Yesterday, we brought you a recap of the Brooklyn Nets pre-draft workout, the first one of this week. While the talent on Monday featured some bigger names, the workouts on Tuesday featured 6 players coming to the facility that could be late draft steals. Of course, if all goes well.
The Nets hopes of getting a top flight talent in the 2015 NBA Draft might have gone out the window early in the season due to the Atlanta Hawks having the right to swap picks with Brooklyn. The Nets now have the 29th and 41st overall picks in the 2015 NBA draft. While the future of some big Nets pieces might be up in the air, the draft could be their chance to hopefully take a player that actually comes up huge for the team. Maybe not immediately but with proper development, a late first or mid-second round pick could help this team in the long run.
The players weren’t available to speak after their private workout but there is some intrigue league-wide around one of the prospects. The stock on the three guards that did workout today, Will Cummings out of Temple, Tyler Haws out of BYU and Marcus Thornton out of William and Mary, is not very high. In fact, they’re all ranked outside of the top 60 prospects according to NBADraft.net.
While two of the forwards that worked out today, Maurice Ndour out of Ohio and Yanick Moreira out of SMU, also aren’t ranked very high, there was one noticable big name from the workouts. LSU’s Jordan Mickey was the highlight player coming into the workouts today and might have been the biggest guy there. (Besides Brook Lopez who was present in the facility).
Mickey is projected to go in the late first round, right around where the Nets pick. CBS Sports Mock Draft has 3 different writers predicting the Nets select Rashad Vaughn, Terry Rozier and Cliff Alexander respectively, and our own Mock Draft has the Nets selecting Terry Rozier as well. Tankathon has the Nets projected to select guard R.J. Hunter out of Georgia State with the 29th overall pick. Mickey could be a good choice to come in and work with the Nets to develop his inside game, especially if both Brook Lopez and Mason Plumlee find their way out of Brooklyn.
Following on Mickey courtesy of DraftExpress.
Mickey is an undersized power forward, but plays taller than that as he possesses a 7’3 1/2” wingspan, which helps him out significantly as shotblocker (3.9 per-40, fourth among DX Top-100 prospects) and an overall defender. He can block shots on his primary man and also has the quickness and explosiveness to rotate over and block shots from a help position. While he may not emerge as a true rim protector at the next level, as he will be undersized, if he can continue to block shots he would be a useful defensive player in the right situation.
Mickey’s size could be a problem if Brooklyn does select him if Lopez and/or Plumlee leave. Two possible departing 7-footers can’t be replaced by a 6’8″ forward but he does have a good defensive game to go along with some athleticism. Mickey getting a look from the team could mean they possibly would consider him with that late first round pick, unless Brooklyn does find a way to sneak up in the draft and take one of the more coveted players.
