Count Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim as one of the few who believe the 2014 NBA draft is overhyped. The revered coach believes no player this year - including Kansas' Andrew Wiggins and Duke's Jabari Parker - is worth tanking for, SNY.tv reports.
The 2014 draft lottery has been almost unanimously hailed as a loaded draft. The class is expected to be talented enough to make it worthwhile for NBA teams to tank - as many as six teams are already tanking for the chance at a high lottery pick, according to what one NBA executive told SNY.tv.
Boeheim, who ranks second in all-time NCAA wins, disagrees with the assessment of this year's talent. He doesn't see a LeBron James-like superstar in the 2014 class and doesn't believe any player this year is worth purposefully losing for.
"There's no player that's out there on the horizon that's a Tim Duncan or LeBron James," Boheim told SNY.tv by phone on Thursday. "I've seen all these guys play. I think they're very talented players. They're not that kind of player. They're not transcendent players that are gonna make your franchise into a 10-12-15-year winning franchise because you're there. I don't see that. ...
"I think there's a lot of good players, talented players, guys who will be really good NBA players, but I'm not sure there's transcendent players there."
July's potential rookie class includes Australian Dante Exum, Kentucky's Julius Randle, Duke's Rodney Hood, Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart, Wiggins and Parker.
Wiggins, once projected to be the consensus No. 1 pick of the draft, has drawn questions from NBA scouts. While there's a load of talented athletes playing right now, no one has emerged yet as the unquestionable top pick for 2014.
Numbers (through 12/13/13):
Andrew Wiggins: 16.4 PPG, 6.1 RPG.
Jabari Parker: 22.1 PPG, 7.8 RPG.
Julius Randle: 17.8 PPG, 12.0 RPG.
Rodney Hood: 19.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG.
Marcus Smart: 19.7 PPG, 4.9 RPG.
