Yesterday afternoon I jumped onto a media call featuring NBA legend Steve Kerr and Dallas Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd. The purpose of the call was mainly to talk golf, specifically, the 23rd Annual American Century Championship at Lake Tahoe, which both Kerr and Kidd are participating in again this year. But media was also given an opportunity to talk NBA playoffs, free agency, draft...you name it.
Kerr has given great insight on the NBA draft process in the past as an in-studio talent, and as a former NBA General Manager, I thought a draft question or two lobbed his way might be very insightful for our HQ readership.
The usual questions about Anthony Davis were guaranteed to be bandied about so I kept it simple:
"Steve, give me the prospect you feel is getting too much hype considering their performance in college, and on the flip side, one that's perhaps flying too far under the radar for your liking."
He gave me two of each.
On the overrated side he mentioned two players; big men Andre Drummond of UCONN and Meyers Leonard of Illinois. He noted though that neither were overrated so much as over-projected based on their body of NCAA work. Sure, the potential was there for both, but there was a lot more speculation involved in determining their draft rank than most other prospects, although he also noted this was common amongst big men in the draft process.
On the undervalued side of things he picked two Carolina Tar Heels; Tyler Zeller and Kendall Marshall. Kerr believes that Zeller will be a starting center in NBA for next 10 years, and is currently being overlooked. Kerr made the interesting comment that if he was the GM with a pick in the top five or six of this year's draft, he'd be taking a long, hard look at Zeller, especially because of how tough it is to find a starting center.
As for Kerr's take on Marshall? "Classic pass-first point guard, not modern day guy like Westbrook or Rose, a FEEL point guard."