Orlando NBA Pre-Draft Camp - Day 4

The Orlando NBA Pre-Draft Camp concluded yesterday and here is the player analysis for Day 4, courtesy of DraftExpress & NBADraft.net, with my final comments thrown in:

(Note: I have updated this post adding some players and analysis.)

Gary Forbes: The day started at 9:15 AM with a game between Team three and Team two, giving us another chance to take a look at camp standout Gary Forbes. The UMass senior was not quite as impressive as he was in the first two outings, but still ended up having a solid game with 17 points and 4 rebounds on 4-11 shooting in 24 minutes. Forbes put more emphasis on showing off his long-range game today, which he did quite successfully by knocking down both of his 3-point attempts. He again made smart decisions with the ball and showed a very advanced ability to create his own shot from the perimeter, looking aggressive as usual taking the ball to the basket, and getting to the free throw line at a great clip once again (this time 10 times). Defensively, he again looked below average at best thanks to his underwhelming lateral quickness. Regardless, he’s clearly the MVP of the pre-draft camp by a fairly large margin, and has helped his stock considerably from being projected as a late second round pick on our board. You would think that he’d have a chance to maybe get some looks in the late first based off what we’ve seen here at the pre-draft camp in years past, but most NBA people we spoke with did not agree with that. We will have to wait and see… (DraftExpress)

Talk of the camp continues to be Gary Forbes (17pts, 4 reb, 4-11fg), while he didn’t have the same scoring game as the previous night, he still played aggressively and got to the line 10 times. Forbes seems to be a personal favorite of the referees, as looking at him the wrong way is considered a foul. (NBADraft.net)

Comments: Interesting to see that most of the NBA people felt that Forbes does not have a shot at the end of the first round. I'm sure that could change once they seem him workout against some of the other prospect trying to get into the end of the first round. Either way Forbes should be an early second round pick at worst and he really has made a name for himself and solidified that he will be getting drafted.

Brian Roberts: Brian Roberts might have had the best single game of anyone in day three, scoring 13 points to go along with 13 assists and no turnovers. He pushed the ball extremely well in transition, found open teammates spotting up and cutting the basket all game long, and shot the ball beautifully from mid-range and behind the arc. He’s emerged at this camp as a player that teams need to seriously consider on their draft boards. (DraftExpress)

Brian Roberts (13pts, 13 ast) had an impressive game as a result he is the recipient of our player of the day award. We had questions about his ability to distribute the ball but with such an efficient performance, some of those questions have been answered. (NBADraft.net)

Comments: Roberts definitely impressed me with this performance having 13 assists. The play-making ability is probably the one thing he needs to show the NBA scouts he can do because he has solid scoring ability already but not great size. He will probably get strong look in the second round but the problem is there are so many other players just like him that can score but don't have great size, so is going to have to hope there is a team that specifically likes him.

Othello Hunter: Othello Hunter again put his impressive physical tools in display, to the tune of 11 points and 14 rebounds (7 offensive) in 25 minutes. His length and athleticism allow him to make plays that other big men here aren’t capable of, and he’s made a strong case for himself to be drafted or get a long look in summer league/training camp. He still has a lot of upside to continue to improve. (DraftExpress)

Comments: I believe that Hunter definitely deserves a look in the second round. I think he could be a productive bench player in the NBA for sure and he still has room to improve his game. I would be a little shocked if he did not get drafted as this point because he has impressed at both Pre-Draft Camp's he has participated in.

Wayne Ellington: Wayne Ellington (10pts, 4-10fg) has not been able to find his grove for most of the week and not much was different in his final game. (NBADraft.net)

Comments: I think it would be wise for Ellington to go back to school and work on his game. Maybe develop some off the dribble type of game and work on his all-around game in general.

Joe Crawford: Joe Crawford (11pts) has become a regular member of this worthy report and rightly so with his impressive play throughout the week. (NBADraft.net)

Comments: I think Crawford is going to get drafted somewhere in second round and could potential help a team right away with his scoring off the bench.

Josh Duncan: Waiting for a highlight play from Josh Duncan (13 pts, 4 reb) is like waiting for back to back championships from the San Antonio Spurs, it just doesn’t happen. However, he is able to consistently put together good games and is the type of glue guy that every team needs. (NBADraft.net)

Comments: I don't know if Josh Duncan will get drafted but I feel pretty strongly about him at least making a roster out of summer camp.

Reggie Williams: Reggie Williams capped off what has been a terrific camp by dropping in another 15 points in 20 minutes. Although not the most impressive prospect you’ll find here on paper, he’s just a super-crafty guy with an excellent feel for the game. (DraftExpress)

Reggie Williams (15pts) continued to showcase his versatility and nice scoring touch. The lefty wing has put his name on the map and into the minds of basketball GMs as a worthy prospect. (NBADraft.net)

Comments: Williams did well for himself in Orlando and he is another guy who I feel should get a strong second round look. Seems as though he is a smart player who understands the game, so he is probably worth a late second round pick.

Malik Hairston: Some of the more interesting things we saw in the last two games was the fantastic play of Malik Hairston (who we’ve spoken at lengths about)—with 20 points on 9-14 shooting in 26 minutes. (DraftExpress)

Malik Hairston (20 pts, 4 ast, 2 stl) capped off a nice week with a good scoring game, he may be a little undersized but he knows how to get the best of his ability. (NBADraft.net)

Comments: I would not be surprised to see Hairston drafted in the second round at this point. He probably helped himself the most of any player who I thought wasn't getting drafted, so I'll keep an eye out to see what teams are saying about Hairston the next few weeks.

DeMarcus Nelson: DeMarcus Nelson (13pts, 4 reb) continued to play well showing a bit of his outside range mixed in with some nice drives to the hoop. (NBADraft.net)

Richard Hendrix: Richard Hendrix (8pts, 7rebs) was plagued by foul trouble, but was still able to have a decent game in limited action. (NBADraft.net)

Mike Taylor: Mike Taylor had a very poor performance with just 1 point and 6 turnovers on 0-6 shooting in 20 minutes, but luckily for him, very few people were watching. His tendency to force the issue was extremely evident, and the opinions about him here at this camp are clearly mixed. Some people like him, and a lot of people don’t. It will be interesting to see what ends up happening with him. (DraftExpress)

After exploding yesterday, Mike Taylor (1pt, 0-6fg, 4TO) came back to earth with an inconsistent performance. Many times his gift becomes his curse, his reckless style seems to be a turnover waiting to happen (he averaged 3.4 this season) and he does not seem to have his team’s best interest at heart as he becomes immersed in his showboat act. (NBADraft.net)

George Hill: George Hill showed why so many scouts have been saying positive things about him throughout the course of this camp, scoring 15 points to go along with 6 assists and a lone turnover in 24 minutes of action. He ran his offense smoothly and effectively, looking comfortable executing his team’s sets and finding the open man confidently. He shot the ball very well from behind the arc (3-7) as well. (DraftExpress)

George Hill (15pts, 6ast, 8reb) came back well after an off day, leading his team to a victory, he showed that his versatility is difficult to match up with on offense and his defense can alter plays on the other end. (NBADraft.net)

Davon Jefferson: Davon Jefferson (16pts, 6-9fg) was finally able to have an above average game, proving that his body in fact is not made of feathers and that he is actually willing to use his athletic prowess to get to the hoop and take some contact. (NBADraft.net)

Jeremy Pargo: Jeremy Pargo had a game-high 20 points (7-16 FG, 5-7 FT) to go along with 4 assists. Unfortunately, he also had 6 turnovers and missed three of his four 3-pointers. He pushed the ball up the floor extremely well, showed terrific explosiveness getting by his man and giving himself options in the half-court, and also flashed some glimpses of solid court-vision, but his poor decision making led to way too many turnovers, which has typically been his problem. Going back to school and improving his decision making skills looks like a very good option at this point. (DraftExpress)

After a shaky start, Jeremy Pargo (20pts, 4ast) has come on strong to finish the camp. He was able to use his speed in the open court and dribble penetration in the half court to go by people. A big problem has been his decision making and trying to do too much, we saw that again today to the tune of 6 turnovers. (NBADraft.net)

Comments: The consensus on Pargo seems to be that he needs to work on limiting his turnovers, so I would expect him to go back to Gonzaga next season and try to work on that. He is definitely someone to look out for in next year's draft, assuming he pulls out of this draft.

Sonny Weems: Sonny Weems also had the breakout game he needed (16 points, 6-13) after showing more offensive aggression than we had previously seen. A player with great tools who could surely get drafted, Weems needs to continue to improve his skill level with the ball and his perimeter defense to keep teams interested in him over the next few years. (DraftExpress)

Sonny Weems (16 pts, 3 reb), even though not scoring off the charts, has been impressive the whole week. Today, he was able to put it all together and show that he has some bake to his shake. We were worried that his impressive moves would continue to be endless misses, but he proved otherwise today. (NBADraft.net)

James Mayes: James Mays had another solid, but unspectacular game doing the dirty work for his team, finishing with 10 points and 6 rebounds and 21 minutes. His strength, length and athleticism were on full display once again, as were his toughness and activity level inside. He did a good job facing up and attacking his man off the dribble, looking fairly aggressive and finishing well at the rim. (DraftExpress)

James Mays (10pts, 6reb) was finally able to break through and put together a decent performance after being disappointing week. (NBADraft.net)

Robert Vaden: Robert Vaden finished off the camp with another fairly solid performance, scoring 11 points in 21 minutes to go along with 3 assists and no turnovers. He’s really impressed with his ability to move off the ball, read screens and find open shots for himself, elevating sharply and creating separation from his defender and throwing the ball in the basket with machine like efficiency, despite his violent leg kicks. He’s really strong and has clearly worked on his body since the season ended, and did a much better job playing within the offense and setting up teammates than he did earlier in this camp. On the negative side, he’s not the most athletic or creative player you’ll find in terms of his ball-handling skills, favoring his right hand strongly and struggling to finish that at times around the rim. It appears that he’ll be returning to school, and it will be interesting to see what kind of year he has next season. (DraftExpress)

David Padgett: David Padgett put on a passing clinic, rebounding from two underwhelming performances to show NBA executives in attendance just what he can bring to the table as an extremely heady high-post center who makes everyone around him better. He finally played a bit more aggressively looking for ways to make his presence felt offensively, not just looking to pass the ball unselfishly on every possession like he did previously. He showed nice footwork in the post to go along with his crafty head-fakes and ability to finish with either hand. He often lacks the athleticism to finish many of the moves he creates for himself, but hopefully he will be able to improve on that as his body gets healthier. He’s a really interesting player who would be well served to develop a deadly jump-shot teams need to respect from 16 to 18 feet. (DraftExpress)

David Padgett (11pts, 6 reb, 4ast) showed some nice moves in the post, but was also able to make some nifty passes to open teammates. (NBADraft.net)

J.R. Giddens: JR Giddens (9 pts) was much more aggressive today after sitting out a big part of yesterday’s game. He was able to come off screens and show his nice looking jump-shot. (NBADraft.net)

Bryce Taylor: Bryce Taylor may not have shot the ball all that well (just 4-16 on the day), but in his case, it’s nice to see him continuing to show that aggressiveness that he so sorely lacked in college. He’s a versatile player who can shoot, pass, defend and play smart basketball, and at the end of the day it wouldn’t be a shock to see a team pick him up when it’s all said and done. (DraftExpress)

Longar Longar: Longar Longar (15pts, 6 rebs) came back nicely from his injury even showed some nice footwork and coordination on a couple post moves. (NBADraft.net)

Orlando NBA Pre-Draft Camp - Day 1
Orlando NBA Pre-Draft Camp - Day 2 - Part 1
Orlando NBA Pre-Draft Camp - Day 2 - Part 2
Orlando NBA Pre-Draft Camp - Day 3