one the Duke fans come to regret. Deng projected as the #4 pick to the Hornets and SL is stongly looking at the draft now. Could be a big ouch.
The only thing I have to say in defense of Deng is that his family made a big deal of the possibility of Luol being the first to graduate college. But when someone gets dollar signs in their eyes..............................you never know.
As far as Livingstone. I have no idea.
It would be bummer to lose either or both, Duke doesn't have a good backup plan for either one.
doh
1) Deng is too weak of an outside shooter to leave this early... plus, his family and he both want him to stay in school.
2) Livingston said he's 99.9% sure he isn't going pro out of HS. However, he is a high schooler, and he probably had a different feeling the next morning.
That said, Livingston is way too skinny to head pro and he knows that.
many ppl who are not ready go early
and people who say "I am a four year guy" leave early
Nate, do you know how much $$$$$$$$$ the #4 pick gets? SL is looking very strongly at his options. Ask Reggie Miller how much you need to weigh.
rickheel Wrote:Nate, do you know how much $$$$$$$$$ the #4 pick gets? SL is looking very strongly at his options. Ask Reggie Miller how much you need to weigh.
Did Reggie Miller go out of HS? Nope.
Reggie Miller was also one of the best shooters of all time in the NBA. All Shaun Livingston is (to the NBA) is an extremely scrawny, unproven, kid who is an outstanding passer.
Answer me a few questions, Rick.
1) Who was the last PG to be taken lottery... straight out of HS?
2) Who was the last 160 lbs. player to be taken straight out of HS?
Cant say I know the answers to your questions Nate. Sorry. My point is SL IS looking at the NBA and anyone who needs a PG would have to look at him as an option. Deng, on the other hand, is ready now. He is better, at this stage, than 50% of the guys playing for $$$$$. Of course, if you throw Mi$$ou into the mix, his percentage rises a bit.
rickheel Wrote:Cant say I know the answers to your questions Nate. Sorry. My point is SL IS looking at the NBA and anyone who needs a PG would have to look at him as an option. Deng, on the other hand, is ready now. He is better, at this stage, than 50% of the guys playing for $$$$$. Of course, if you throw Mi$$ou into the mix, his percentage rises a bit.
1) SL is looking at the NBA... Hell, so am I
but that doesn't mean anyone wants me. He is a late first rounder (at best) IMO.
Deng has a weak 3 pt. shot at the college level, it would be even weaker from 3 ft. farther out. His release is freakishly slow, and his range is truly on 20 ft. The dude also wants an education. Everyone says it, but I truly believe Deng. His background makes me feel different about him.
He may stay, he may go. Who really knows what goes through the mind of a 19 year old? I guess we will have to wait and see.
I'd hate to see anyone, especially Deng, get mixed up with Shinn and the Hornets' organization at his point in his career.
doh
In all honesty, I think that everyone stays at Duke, and Livingston will come to Duke for at least a year.
Also, I think everyone will stay at UNC, and Marvin Williams will come to UNC.
<a href='http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/basketball/nba/charlotte_bobcats/7683306.htm' target='_blank'>Hmmmmmmmmmmm............</a>
I don't feel like registering... what does it say?
Posted on Sun, Jan. 11, 2004
INSIDE THE NBA
Duke recruit on Bobcats' radar
Livingston could be a lottery pick if he chooses the NBA over college
RICK BONNELL
Rick Bonnell
Shaun Livingston seems destined to play basketball in the Carolinas. Probably that means Durham next fall, but there's a chance it could be Charlotte, instead.
A 6-foot-7 point guard from Peoria, Ill., Livingston signed to play at Duke. He is often compared to Magic Johnson, and some NBA scouts say his rare combination of size and playmaking skills make him a lottery pick if he jumps to the pros right out of high school.
Livingston has indicated he needs at least a year of college before he's ready for the NBA. Certainly he needs some more muscle on what is now a fairly thin body to hold up in the NBA.
Still, pro scouts are monitoring the kid this fall. Bobcats general manager/coach Bernie Bickerstaff was in St. Louis, along with a dozen or more NBA peers, to watch Livingston in a recent tournament.
Bickerstaff can't comment on Livingston or any other player with college eligibility remaining, but it's my sense talking to other pro scouts that the Bobcats would have to consider Livingston with the No. 4 pick.
Players like Livingston are valuable because they create huge matchup problems for opposing teams. Guard skills in a forward's body make Tracy McGrady virtually unstoppable. And unlike Penny Hardaway, Livingston appears to have both the skills and the inclination to be an oversized point guard at the NBA level.
It's probably in Livingston's best interest to spend at least one year at Duke. He'd learn from a marvelous coach, he'd compete at the pinnacle of college basketball and hopefully he'd add some meat to those elongated bones.
But if he does go preps-to-pros -- and isn't that increasingly the norm? -- he'd sure be an intriguing first pick for an expansion team that can take a long-term view.
Bobcats Meeting
Bobcats officials met in New York last week with NBA management to discuss details of the expansion rules. Team executive vice president Ed Tapscott said there were no headlines, with the possible exception of this item:If a player can opt out of his contract in the summer of 2004, then his team can't expose him to the expansion draft if that's the only player the team exposes.
Translation: A team has a veteran with an opt-out next summer. The team is trying to avoid exposing another player -- probably someone younger with a smaller salary -- to the expansion draft.
If the team has eight or fewer players under contract for next season, then it can't expose the veteran with the opt-out to avoid exposing the younger, less expensive player.
Opposite Directions
Monday's big trade between New York and Phoenix demonstrated how differently two teams can attack the same predicament: The Knicks and Suns both had overpriced rosters that were going nowhere in the playoff race.
New Knicks general manager Isiah Thomas addressed this problem by taking on even more financial responsibility. The Suns, meanwhile, blew up their roster to save money and create salary-cap flexibility.
Essentially, Thomas accepted the $30 million-plus obligation to Hardaway the next two seasons to acquire star point guard and native New Yorker Stephon Marbury. This latest move makes it harder than ever for the Knicks to get under the salary cap anytime soon. Thomas rationalized that by saying cap room is overrated.
"If I figured out how to get under the cap, the players I'm going after now are the ones I'd try to get then," Thomas told New York Post columnist Peter Vecsey. "In actuality, the way the salary-cap system works, you can't get 'em when you're under the cap, because the teams that have them can outbid you. The only way to get them is to trade for them."
The Suns took the opposite tact, swapping veterans for first-round picks and cap flexibility. They immediately waived Charlie Ward, who had only a partial guarantee this season. In July, Phoenix can shed $25 million from its payroll when contracts for Tom Gugliotta and Antonio McDyess expire.
The Suns can be about $8 million under the projected salary cap over the summer. If Phoenix could also shed Jahidi White's $5.8 million for next season, the Suns would have the cap room to sign a player to a maximum contract. (Aside to Bobcats: Call the Suns to see what they'd offer as compensation for taking White in the expansion draft.)
Who might that max player be? How about Kobe Bryant, assuming he resolves his legal issues in Colorado. Bryant apparently wants to be the centerpiece of a young team, and there's still plenty of young talent there in forwards Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion and swingman Joe Johnson.
Why would Bryant want to go to Phoenix? For starters, he's known Suns coach Mike D'Antoni since he was a kid growing up in Italy. Those two are very tight.
Prospects
Three potential candidates for the Bobcats' first pick will play in the Carolinas this month. Connecticut center Emeka Okafor plays against North Carolina Jan. 17. Dwight Howard, arguably the best high school player in the country, is in Greenville, S.C., for a Jan. 19 game at the Bi-Lo Center. And Josh Smith, another high school player who could be a top-10 pick, plays at Charlotte Christian Jan. 27 with Oak Hill Academy.
So... it's just a writer for some newspaper giving his opinion? No quotes like "I am 99.9% sure I will be at Duke next year." in that article?
Hmmm.....
nate jonesacc Wrote:1) Who was the last PG to be taken lottery... straight out of HS?
His name is Lebron you meathead.
LEBRON A PG? Why the hell do you think Cleveland has stuck Kevin Ollie into the starting lineup?
Why the hell does ESPN.com list his as a point guard? And why the hell does he lead the team in assists? and why the hell has KEVIN FRIKIN OLLIE NOT STARTED A SINGLE GAME ALL YEAR??? Damn you are dumb.
I think the choice I would have made would have been Kobe. And Nate, many of the "gurus" are saying the same things about SL.
Terpy Wrote:Why the hell does ESPN.com list his as a point guard? And why the hell does he lead the team in assists? and why the hell has KEVIN FRIKIN OLLIE NOT STARTED A SINGLE GAME ALL YEAR??? Damn you are dumb.
You're right Terpy... Kevin Ollie hasn't started a game this season. You're right, I'm wrong.
LeBron plays PG for the Cavs right now... But to even think of drawing parallels between LeBron and any 6-7 160 lbs. PG is ridiculous. LeBron's skills are so much more than PG... Livingston's are pretty much only PG (at this point).