Forever Young...and Wrong

By Jared Trexler
The Phanatic Magazine

Color me unimpressed. (If a deal is not in place and the pick stays put)

Looking at the pick from a scout's point of view, Thaddeus Young could be considered "athletically raw." Nowhere near the NBA-ready talents of Julian Wright and Al Thornton -- both still on the board when the Sixers selected the Georgia Tech freshman.

Watching a lot of college basketball, I can imagine Young could be a fairly decent professional one day, or he could turn into another athlete who didn't quite inherit the basketball genes. He can run the floor and has all of the NBA's prerequisite measurements: speed, jumping ability, length and strength.

But can he play? That question wasn't quite answered under Paul Hewitt at Georgia Tech, where the McDonald's All-American averaged 14.4 points per game. He shot just well enough from beyond the arc for a "tweener," in NBA speak a player with the height of a smallish power forward (6'8") and the weight of a wing man (218 soaking wet). He got beat up under the basket by players capable of pushing him off the box. His defensive foot speed isn't up to the level of the players he'll guard in the league.

But he can run. And he can play in space. And it's possible Billy King reached past mock projections because he envisions a perfect storm of Andre Miller on point with Andre Iguodala and Young filling the lanes. If no one is open, Miller can stop and pop his lethal mid-range jumper or kick it to the wing off the secondary break, where sharpshooter Kyle Korver will be waiting.

But that's the perfect storm. And in a deep draft with two more polished players on the board and perhaps his job on the line, King's decision was gutsy.

And likely not the correct one.

Color me unimpressed.