Draft Options Discussions: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

No one can be a better Gerald Wallace than Gerald Wallace. But i do think MKG is a cross between Gerald Wallace and the Diaw skill-set (knowing when to put down the fork).

Plays similar to Wallace, in that he can dominate both sides of the ball. Has similar dimensions as a Wallace/Pierce prototypical 3. Big man crush on MKG, so i wouldnt be upset in the least if we reached a little and snagged him at #2 or #3, as he fits our needs. Not as physically polished on offense as Barnes, but he wasn’t annointed from Day 1 to be the go-to scorer like Barnes and like already mentioned about how stacked Kentucky currently is. Not a lights out shooter yet, but i feel he doesn’t try to jack up unnecessary shots. Lots of athletic scoring in bunches and transitional buckets due to his hustle and defense. Unselfish and plays within the flow of the game. Smooth!!!!!!

I think Draftexpress has projected the best over the last few years. They definately have some of the best articles. Interestingly enough, Kidd moved from 8th to 3rd overall in the last week, so others see him as more than another piece. Thats big movement and One spot ahead of Barnes. Id take either SF with a veteran Jamison mentoring. Maggette probably won’t be here and who knows about Brown at the 3.

Coach Calipari has said that, if he could, he’d have MKG play every minute of every game. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a freshman with his defensive awareness and he gets it done on the other end, too. He may not be able to score as effortlessly as Harrison Barnes does (at times, particularly prior to this season), he definately exceeds him in most other areas, particularly on defense and rebounding. Most importantly, his best games have come against the toughest opponents.

Gerald Wallace is a fair comparison, although Gerald gets most of his blocks on trails and weakside, whereas the majority of MKG’s blocks come from his length and blocking jump shots, which he’s probably not going to be able to do in the NBA. He can get weakside blocks, but he’ll have to make that adjustment. It’s actually pretty impressive that he and Terrance Jones are able to get so many blocks themselves when they play with the nations’ leading shot-blocker and soon to be single-season record holder.

Calipari players may not always be the best character guys, but they’re definately NBA ready when they leave. Although with MKG and Anthony Davis, I’ve seen nothing character-wise from them. Especially from MKG. I don’t know if everyone knows his story but his father died when he was just three and he watches the movie Lion King once a week because that was their favorite movie together. He changed his named from Michael Gilchrest to Michael Kidd-Gilchrest to honor his late uncle, who had become the major role model in his life. He committed to Kentucky on what would have been his father’s 44th birthday and signed his letter of intent on the day his uncle passed away.