Ford Talks Draft: JR Smith New Lottery Guy

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J.R. Smith wows scouts at McDonalds
By Chad Ford
NBA Insider

So how weird was it watching NBA greats like Larry Bird and Pat 
Riley hanging out at a high school all-star game in Oklahoma City on 
Wednesday? 

It was inevitable that someone was going to blow up at the 
McDonald's All-American Game on Wednesday, but few would've 
predicted that J.R. Smith was going to be that guy. As many as 10 of 
the players playing in the game were seriously thinking about going 
pro. Only two -- Smith and Dwight Howard -- looked ready based on 
Wednesday's game. 

The funny thing is, Smith isn't one of the guys who's been flirting 
with the draft. He's been serious about playing at North Carolina 
all year. Based on his scintillating performance on Wednesday, do we 
have to add a 13th player to the NBA mix (two more players, Dorell 
Wright and Juan Diego Palacios, didn't play at the McDonald's game)? 
Here's the skinny on Smith. He's a 6-foot-6 two guard with a 44-inch 
vertical and one of the deepest shots I've ever seen at the high 
school level. In other words, he's got Vince Carter hops with Steve 
Kerr range. How did scouts miss the boat on that guy? 

"We've know about him," one scout said, "but with so many kids 
saying they were coming out, you tend not to focus on the ones who 
say that they'll stay in school. With that said, that kid has as 
much upside as anyone here. The NBA needs shooters and they love 
great athletes. This kid has both." 

Another scout claimed that Smith's performance was so impressive 
because you couldn't just write it off on the bad defense played at 
all-star games. "He was shooting 30 foot jumpers with a hand in his 
face every time," another scout said. "The up and down game most of 
these kids love doesn't translate into the NBA. Most teams just 
don't get up and down the floor. The shooting, on the other hand, 
always translates. Especially with the way that kid gets lift on his 
shot . . . he could come in and play right now." 

Will he join the throng? ESPN.com's Darren Rovell reported on 
Wednesday that Smith had been offered a shoe deal worth more than 
$20 million a year. Combine that with talk among scouts that Smith 
would be a surefire lottery pick if he comes out. Our guess is that 
he's in. 

What happened with the rest of these guys? Remember that many NBA 
scouts and GMs only stick around for the practice. That means that 
the game is only half the battle. 

Among the other players who helped or hurt themselves at the 
McDonald's practices and game: 

Howard won the co-MVP award along with Smith and looked very good. 
He ran the floor, crashed the boards and generally showed why he's 
competing against Emeka Okafor for the No. 1 pick in the draft. 
The much-hyped match-up between Sebastian Telfair and Shaun 
Livingston was a bust. Telfair played good defense and handed out a 
few assists, but the jumper was ugly. Scouts claim that he looked 
very good in practices, however. Livingston made some unbelievable 
passes and generally looked in control, but he scored one point and 
ended with just three assists. 

Josh Smith got mixed reviews. He showed off his unbelievable 
athleticism at his size and had the most spectacular block of the 
game. However, those airballs he was shooting didn't do much to help 
stop the rumors that he's a Darius Miles clone. 

Marvin Williams didn't do much in the game, but scouts were still 
buzzing about him in practice. It sounds like he may have moved 
himself right onto the lottery bubble. 

Another guy who looked impressive in practice was Prentiss' Al 
Jefferson. Scouts say that he's a little more polished and athletic 
than they had thought. 

I thought, for the second straight game, that Robert Swift outplayed 
the more hyped Randolph Morris. 

After LaMarcus Aldridge's so-so performance, he said it's 60-40 that 
he goes to college next season. 

Hoop Summit next 

Many of these kids are now off to San Antonio for the Nike Hoop 
Summit on Sunday. Because the hoop summit is affiliated with USA 
Basketball, the game does not count as a postseason all-star game 
and won't affect the eligibility of players still mulling over 
college. 

The American squad includes NBA draft prospects Dwight Howard, Josh 
Smith, Sebastian Telfair, LaMarcus Aldridge, J.R. Smith, Rudy Gay 
and Al Jefferson along with other top high school ballers Jordan 
Famer, Malik Hairston, and Mike Williams. 

The international squad has been weakened by visa issues and other 
commitments. The three top 2004 draft prospects, Pavel Podkolzine, 
Andris Biedrins and Ivan Chiriaev, have pulled out of the 
tournament. 

The only real prospects left are Roko Leni Ukic (Croatia), Luka 
Bogdanovic (Serbia) and Juan Diego Palacios (Columbia). Yi Jian Lian 
of China will also play. He is widely considered the top prospect in 
the 2005 draft. 

The other international hoop summit participants are Wojciech Barycz 
(Poland); Andrea Bargnani (Italy); Churchill Odia (Nigeria); Marcus 
Vinicius Vieira De Souza (Brazil); Sergio Rodriguez (Spain); and 
Michael Schroeder (Germany). 
Insider will be there to give you an in-depth report of who's 
getting the buzz from scouts. 

Who's else is hot? 

High school all-star games aren't the only things going on around 
the league. The NCAA Final Four is this weekend and the Euros are 
still playing over seas. Here's the skinny on several other guys who 
appear to be helping their stock. 
Watch Duke point guard Chris Duhon closely. Over the past month 
he's been slowly gaining support from NBA scouts who feel that they 
may have judged him too harshly after a lackluster senior season. 
Duhon, who was considered a surefire lottery pick during his first 
three seasons, fell off the map this year. However, his stellar play 
in the tournament has generated a significant amount of buzz. His 
4.8 ppg and 5.3 apg may not blow you away, but scouts love the 
toughness he's shown in leading Duke to the Final Four. 

UConn's Ben Gordon is playing himself back into the good graces of 
scouts. He's gotten enough time at the point guard position in the 
tournament that scouts are once again starting to feel comfortable 
that Gordon can make that transition in the pros. 
A less-heralded UConn guard, sophomore Rashad Anderson, is making a 
name for himself. His 18.3 ppg and his 51 percent shooting from 
behind the 3-point arc are making scouts take a serious look now. 
He's turning into one of the top shooters in college basketball. 
KU freshman guard J.R. Giddens played so well for the 
Jayhawks in the tournament that there's been some talk that Giddens 
may decide to test his draft stock. Giddens is a big-time athlete 
with a great stroke. Giddens averaged 16 ppg for the tournament. 
He's probably going to have to wait a year, but Giddens will be on 
the map big time for NBA scouts next season. 

Xavier's Lionel Chalmers was awesome in the tournament, but he 
doesn't have the size or the point guard mentality to really make a 
huge leap in the draft. He's really a two guard in a point guard's 
body. 

Finally, Latvia's Andris Biedrins impressed scouts in a juniors 
tournament in Croatia earlier this week. Biedrins posted 27 points, 
17 boards and seven blocks against France's junior team led by 
another NBA prospect, Johan Petro. 

Who's In and Out of the NBA Draft? 

Stanford's Josh Childress is going to test the NBA waters. However, 
he won't hire an agent until he's sure he'll be a lottery pick. 
According to scouts, Childress will be a likely top-10 pick. Sorry 
Cardinal fans. 

North Carolina State's Julius Hodge is mulling a jump to the NBA. 
Like many of the top prospects, he's been interviewing agents and 
trying to get a good feel on where he'll be selected. Right now he 
seems content as long as he goes in the first round. Hodge should be 
a first-round pick, but with all of the high school kids in the 
draft, there's a small risk he could slide. 

We hear that Arizona's Andre Iguodala is seriously interviewing 
agents and will likely declare for the draft. That comes as almost 
no surprise. Iguodala will likely be a lottery pick in this year's draft. 

Syracuse forward Hakim Warrick may also enter the draft and test his 
draft status. Warrick is all over the board right now, though scouts 
felt he helped himself in the tournament. 

There's talk that Utah freshman Andrew Bogut may either put his name 
in the NBA draft or sign professionally with a team in Europe. If he 
hires an agent he'll be allowed to withdraw for this draft. But if 
he loses his college eligibility he'll automatically be in the 2005 
draft (the same way Christian Drejer was forced to be in this 
draft). Right now Bogut has lots of potential, but he's not a 
surefire first-rounder at this point. He better stay in school.