Holiday is expected to stay in the draft if he can get a promise from at least one NBA team that...

Holiday is expected to stay in the draft if he can get a promise from at least one NBA team that they'd draft him in the lottery. I spoke with a number of NBA GMs and most of them have him ranked somewhere between 8 and 16 on their draft boards. A couple have him even higher and a couple have him in the early 20s.

"He's going to be really good," one NBA GM told ESPN.com. "The system that UCLA plays held him back. He's a much better prospect than what you saw this year. Once he gets into workouts with the Currys and Tyreke Evans[es] of the draft, I think you'll see him rise into the lottery. He's got a lot of physical gifts, and he's got a great basketball IQ."

Comments

More NBA stupidity

I’m amused when the WWL reports that an unnamed NBA GM says something as dumb as “the system that UCLA plays held [Jrue] back.”

It’s the same system than launched JF, AA, RW, and LRMAM. All four of those guys, especially LRMAM, are earning their money, and significant playing time based on the DEFENSE and SMART BALL POSSESSION that were the foundations of CBH’s system.

To say JH was held back by CBH’s system is absolutely ridiculous. What’s so funny is the answer is so painfully obvious, to even the most casual basketball fan.

JH was a freshman. A freshman who was Gatorade Player of the Year in a year not stocked with elite talent. Folks expected him to be like the previous Gatorade POY, our own KL, and the combination of his youth, inexperience, and unrealistic expectations is what “held back” JH.

Just more stupidity from folks who are supposed to know basketball. Then again, the NBA has given a lot of total morons a shot at running a basketball team, so really, what does a NBA GM know.

by Bellerophon on Apr 21, 2009 8:09 PM PDT reply actions

I'm not sure I would blaim the system.

However, playing as a SG certainly didn’t help his draft stock if GMs are hoping to plug him in at PG. If nothing else, it makes it a lot harder to evaluate his potential.

by cabz on Apr 25, 2009 1:52 AM PDT up reply actions