Zagsblog Takes A Look At The 2014 Draft

Adam Zagoria has examined the 2013 draft against the 2014 version and has declared that next year's draft is going to crush this years version. Zag's post has lots of good stuff pertaining to the Cats both current and future. First up is the debate about Nerlens going as the top pick which includes this bit from Jay Bilas

“And you really don’t (know). It’s not a no-brainer. It’s something you really have to think about and say, ‘Wait a minute, What’s the right thing here?’ Noel doesn’t have an offensive game and I don’t know if he’ll get it. … It’s one of those weird years where you’re going to have to find the right fit for you, not necessarily the best overall player.”

Zag compares this year's weak draft to the 2005 version which saw Andrew Bogut get picked up with the number one overall pick. He then goes on to compare next year's class to 2003 which is easily one of the top classes in NBA history. So what players are the best in next years group? A bunch of Cats of course:

2. Julius Randle – With all the hype about Wiggins, it’s easy to forget about the 6-9 Randle, a Mickey D’s All-American who headlines Kentucky’s top-ranked recruiting class.  Randle, who has been compared to a young Lamar Odom, has all the makings of a future NBA All-Star. In August 2012, Randle won the Under Armour Elite 24 Dunk Contest, and the next day he was named one of the MVPs of the Elite 24 game, where he scored 27 points and led his team to a 164-138 victory. The weekend after Thanksgiving in his senior season, Randle fractured his foot playing in a tournament and missed three months. In March, Randle returned for the TAPPS 5A playoffs and led his team to its third state title in four years.

Randle is listed as the number two pick in next year's draft but some other Cats make the Cut.

5. Andrew Harrison – The 6-5 point guard and his twin brother pledged to Kentucky in October, but Andrew could turn out to be John Calipari’s most important recruit. After all, he will be running the point next season in Lexington, deciding how the ball is allocated and dispersed among a group of star players that will include holdovers Alex Poythress, Willie Cauley-Stein and Kyle Wiltjer, and newcomers Aaron Harrison (his twin brother), Julius Randle, Marcus Lee, James Young and Dakari Johnson. “Me, as a man, I believe nobody can beat me,” Harrison said during the Jordan Brand Classic in Brooklyn.

The quote is pretty epic and will be a welcome change to have a guy ready to take on all comers after last year's debacle. When he makes the leap expect his brother to do the same

9. Aaron Harrison – A 6-5 shooting guard, Harrison will share time in a loaded backcourt at Kentucky next season that also includes incoming shooting guard James Young. We recommend a clickthrough to this story by Adam Himmelsbach of the Louisville Courier-Journal: “Aaron and Andrew don’t have other siblings, but they recently assumed the role of big brothers after their aunt, Sheryl, died in Baltimore following a long battle with cancer. After she died, the Harrison family took in her two teenage sons, Khalil and Hakeem Butler, who moved from Maryland and enrolled at Travis High School in Richmond, Texas.”

  Three guys projected in the top ten and you never know which guys can slide up into the lottery. (Ahem: Alex Poythress) With the 3-1 odds and an unbelievable team next year is going to be a lot of fun.