Paul Davis Signs Duffy as Agent

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Joe Davis said his sources in the league project Paul as a "definite" first-round pick, perhaps as high as No. 15, for the June 28 NBA draft.</div>

Hell yes he should be a first round pick! I don't understand these mocks that have him going early second. I don't care how dumb some of these GM's are, if you've got a late first round pick, Paul Davis is a steal. He won't be an All-Star or anything like that, but he'll be servicable, maybe even starter material in a few years, and seeing how hard it's become to find a good, servicable center, I don't see why he couldn't go as high as the lottery. I don't expect it, but I'd understand it if it happened.

 

Where do you think he ranks up with the rest of the centers in this draft? (Gray, O'Bryant, Armstrong, etc.)

 

If it were up to me I'd definitely take a guy like Davis over and unproven player such as Hilton Armstrong or Andrea Bargnani. Of course nobody in the NBA would do that, which I think is plain stupid.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Chutney:</div><div class="quote_post">Where do you think he ranks up with the rest of the centers in this draft? (Gray, O'Bryant, Armstrong, etc.)</div>

I'd rank him way over Hilton Armstrong, on the same level as Gray, and under Patrick O'Bryant. Out of all the centers in the draft, I'd say O'Bryant is far and away the best prospect. It's not just his height that intruiges me but also his width and his length, which Davis and Gray don't really have, and he has the touch and post moves that Armstrong lacks. If he adds some weight, he could be one of the top centers in the league in a few years. After O'Bryant though, Davis would probably be the next center on my draft board. What separates him from guys like Gray and Armstrong, among other things, is his range. He's got a really reliable midrange jumper, and he shoots like Steve Nash from the line (around 90%). He's not a beast defensively, but I don't think it's as big of a weakness as most people have been saying. Yeah, he doesn't block a lot of shots, but there's more to defense than shotblocking; Davis always holds his position on the block, and I can't really remember too many times he's been "dominated" in the post. He's held his own against some of the NCAA's best big men, winning the war on the glass against Sean May, Shelden Williams, Craig Smith, and Marco Killingsworth, among others. I also think he's got a lot more athleticism than people say he does. He's not an athletic freak, but he's mobile and coordinated and very far from the "great white stiff" the media portrays him as. Here are some pics I think might show that (pic 1, pic 2, pic 3).

 

When I always watch Illinois play MSU. Davis always does good. He can go inside and he can shoot. Plus he's got size and is pretty strong.

 

Well Paul Davis could be the next Rafael Arajulo, you never know, they had similar numbers in college.

Also, he blows at defense and is not that good of a passer, but outside of that I guess you have yourselfs a semi-legitimate center.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting houston_owns_u:</div><div class="quote_post">Well Paul Davis could be the next Rafael Arajulo, you never know, they had similar numbers in college.

Also, he blows at defense and is not that good of a passer, but outside of that I guess you have yourselfs a semi-legitimate center.</div>

Davis and Araujo had similar numbers in college, but Davis played at Michigan State, wheras Araujo played at BYU, so Davis therefore played much harder competition. He's played bigs like Sean May, Shelden Williams, Craig Smith, Marco Killingsworth, James Augustine, J.P. Batista, etc.; and he's done amazingly well against all of them, especially Shelden Williams, widely considered college basketball's best defender in the post, who Davis posted 20 points and 12 rebounds on last season.

He doesn't "blow" at defense at all either. I really think that's a misconception. His positioning is always great, and like I pointed out in my first post in this thread, he's never really had an opposing big man go off on him; he usually keeps them pretty contained. So while he may not be a defensive stopper, he's not a liability by any stretch of the imagination. You're right about his passing though. That area of his game needs improvement. Good passing is not such a vital skill for centers to possess, but it'd be really beneficial for Davis to add that to his game. As for him being a semi-legitimate center, you've got some high expectations for legitimacy if you only think Davis is semi-legit. He could probably easily make the transition from center to power forward in the NBA, but on the college level he's been a four year center, as legitimate as they come. He's got the size of a legitimate center too: 6-11, 270 lbs.