 |
| Ready for the NBA |
As of now, Draft Express has former Ohio State star Jared Sullinger going 6th overall to the Portland Trail Blazers, while Chad Ford at ESPN has Sully going 7th overall to the Golden State Warriors. Meanwhile, William Buford is projected by Draft Express to go 22nd in the second round (52nd overall) to the Golden State Warriors.
Here's Draft Express's scouting on Sullinger:
"Sullinger continues to see the majority of his offense with his back to the basket this season, where's he's one of the most dangerous players in college basketball. He works extremely hard to establish deep position inside with his strong lower body and low center of gravity, drawing plenty of fouls by simply forcing opponents to try and contain him in the paint.
Patient, mature and extremely polished in the post, Sullinger backs players down with brute force and has excellent footwork, being capable of finishing with a jump-hook or spinning into a smooth turnaround jumper. He rarely finishes plays above the rim, usually using his excellent touch to finish plays with his skill-level rather than sheer explosiveness. This is what differentiates him from other top-10 candidate big men such as Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond or Thomas Robinson.
His soft hands allow him to catch most anything that's thrown his way, making him an ideal (and very rare) target to build a half-court offense around. While not the most prolific passer at this stage, Sullinger shows good vision passing out of double teams, turns the ball over at an extremely low rate and rarely forces up bad shots, which only adds to his to his terrific scoring efficiency."
Now Draft Express on William Buford:
"Measured at 6'5 with a 6'10 wingspan and a solid 209-pound frame, Buford definitely looks the part of a NBA wing player. Though he has improved his frame considerably since his junior season, he remains just an average athlete by NBA standards in terms of his first step, overall quickness and the explosiveness he displays around the basket.
While Buford's skill set remains largely the same as what we described in our previous report, his role in Ohio State's offense has changed. He's being asked to handle the ball in transition and act as more of a facilitator than he was in years past, which has increased his usage, but hurting his efficiency in the process.
Much of this drop in production has to do with his shooting woes outside of the arc –he's converting just 36.4% of his 3-point attempts as a senior as opposed to 44.2% as a junior—as in the absence of Jon Diebler and David Lighty he hasn't had as many open looks spotting up outside the arc. According to Synergy Sports Technology, he's taking more shots this year with a hand in his face than he did last season, and knocking them down at a much lower rate. He's also not making his open looks at quite the same rate, even if he still has plenty of time to revert to the mean as the season moves on.
His shooting mechanics, for the most part, are excellent, despite his lack of elevation and a somewhat slow release, but he has struggled mightily to convert them consistently. His worst shooting nights have come against teams with excellent perimeter defenders, as the likes of Victor Oladipo, Brandon Paul, Travis Releford and others have been able to key in on him far more than they were probably able to last season.
Buford's struggles creating efficient offense have validated the concerns about his average athletic ability and his likelihood of becoming a shooting specialist at best at the NBA level. With that said, it is wise to consider his body of work when evaluating his perimeter shooting ability, as other players have shown in the past that it's not uncommon for a player's efficiency to decrease with a more pronounced role."
1
-11
