<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Sonics this week sampled the international flavor available in this year's NBA draft. Of the 11 players Seattle had in for workouts, three were from overseas. Andris Biedrins -- a 6-foot-10 power forward from Latvia -- was the most touted prospect. Biedrins is 18 years old, and is projected as a lottery selection. Damir Omerhodzic of Croatia and Marcus Vieira de Souza of Brazil were the other foreign players in town. Last month, general manager Rick Sund and president Wally Walker flew to Puerto Rico to evaluate Peter John Ramos, an intriguing project at center -- with the emphasis on "project" since he's 7-3 at 18 years old, but with scant experience. The other top prospect to visit Seattle was guard Kirk Snyder of Nevada. Snyder is an excellent perimeter shooter who may be attractive as a potential replacement for Brent Barry, an unrestricted free agent. The Sonics hold the No. 12 overall selection in the June 24 draft. Seattle also has two second-round selections.</div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">This week's workout participants: Biedrins, Andre Joseph (Oregon), Matt Freije (Vanderbilt), Omerhodzic, Rickey Paulding (Missouri), Robert Rothbart (Natomas High School, Sacramento, Calif.), Maurice Shaw (Bridgeton Academy, Maine, and previously Lincoln High School in Tacoma), Snyder, Vieira de Souza, Jackson Vroman (Iowa State) and David Young (North Carolina).</div> <font size="1">Full Story courtesy of Danny O'Neill and the Seattle PI.</font> Very interesting. I would be extremely happy if Biedrins slipped to us (saw a feature on him on ESPN - VERY impressive), but at the same time I'd be very surprised if he slipped out of the top 10. Snyder is another guy who I think will make a solid pro and will probably impact straight away, but I wonder if pick 12 is too high for him? Maybe a trade down is on the cards there. I see we worked out Ricky Paulding too. I think he's a potential first round talent who will go in the second round; with two second rounders, you never know.
Biedrins is also high on my list of the top prospects in the draft. He has IMO the best upside of any Euro transfers this year and he has the size and strength to excel at the NBA level. I've followed Kirk Snyder for the past few seasons at Nevada and I love the guy, he has the instincts and basketball IQ that would work wonders in the pros and not to mention his sweet shot. If Nevada hadn't made the NCAAs last year then Kirk would probably be an unknown to most people and that's a shame because he is a hell of a player. As for the other overseas players, I wouldn't want to draft any of them at 12 unless it was Biedrins, I'm even skeptical on Andriuskevicius (sp?). Maybe expend one of our 2nd round picks on a project but I'd like to see the Sonics take someone different at 12.
Biedrins probably won't fall to us at number 12 but considering our needs I think that is a good thing. I played w/ Biedrins on BK Skonto two seasons ago (when he was 16) and he was extremely active but also had many holes in his game. He is almost a positionless player. He really doesn't have the perimeter skills to be an effective small forward and he doesn't have the bulk to be an effective lost post threat. In Latvia he was probably the tallest player and most definitely the most athletic (for his size) player in his league but there is a huge difference between matching up w/ Kaspars Kambala (former UNLV standout from Latvia) and the likes of Elton Brand. He kind of reminds me of a left handed Andrei Kirileinko but he is not as fundamentally sound on the perimeter. He definitely will not be an impact player in his first year but could end up being very effective down the road. It is also interesting that the Sonics are bringing in CIAA standout David Young in for a workout. A partial qualifier out of high school, Young sat out his first year at Xavier. He would play 3 years for the Musketeers in a very limited role. The NCAA rewards partial qualifiers with a fifth year of eligibility provided that they graduate in four years. Dave was able to do this and decided that he wanted his fifth year to be at North Carolina Central University. He went on to average 20 points a game and was MVP at a number of college all star games. I'm figuring that b/c Nate's brother is an assistant at NCCU that he helped Dave get the invite, but considering that Dave is a good friend I'm pulling hard for him to get invited to a summer league team. He isn't the next Flip (Shaw is also in the CIAA) but he is worth keeping an eye on.
My opinion of Biedrins has dropped somewhat. I thought he would be a Pau Gasol type player, but he sounds more like Dirk with an average jump shot. I'd still take him at 12, I'm just less excited about his prospects now. I think there's a good chance we take Ramos, who has been putting up great numbers in his pro league. Whoever we choose, I doubt we'll get a big guy who can contribute immediately.
Araujo IMO is the only big man who is going to contribute immediately, and it looks like most of the big guys taken around the lottery area and first round are going to be projects that require patience, with the exception of Okafor and possibly Dwight Howard. Is 12 too high for Araujo? At the moment it would seem so, but you never know what's going to happen between now and the draft. Shiek - thanks for your analysis, living in Australia I only get what's on ESPN and what's on the net in terms of prospects, analysis and mocks, etc. Casual - Ramos is impressing a lot of teams it seems, could shoot up the charts between now and the draft, no doubt.
I'd hope that if we were looking at Ramos, we'd look at Pavel closely also, and make a decision from there.
Pavel seems to be more limited offensively than Ramos, along with that gland problem he never took care of. But, then again, I'm no pro scout.
I have my doubts about Pavel. He was a good chance at being a top 5 pick last year (Toronto were reportedly very keen), but he pulled out with the intention of coming back this year as the top pick. Now there are doubts about him even going in the lottery.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Iron Shiek:</div><div class="quote_post">It is also interesting that the Sonics are bringing in CIAA standout David Young in for a workout. ... He isn't the next Flip (Shaw is also in the CIAA) but he is worth keeping an eye on.</div> Thought you might be interested in this, then: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">A lot of gym buzz late in the week focused on David Young, an unheralded player who reportedly rained shame on Kirk Snyder in a Seattle workout recently. Young, a one-time Xavier player, finished up his college career at North Carolina Central in fine fashion. Known as D.Y., he may have originally been part of the workout schedule to push other players. But after the Snyder bashing, he?s continued to climb on several NBA teams list. Already he?s had solid workouts for the Lakers, Wizards and Rockets. One GM, choosing to remain anonymous, suggested that he may be drafted between 38 and 50. There are reports that the Spurs, Pistons and Heat may all bring him in, and Seattle wants another look.</div> <font size="1">Full Story courtesy of George Rodecker and Hoops Hype.</font> That's interesting, considering Snyder had been impressing scouts all over. With picks 36 and 42, he may be a second round steal.
Haha whoever said betweem 38 and 50 is just trying to get people not to take him so that they can get him. Snyder has been said by other scouts and most people at Moody to be going 8-13.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post">Haha whoever said betweem 38 and 50 is just trying to get people not to take him so that they can get him. Snyder has been said by other scouts and most people at Moody to be going 8-13.</div> We're talking about David Young, not Kirk Snyder. I'm not that high on Snyder anyway. He seems like a player who would look better in an individual workout than he would actually look on the floor playing against 5 NBA players. He was a little more physical than everyone in the WAC, but in the NBA to play on the perimeter you need more skills than bulk. I had an opportunity to talk to Dave recently and he seems to think that he had a good chance of being drafted by the Sonics. The Sonics need depth at the two guard spot and I'm sure that Nate's brother at North Carolina Central University is pushing for Nate to draft him. I doubt that the Sonics will actually draft him though (considering that he wasn't even invited to Portsmouth or Chicago and hasn't played against top level competition) but I would be very surprised if he wasn't on someone's summer league roster (hopefully he gets the opportunity w/ the Sonics). Dependent on how he does in the summer league will decide whether or not he warrants a training camp invitation or a roster spot.
