We can't
vouch for the expertise at TheBigLead.com -- the sports blog operated by
USA Today -- but if it has a clue, next season could be a very
enjoyable one for the Arizona Wildcats basketball program and its
fans.
Big Lead's Jason McIntyre took an early stab at
the 14
NBA lottery picks for 2014 and predicted not one
but two Wildcats among the first 14: Sophomore center Kaleb Tarczewski
at No. 12 to Portland, and freshman forward Aaron Gordon at No. 3 -- to
Dallas, surpringly enough. (McIntyre's disclaimer: I did this exercise
last year, and as you can see from
that link, it was built on hype and high school
reputation and potential. Only two of the 14 lottery picks were remotely
accurate.)
McIntyre has this to say about Gordon:
"The next Blake Griffin? Highly-skilled forward takes the torch from
Dirk. If (Andrew) Wiggins weren’t in the draft, Gordon is a contender to
go 1st."
We can only assume if McIntyre is close to
correct that both Arizona big men will have impressive seasons and be
ready to leave school ... perhaps because they have nothing left to
prove at the college level ... perhaps after leading the Wildcats to a
Final Four ... or better?
As for the here and now,
Gordon is coming off the bench for the Team USA at the Under-19 National
Championships in Prague and leads the team in scoring (13.8 points per
game) and rebounding (7.0 per game) while helping the team to four easy
wins through Monday's play.
By the way, McIntyre
predicts another rough year for the Suns, dropping one more notch from
this past season to No. 4 in the draft order, where he predicts they'll
take freshman forward Julius Randle out of
Kentucky.
All in good fun, mind you, since no one can
say which players will declare for the draft, and Big Lead isn't the
only one to engage in such shenanigans.
CBSSports.com's
Gary Parrish and draftexpress.com
also have Gordon going third in 2014 (no team specified) -- behind
Wiggins and Randle. Parrish goes only 14 deep and doesn't list
Tarczewski; draftexpress.com goes a full two rounds without mentioning
Tarczewski but has ASU point guard Jahii Carson at pick No.
17.
NBADraft.net,
meanwhile, sees things a bit differently. It doesn't project Gordon
coming out after his freshman season but lists Tarczewski at No. 14 and
Carson as a second rounder (37th overall).
Probably
best if everyone withholds judgment for a
bit.
