Former Maryland Terp And Current ESPN Analyst Drew Nicholas Joined Scott And Jeremy
Former Maryland Terp And Current ESPN Analyst Drew Nicholas Joined Scott And Jeremy
Former Maryland Terp and current ESPN analyst Drew Nicholas joined Scott and Jeremy to preview the upcoming NBA Draft which is taking place on Thursday June 26th. Drew most commonly known for hitting the game winner in the opening round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament to send the Terps to the Second round spent most of his playing career overseas before joining the ESPN staff.
Kentucky Power Forward Joel Embiid looked like the top pick in the draft until a recent stress fracture caused his stock to drop in the draft. Scott asked Drew how this changes the Cleveland Cavaliers draft plans for tomorrow night. "It looked like everything was set before Joel Embiid got the stress fracture in his foot. It looked like Embiid was going to go first, with Jabari Parker going second and Andrew Wiggins going to go third. So now it puts Cleveland in an interesting situation."
Creighton' Doug McDermott has been the big man in the NCAA landscape over the past couple of seasons, however his draft stock hasn't been linked to a top five pick. Drew thinks McDermott compares very well to a former Gonzaga Bulldog, Adam Morrison. "Everybody really seems to think that the Bobcats like him at nine. It's kind of ironic to me because remember Adam Morrison. They have a similar game to one another... And we all know Adam Morrison didn't really pan out."
Scott asked Drew if he believes there could be some shifting in the draft with a ton of rumors of the Cavaliers shopping the number one pick and the Lakers being willing to move out of the seven spot. Drew buys into the rumors. "I definitely think that we are going to see a number of trades. I don't know if tomorrow night we are going to see the Kevin Love deal go through or not tomorrow night. It's going to be interesting in the draft seeing all the teams trying to maneuver and add new pieces."
With the recent news of LeBron James opting out of his contract to test the free agent market, the Heat has to court King James all over again. With the courtship, the Heat have been linked to moving up in the draft to get Shabazz Napier. Drew does not believe that Napier will be taking his talents to South Beach. "To be honest I'm not quite sure. I think Pat Riley has his sights set higher than that. Everyone knew that LeBron was going to opt out. I think what will happen is they all will opt out and take less money to regroup and add another piece to the team. Don't get me wrong Shabazz Napier is a very good player, but those are huge shoes to fill to have a rookie point guard to play with the big three. But they do want to upgrade."
