5 Draft Prospects Who Will Have Better NBA Careers Than Anthony Davis

Anthony Davis not only won the won the National Player of the Year Award and National Defensive Player of the Year Award but also lead the young Kentucky Wildcats to the NCAA title, winning the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Award as well.

Simply put, Davis was quite possibly the most dominant defensive freshman in the history of college basketball and had the greatest freshman season of all-time, period!

However, NBA super-stardom is anything but guaranteed, even for a prospect as talented and accomplished as Anthony Davis. In fact, the last college freshman to have the same defensive ability and generate the same amount (if not much more) of draft buzz was a young man named Greg Oden.

We all know how Oden’s NBA career has gone so far.

Anthony Davis has the potential to be a perennial NBA Defensive Player of the Year as well as an active, athletic, unselfish offensive big man. To think Davis could be a mixture of Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett is a scary thought indeed for big men everywhere.

However, Anthony Davis could also turn out to be little more than Marcus Camby on both ends of the floor. Such is a scary thought for the Hornets ownership!

With that said and without further delay, I present to you the five players who I believe have a great chance at having a better NBA career than Anthony Davis:

Thomas Robinson

Thomas Robinson is a beast, an absolute beast! T-Rob, as he is affectionately known by his fans, had a remarkable career at the University of Kansas, where he improved by leaps and bounds on an annual basis.

He went from averaging 2.5 points and 2.7 rebounds per game as a freshman to nearly 18 points and 12 rebounds per game as a junior.

Last season, Robinson garnered First-Team All-American and Big 12 Player of the Year honors, while also being named a finalist for both the Wooden and Naismith awards. He also won the ESPN.com National Player of the Year award and led the Jayhawks to the NCAA championship game, something thought to be extremely unlikely at the beginning of the season.

However, perhaps most incredible and inspiring about Robinson is his incredible work ethic and the professionalism he seems to exude despite his young age.

Robinson experienced some of the greatest tragedy I have ever heard of in the athletic world when his grandfather, grandmother and mother all died within three weeks of each other during his sophomore season. Yet, T-Rob continued to play and improve on a nightly basis.

Whatever team drafts Thomas Robinson and I personally believe he will go number two to the Charlotte Bobcats, will be getting a dynamic scorer, a never back down, go hard or go home type of on-court warrior that every team could use and every team’s fans love!

Robinson may not be an All-Star from day one but he most definitely could become one in time and carve out a greater career for himself than Anthony Davis.

Andre Drummond

Andre Drummond is a man-child!

The mammoth yet still physically developing University of Connecticut center is one of three players with true superstar and face of the franchise potential in this draft, along with Kentucky’s Anthony Davis and Baylor’s Perry Jones III.

However, out of those three players, only Drummond has the ability to dominate with sheer strength and power. He may never reach Shaquille O’Neal’s level of strength and offensive dominance but he could far surpass Dwight Howard in such categories.

Young “Andre the Giant” has the size, power, speed and offensive skill-set to wreak havoc on NBA defenses once he gains more experience and develops further under professional tutelage.

To imagine Drummond averaging 25 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks per game in his prime isn’t hard to do and while Anthony Davis may even top the latter two categories, it is extremely difficult to ever imagine Davis averaging 25 points per game.

Andre Drummond could be to Anthony Davis what Shaq was to Alonzo Mourning and I, for one, believe such would be great for the NBA!

Perry Jones III

Perry Jones III, simply put, is the most talented and physically gifted player in this year’s draft, period!

Jones III may have coasted through many of his collegiate games and even seemingly disappeared in others, however he also had some performances that left jaws dropped, eyes bulging and stat-happy fans re-reading box scores.

Jones late season contest against Kansas State when he scored 31 points in 31 minutes on just 14 shots and added 11 rebounds was one such performance.

Many NBA fans have heard the “boom or bust” phrase used on draft prospects in the past and Perry Jones III is a perfect example of such a prospect. However, I believe if Jones is drafted by the right team and placed in the right environment, he has a chance to become the best player in this draft class, hands down.

I personally believe Jones will be drafted by the New Orleans Hornets with the number 10 pick in the draft and therefore actually team with Anthony Davis in the Big Easy.

It would not shock me to see Perry Jones III leapfrog Anthony Davis and some point in their respective careers and become the better player and the more beloved fan favorite, much as Andrei Kirilenko did in Utah after being drafted five spots lower than rookie teammate Quincy Lewis in the 1999 NBA draft.

To think Perry Jones III could become a 21 point, 10 rebound per game type of player, who also turns into a very good defender, isn’t out of the question. Such a player could indeed be superior to whatever Anthony Davis turns out to be.

Damian Lillard

Damian Lillard is the best pure scoring guard in this draft and there’s not even a close second!

Lillard is a four-year college player who is perhaps the most NBA-ready guard in this year’s draft, despite playing against mid-major competition, and who, despite his experience, does not seem to have hit his proverbial “ceiling” quite yet.

Lillard has improved his all-around game each year he has been in college, capped off by a magnificent senior campaign that saw him average 24.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

However, most impressive was the fact that Lillard shot over 50 percent on two point attempts, over 40 percent on 3 point attempts and just under 90% from the free throw line. Those are numbers that would make Steve Nash proud!

Lillard absolutely has the ability to become a starting point guard as well as the top perimeter scorer from day one, for whatever team drafts him.

Personally, I realistically see such happening, as I believe Lillard will be drafted by the Portland Trailblazers with the tenth pick in the draft, start at point guard immediately, average more points per game than incumbent starting shooting guard Wes Matthews … and just happen to lead the Blazers to the playoffs as well!

All of that said, I would not be shocked to see Damian Lillard win the Rookie of the Year Award next season and therefore get his career off to a faster start than even Anthony Davis.   

John Henson

John Henson is the one single player that is most similar to Anthony Davis and he just may have a better NBA career than the Kentucky kingpin when all is said and done.

Don’t get me wrong, I do not believe John Henson is a superior prospect when compared to Davis, nor do I feel he is even the better basketball player at present.

However, I do believe that John Henson will be drafted by a better team than Anthony Davis, put into a position to make the playoffs more quickly than Davis and quite possibly put in a position to win a NBA title before Davis as well.

I personally believe that John Henson will be drafted by the Detroit Pistons with the ninth pick in the draft or the Philadelphia 76’ers with the number 15 pick in the draft (no I do not see any of the teams drafting in slots 10-14 drafting Henson, nor do I see any teams trading up to be able to draft him in those slots).

Philadelphia would give Henson the opportunity to play for a perennial playoff contender immediately and possibly to start from day one, as I expect the 76ers to amnesty Elton Brand before the start of next season in order to have the funds necessary to re-sign both leading scorer Lou Williams and starting center Spencer Hawes.

Detroit certainly did not make the playoffs last year and even with Henson on the roster may not make the playoffs next season either.

However, if the Pistons did draft Henson he would be joining a team with talented second-year point guard Brandon Knight and marvelous third-year center Greg Monroe already on board.

As such, Henson would be filling a need for a defensive-minded power forward on a rapidly improving young team with a bright future.

It would not surprise me to see John Henson carve out a 10-year career as a starting power forward with career averages of around 14 points, 10 rebounds and close to 3 blocks per game.

If Henson can also be fortunate enough to win an NBA title or two, such a career may indeed be better than what Mr. Davis, down in New Orleans, enjoys.