[lakeshow22Participant]

Why has Shabazz Muhammad draft stock fallen on some sites(including this one) when hes played pretty well all year yet guys like Anthony Bennett who has struggled in conference play yet his stock is rising and also Marcus Smart has played well these last couple of games but overall hasn’t played great and his stock has been rising.

How Can Bradley Beal and Dion Waiters go 3 and 4 in a “strong draft” Yet Shabazz Muhammad is 5-6th pick in a “weak draft”?

How Good do you see Shabazz being in the NBA? whats his potential and upside?

[bigtymer32Participant]

the only reason shabazz’s stock is a little down is because high expectations. when your ranked as the best player out of high school the hype is high.just like what happened with harrison barnes. anthony bennet and marcus smart weren’t expected to do much this year (like beal and waiters) but played better than scouts expected so there stock has risen. shabazz will be a top 5 pick.he can change a losing team around with his high energy alone.after workouts he will have a much higher stock.

[lakeshow22Participant]

Something ive wondered is what has happened to his athleticism? Watching highlights of him in high school he dunked on everyone and everything and just looked a lot more explosive then he looks now. Alot of his dunks this season just don’t look as explosive as he was in high school, does someone know why?

[HotSnotParticipant]

Bazz relied on being thin and agile highschool. His conditioning came from playing ball and practice. I really doubt he lifted weights at all. After being injured and coming into the college season overweight, he seems to be under the impression that things will go back to “normal” if he put himself on a strict diet and played his way back. So even if Bazz loses all the weight, he still needs his muscle tone, ligament + tendon strength and flexibility back… and do it on a caloric deficit. He will need to use muscle memory to mimic the timing and force of his jumps to pre-weight gain and injury form. Anyone will tell you that when you put on as little as 5-10 pounds, you dont feel the same. You move a bit slower and your timing feels off. Its a big adjustment. 10 pounds on a 200 pound player requires more then the 5% power increase the math says you would need. Thats if your injury free and in good shape. Bazz gained much more then 5-10 pounds and since bazz doesn’t lift heavy weights (to speed up this process), his basketball muscle tone can only increase by bodyweight exercises… like explosvie jumps and core work. Trying to regain athleticism that took a life time to peak at in highschool after being injury free most of your life is EXTREMELY hard. It takes awhile…mostly because you dont remember what you were doing before. You forget quickly what it took. Your memory makes it seem easier then it was.

Shawn Livingston recently said that his doctors have told him there’s nothing holding him back from being just as athletic as he was preinjury… he’s just got to “let it go”. What I think they mean by that is there’s a point when your really trying to jump hard that your knee’s feel like they give out a tiny bit. Its not a pain, its an uncertainty. This is alarming so you instinctively hold back just enough to feel confident. Other then technique, this is the hardest thing to fight through. You basically need to say screw it, if something breaks, it breaks and jump through it.

When your at the top, its pretty easy to maintain… but getting back there can be a bitch.

[hotrod_matthews]

People dont understand that college puts a chain on stars game. Kobe,Lebron,Tmac wouldnt have been great college playrts but they were studs in the NBA. This mock draft is overrated. Shabazz is the best playet in the country hands down.

[alingeParticipant]

What like it put a chain on the game of Durant, Paul, Wade, Davis, Rose, Griffin etc, they were all pretty good in college. Kobe and Lebron would have succeeded in college they were clearly superior talents who have would succeeded anywhere.

[Ghost01Participant]

He don’t pass. Like ever. His team won, and he cried about it because he didn’t get the ball. He appears to be what you would call a “selfish player”.

[alex23Participant]

after workouts and stuff he should be a top three pick again

[DolanCareParticipant]

Yea. Once we get closer to the draft, I’m confident his stock will rise again. His physical tools and scoring ability is too hard to ignore. He could go number 1 depending on the team that wins the lottery. A team that is struggling with culture, (i.e. the Kings), should probably pass on Bazz. Bazz needs leadership already in place so he doesn’t indulge his ball hog instinct.

[cuseflynn10Participant]

I don’t see him falling out of the top 5 unless he really shows that he’s too selfish of a player or if he doesn’t impress in workouts. A GM will pick Bazz top 5, based on potential alone, because you don’t pass up on him, and risk him becoming a superstar which would make your prospect analysis and drafting skills look weak and undesirable to the owner.

With SG being the weakest position in the NBA in my opinion, I don’t see how he won’t be taken top 5. I think the top prospects are McLemore, Noel (depending on how he recovers), Bazz, Zeller, and Bennett in that order. Smart comes in at a close 6.

[HotSnotParticipant]

Passing on a guy who’s falling is much easier to get away with then taking one too early.

When you pass on a guy other GM’s passed on you all look dumb together.

When you take a player too early, everyone else can point fingers and claim they wouldn’t have made that pick.

[esperanzafleet69Participant]

You can’t be serious. You take the best talent available no matter what. drummonds combine stats were nuts and he wasn’t great in college. look at the pistons now with Monroe after he got passed on.. knight, who got passed on.. and now drummond, who also fell from his PLAY in college. Teams need to get talent evaluators that do their job properly. I guess I’m trying to say that college basketball is a lot different than the nba.. the 3pt line in the NBA spreads the floor so much more than in college which changes spacing a lot.

[Beard13Participant]

I’m hoping my magic take a look at muhammad. people who i have talked with want the magic men to take smart. But i think orlando needs that go to scorer who can score in a variety of ways especially when the game is close.

[SgtMcSquigglesParticipant]

He is dropping because outside of scoring Bazz has played terribly.

[HotSnotParticipant]

Bazz brings one NBA caliber trait to the table… scoring inside the 3 point line but he will struggle with efficiency if he can’t get to the line. His handles, 3 point shot, rebounding, defense, passing and athletic ability are all average imo. He’s physically strong on the college level but that advantage will be gone in the NBA.

If we look at the sheer number of NBA players who are excellent scorers but can’t get off an NBA bench… what’s to get excited about? If Bazz is drafted by a team with a defensive minded coach, he might barely see the floor in his rookie year. I have a feeling that Bazz will struggle to find an identity in the NBA. He needs something to hang his hat on and atm I’m not sure what role that will be.

Is Bazz the type of player who starts his rookie year with a green light? If not, what’s his role?

[phila9012Participant]

the situation determines a lot for a player. Jeremy lamb could be scoring 10 to 15 points for someone, but he is stuck on the thunders bench and in the NBDL. If derrick williams was able to play the Power forward for someone he would be in a lot better situation, and he has played decent when kevin love is out.

[Chilbert arenasParticipant]

I have noticed the same thing in terms of his athletic ability, yesterday he had what was a perfect opprotunity to have a big dunk in the half court and he shyed away from it and hasn’t seemed nearly as explosive as he did in high school.

[llperez]

he’s playing fine. I dont know whats up with all the negativity. Hes not perfect and has to be more unselfish, but the defense aint that terrible. Hes getting just over 5 boards a night which for a wing is just fine. Hes shooting well from deep at over 40% and shows good range and mechanics. And he is leading ucla back to the ncaa tounrmanet after they werent close to making it last season. People act like dropping 18-19 a game is easy. As for the selfish attitude last week where he demanded the ball and sulked after his teammate made th ewinner, that was the only time he has done anything like that all season and his teammates seem to like him out there.

[SgtMcSquigglesParticipant]

He is a mediocre rebounder with 6.5 rebounds per 40 minutes, and is a completely awful defender with .8 steals and .1 blocks per 40 minutes. His only good trait is his scoring, and even then he is not incredibly efficient. There is not one reason for Bazz to be drafted ahead of Oladipo.

[llperez]

you can not possibly be saying completely awfule defender based on stats. That is just ridiculous.

And scoring in a varitey of ways to the point you can be a go to player in the nba is unique. Add that to go with his level of confidence and work eithec which are unquestioned and you have more then a few things going for you then just points.

[SgtMcSquigglesParticipant]

If you can quantify his confidence and work ethic then I will acknowledge that argument, and how else would you go about quantifying a player’s defense? Genuinely curious if there are advanced stats for defense other than the “eye test”.

[llperez]

Watch the guy play. His defense needs work but it’s far from awful. No one is abusing him out there. Just using stats only works if we are talking about his fantasy value. Iverson got tons of steals and was one of rhe worst defensive guards in the NBA.

[omphalosParticipant]

I was literally just about to make a topic regarding Bazz and people sleeping on him. I think he’d the best player in this draft class, that in the right situation (Charlotte) he’ll blossom into a star and make a lot of people foolish. Every game I’ve watched him the guy has delivered in the clutch when called upon, including a four-point play to cap of a series of made jumpers against Stanford yesterday. He will be an elite shooter, he gets almost perfect elevation every time he shoots it, and his stroke is pure. Plus, he already has an elite ability to move off the ball and use screens etc. to get free, something a lot of SGs lack.

However, as I typs this, I know the vast majority of people will disagree with me and having gone through this all last year with Davis/Drummond, I’m going to just wait until I’m vindicated.

But this is just me saying early that Bazz will be best player in this class.

[HaleParticipant]

I’m with you 100%.

[laarethekingsParticipant]

He’s dropping because he’s being over scouted. People love to ” Knock ” guys on their game when they should be also be giving reasons why he was once the number 1 player in high school and a very good college player.

1. The guy can score the basketball with the best of them. 46% in Ucla system is great. Howland has let them run more this year but not as much as any Ucla fan would like. He’s also 42% from 3, Avg about 3 apts a game. So the kid can make open shots.

2. He has a NBA body. Could see him playing some 3 in the league. Plays his ass off. And has the drive to be a winner . You can see he wants to be ” The Man “.

3. Because of Howland he hasn’t had huge ” moment type ” games. Howland will stick to his Sub packages no mater what.

What he needs to work on.

1. Needs a better right hand game. Also needs to get better at handling the b ball. Shot could get better.

2. Needs to know that being The Man means being a good teammate which he is, but looks bad when your not happy about your team winning cause you didn’t take the winning shot

[BigChamp12Participant]

Bazz will be a top 5 regardless… The mocks are exactly that, JUST MOCKS. Shabazz is playing good. He’s been playing good the whole year. People complain he doesn’t get steals, he doesnt get assists. So what, I never thought he would do any of those things. He does what he’s always done. He scores effectively and consistently. And it’s easy. He’s a guard shooting a very high percentage, knows how to score in many ways and not afraid to finish inside. Plus his IQ is very high, curls off of screens very decisively without needing much room to get off good shots. He’ll be top 5

[FearTheStacheParticipant]

I think Shabazz will easily be the best player out of this draft. However, I think the real reason he has dropped so much is because he clearly picked the wrong school. UCLA was not the place for him. If he had picked a better school that would have had a strong head coach, and would implement him as the #1 option, then he would definitely be #1 on all mocks. As the best player on his team by far, Shabazz should be touching the ball on most possessions. Unfortunately, he gets a minority of the possessions and plays are rarely drawn for him.

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