Sooner or later? Forward or center? Georgia Tech power forward Derrick Favors or Kentucky center DeMarcus Cousins?
Favors and Cousins are scheduled to work out against each other this morning in East Rutherford, and that private workout should help the Nets decide which choices to make with the third overall pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft.
Assuming Kentucky’s John Wall and Ohio State’s Evan Turner go 1-2, Favors, whose athleticism reminds observers of a young Antonio McDyess, remains the leader for the Nets at No. 3 — unless Cousins annihilates him today.
Cousins, 19, who is unquestionably talented and who’s more ready for the pros, comes with red flags that recall Derrick Coleman.
“That’s been the question the whole year, my so-called ‘red flags,’ but I’m misunderstood a lot. It’s just something I’m trying to [disprove],” Cousins said at the Chicago pre-draft combine. “My work ethic is a lot better than it used to be. I was on one of the biggest stages [at Kentucky] — it helped me tremendously.”
The Nets want to see if Cousins can play power forward. They know he can play center, but they have this guy named Brook Lopez.
“That is what we’re still trying to find out,” said Gregg Polinsky, the Nets’ Director of Player Personnel. “At Kentucky, Coach Cal [John Calipari] used him exactly how he should have used him. The guy is huge. He’s a monster. Why take the defense off the hook by moving him out?
“Now if in fact he can [play away from the basket], then how does he complement Brook? Can you find enough minutes? Because he is a kid with a motor, he is a kid that is competitive. Maturity, how much at 19 years old? How understanding would he be sitting if he’s not playing?”
There are the attitude questions surrounding Cousins, but Polinsky echoed what others (but not all) in the organization have said: Don’t be too quick to condemn.
“We’ve done our background. I do think DeMarcus Cousins is a little bit misunderstood,” Polinsky said. “We feel fairly good about him as a person.”
With Favors, the questions concern what he will do down the line. Projected as a prototype power forward, the Nets salivate at the thought of pairing him and Lopez for years to come. In fact, so does he.
“He’ll help me a lot. I can learn from Brook and he can teach me a few things and I can build from there,” said Favors, whose offensive game was hampered by sub-standard guard play at Georgia Tech. “It was hard at first, but I got used to it. I just started rebounding more, running the floor more.”
He showed enough to be in the mix at No. 3 in the draft.
“He’s raw, but the basketball part of it, you see enough pieces there,” said Polinsky, adding that teams must be cautious with Favors because of his tender age.
“I don’t know if the word is concern, but you’re trying to project. He’s eighteen. We keep saying it, but he won’t be 19 until July 15. So it’s — and I use this term — a leap of faith with the emotional maturity. What does that mean in the future for him meeting his true talent physically? It’s something nobody can really predict.”