Heading into the pre-Draft camp in Chicago, it has been widely accepted that John Wall and Evan Turner would be announced as the first and second picks in the 2010 NBA Draft on June 24 in Madison Square Garden. But with the official measurements in from the combine, more scouts are beginning to think that the Philadelphia 76ers may select Georgia Tech power forward Derrick Favors with the second overall pick.
Unless something drastic occurs in the next month, it seems that John Wall will, in fact, be a Washington Wizard next season. Even ignoring the internal leak via Facebook, Wall’s performance in Chicago lived up to all of the expectations. His 6 foot 9.25 inch wingspan, 196 pound NBA-ready frame, and performance in the drills pretty much cemented his position as the best overall prospect.
So now the Wall/Turner debate has become the Turner/Favors debate for Philadelphia.
Naturally, a big part of the decision will be the opinion of newly hired head coach Doug Collins. Collins is a proven winner with over 300 career coaching victories and was the 76ers first overall pick in 1973 as a player. Turner, the 2010 National Player of the Year, certainly had a better collegiate season than Favors, but would he be the best fit in Philadelphia?
Turner played all five positions on the floor in college, but his size and skill set at the next level place him between the 2 and 3 positions. While tremendously gifted offensively, one of Turner’s few weaknesses is the presence of a reliable outside shot. Relying on slashing and making plays near the rim would create a crowded court for Philadelphia with Andre Iguodala already on the floor.
But Favors presents a chance for Philadelphia to improve themselves on both ends of the floor without taking touches from their superstar. His measurements in Chicago (6-8 ¾ without shoes, 7-4 wingspan, 9-2 standing reach) are comparable to that of Dwight Howard, a fact that DraftExpress’s Jonathan Givony suggests show the potential to eventually slide to the center position and give him fantastic size as a power forward.
The 29 year-old Samuel Dalembert is a potential double-double every night out, but has likely already peaked and is on the backside of his career while Elton Brand continues to gobble up cap space like a fat kid at Golden Corral (Brand made $14,918.14 per point across 76 games in 2010). Favors could join second-year up and comer Marreese Speights to anchor a fresher, younger front court for the 76ers.
Favors’ size, lateral quickness, and defensive fundamentals will give him the opportunity to make an immediate impact for a team on one end of the floor, but his offensive production has been where many of the questions have been directed.
It’s not that scouts don’t believe he can reach a point of offensive dominance, he is just unproven. In his only year at Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets struggled mightily to get offense going in the half court and relied on the offensive rebounding abilities of Favors and Gani Lawal to clean up broken plays. While Favors’ finishing was certainly noticed, scouts continue to doubt his abilities to create for himself in the post.
The fact that Favors has come so far on basketball instincts may reflect in his college production, but it leaves infinite upside for the future. The Philadelphia 76ers may prefer to have a proven producer and select Turner, but I believe that the opportunity to pair Favors’ natural talent with a legendary coach like Doug Collins will be one that GM Ed Stefanski will find difficult to pass up.
