Warren’s NBA stock? Polarizing.
Warren's become one of the most polarizing prospects in the upcoming NBA Draft.
Wall is a Blake Griffin-esque lock to be the No. 1 pick, but here’s what one NBA exec told Thomsen about Warren:
“If a team needs a big, they’ll take Aldrich; if they need a point guard, they’ll take Willie Warren,” an executive said. Though Warren is listed as a shooting guard for Oklahoma, he has the potential to shift to the point in the NBA. “He is talented, he’s quick, he can shoot it, and I think he can be a ’1.’ If he was in last year’s draft with all of those point guards, I don’t think he would be rated this high. But this year, after John Wall [and potentially Evan Turner], there is no other point guard. So he is going to benefit from the timing of the draft.
“But I will say,” continued this exec, “a lot of [NBA] guys are down on Warren because of questions about character. [Oklahoma coach Jeff] Capel benched him one game this year and, instead of saying he had a headache or he’d banged his knee in practice, he chose not to explain it. Obviously there’s some friction there, and the team is not as good without Blake Griffin. But Warren is a talented guy and, at the very least, he’s going to be a top-10 pick.”
For the record, Warren said he was held out because he didn’t practice on the Sooners’ off day before beating winless Nicholls State in the fifth-place game of the Great Alaska Shootout.
NBADraft.net projects Warren as the No. 20 pick to the (ha!) Oklahoma City Thunder, where he’d join former VCU guard Eric Maynor, who has Capel’s fingerprints all over his game as well.
The Thunder won’t be drafting another athletic 1 or 2, but plenty of NBA teams will, and Warren is becoming one of the more polarizing prospects in the upcoming draft. (All this, of course, assuming he leaves.)
The dividing line among his national perception appears to be clear. NBA writers and execs are singing the sophomore’s praises. Those who get paid to watch college basketball say they don’t see it.
Today, rather harshly, I might add, Seth Davis shot back at Thomsen:
• I saw my colleague Ian Thomsen quoted some NBA scouts pegging Oklahoma guard Willie Warren as high as No. 4 in this year’s draft. That truly boggles the mind. Warren is barely looking like a pro right now, much less a top-five pick. I suggest those scouts DVR a couple of Sooners games before recommending to their bosses that they make that investment.
Personally, I don’t think anything he does at OU short of an off-court incident will make his stock drop past the first round. A dynamite second half of the season might make it skyrocket.
There’s no way to know what kind of NBA player Warren will be, but that won’t stop people from debating it from now until June.
(Or maybe next June?)
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Comments
Warren is the most disappointing player this season. I’m shocked he’s even considered a first-rounder. Have they actually watched him play this year? He makes stupid decisions, turns the ball over, and then when he actually makes a nice drive and scored – he pounds his chest like he’s some dominant player. And they want him to play point guard in the NBA? If I was a scout, I’d rather be looking at Tommy Mason-Griffin.
Willie’s play to date does not warrant first round consideration, let alone the notion he is a top ten pick. He’s turned the ball over too much, been very inconsistent with his perimeter shot and he is a marginal defensive player at best. Granted, he does beat guys off the dribble and penetrate pretty well, but that has been the limit of his game this year.His play and leadership qualities aren’t even in the same ballpark as James Anderson and I’m an OU fan writing this. I would be stunned if Sam Presti would waste one of the Thunder’s first round pick on Willie. Whether Willie stays at OU or goes pro it doesn’t matter because what he needs to be working on is becoming a complete basketball player and a more mature person. I don’t even consider Willie’s body of work even close to what Scottie Reynolds has done at Villanova… or for that matter Sheron Collins at Kansas. Hopefully,in these last twelve games or so…Willie will make me eat these words.
MJ
I can’t imagine what these Scouts are thinking or even seeing what Warren brings to the table consistently in each game. He is sometimes on but more off as a complete player. He seems to be all about his on self than a real “team player” and has a lack of maturity with a attitude that he needs to work on. So many others(guards) in the College game are way ahead of him at this time
Willie Warren top 5 draft pick! Wow. There is some kid playing for loafing university that maybe a top 5 pick as well. Some scout will be unemployed soon.
I will say that I think Warren hasn’t played as hard as he should have and has been disappointing this year, however, I think alot of the problem has been that Capel isn’t utilizing his skills effectively. Warren needs to have the ball in his hands MUCH more than he does and TMG (aka “Mr. Dribbles”) pretty much brings the ball up the court every time and dribbles way too much. Warren can easily score on fast breaks or before the defense has a chance to set up and can take anybody in the country 1-on-1 but TMG has the ball all the time. I guarantee you if Warren brought the ball up the court every time and was given the green light to shoot and create he’d average 8-10 pts. more per game and the Sooners would be a much better team.
Joel,
I have to disagree with you. TMG is a much better ball-handler in traffic and, overall, makes better decisions in traffic. Just look at the assist-to-turnover margin with Willie. TMG has made some freshman mistakes but I believe, if he keeps progressing, he’s a better pro point guard prospect than Warren.
Warren could not play at Kansas because he does not put forth enough effort on defense. Bill Self is a demanding coach.
He doesn’t play good enough defence! He dribbles into a turnover more than 71 times this year! He is inconsistant when it comes to his shot! Top 5? TMG is better! But I will say this! He is trying to hard, and thinks he has to carry this team when he don’t! Just play to his ability and the team will improve. A bad shot is better than a dang turnover!!! BOOMER SOONER!!!
The best thing Willie can do for Willie is to return to Oklahoma for his junior year for two reasons. First, develop a positive attitude and play as a member of a team, don’t glorify his individual efforts. Second, do as Coach Capel coaches and give a 100% every minute during practice and in each game. If he does both, he might just be the first pick in 2011 and increase his $$$$$$s.
Warren definitely has talent, but he loafs too much. Warren lacks the aggressive hustle to be a big time player. We see that all of the time in sports. Hot shot high school players that can get by on talent alone. One like Warren comes along that has the talent to get by on that talent alone in college. Not at the pro level.
You get back some of Blake Griffin’s attitude and instill that in Warren, then you will have a top 5 pick.