>Honest question...what is your projection for Noel? What can
>he be? A smaller Tyson Chandler at best? Ok, fine. In what,
>3-5 years? Great. Have fun with that. He's not some super
>prospect. He's an athletic, SKINNY AS FUCK shot blocker with a
>busted knee and no offense. He would've been the 10th pick
>last year. Drummond is a way better prospect and he went 9th.
>Harping on his pre-injury draft stock in the worst draft in a
>decade is just weird.

A couple of things here:

1. Noel isn't smaller than Chandler except in weight, and if you don't think he can put on 15 pounds of muscle to match Chandler's 220-225 weight range, I'd say you're wrong. He's thin, but he's not John Henson. He's still young and can hit the weights.

2. There's a reason Noel was STILL being considered for the #1 pick after injury-- it's because before injury, he was considered easily the best NBA prospect in terms of size, athleticism, work ethic, and potential. Tyson-in-3-to-5-years is, in my opinion, not a fair assessment of what Noel can do on the court.

3. Drummond wasn't a way better prospect pre-injury to Noel. Noel is taller, more athletic, and registered better stats in college to Drummond in every category-- and Noel didn't even get to benefit from finishing out the season, he was starting to really come alive in February, despite his shitshow guard play surrounding him. Drummond is wider, more muscular, bigger wingspan by an inch or two, but there's a reason why Drummond's immediate success last season was considered a surprise by many-- because he wasn't a can't-miss guy. Noel, pre-injury, was can't-miss, and the only question marks surrounding him are due to his knee. Very few big men drafted young don't need massive help on the offensive skill set, and even fewer can do what Noel does on defense.

I'm not gonna get into all that potential-vs.-proven narrative, because who the fuck knows with all the variables involved... but to act like Noel is some low-ceiling, half-a-decade project who has a limited chance at panning out and was only considered a high draft pick due to the weak draft is disingenuous IMO.