NBA Draft 2007 Introduction

NBA 2007 Draft Player Rankings

by George Rodecker

Welcome to Hoopville’s 2007 NBA Draft preview.

For the uninitiated, draft preview work has no off-season. It runs continuously from each draft to the next with stops at AAU tourneys, summer leagues, NBA summer camp, college basketball practices and their season of play, international basketball, and eventually through the Portsmouth, Virginia draft camp (April 4-7), the NBA Pre-Draft Camp (June 4-8), individual player workouts for teams and finally the draft itself, which this coming June 28 will take place at Madison Square Garden.

What will take place here in Hoopville will begin as a monthly look at the player rankings of all potentially eligible draftees via a ranking system that has been in place for 15 years. Along with the changes in the rankings themselves, we will attempt to let you know the why behind the changes along with some of the drama going on behind the scenes. These reports will come between and along with the posting of the player rankings.

In this initial installment we begin the march towards June with two players tied atop our leader board: Joakim Noah of Florida and Greg Oden of Ohio State University.

Each player has had high expectations placed upon him, and the NBA community is firmly of the belief that great big men come along once every 10 years or so. The 10-year drought ends with Oden, they believe and he will, barring a crippling injury, indeed be the first pick in the draft.

By June we here may have Oden No. 1, but today we are of the opinion that Noah is every bit as good a prospect. Having said that, know now that our rankings are not a mock draft of a players expected draft status, but rather a players pro potential ranking – something slightly different.

So onto the first bit of player news.

Texas freshman Kevin Durant will be a legit NBA player, but hold off on the “savior anointing”. He has tons of potential, but needs tons of work. In two recent games where we saw Durant live, he abstained from any interior play, electing to hurry three-point shots in both games. At 6-10 or so, he’s an incredible specimen, but is beyond raw. He’ll need to hit the weight room, build upper body strength and learn to mix his perimeter game with some low post activity. Only then will he substantiate his lofty rankings.

A neat thought about next June’s draft is that after the trio of low post warriors – Oden, Noah and Duke’s Josh McRoberts – this draft is wide open. So anyone can move from 7th-best point guard right smack into the lottery.

And that’s what we will be delivering to you, the inside news on why some players are getting love from the NBA, why some are not and why some should.

Stay tuned right here for the most in-depth draft coverage. We will see over 150 games live, view hundreds more on tape. We’ll be at both draft camps, private workouts and finally on draft night we’ll be center stage for the best draft coverage anywhere.