NBA Draft 2012: 7 Players Not Ready for the NBA

Every year, the NBA draft produces players who clearly are not ready to play in the league.    

Some are European players thrown into the league and expected to thrive; some are no-name college players who made a mistake in leaving too early; and some have been well-known college athletes who don't live up to the hype.  

This 2012 draft, while it is one of the deepest in recent memory, has its fair share of players who simply aren't ready for the NBA. 

Here are my top seven draft prospects who are not ready for the pros.  

Marquis Teague, PG Kentucky

While Marquis Teague possesses great athleticism similar to his brother Jeff (Atlanta Hawks PG), the rest of his game is too unimpressive to believe he will excel at the next level.  Don't expect Marquis to have the kind of success Jeff has had in the league.  Marquis is smaller, slower, and has a questionable jump shot.   

Granted, he's only spent one year at Kentucky, so I expect his skills to dramatically improve. But why enter the draft only to be stuck at the end of a bench or, more realistically, spend the year in the D-League instead of becoming a star at Kentucky, one of the greatest college basketball programs in then country?

Teague will surely be drafted in the first round, probably due to the fact he played for Kentucky more than anything.  But don't expect big things if your team selects him, he's going to take a few years to become an asset to an NBA squad.

Kendall Marshal, PG North Carolina

Ever since Kendall Marshall was a freshman at UNC, he displayed a remarkable level of basketball IQ and passing skills.  Nobody questions those assets and his ability to transfer them successfully to NBA courts.

What people are questioning, and rightfully so, is Marshall's lack of athleticism, his shaky jump shot, and his poor ability to score points.  As a sophomore, Marshall averaged just 8.1 points per game—a small improvement from the 6.2 he averaged as a freshman.  Marshall's playmaking abilities (9.8 assists per game last season) rival the early years of Rajon Rondo. However, the 6'4" point guard is considerably slower, less athletic, and less creative with the basketball than Rondo was.  

Another year at UNC spent honing his jump shot and improving his lateral quickness would greatly improve Marshall's draft stock.  

Jeremy Lamb, SG Connecticut

Sure Jeremy Lamb has tremendous length, good athleticism, and a decent jump shot (shot 33.6 percent from beyond the arc last season).  But I have questions about his toughness and confidence.

Lamb is rail-thin and that has led him to settle for jump shots and floaters (3.6 free throw attempts per game), rather than utilizing his jumping ability and attacking the rim with force.  If he's timid to enter the lane against Big East big men, how will he fare in the NBA when Dwight Howard and Tyson Chandler will be waiting at the rim?  

His lack of size and strength will also be a big factor on the defensive end.  At 6'5", Lamb has adequate size for a shooting guard, but his 180-pound frame will allow bigger guards to punish him on the block.  

If Lamb can gain a significant amount of strength and weight, and learn not to fade into the background in physical games, he could succeed in the NBA.  But right now, Lamb just doesn't seem ready for that type of competition.   

Festus Ezeli, C Vanderbilt

This selection is by no means due to physical attributes.  Festus Ezeli has one of the most NBA-ready bodies in this draft.  No, this selection stems from Ezeli's raw offensive game and the lack of confidence shown in him at Vanderbilt.  

In his four years at Vandy, Ezeli never played more than 24 minutes per game.  That number raises some questions as to why.  If he can't be trusted to play more than half of a game in college, how will be make it in the NBA?

His lack of playing time was most likely due to his suspect offensive game.  Ezeli averaged just 10 points per game as a senior.  That number should have never been that low for someone who is as physically gifted as Ezeli.    

I know what you're thinking: this guys must be a defensive workhorse.  You'd be wrong.  His highest rebounding average came in his junior year when he brought down just over six per game.  This was followed up by his senior-year average of under six.  

Meyers Leonard, C Illinois

Meyers Leonard was one of those players in college that you always expected to be great, but it just never happened. 

Leonard has yet to figure out how to use his tremendous size to score points down low.  This past season in Champaign, the seven-footer averaged just 13.6 points.  He lacks any sort of low-post move and can easily be pushed around due to his small frame at just 245 pounds.  

Additionally, Leonard is an underachieving rebounder.  At seven feet tall, one would expect no less than 10 rebounds per game, but Leonard managed to pull in only eight per contest last year.  

He only spent two years at Illinois so look for some improvement, but I just don't see much upside in his game on either end of the court.   

Perry Jones III, PF Baylor

While Perry Jones is widely considered a top-10 draft pick, he epitomizes a project-player. He has tremendous tools on both ends of the court and possesses outstanding upside.  He stands at 6'11'', can run the floor, and has a good low-post skills complemented by a decent perimeter game.    

The questions arise when discussing the intangible elements of his game, such as effort and maturity. His work ethic and motor were constantly questioned during his time in Waco.    

These can definitely be outgrown, and maybe it will take Jones being put into a professional environment rather than college to outgrow them.  Nevertheless, they are significant enough to suggest he's not ready for the NBA game...at least not yet.  

Andre Drummond, C Connecticut

Like Jones, Andre Drummond will likely be a top-10 pick in this month's NBA draft.  But that doesn't necessarily mean he is ready for the NBA.  Drummond appears to be another case of a player's draft stock skyrocketing merely due to their size and "potential"—which is such a subjective term.

Does a bad player automatically have "potential" because they have so much room to grow? Or, does it only refer to athletes who have the skills to one day become elite?

Anyways, back to Drummond.  He's a bit soft for a big man and his post-game is still extremely raw—many of his "low post" points came from the penetration of UConn perimeter players.  Additionally, his effort remains a question mark, evidenced by his underwhelming 7.6 rebounds per game during his lone season with the Huskies.  

While some of the physical tools are there, Drummond's mind and heart need to catch up with the rest of his body if he wants to succeed at the NBA level.