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My top five High schoolers rule top of this year's NBA Draft
Updated: Wednesday June 27, 2001 1:28 AM
NBA expert Kevin Loughery joined the Sports Tonight show to discuss the NBA Draft.
Fred Hickman: Who are your top five choices for the draft? Starting with Washington, the Clippers, Hawks, Bulls and then the Warriors. And is Michael Jordan coming back or not? You are on the clock. Kevin Loughery: Michael is coming back, I think. And I would take Kwame Brown if I was Michael. He has a great NBA body. He can score inside and outside. He has fair hands, so that might be a downfall. But he's a great passer. Not many big people can handle the basketball like he can. He's young but aggressive, and he has good character. He's a good choice. Hickman: What about the young Los Angeles Clippers? Who do they take?
Loughery: They are going to add another young kid, Tyson Chandler, a high school player. He might have the best upside of anyone in the draft. He plays facing the basket even though he is 7-feet tall. He's a tremendous shot blocker, averaging eight blocks a game in high school. I think he has a chance to be an outstanding defensive player. Hickman: Then you have the Hawks. I know what I would do, what would you do? Loughery: I would do what you would do. I'm taking Shane Battier for the Hawks. He's a very good choice. He has tremendous character and he's a better shooter than he is given credit for. And how many players coming out of college that can you immediately say he's going to be an outstanding defensive player in the pros? He can take the ball to the hole. People say he might not be athletic enough to play the three-man position, but he's going to have 10-15 successful years in the NBA. Hickman: One of the hardest guys to figure is the Bulls' Jerry Krause. Which way does he go? Loughery: I think he goes with the local product coming out of high school, Eddy Curry. He has great size, maybe too much size. But he has good feet and he can score in the post. He runs the floor extremely well. His downsize is that he has always been out of condition. He was always out of condition in high school, what will he do in the pros? Secondly, he's not a good jumper. I would take Eddie Griffin from Seton Hall at that pick instead. Hickman: Let's talk about the Golden State Warriors. They are strong at power forward, but do they take another one? Loughery: I think they do. You always take the best player available. Rodney White has come out of nowhere. He looked like he was going to be a 15-20 pick. He has outside shooting ability, a tremendous body and takes the ball to the basket strong and finishes it. He had the best individual workouts of anyone in the draft. I think it's a great choice for Golden State at No. 5. Hickman: Who will be the surprises in the draft? Loughery: Well, there's White, who went from 15-20 all the way to possibly five and Vladimir Radmanovic, from Yugoslavia. He's moved tremendously up. He plays like Predrag Stojakovic with a great body, and he can rebound the basketball. He may be a top-10 pick after being a possible second-round pick. The players who are sliding are Michael Bradley of Villanova and Loren Woods of Arizona. Both are a little soft, not great bodies, but they'll still be top 15 picks. Hickman: Who is the steal of the draft? Loughery: For me, it's Jason Richardson of Michigan State. He's tough, he works extremely hard. He plays hard every night. He can score in the post and on the perimeter. He's worked so hard on his outside shooting that he's adequate outside shooter. I think whoever picks him up will have the steal of the draft.
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