Enes Kanter is perhaps the most physically mature center prospect, but he has the lowest ceiling.
Josh Harrelson vastly improved his game last season and could be a pick-and-pop big man.
Said a Pacific scout: "I really love the kid. He's not the greatest athlete in the world, but neither is Marc Gasol. He is really skilled. His upside is off the charts. And he's Lithuanian, so he really likes to play. He is so talented, and the first to practice and the last to leave every day. He's probably not as ready to play as Kanter because Kanter is physically more mature, but Kanter has a ceiling."
Speaking of which, Kanter has taken his own circuitous route to the NBA, having been declared ineligible by the NCAA last November before playing a game for Kentucky, a ruling twice upheld on appeals by the school. Kanter's family had accepted $33,000 in benefits while he played for the Fenerbahce club in his native Turkey in 2008-09. Kanter and Kentucky argued that most of that money went for the school he attended while playing. The NCAA wasn't moved.
That decision has created a schism between NBA types, who haven't seen Kanter play since then, other than his star turn at the Nike Hoop Summit in Portland last year.
"To take a kid that high who essentially hasn't played in a year and a half, and the last game he played in was a JUCO game, it will take a very strong GM to draft him," a Central division personnel director said. "I don't know how many of the GMs with top 10 picks have ever seen this kid play. At the end of the day, he might be a riskier pick than Valanciunas."
Kanter was allowed to practice this season with Kentucky, however, and NBA scouts were allowed to attend many of the workouts. Many days, Kanter worked out against senior Josh Harrelson, another top center prospect. That has alleviated the concerns of a few teams.
"Me personally, I wouldn't be concerned," said a Pacific division exec. "Most of the people who have done their homework have been able to see him in person. I did. Anybody who thought they may have been interested should have been there. I bet you anybody in the top five was in those practices more than once. And (Kentucky coach John) Calipari practices most of the time. He went against Harrelson. But you could have seen him go against Vanderbilt or Florida and you might not see him go up against a guy better than Harrelson. Sometimes there's a roadblock that says, 'We shouldn't draft this guy.' There's none of that here."
Another scout says the rust is a concern. "But again, you look at him, the one time we could look at him, at the Hoops Summit, and he dominated the game," said the scout, who evaluates Kanter like other European prospects in recent years that didn't play very much for their teams but were able to demonstrate their skills to NBA scouts in practices before the Draft.
Harrelson wasn't much of a prospect last year, playing just 88 minutes for the Wildcats and never breaking into Calipari's rotation. He could sprint for only 45 seconds before getting winded. But Harrelson underwent a transformation last summer under the eye of Kentucky assistant coach and former 76ers swingman Kenny Payne. Working out up to three times a day, Harrelson lost weight and was able to go end to end for three minutes by the start of the season. And his increased workload from 1.2 rebounds a game to 8.8 per game this season was the largest jump in the country.
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