NBA Draft Notes

With the NBA Draft coming up (okay, so it's still about two months away), I've made the rounds to dig up some stuff:

Andy Katz asked NBA Draft decision-makers some questions including who could bring some good value at the end of the first round. Sam Young's name was frequently heard.

The most popular answers to the question of which player will be a high-value late-first-round pick were Louisville senior Terrence Williams and Pitt senior Sam Young. Both players proved to be leaders this past season and could have made a claim to Big East Player of the Year, an honor shared by Young's teammate, sophomore DeJuan Blair, and Thabeet.

Meanwhile, in an earlier article, he lists Blair's decision to leave early as questionable:

DeJuan Blair, So., Pitt: Blair will go in the first round, but the questions about how much he can play above the rim will dog him in the spring. If he can be like Glen "Big Baby" Davis, then he won't disappoint. But Davis went in the second round and had to prove his value. Blair probably won't drop that far, but he may be in a similar situation wherever he lands.

If he really thinks Blair will go in the first round, not sure how questionable move it was, unless you subscribe to the theory that he could have moved up to the lottery next year.

Here's one mock draft that still has Blair and Young going in the first round.

In another, DeJuan Blair is curiously picked to join Aaron Gray and a million other big men in Chicago as the 12th overall pick.

More you say? Another has both Young and Blair in the top 25.

I saved the best for last - HoopsHype has BOTH Young and Blair going to the Chicago Bulls. With Gray, they'd have a trio of Panthers.