Roundtable: Position Battles

Roundtable. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports

Who’s the better long-term prospect: Jahlil Okafor or Karl Anthony Towns?

Tom Fehr (@TJFsports): I still think it’s Okafor. Towns, if he reaches his ceiling, might be a better fit for the modern day NBA, but Okafor looks like a safe bet to be a very good low post big for many, many years to come. He’ll be hard to pass on in June.

Ben Rosales (@brosales12): If we’re talking about absolute ceiling, Towns might take the cake because I’m not sure there’s anything he can’t do on the court. But naturally, we can’t say he’s going to pan out in every area either. At the moment, I’ll take Okafor, since I think his defensive issues are ultimately fixable. That’s all that’s really needed to catapult him into stardom, since he’s already so good offensively. That said, if Towns maintains his current pace, he might change that discussion come draft time.

Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck): This kind of depends on how you frame the argument. I think Okafor’s star potential is more assured, but I also believe he is the more likely of the two to fall into the “flawed” star category. He’s more advanced than almost all recent big-man peers offensively, but the defensive question marks have a chance to murk up his ability to be a centerpiece, literally and figuratively. In Towns, I think you get a more malleable talent but a player less likely to carry the load.

Andrew Ford (@AndrewFord22): I’m sticking with Okafor. I trust that being in an NBA strength and conditioning program as well as receiving more coaching on the defensive end will round out Okafor’s game nicely. Towns might be a more well-rounded player right now, but his offensive game pales in comparison to Okafor’s. Since the beginning, that’s been the major difference between these two guys. Picking Okafor over Towns is simply because I trust Okafor to develop on defense more than I think Towns can ever come close to what Okafor is on offense.

Spencer Layman (@NBA_Spen): When our big board roundtable came out a couple weeks ago, I had Towns numero uno. I still believe that today. With the combination of his size, positional versatility, passing, IQ and defensive juggernaut-ness, it will be easier for him to thrive and flourish in the NBA. Okafor will still be a supreme offensive player but I think it is tougher to build and play around an offensive-minded center. That’s not to say Jahlil will a pushover on defense at all — I just don’t think his impact on both sides of the ball will be as prominent as Towns’ will be.

Who will be the first point guard off the board: Emmanuel Mudiay or D’Angelo Russell?

Tom Fehr (@TJFsports): It’s always tough to project how NBA teams are going to evaluate the top international prospects each year, but I’ll say D’Angelo Russell. He’s my favorite prospect right now and is just incredibly fun (and good). Though, truthfully, I haven’t really been able to watch Mudiay much. (Ed: This seems like a good place to find out more about Mudiay)

Ben Rosales (@brosales12): This is tough since NBA teams have a better grasp on Mudiay as a prospect than most of us do. Nevertheless, for the moment, I’ll give Russell the nod. The questions Russell has to answer at the next level (defense, finishing at the rim) are less pressing than the big elephant in Mudiay’s room (shooting). Russell, moreover, feels like the safer pick because the combination of his height for the point guard position, shooting, and general court vision seems like a hard one to go wrong with.

Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck): Silly as it is, the answer to this question probably depends on two things — Russell’s performance in the NCAA tournament and the duo’s respective performances in pre-draft workouts. These battlegrounds tend to separate players on similar tiers in the minds of GMs, and the workouts will be important for Mudiay in particular due to questions about his competition level overseas. Russell has the edge now, but it’s not a lock.

Andrew Ford (@AndrewFord22): I know very little about Mudiay’s progression on the court since he graduated high school because his games in China were not accessible to watch. Russell’s stock trending above Mudiay’s at the moment can certainly be attributed to the fact that people have been able to watch him. NBA teams will conduct their due diligence, though, and pre-draft workouts will likely determine which of the two guys gets drafted higher. A lot of it will depend on what skills teams are looking for of course. Mudiay’s defense and slashing ability is superior to Russell’s, but Russell can undoubtedly shoot better from range than Mudiay.

Spencer Layman (@NBA_Spen): I have had Mudiay in the top three all year long, but I’m also a huge fan of Russell’s game. I pronounced him my new ‘Marcus Smart.’ (For those that have been following me on Twitter for a couple years will know how much I fan-boyed for Smart). His size, passing ability, vision, length and shooting ability are all well developed for his age. Even so, I still give the nod to Mudiay. I think since the masses do not get to watch Mudiay play overseas (and now that he’s injured) it’s easy for people to get caught up in the hype of Russell. As we keep analyzing him and breaking down his game, we will see more flaws. Mudiay created a nice rapport with Yi Jianlian in his brief stint in the CBA and showed off nice passing ability in the pick & roll. His shooting was meh, but Russell is very streaky.

Would you be comfortable drafting Myles Turner with a top-10 pick?

Tom Fehr (@TJFsports): Maybe? I really like Turner as a prospect because if he reaches his potential, he’s going to be a rim protector and a floor stretcher, two things that you increasingly really need in the NBA out of bigs. If I had to guess, he’ll be somewhere in the 11-to-15 range, though.

Ben Rosales (@brosales12): His recent struggles, the Texas Tech game notwithstanding, are concerning, but it’s hard to find bigs with his dimensions who can shoot, rebound, and block shots. I wouldn’t draft him in the top half of the lottery because the prospects in that range are safer and of comparable upside. The 8-to-12 range might be appropriate, though.

Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck): For sure. It would be dependent on the situation the franchise was in, but if you’re a bad team (let’s say in the 5-to-6 range) that gets pushed down a few slots due to lottery luck, Turner feels like a nice swing-for-the-fences pick. In the 7-to-10 range, his struggles against tough competition become more acceptable given his size and diverse skill set. Perhaps he’s got more “bust potential” than some other names in this range, but it’s a risk worth taking.

Andrew Ford (@AndrewFord22): I wouldn’t. I am not that high on Turner, mostly because I think he still has a lot to learn in the way of positioning on both ends of the court, and every move he makes looks awkward to me. That admittedly might be a poor reason to bump somebody down your board, but I think it matters. He has been marginalized by tough competition, which is worrisome, and he doesn’t dominate a game like you’d hope to see from a lottery prospect. Throw in his slender, long frame that might make it tough for him to add muscle, and I think drafting Turner becomes a very risky proposition. No draft pick is fully “safe,” but I would say there are ten safer options than Turner in this draft.

Spencer Layman (@NBA_Spen): I’ve gone back and forth a lot on Myles Turner. I had him eighth on my big board, but the Longhorns have been so inconsistent all year long. They started off as a top 10 team and dropped … and dropped … and came back up a little bit! … and then dropped again. Turner has been caught up in the inconsistency as well, but his per-40 numbers are incredible. Turner’s success, to me, depends on the situation he winds up in. If you look at the teams listed between the projected 8-to-12 pick, you have the likes of Detroit, Indiana, Boston, Atlanta, and Houston, all of whom would be interested in a 7-footer with his sort of skills.

All in all, Turner will really have to impress the rest of the year and in the combine for me to confidently say he’s top 10 material.