel Orton
Enes Kanter
Josh Harrellson
If we really want to go crazy and assume that the NBA keeps the “one and done” rule, we can probably add Teague, Gilchrist, and Davis to that equation, but let’s not go crazy just yet. All in all, you can see that that as long as Cal is at Kentucky, the draft is going to be impacted by the “Kentucky effect”.,
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