NBA Comparison: Jason Thompson/LaMarcus Aldridge

Strengths: A long, versatile and athletic big man, Brackins is an excellent offensive player who can score in a variety of ways … He has very solid footwork in the post, which allows him to create separation, and with his length and feel for the game he finds ways to knock down shots in different fashion … He looks comfortable facing up and pulling up from 12-15 feet … Uses his size well to shoot over opponents and can even put the ball on the floor to some degree of sucess … Uses the hopstep and spin move well to create open looks for himself … He has shown the ability to shoot from the outside with college 3 point range … He pulled in 8.5 rebounds this season, and uses his leaping abilities to help him excel in this department … Runs the floor well for a big forward …

Weaknesses: After a disappointing season in which he failed to live up to expectations, Brackins often gets labeled as being soft … Too often he settles for fadeaway shots instead of using his superior size, strength and talent to overpower opponents in one on one situations … Another weakness for Brackins is consistency. He’s a very talented offensive player, but the question remains whether he can show off that talent every time he takes the floor … His jump shot is on and off, and his shot selection at times can be in question … Tends to disappear throughout stretches of games … His offensive rebounding rate is alarmingly low… Shot 42 percent from the field, extremely low for a 6’10 player with as much talent as he has … His lack of aggresiveness and willingness to bang inside are partly to blame … Defensively, again he is not the strongest in regards to forwards his size, and he lacks the lateral quickness to defend off the dribble against more athletic forwards … At 22 years old, his upside will be looked at as limited …

Overall:  A potential lottery to mid-first round pick in the 2009 draft, Craig Brackins returned to school for his junior year, and saw his stock plummet dramatically similar to Willie Warren … He was the primary offensive threat on a weak Iowa State team, so in a year where he was the opposition’s focus, his numbers dipped across the board. Iowa State’s lack of quality guards is partially to blame for his struggles … Offensively he is extremely talented, and can score in a variety of ways …

Jonathan Wasserman 6/19/10

Strengths: A combo forward who possesses a soft touch and a natural knack for scoring the ball … He is a decent athlete, runs the floor well and has a great wingspan … Has the versatility to operate on the perimeter as well as back people down on the block … With his back to the basket he shows great patience and has a nice variety of crafty moves; he utilizes shotfakes, shows an effective turnaround jumper and a mini hook … Working out of the high post, he is a difficult matchup because of his ability to shoot and because he can put the ball on the floor … He is fairly comfortable facing up and taking defenders off the dribble and either finishing at the basket or going to his much preferred jump shot … He is the most effective when he gets into a rhythm as he is able to make all sorts of contested shots from the midrange area … His shot is such a potent weapon not only because of his great touch, but also because his release is so high and he has a natural fade making it virtually unguardable … Some have questioned his desire to rebound last year, but he has shown that he can be a very effective rebounder, averaging 9 rebounds this season … He has been asked to carry the load for his team all season, and he has proven to be a very consistent performer, scoring in double digits in all but two games … Even though his team has gone through some rough stretches, he has continued to play hard regardless of the situation…

Weaknesses: Currently he is in the hybrid forward mold, capable playing both positions, but not quite ready to play either on the next level … To become a full time post player he will need to add weight and muscle to his frame … He struggles when he takes contact, and because he gets taken out of position he has to operate off balance … He strongly prefers turning to his right shoulder (where he tends to shoot an awkward right handed turnaround), making him somewhat predictable and easy to defend on the block …On the perimeter, he settles for jumpshots, primarily because his handles aren’t good enough to allow him to get to the hoop on a consistent basis … While he is a very good midrange shooter, he needs to add range and consistency to his outside shot … His fadeaway can be very effective at times, but it can also be the reason behind many shots being left short in the second half of games … He has been sporadic from the free throw line all season, and he shoots a very underwhelming 70% … He has very long arms, but he has not shown the willingness to becomes a disruptive force on the defensive end, either by blocking shots, or by getting into the passing lanes …

Borko Popic – 8/29/2008

Borko Popic is a lead scout/contributor to NBADraft.net. Please check out his premium website / scouting service hooprospects.com, an essential tool for college coaches, and European and NBA scouts.