2014 NBA Draft Debate: Jabari Parker Or Andrew Wiggins?

Why I’m Taking Jabari Parker – Nathan Giese

I didn’t feel I’d have to defend Jabari Parker like this before, but now I feel like that he’s been neglected a bit. All the talk has been centered around Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid as top pick choices with Parker being more of a side note. It’s like saying, “Embiid and Wiggins are the best prospects. Oh, then there’s Parker. He’s pretty good too.”

It might not be intentional, but it’s something I feel needed to be addressed.

I’m taking Parker as the better prospect than Wiggins for a few reasons:

More Polished Offensive Game

This is something that’s really taken for granted these days. If he doesn’t have (the word I absolutely wish would die) UPSIDE, then most consider him to be a secondary pick. It’s like punishing Parker because he’s ready for the NBA right now more than any other prospect in the draft.

Parker has a wide array of offensive skills. At 6-8 and 235 pounds, Parker is a versatile player. Playing a mixture of center, power forward and small forward for Duke this last year, he got experience all over the floor.

He took advantage of weaker defenders in the post, stepped outside the paint and entered his one-one-one game and even took it beyond the arc, connecting on 36 percent of his 3-point opportunities. No, he’s not the fastest guy on the floor, but he’s crafty. He has a quick first step that gets defenders off balance, allowing him to utilize his great footwork and on-ball maneuvers to get by defenders.

His offense may not be exciting, but it’s very good. He’s grown as a player at Duke and it shows. Parker may not be the athlete that Wiggins is, but he’s still very athletic. He uses his body well and knows his limitations, rarely forcing anything.

Maturity

One of the under-appreciated aspects of a draft prospect by some is the maturity factor. Although he was written off as a clear one-and-done college player, Parker said and did all the right things to never take attention away from the Blue Devils’ goal of winning a national championship. Not once did he try to put attention onto himself, it was all about the team.

Even after the season, after a disappointing second-round exit in the NCAA tournament against Mercer, Parker said all the right things. He didn’t make a hasty announcement about leaving for the NBA.

Instead, he took his time, talked to his coaches, his family and many others about the life-changing decision he was about to make. He went through the process of inquiring about his draft position, talked to Mike Kryzyzewski and even had to figure in a possible Mormon mission trip, one that most people in the religion take when they are Parker’s age.

After all of this, he made the choice. While it wasn’t surprising, it was the process that Parker took that should be commended.

Wiggins, on the other hand, didn’t even wait until the season started to say he was leaving Kansas after one season. While it’s not exactly surprising he said this, it also shows that his mind is not on the task at hand and was just looking to do his time and get out. That’s troubles me a bit.

That kind of thought process and those actions show Parker is a very mature kid with a great head on his shoulders. Few players show his kind of maturity. There are NBA players who aren’t as mature as Parker is. And this piece he wrote for SI.com about his decision was very well written and shows the kind of character he has.

These are the things that are important in the long run of an NBA career.

Wiggins Isn’t the Only Player Who Can Have UPSIDE

Some people forget that even though a player is already skilled and NBA ready when he enters the league doesn’t mean he, too, can’t have that potential to be even better. Sometimes it’s the more talented players entering the draft that go on to be the better players.

These are some bullet points of a draft profile for Carmelo Anthony back in 2003:

* Strengths: very versatile, able to score in many way, excellent rebounder, gifted with good physical skills, very long arms

* Weaknesses: doesn’t have NBA 3-point range, not especially quick or tough on defensive end

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Some of Parker’s highlighted weaknesses are that he’s not especially quick and has a little trouble defending quicker opponents. There’s a reason Parker has reminded people of Anthony as a prospect. Anthony came into the NBA out of college and was considered a great prospect. Young, but ultra-talented, a skilled offensive player who struggled on defense. He was also asked to played more post defense than he should have in the Syracuse zone defense. It’s like reading a copy-and-pasted version of Parker’s draft profile.

Melo has turned out to be a pretty okay NBA player, if I do say so myself. He came into the NBA with supreme talent but also has grown to be a phenomenal player. Just because a player is NBA ready doesn’t mean they can’t get better.

This imaginary ceiling for draft prospects is unfair to them, because who are we to say who can reach what plateau in the pros? That’s all left up to the player himself, the mindset he has throughout his career and the franchise that’s there to guide him.

UPSIDE is a fictional word and its meaning can only be determined years from now. Speculating and saying UPSIDE just means a player could become something more than what they are.

But that’s just it. UPSIDE is such a mystery nobody knows what it means until years later.

Building for the Future Often Leaves You Back at Square 1

If I’m running a team, I’m not willing to wait for years down the line for one player to hopefully become the player they’re capable of. There’s always a gamble in drafting, but if you’re looking to become a good team, you have to do what’s best for your team right now, not five years from now. Yes, you want to build for the future, but sometimes you just have to take the player that has what it takes at this very moment.

I’m not saying Wiggins can’t be great, but there’s that mystery factor of “will he become that great player” that’s a gamble I’m not willing to take. If he’s there and Parker’s gone? Absolutely. Give me Wiggins and I’ll do what I can elsewhere. But if I have the choice between the two, give me Parker. It’s not that I don’t like Wiggins as a prospect, I just think Parker brings more to the table right now and can get even better over time. And isn’t that what you want? A player that can come in, make an immediate impact but also grow as a player down the way?