re: Next year LSU basketball making room

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Jordan Mickey a great college player? Wow. I never thought I was watching greatness. What would you consider guys like Walton, Sampson, Alcindor and Maravich?

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He is a great college player. Claiming otherwise is just incredibly stupid. Why would you use Hall of Fame guys as your comparison?

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Mickey will pan out in the NBA at all really

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There's always a place for very athletic guys like him in the NBA, especially if can continue to swat like does.

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I am almost certain he wouldn't go in the first round

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There are mock drafts that have him in the 1st round.

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Martin could "possibly" end up in the first round with his size and Athleticism. I just don't agree that he is finally starting to "get it" driving to the rim

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Then clearly you haven't been watching LSU basketball recently. The last few games he has been settling a lot less for jumpers and driving to the rim getting contact which is exactly what an athletic 6'10 SF/PF should be doing most of the time.

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He could be a lottery pick with some more polishing in my opinion.

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And he could be drafted in the 1st round this year, make a pay check, and get developed in the NBA rather than college. The 1st contract doesn't mean much.

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so you're saying he can not improve any aspect of his game including his post defense and back to the basket game?

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You're missing the point. The NBA doesn't care if he comes back for a 3rd year and looks ever so slightly better in post defense outside of blocking shots. He will still be a 6'7 PF that has a limited offensive game in the NBA and can leap high. It's not going to do anything to help his draft stock. He is the same TYPE (notice the word used here) of player this year as he was last year. He's not going to develop a 3 point game coming back a 3rd year, he's not going to look a lot more comfortable taking his mid range jumper all of a sudden. This is what the NBA cares about way more than anything for a guy like Mickey who is an undersized PF.

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you're just wrong on Mickey man. In no world is he getting drafted in the first round this year.

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I'm not saying he definitely will or wont, but the fact is several sites not only have them on their mock draft but IN the first round, it's certainly possible.

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he's not going to look a lot more comfortable taking his mid range jumper all of a sudden

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I agree with most of what you're saying, but don't act like he couldn't improve his already good mid range jump shot.

What improvements he can make wouldn't have a huge effect on his stock, which is the point I think you're making.

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I disagree. But in either case, what it comes down to is whether he wants to risk another year of college and not earning 2nd round/free agent money for coming back and improving his game enough to get into the first.

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You don't have to agree or disagree, the fact is it's not what the NBA is looking at anyways. He's not going to magically become shut down post defender in 1 more year, or 4 more years. He's a leaper and blocks shots, that's his defensive plus ability.

It you look at this year and last year for Mickey, he really hasn't drastically improved anything (which isn't a bad thing, because he was already very good last season) except rebounding. So there's really very little room for improvement after this year, in terms of his NBA stock. The only way he could drastically improve his NBA stock is becoming a big time threat from the mid-range or long-range. This is what NBA scouts would love to see, as he's aundersized PF. Right now he takes and makes 1-2 mid-range jump shots a game and is almost zero threat from deep. His play style hasn't changed in that aspect from last year to this year, and it wouldn't by coming back yet another year.

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The only way he could drastically improve his NBA stock is becoming a big time threat from the mid-range or long-range.

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exactly. and it's possible that it happens. He's not an awful midrange shooter as it is. I understand your position here but the fact is he COULD come back and improve and improve his draft stock.

Mickey is fun to watch and the team seems to feed off his emotion.

Everyone was surprised when JOB stayed for his junior year, so perhaps JJ can pull off a recruiting miracle and get them both to stay to help us make a run for a title next year. You never know.

As far as the rest of the roster is concerned, I would love to see Bridgewater get processed right over to the football team. There aren't a lot of 6'5" power forwards in the NBA, but there are several former college basketball players that size making a nice living in the NFL.