CBSSports.com NBA Draft Player Rankings
If you have been wondering where the best players lay when the Pistons are set to draft at 8, here is your top prospects rankings for this years draft.
Top Draft 2011 Prospects -- (Updated 6/22/2011 8:50:58 AM) Rank Pos. Rank Player Pos. School Ht. Wt. 1 1 Derrick Williams PF Arizona 6-8 240 Williams is used to carrying the brunt of the offensive load. Averaging 30 minutes per game, he started all 38 contests for the Wildcats in 2010-11, connecting on 226-of-380 field goals and scoring 741 points (19.5 ppg), more than twice the total of UA's second-leading scorer. While Cleveland seems committed with the top selection, Williams has been putting on such a great showing in pre-draft workouts, a slew of teams are vying to grab Minnesota's No. 2 pick to snatch up the best athlete in the draft. If a deal surprisingly happens, Milwaukee has made the biggest push to date. 2 1 Kyrie Irving PG Duke 6-2 182 Irving is by far the elite point guard in the 2011 draft, but lacks the explosive quickness featured by other elite point guards taken in recent drafts - Derrick Rose (Chicago) and John Wall (Washington). Cleveland has been trying to deal its veteran guards to clear the way for Irving to start immediately. I'm in the minority in thinking his turf-toe issue won't be a one-time thing. 3 2 Enes Kanter PF Kentucky 6-11 272 Like most big men in this draft, Kanter might not have the size to play center in the NBA and has to get more aggressive to compete at power forward, but he has natural raw strength, large, soft hands and a very long wing span that he uses well to get out and alter shots, whether on the perimeter or around the rim. Cleveland would love to see him slide down to the fourth pick, but Kanter might pull an Eli Manning in attempts to find his way to Washington. Utah has narrowed its search to Kanter and Brandon Knight. 4 3 Jan Vesely PF KK Partizan Belgrade, 6-11 230 Some NBA team could be rewarded for its patience if it waits for Vesely's game to develop in the Euro Leagues for another year or so. Toronto, known to covet international players, might be ready to go that route again at the No. 4 spot. Despite refusing to work out for NBA teams, he is clearly the best international prospect in this draft. 5 2 Brandon Knight PG Kentucky 6-4 185 John Calipari, the UK mentor produced Rose, one of the NBA's most electrifying players during his tenure at Memphis and last year, his charge, Wall was also the most coveted point guard in the 2010 draft. Knight is his next protege and while he looks like a perfect replacement for traded Deron Williams, as the Jazz use this pick acquired from the Nets to fill their back court vacancy, Knight did not endear himself to Utah staff with his reluctance to work out vs. Jimmer Fredette recently. 6 4 Jonas Valanciunas PF Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius, 6-10 224 Valanciunas will battle with Jan Vesely to be the first international player drafted, but both are projected early lottery picks. He's vying to become the earliest that a Lithuanian player has ever been selected by an NBA team. Cleveland took Zydrunas Ilgauskas with the 20th pick in 1996. If the Cavs don't take him fourth, Valanciunas could slide to Houston at No. 14. 7 1 Kawhi Leonard SF San Diego State 6-7 225 Nicknamed the "Human Avatar," Leonard's dominance crashing the boards has professional scouts likening his skills to those of Gerald Wallace. If the Wizards can't find a way to grab Kanter, Leonard could head to the capital city as a front court complement to grow with Wall. Sacramento has shown interest in taking him seventh. 8 3 Kemba Walker PG Connecticut 6-0 172 The General Patton of the college basketball world, nobody in this draft can rally the troops like Walker, and Detroit would love to pair him with UConn alum Ben Gordon. The gunslinger finished seventh on the Husky all-time record list with 1,783 points, but also showed his unselfish side, as his 460 assists rank 10th in school annals.
