At one point, it looked like former Kentucky Wildcats’ power forward Julius Randle may be the third player taken in the 2014 NBA Draft.
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Now with questions about his defense and an apparent foot injury, Randle may only be the third power forward taken. According to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports, former Indiana Hoosiers’ big man Noah Vonleh will be the first power forward off of the board in Thursday night’s draft, going ahead of Randle and former Arizona Wildcats’ power forward Aaron Gordon.
"Former Indiana forward Noah Vonleh could round out the top five, a source said……The top 10 picks in the NBA draft could include the selection of three power forwards in Vonleh, Arizona’s Aaron Gordon and Kentucky’s Julius Randle. Vonleh is expected to be selected first among those three power forwards while Gordon is not expected to drop any later than the eighth selection from the Sacramento Kings, sources said. Gordon and Randle have also worked out twice for the Los Angeles Lakers, who have the seventh pick.“A lot of people are putting us in the same category as the top power forwards in this draft,” Vonleh said. “We were supposed to have workouts together, but that didn’t end up happening.”"
Vonleh, who measured in at 6’9.5 and 247 pounds with an impressive wingspan of 7’4.5, averaged 11.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 52.3% from the field, 48.5% from beyond the arc and 71.6% from the free throw line. Jonathan Givony of Draft Express ranks Vonleh as the seventh-best prospect in the draft.