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News » Curry, Hansbrough worth watching in draft 2009-06-25


Curry, Hansbrough worth watching in draft 2009-06-25


Curry, Hansbrough worth watching in draft 2009-06-25
Basketball fans watch the NBA draft to see what their team does and who wears the most outrageous suit, not necessarily in that order. But this year's draft should be interesting for another reason: the fate of two college stars.

Thankfully for Curry, his skills go beyond that. He is exceptional at coming off screens, has a knack for finding seams in a defense, has a quick enough release and can shoot from a variety of angles. That is what makes him so compelling: like a great soccer midfielder, he seems to have an endless supply of ideas of how to out-wit the defense.

If you don't like watching Stephen Curry play, you don't like watching basketball. You should just watch dunk contests on YouTube and leave it at that.

I am baffled that Memphis, with the second pick, isn't considering Curry. The logical basketball choice for the Grizzlies is Spanish star Ricky Rubio, but they could get tangled up in Rubio's contract, which was apparently printed, in very small type, on a spider web.

Well, if you can't (or won't) take Rubio, why not Curry? Wouldn't he be a perfect backcourt complement to O.J. Mayo? Wouldn't he bring maturity to balance Mayo's youth and shooting to balance Mayo's slashing? Doesn't Mayo have the athleticism to balance Curry's unimposing physique.

2009 NBA draft


FOXSports.com analysis

  • 2009 NBA Draft Central
  • NBADraft.net: Mock draft 3.0 | 2.0 | 1.0
  • NBADraft.net: Top 10 PGs
  • Rosenberg: Watch Curry, Hansbrough
  • Goodman: Cautionary draft tales
  • Hill: Opinions on Rubio divided
  • NBADraft.net: Tough choice at No. 2
  • Goodman: Draft winners and losers
  • Scout.com: Best player you don't know

Video

  • Randy Hill's draft preview
  • Marques: Holiday's stock rising
  • Jeff Goodman's draft preview
  • Marques Johnson's top 5 picks

Yes, I know the Grizzlies have Mike Conley Jr., but how good is he going to be? One of the biggest mistakes that bad teams make is overrating their own talent. Then they compound that mistake by making decisions based on their own skewed view of their talent.

Why not trade down to a team that really wants Rubio, then take Curry? Why not at least consider taking Curry at two?

Then again, I like Curry. I wouldn't wish a Grizzlies career on him.

Curry should be long gone by the time the Hansbrough Watch commences. The former Tar Heel is a classic tweener, caught between small forward and power forward.

Positions, in the NBA, are determined by whom you can defend, and I don't like Hansbrough's chances of guarding power forwards like Blake Griffin or LaMarcus Aldridge in two years. I don't think he is quick enough to guard many small forwards.

But Hansbrough is also bright, a hard worker and has shown enough toughness to make you think he will have a nice NBA career. And that's why his draft slot will be so interesting: teams can convince themselves that Hasheem Thabeet or Jonny Flynn or Jrue Holiday will be stars, but once those guys are gone, how much are you willing to gamble? Would you rather take a project — or Hansbrough, who should be a solid pro?

Once Blake Griffin goes No. 1 to the Clippers, then gives the requisite play-dumb interview (I just want to work hard, I'm from Oklahoma, I didn't realize the Clippers always suck), a lot of eyes will turn to Curry and Hansbrough. The question, especially for Hansbrough, is how many of those eyes belong to NBA general managers.


Author: Fox Sports
Author's Website: http://www.foxsports.com
Added: June 25, 2009

 

 
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