| 14 February 2011
1. John Wall John will still be in Washington, and the Wiz will still be a lottery team. He will have been injury prone, having never got the opportunity to rest nagging injuries properly that have a tendency to become career threatening. He will not be an All-Star as the likes of Rondo, Rose, and Paul will dominate the East at those positions.
He will be a double-double machine though, but will still be dogged by poor shooting etc that are really due to his injuries more than anything.
Ala Tony Parker of 2009, he will be rested only to come back the following year and devastate everyone!!!!!
2. Evan Turner
Evan will be somewhere else after an underwhelming 4 years rookie contract, he'll go to the highest bidder with Philly choosing not to match the contract. He will have shown flashed of brilliance, but will still be seen as a player stuck between SF and SG and not really good enough at either.
Think Marvin Williams....
3. Derrick Favors
Favors will be in Brooklyn tearing it up with his twin tower buddy, Brook Lopez. Favors will be the Duncan and Lopez the Robinson, but Favors will be a top 5 rebounder with flashes of Amare Stoudemire when he attacks the rim. He will be a solid double double night in night out who will also be a surprisingly good passer out of the post, or up to his low post friend in Lopez.
Only 23, Favors will be like a late-blooming KG (but not quite at that level) who will be starting to peak and push the 20/10/1/1 stat lines.
4. Wes Johnson
Wes Johnson will have carved out a nice role for himself in Minnesota as the starting SF, and defensive stopper against opposition scoring threats. A deadly shooter to boot, he will stretch defenses, allowing Love et al room to operate in the post.
It's hard to draw comparisons for such a player but think Nicolas Batum - a lengthy role player who can do whatever is required night in night out.
Johnson will be considered one of the better players of this class.
5. DeMarcus Cousins
Cousins will be in jail... Just kidding. No, he'll be in Sacramento (or wherever they move too) averaging 25/14 on a nightly basis but only just starting to realise that stats aren't everything - winning matters as well.
Cousins is the type of player who takes 5 years to realise such things, and he and Evans will be no longer known as "one of the most promising" but now one of the "most over-hyped" or "yet to deliver" and this will anger him. He'll have gone away after his 4th year to work with Moses Malone/Hakeem/Duncan (by then) to hone his game and come back in the mould of a young Shaq minus 60 pounds.
Dominant, people will being quickly forgetting how immature this guy was when he entered the league.
6. Evpke Udoh
Udoh will be at another team operating as a shot blocking specialist. He will have grown substantially but he will have been injury prone due to his style of play, and his joints not being able to take his newly acquired bulk.
Think Samuel Dalambert minus the attitude.
7. Greg Monroe Monroe will be the unquestionable steal of the draft. He will have re-kindled a new dynasty in Detroit as their #1 (who knows?) pick from 2011 and he will carry a new bad boy team to east contenders again. He won't blow you away with his stats and power like Cousins, but he will be like Olajuwon - smart, defensively and offensively minded, and having a plethora of moves at his disposal. He will put up numbers something along the lines of 21/11/4/2/2 and he will still not have peaked, as he grows into a true leader.
People will look back and ask how he fell to #7.
8. Farouq Aminu
Farouq "could" be in LAC and really should be unless they swing a trade for a gun SF in which he would be part of any package. But if he still is there, he'll be proving why he was going to be part of any package as a consistent 6th man threat on a yearly basis.
Think Thaddeus Young, but defensively better (yet equally as efficient offensively).
9. Gordon Hayward
Hayward won't see past his rookie contract unless its to be a bench player in Utah/Indiana. Hayward is and will remain undersized for his position and, despite his enthusiasm and effort, won't make it at the NBA level where each position is continually growing in size each year.
10. Paul George
Danny who?
Yes Granger will have been long traded by this and George will have had a coming out party. But he won't be the all-round player envisioned by many when he was picked, but more of an offensive weapon in the mould of a poor mans Kevin Durant. Yes I did say Durant.
George is a gifted shooter like Durant and when he grows stronger will also be a threat off the dribble. I'm thinking, 25/4/3 in 5 years and probably considered as a top 5 pick of this class when we look back.
