First Round Pick No.10 – Brook Lopez
First Round Pick No.21 – Ryan Anderson
Second Round Pick No.39 – Chris Douglas-Roberts
The Nets had an excellent draft day in both their selections and their trades. One of the big winners.
Brook Lopez was a very nice pick and #10. At 7-1 with a 7-5 wingspan he brings serious size into the paint and isn’t afraid to use it. At Stanford he proved himself to be a very capable low post scorer, dropping 19ppg and has a good face up game. He’s also a quality rebounder bringing down 8rpg in 30 minutes while playing next to his fellow 7 footer brother Robin Lopez. He’s a very intelligent player who plays with good composure. On the downside he isn’t the quickest and he hasn’t shown much defensively, instead relying on his brother for the dirty defensive work. While being a legit 7 footer and possessing a good post game you’d think he’d be a very efficient scorer but that wasn’t so in college as he shot only 46% from the field. These flaws are the reason he dropped. By all accounts he’s a hard worker who wants to compete so he could develop nicely. Not sure if he’ll ever be a star but 7 footers who can score in the low post are always good.
I heard a good comparison for Ryan Anderson the other day – Austin Croshere. He’s a 6-10, 240lb, power forward with a good inside-outside (mostly outside) game. He rebounds the ball very well and he’s an intelligent player. He’s a solid prospect as a good role player who was expected 5-10 picks lower. The concerns are defense, lack of NBA level athleticism, shot creation and toughness.
I don’t really understand the Anderson selection considering they just traded for Yi and also have Krstic, Lopez, Sean Williams, Josh Boone knocking around. Decent player but I don’t see the need.
The Nets won the Chris Douglas-Roberts stakes as he was in free fall through the draft falling all the way down to #39 despite many believing him to be one of the top options 20 picks higher. CDR is a huge coup for the Nets. This is very simple – Smart varied efficient scorers make good NBA players. Don’t be surprised to see CDR start next season for the suddenly thin on the wings New Jersey Nets and he’ll be a good role player for a long time in the League and possibly more.
Conclusion: One of the big winners on draft night. Brook Lopez was an excellent pick and CDR was one of the steals of the draft. Ryan Anderson should be a solid pickup but I’m less sure there.
