Word of Julian Wright’s decision to put his name in the NBA Draft spread quickly Monday.
NBAdraft.net lists him as a No. 9 pick of the Sacramento Kings, while draftexpress.com has him as the No. 8 pick of the Seattle SuperSonics. ESPN’s Chad Ford has Wright listed seventh in his top-100 draft possibilities. The seventh pick goes to Portland.
Here are excerpts from what some are saying:
Chad Ford, ESPN.com: “As we wrote several weeks ago, Wright would be taking a pretty significant risk by waiting another year. If he struggled to improve his consistency or his offensive prowess, scouts might quit talking about his upside and might start tearing apart his game next season. When you factor in injury, that’s a lot of risk for a guy currently ranked No. 7 on our Top 100. After Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, Wright may have the biggest upside of anyone in the draft. He also has significantly more risk than some until he develops a more consistent jump shot and finds a position.”
Gary Parrish, CBSsportsline.com: “I still believed Julian Wright. He told me he’d spend next season at Kansas, and I believed him. I knew better than to believe him, and I didn’t want to believe him. But Bill Self told me to believe him, that if I talked to him I’d believe him. So I talked to Wright, and Self was right. I believed him. So much, in fact, that I wrote a column last July lauding Wright for representing everything that was good and proper about the American basketball player. And guess what now? Wright is entering the NBA Draft. Two weeks ago he was ‘100 percent sure’ he would not enter the NBA Draft. But at a Monday press conference he stated he would indeed enter the NBA Draft. Meaning I’m 100 percent sure I’ll never again trust another talented underclassman. Never. Ever. As long as I live. I won’t get fooled again.”
draftexpress.com: “Julian has shown enough over the last two years to cement himself in the top ten of this year’s draft no matter how poor his workouts could possibly go. His combination of size, athleticism, and perimeter skills along with his great motor make him unlike any other prospect this year’s draft has to offer.”
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The ex-Jayhawks in NBA front offices (Kevin Pritchard, Portland; R.C. Buford, San Antonio; Milt Newton, Washington) cannot comment on Wright in accordance with NBA rules.
In 2006, 37 players from U.S. colleges applied for early entry into the 2006 NBA draft, 16 were chosen in the first round, and six were lottery picks. (In the NBA, 16 of 30 teams qualify for the playoffs. The other 14 teams, or teams that have acquired draft picks from those teams in trades, enter a lottery for the first selection. The lottery is weighted, the team with the worst record having the best chance to land the first pick.)
Here’s a look at how the rookie seasons of the six 2006 early entry lottery picks are going, starting with the highest selection:
2. LaMarcus Aldridge, Texas: Averages nine points and five rebounds in 22.1 minutes per game for Portland.
3. Adam Morrison, Gonzaga: Averages 11.9 points and three rebounds in 30.2 minutes per game for Charlotte.
4. Tyrus Thomas, LSU: Averages 5.2 points and 3.7 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per game for Chicago.
8. Rudy Gay, UConn: Averages 11 points and 4.5 rebounds in 27.2 minutes per game.
9. Patrick O’Bryant, Bradley: Averages 1.9 points and 1.3 rebounds in 7.4 minutes per game for Golden State. Has appeared in 16 games. Played 25 games for the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Developmental League and averaged 12 points and 9.6 rebounds.
14. Ronnie Brewer, Arkansas: Averages 4.3 points and 1.3 rebounds in 11.6 minutes per game for Utah.