Draft Rumors: Napier, Age Limit, Stauskas

Tim Kawakami of Bay Area News Group disagrees with the notion that a player like Aaron Gordon of Arizona should stay longer in college to develop his game. Kawakami argues that a player can develop their skill just as well or better in the NBA, but does think that personal maturation can be a benefit of staying in school longer. Here’s more on the draft:

  • Kawakami also clarifies that the league’s proposal to raise the age limit to 20 years old would also restrict players less than two years removed from high school from entering the draft. This would truly end the one-and-done process bemoaned by many.
  • Kawakami doesn’t see the value in such a proposal, writing that depriving the NBA from an extra year of transcendent talents like Anthony Davis is too high a price to pay to get an extra year of evaluation on potential draft busts.
  • Scouts tell Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News that Michigan’s Nik Stauskas is comparable to a taller, more athletic J.J. Redick (Twitter link).
  • A panel of Basketball Insiders writers all believe tanking in the NBA is an issue.
  • A veteran NBA scout tells Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv that UConn’s Shabazz Napier is a first round talent. Napier is currently projected by both DraftExpress’s Jonathan Givony and ESPN Insider Chad Ford to go in the second round.
  • In the same article, former and current UConn coaches tell Zagoria that it isn’t fair to compare Napier to Kemba Walker, who won a championship with UConn while Napier was a freshman. 
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