I talked to one veteran NBA scout tonight who said he and many of his colleagues will be focusing on the frontcourt matchup in Saturday’s Louisville-Kentucky game.
“I think that most people are going to go in seeing [Julius] Randle and Montrezl Harrell and Willie Cauley-Stein, seeing how all that plays itself out,” one of the 26 NBA personnel who will attend the game told SNY.tv.
“I think it will be more about the frontline than it will be about the backcourt.”
Kentucky’s Randle is projected by DraftExpress.com as the No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft, while his teammate Cauley-Stein is projected at No. 9 and Louisville’s Harrell at No. 12.
“From a scouting standpoint, guys are going to be more [interested in] Montrezl Harrell, Willie Cauley-Stein and Julius Randle, seeing how those guys match up with each other.”
As for Louisville’s Chane Behanan, the scout called him an “undersized four,” who doesn’t show as much NBA potential as the other three bigs.
“He’s got the body of a four and the size of a three,” the scout said. “It’s a tough situation because where do you play him? What does he do? Unless he develops a perimeter game and can make shots from 15 feet, he’s just an undersized power forward in a small forward’s body. He’s a poor man’s [Paul] Millsap and he’s not even as good as Paul is.”
The scout also said NBA personnel want to see how Kentucky’s James Young — projected as the No. 15 pick — plays.
“Other people are going to want to see James Young’s development,” the scout said. “He has moments, but he really put a complete package together two games in a row.”
In the backcourt, the scout said Chris Jones and Russ Smith “are better than the Harrison twins.”
Andrew and Aaron Harrison are listed at 6-6 while Smith is 6-foot and Jones is 5-10.
“They should stay in school, both of them,” the scout said of the Harrison twins.
