No. 3 Draft Pick: Joel Embiid
Position: Center
Team(s): Philadelphia 76ers
First Take: From all that was being talked about Andrew Wiggins attending Kansas, I never knew who Joel Embiid was until the season started. After that, I could tell this was the player that many would say was "a man among boys" or "the shark of the pond" is another way to say it. Pretty much, Embiid looks and plays like he is going to be the NBA's next big man on the scene. And why not? He's a true seven footer and weighs a solid 250 lbs. Along with that is his ability to be able to get to the basket, grab rebounds, send shot after shot back, slam that ball through the rim, and dominate on the physical standpoint. It still shocks me (for some reason) that he was a five star recruit because I never heard him being talked about, and I would have thought that a kid from Cameroon that was playing in Florida who showed skills similar to that of Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon and Tim Duncan would have grabbed some of the national spotlight away from players like Wiggins and Parker. I guess that's what happens when you've only been playing this sport for just four (that's right 4!) years. But eventually, Embiid would come to overshadow them some once college began. Joel committed to Kansas in 2012 and arrived on campus with the nation top recruit Andrew Wiggins and another five star recruit named Wayne Seldon Jr. ready for the 2013-14 season. Once Embiid stepped onto the court for the Jayhawks, he showed his style and skills were very unique. Although Embiid's numbers were not "insane", Joel was still impressive as was able to average 11.2 points/game, 8.1 rebounds/game, and 2.6 blocks/game while playing about 23 minutes/game in 28 games. And like I said, they may not be outrageous, but they are pretty good for a guy whose team had a lot of talent to share the ball around too. Along side Wiggins and Perry Ellis, he helped the team get to the tournament, but was unable to play as he had developed a stress fracture in his back which took him out of commission long enough to see eventually see Kansas lose in tournament.
NBA: Once Joel Embiid had declared for the draft, the talk started about whether or not Embiid was healthy enough to draft at No. 1 or not. After all, many believed that Cleveland would still draft former Kentucky and current 76ers teammate center Nerlens Noel after he had torn his ACL during the season, only to eventually fall to No. 6 in the draft by New Orleans Pelicans and then be traded to Philadelphia 76ers. Which may explain why the 76ers went ahead and drafted Embiid at No. 3 anyways. They sat and waited on Noel for a season in order to allow him to recover and come back at full strength, so why not do so for this big man as well? Also, Embiid's injury is not as severe as Noel's torn ACL was and he could maybe even see time this season. However, I feel that he will just sit out the season and wait his time until he is strong and healthy enough to return back to the court. I think the city is primed to see what he can do. Also something to consider is that Embiid went to Kansas and is playing in Philly. The last guy that did that was a certain Hall of Fame center and one of the most dominant players in NBA history named Wilt Chamberlain (I do dare to say it).
For the Philadelphia 76ers, life has been pretty harsh since I would say drafting the future Hall of Fame guard Allen Iverson. In acquiring Noel from New Orleans, the team gave up their top player in point guard Jrue Holiday. Even though Embiid does not look like he will be playing at all this year, the team has acquired some good talent to surround him with in big man Nerlens Noel, guard Michael Carter-Williams, guard Tony Wroten, guard Alexey Shved, and fellow Cameroonian Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.
So far, Embiid has not played a single game and probably will not at all this season. Especially since the 76ers have played through 15 games thus far and have lost every single one of them. So because he hasn't played a game yet, there is not any way to be able to tell just what his NBA skills look like and if he will become better with time or not. But one can always guess and mine is that he will eventually become one of the focal points on the team as far as leadership and domination go, along side Carter-Williams of course. So here is to the hope that next season will be a turn around point for Philly when "The Nightmare of Cameroon" hits the court and throws that ball down everyone's throats.
No. 4 Draft Pick: Aaron Gordon
Position: Power Forward
Team(s): Orlando Magic
First Take: When I first saw Aaron Gordon, it after seeing he was ranked as one of the Top five recruits coming out of high school. I looked up his highlights on YouTube and felt my jaw drop after watching him go to work on the court. This 6'9" forward from California was rocking the nation in high school with his ability to play with such a fierce and competitive nature. In his highlights, Gordon showed two outstanding key points in his game: rebounding and blocking shots. A lot of thanks have to go to the deadly combination of his 39-inch vertical leap, 32-inch standing vertical, and the 7'0" wingspan which has allowed him to play so far above and beyond the rim that any missed shot would be his and any shot taken is more than likely sailing back or into the crowd. It almost seems as though he may not have that much competition that will be able to fly in the clouds with him, as he might even have the potential to be the next Superman of the NBA. Keep in mind as well that he also has an ability to hit jumpers all around the court and an occasional long range ball every now and then. Before hitting the college scene, Gordon was able to play with Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins, and other top recruits from across the country in the McDonald's All-American Game in Chicago, IL. Like probably every Illinoisans, I thought that our Chicago native local boy Parker would be the MVP of the game. But by the end, even I had to agree that Gordon stood, jumped, dunked, blocked, rebounded, and so on unlike anyone else had. Truly, Aaron Gordon is one of these very gifted athletes that helped to bolster what was already a strong recruiting list. As the No. 4 recruit in the country (ironic huh?), Gordon eventually made his commitment to the Arizona Wildcats. Once there, Gordon sent those NCAA Tourney chills down the Wildcats' spines. In his freshman and only season of college basketball, Gordon averaged 12.4 points/game, 8.0 rebounds/game, and almost 1.0 blocks/game to help junior guards Nick Johnson and T.J. McConnell, sophomore forward Brandon Ashley, and sophomore center Kaleb Tarczewski get the Wildcats to a 33-5 record and earning the #1 seed in the Western Regional. They made it all the way to the Elite Eight, where they eventually lost to the #2 seed Wisconsin Badgers by a mere one point.
NBA: When Aaron Gordon declared for the 2014 NBA Draft, there were a few experts that saw him being the No.1 overall pick, but for the most part was being looked at as going somewhere as high as No. 3 to possibly as low as No. 10 even. Lucky for him, Gordon did not have to wait very long as he was drafted by the Orlando Magic with the No. 4 overall pick. I could only imagine the excitement and joy that fans must have had after hearing he was the pick. And who could blame them? Aaron Gordon is bringing that sense of big man defense that they have not seen since they drafted current Houston Rockets' center Dwight Howard out of high school, who also like Gordon, had been drafted in order to bring back that something that they had not had since drafting Shaquille O'Neal. Since the draft, experts have been saying that we should expect Aaron Gordon to probably develop into a showtime dunk machine like Los Angeles Clippers' forward Blake Griffin or Denver Nuggets' forward Kenneth Faried, but with a bit more defense to his game.
For a couple years now, the Magic have been struggling to place a team on the court that could be viewed with a serious face as competitive. It was mostly due to the fact that they had lost Dwight Howard, who was their best player and had lost all desire to want to play for the team after the 2011-12 NBA season. Regardless of whatever happened in the past, this Orlando Magic squad looks primed to be the critical factor in the organization's rebuilding process, despite the fact that the roster is considered to be made up of simple "role players". Along with Gordon, the team consist of impact players like rising star center Nikola Vucevic, forward Tobias Harris, surprising guard Evan Fournier, complete package guard Victor Oladipo, forward Channing Frye, and rookie guard Elfrid Payton.
At this point, the Magic 19 games into the season, Aaron Gordon has only played in 11 of them. And when I say played, I mean that is all he has done. So far this season, Gordon has not started a single game yet for the team which probably explains why his stats are so low (seen below) as well as why he has not grabbed the rookie limelight like I thought he would. As dominant as he was in high school and college, I thought Gordon would have been in the staring five at the start of the season with 10-12 points/game, around 12 rebounds/game, and at least 1 block/game. But for coming off the bench, I'd say he's doing... well not good honestly. If one thing does impress me, it's that he is keeping all his shooting percentage in field goal, three point, and free throw 50% or above. But just knowing and seeing his ability to play the game, if Aaron Gordon can bring that on the court whether he is starting or coming off the bench, he could ultimately reach those statistics. The way I see it, Gordon could become one of three types of forwards: dunkin' Blake Griffin, low post warrior Taj Gibson, or current range shooting teammate Channing Frye. However, there is that seemingly impossible fourth type: all three in one player.
NBA: Once Joel Embiid had declared for the draft, the talk started about whether or not Embiid was healthy enough to draft at No. 1 or not. After all, many believed that Cleveland would still draft former Kentucky and current 76ers teammate center Nerlens Noel after he had torn his ACL during the season, only to eventually fall to No. 6 in the draft by New Orleans Pelicans and then be traded to Philadelphia 76ers. Which may explain why the 76ers went ahead and drafted Embiid at No. 3 anyways. They sat and waited on Noel for a season in order to allow him to recover and come back at full strength, so why not do so for this big man as well? Also, Embiid's injury is not as severe as Noel's torn ACL was and he could maybe even see time this season. However, I feel that he will just sit out the season and wait his time until he is strong and healthy enough to return back to the court. I think the city is primed to see what he can do. Also something to consider is that Embiid went to Kansas and is playing in Philly. The last guy that did that was a certain Hall of Fame center and one of the most dominant players in NBA history named Wilt Chamberlain (I do dare to say it).
For the Philadelphia 76ers, life has been pretty harsh since I would say drafting the future Hall of Fame guard Allen Iverson. In acquiring Noel from New Orleans, the team gave up their top player in point guard Jrue Holiday. Even though Embiid does not look like he will be playing at all this year, the team has acquired some good talent to surround him with in big man Nerlens Noel, guard Michael Carter-Williams, guard Tony Wroten, guard Alexey Shved, and fellow Cameroonian Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.
So far, Embiid has not played a single game and probably will not at all this season. Especially since the 76ers have played through 15 games thus far and have lost every single one of them. So because he hasn't played a game yet, there is not any way to be able to tell just what his NBA skills look like and if he will become better with time or not. But one can always guess and mine is that he will eventually become one of the focal points on the team as far as leadership and domination go, along side Carter-Williams of course. So here is to the hope that next season will be a turn around point for Philly when "The Nightmare of Cameroon" hits the court and throws that ball down everyone's throats.
Position: Power Forward
Team(s): Orlando Magic
First Take: When I first saw Aaron Gordon, it after seeing he was ranked as one of the Top five recruits coming out of high school. I looked up his highlights on YouTube and felt my jaw drop after watching him go to work on the court. This 6'9" forward from California was rocking the nation in high school with his ability to play with such a fierce and competitive nature. In his highlights, Gordon showed two outstanding key points in his game: rebounding and blocking shots. A lot of thanks have to go to the deadly combination of his 39-inch vertical leap, 32-inch standing vertical, and the 7'0" wingspan which has allowed him to play so far above and beyond the rim that any missed shot would be his and any shot taken is more than likely sailing back or into the crowd. It almost seems as though he may not have that much competition that will be able to fly in the clouds with him, as he might even have the potential to be the next Superman of the NBA. Keep in mind as well that he also has an ability to hit jumpers all around the court and an occasional long range ball every now and then. Before hitting the college scene, Gordon was able to play with Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins, and other top recruits from across the country in the McDonald's All-American Game in Chicago, IL. Like probably every Illinoisans, I thought that our Chicago native local boy Parker would be the MVP of the game. But by the end, even I had to agree that Gordon stood, jumped, dunked, blocked, rebounded, and so on unlike anyone else had. Truly, Aaron Gordon is one of these very gifted athletes that helped to bolster what was already a strong recruiting list. As the No. 4 recruit in the country (ironic huh?), Gordon eventually made his commitment to the Arizona Wildcats. Once there, Gordon sent those NCAA Tourney chills down the Wildcats' spines. In his freshman and only season of college basketball, Gordon averaged 12.4 points/game, 8.0 rebounds/game, and almost 1.0 blocks/game to help junior guards Nick Johnson and T.J. McConnell, sophomore forward Brandon Ashley, and sophomore center Kaleb Tarczewski get the Wildcats to a 33-5 record and earning the #1 seed in the Western Regional. They made it all the way to the Elite Eight, where they eventually lost to the #2 seed Wisconsin Badgers by a mere one point.
NBA: When Aaron Gordon declared for the 2014 NBA Draft, there were a few experts that saw him being the No.1 overall pick, but for the most part was being looked at as going somewhere as high as No. 3 to possibly as low as No. 10 even. Lucky for him, Gordon did not have to wait very long as he was drafted by the Orlando Magic with the No. 4 overall pick. I could only imagine the excitement and joy that fans must have had after hearing he was the pick. And who could blame them? Aaron Gordon is bringing that sense of big man defense that they have not seen since they drafted current Houston Rockets' center Dwight Howard out of high school, who also like Gordon, had been drafted in order to bring back that something that they had not had since drafting Shaquille O'Neal. Since the draft, experts have been saying that we should expect Aaron Gordon to probably develop into a showtime dunk machine like Los Angeles Clippers' forward Blake Griffin or Denver Nuggets' forward Kenneth Faried, but with a bit more defense to his game.
For a couple years now, the Magic have been struggling to place a team on the court that could be viewed with a serious face as competitive. It was mostly due to the fact that they had lost Dwight Howard, who was their best player and had lost all desire to want to play for the team after the 2011-12 NBA season. Regardless of whatever happened in the past, this Orlando Magic squad looks primed to be the critical factor in the organization's rebuilding process, despite the fact that the roster is considered to be made up of simple "role players". Along with Gordon, the team consist of impact players like rising star center Nikola Vucevic, forward Tobias Harris, surprising guard Evan Fournier, complete package guard Victor Oladipo, forward Channing Frye, and rookie guard Elfrid Payton.
At this point, the Magic 19 games into the season, Aaron Gordon has only played in 11 of them. And when I say played, I mean that is all he has done. So far this season, Gordon has not started a single game yet for the team which probably explains why his stats are so low (seen below) as well as why he has not grabbed the rookie limelight like I thought he would. As dominant as he was in high school and college, I thought Gordon would have been in the staring five at the start of the season with 10-12 points/game, around 12 rebounds/game, and at least 1 block/game. But for coming off the bench, I'd say he's doing... well not good honestly. If one thing does impress me, it's that he is keeping all his shooting percentage in field goal, three point, and free throw 50% or above. But just knowing and seeing his ability to play the game, if Aaron Gordon can bring that on the court whether he is starting or coming off the bench, he could ultimately reach those statistics. The way I see it, Gordon could become one of three types of forwards: dunkin' Blake Griffin, low post warrior Taj Gibson, or current range shooting teammate Channing Frye. However, there is that seemingly impossible fourth type: all three in one player.
Aaron Gordon's Current Stats: 11 Games Played
Minutes/Game- 15.0
Points/Game- 5.8
Rebounds/Game- 3.0
Assists/Game- 0.6
Blocks/Game- 0.5
Turnovers/Game- 1.0
Field Goal %- .581
3 Point %- .500
Free Throw %- .667
{More rookies will be coming soon over my next posts}
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