Saturday, June 14, 2008

6 More


The Deseret News is reporting that 6 more prospects will work out for the Jazz on Sunday. The six players who will participate in the workout are Marreese Speights from Florida, Jason Thompson from Rider, Ryan Anderson from Cal, DJ White from Indiana, Ronald Steele from Alabama, and Johnnie Bryant from the U (he's filling in for Swedish guard Rudy Mbemba who can't make it). Each of the four big guys are intriguing candidates to possibly take at pick #23.
1. Marreese Speights F/C 6-10 Florida
Speights might be the most heralded of the group from a talent standpoint. Most prognostications have him going anywhere from the late lottery to mid-first round. He's got real potential with good athleticism, length and skill. He's very raw offensively though, and has the bust factor playing against him, because of his young age, inexperience and "reported" indifference. I can't see him falling to the Jazz at 23. However, the draft is deep enough that anything can happen. Speights is more of a power forward than a center. So I believe the Jazz could be looking for a true center with extreme length and defensive capability which Speights doesn't really possess. Yet, if he drops, you gotta believe the Jazz would be serious about taking him. With Millsap and Boozer most likely up for contract renewals after next season, it could be nice to have another PF in place.
2. Jason Thompson F/C 6-11 Rider
We've discussed Thompson already on TCG, but he's worth mentioning some more. Thompson intrigues me, because he was so dominant at Rider. Granted, Rider's a smaller school, but anyone with that size and ability must get some serious consideration. Like I said before, he's the darkhorse candidate in this draft. He has the ability to play both center and power forward, can stretch the defense with his outside shooting and can block some shots (2.7 blocks which ought to mean he can play some defense, right?). It should be interesting to hear how he performs in these workouts against tough competition.
3. DJ White F 6-9 Indiana
White had a terrific college career at Indiana. To me, he seems like a Paul Millsap type who may have been underappreciated in college, but could really turn out to be a nice pro. You can never have too many Millsaps on your team. I doubt the Jazz will take him at 23. There seems to be other prospects which meet the Jazz needs. Though maybe he falls into the 2nd round for the Jazz to take later?
4. Ryan Anderson F 6-10 Cal
Anderson posted some serious stats in college (21.1 pts, 9.9 rbs) as a sophomore. He may or may not be in the draft. He'll stay in if he gets good feedback from teams in the first round, otherwise he'll go back to college. His decision to stay or go will come on Monday. Like DJ White, the Jazz will probably look in another direction. He doesn't necessarily fill a need. Although, you can never have enough shooters on the team. That's what Anderson does really well (stretch the floor). On that level, Anderson would fit nicely on the Jazz.

4 comments:

Orlando said...

I'm not a big fan of Speights. The indifference tag on a big man is always the kiss of death for me.

I'll be intrigued to see where this kid from Rider gets taken. I wouldn't mind the Jazz taking a flier with him.

Orlando said...

Update: According to the Desnews, Anderson did not work out on Sunday. He may stay in school.

Ryan said...

Well done Kofoed. I'm with Crotty on this one. If Speights didn't work hard in college what chance is there he'll work hard in the NBA, especially if he gets first round guaranteed money. I like the kid from Rider too. The Jazz have a history of mining the smaller schools (Milsap, Almond) and he sounds promising.

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