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In the second part of the Celtics Town NBA Draft position rankings (see point guard rankings here), I am going to rank the top ten shooting guards. The top of this year’s shooting guard crop is very talented, but beyond the top four or five, not too many players are certain of getting drafted, never mind drafted in the first round.
It’s fun to look ahead at how players attributes project to the NBA. Certain guys on this list are built for the NBA’s pace and game. Others might see their college production be the last time they produce on a big stage, the end of their glory days.
We at Celtics Town have done the research and watched enough games to predict how these players games translate to the next level, and have written our player profiles for each of the players.
Enjoy today’s top 10 shooting guards.
10. Robert Vaden (Last year’s stats: 17.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, and 1.0 spg 34.6 3P %)
Debuting at our No. 10 spot is Robert Vaden, the sharpshooting stud out of UAB. He is an unknown player that gets limited credit because he plays in Conference USA. With that said, this dude can flat-out shoot.
He is the type of player who can catch fire with the flick of a switch. His size and strength indicate that he can be successful at what he does best at the next level. Personally, I think he would have been a tremendous player in one of the power conferences (where he was good at Indiana for two years), which would have gotten him more exposure at the national level.
I like the fact that he is 24 years old and has more maturity then most shooting guards in this draft, but most NBA draft executives find his ceiling to be rather limited due to his older age.
He scored 28 second-half points at Kentucky this season which shows me that he can perform on the big stage. Scouts will knock his poor shot selection, however I just see the fact that he played on only a decent team in a bad league.
Basically it was him trying to get on the radar of NBA scouts. Put on the right team with good coaching it seems evident to me that RV can be successful at the next level.
He is a not a guaranteed draft pick, but look for him to play well on someone’s summer league team earning him a spot on a roster. I would like to see the Knicks or Warriors somehow get their hands on him.
9. Jermaine Taylor (Last year’s stats: 26.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg, and 1.9 apg)
Jermaine Taylor is likely unknown by most casual basketball fans, but NBA Draft gurus and NBA GMs have become quite fond of the 6'4" shooting guard. Taylor is as good a scorer as there is in this draft. He slashes with the best of them but, if the defense takes away the lane, he has the ability to step out and hit the three.
Already possessing an NBA body and NBA athleticism, Taylor must improve his shot selection to become a valuable NBA contributor. Playing at Central Florida, Taylor was more or less a one-man show, but he will have to learn how to become more of a role player to succeed in the league.
8. Marcus Thornton (Last year’s stats: 21.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, and 1.6 spg 47.2% FG)
With less weight on his back than he had at LSU, Marcus Thornton should thrive on the NBA level. He played a very large role for LSU this past season but figure he will not have a similar role in the NBA. Thornton does a little bit of everything, which will make him a lucrative selection for a team in the late first round early second.
He is the type of player who can thrive in any system, as he does not lack intangibles. He is certainly not going to kill you with isolations, but if you get caught sleeping defensively he will kill you with his ability to move off the ball.
Thornton can even post; however, I do not know how many shooting guards he can post up at the NBA level. His weaknesses consist of a mediocre pull-up jump shot, scoring off of pick and rolls, and scoring through isolations off of the dribble.
He would be a good fit for a team like the San Antonio Spurs a team in desperate need of youth. He definitely possesses first-round credentials and he would be higher on my board except for the fact that he played in the weakest of the power conferences.
7. Jerel McNeal (Last year’s stats: 19.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 3.9 apg, 2.0 spg, 39.8 3P %)
I totally fell in love with McNeal prior to the 2008-2009 season and he did not let me down. He was the best player on a good Marquette team that lost in the NCAA tournament to Missouri in a tough game.
He played well this past season, picking up the slack for injured point guard Dominic James. McNeal has the ability to be a good defender in the NBA. Sometime down the road I would like to see if he can make a transition to point guard. I think he can, as he possesses good ball handling skills and is a good playmaker.
With his athleticism and wing span he could pose a serious matchup nightmare for opposing point guards. For now though, we will consider that he will be playing off guard to start his career. His ability to catch and shoot and move without the ball makes him really appealing to a team selecting in the mid second round.
Add that to the fact that he is one of the toughest players in this draft and you have the ingredients of a solid professional down the road. He does not possess any glaring weakness except for the fact that he is small for the position in the NBA.
Look for a team like the Utah Jazz to take him if he still on the board at No. 20 in the second round. I think McNeal had first round talent, however I do not think a team will take the chance on an undersized shooting guard in the first round.
6. Dionte Christmas (Last year’s stats: 19.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.5 spg, 35.2 3P %)
I like Christmas a lot, as he has grown on me a fair deal this year while he was posting good numbers at Temple. He has the ability to stretch the defense with his shooting ability but will attack the basket when necessary. He is not the type of player who tends to force anything offensively.
He plays within in the flow of the offense which should help his draft stock. Depending on how the top of the first round plays out Christmas has a chance to be selected late in the first round. He has the ability to create his own shot off the dribble; something always looked upon by NBA scouts.
Christmas has good size and good sense of how to move the ball. He is also a product of playing in a weaker league in the Atlantic 10 conference. He was probably the No. 2 player in that conference behind Xavier’s Derrick Brown.
He has a good upside if he can somehow improve his ball-handling skills and become just a little more athletic. If he did this, he would be more versatile and be able to play some point guard in addition to the shooting guard.
Could go as high as 29 to the Lakers, but do not expect him to fall any further than Portland at No. 38.
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