DeAndre Jordan - NBA Draft Prospects

Numbers: 7.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.3 bpg, 62% FG, 44% FT

About Him: DeAndre Jordan has a very underwhelming freshman season, especially for someone with his physical tools. His potential has NBA scouts salivating. He is a legit 7-footer that has the wingspan of a 747, great hands, an explosive leaping ability, can run the floor as well as anyone his size, and is deceptively quick for his size. But skill-wise he is still very raw. He is weak in the post and unable to hold position or finish through contact, which means he usually settles for fade away jumpers. He doesn't have much in the way of post moves, and his court awareness is almost non-existant (according to Draft Express, his 0.2 assist to turnover ratio is the second worst in the country). He has no jump shot to speak of and shoots 44% from the foul line. Defensively, he is disappointing considering his natural ability. He did block a good number of shots considering the number of minutes he played, but that was more a result of his length and athleticism than his timing. He is foul prone, and he would get bullied on the block by smaller players, meaning he probably has poor balance and leg and core strength. The one thing he does excel at is rebounding, and he is a very good offensive rebounder because of his long arms and athleticism, and has made numerous youtube-worthy putback dunks this year. His biggest question mark will be his work ethic - is he going to work hard enough to make himself an NBA all-star?

Comparisons: Andrew Bynum (stretch, Kwame Brown, Brandan Wright

Bottom Line: Jordan definitely needs another year in school, but if he comes back and has another so-so season he could severely hurt his draft stock. He has a long way to go to before he is NBA ready, but his tools will make him lottery pick, and possibly a top 10 pick.