Draft Scouting Report: Kelly Wise

Kelly Wise is probably 6'9". His coach, John Calipari, thinks he will be a high quality NBA player. He can't shoot the ball nearly as well as Rasheed Wallace, but many other areas of his game are similar to Rasheed's. Of course what makes Rasheed so good is the fact that he can shoot the ball out to 3 point range.

Wise runs the floor extremely well, has long arms, and great athletic ability. He also has a nose for the ball which is why he is such a good rebounder. He has a nice soft touch, but has been hampered by a lot of double teaming. Still, he has been patient and has developed his skills as a passer. I have not seen him shoot the ball outside of 17 feet, so I can only assume that at this point he doesn't have that kind of range. He has pretty good hands, but he doesn't have a good game facing the basket yet. Because of the double teams, he has no need for a face up game yet. If you get the ball in the low block and immediately get doubled, it doesn't do you a lot of good to face the basket. Also, he doesn't have a lot of confidence in his ball handling ability, which limits his face up game. At times he needs to be more assertive on the floor. He is nothing like Rasheed in terms of on the court demeanor, which is obviously a good thing, but he could use a bit more fire. Defensively, he relies on his shot blocking ability quite a bit and sometimes gives up position. I have noticed though that he has gotten better in this regard as the season has gone on. He is an excellent help defender though, which is a big asset because the Tigers other inside player, Earl Barron is 6'11'' but only weighs about 200 lbs.

If Kelly were to come out this year, he would definitely be a 1st round pick. If Memphis is as good next year as I think they will be, Wise will be a lottery pick. If I were a GM in the NBA and Kelly Wise was still around in the middle of the first round, I'd be jumping up and down.