Trey Thompkins of UGA: His draft stock is getting, er, leaner
Trey Thompkins: "So is Round 1 this way? Or is it over there?" (AJC photo by Jason Getz)
For the past year or so, I’ve operated on the assumption that Trey Thompkins would be an NBA first-rounder if not a lottery pick. (Unless I miss my guess, Thompkins himself shared that belief.) But the Georgia Bulldog’s draft stock is, as we say on CNBC, trending downward.
Chad Ford of ESPN Insiders omits Thompkins from his latest Round 1 (link requires registration) — and doesn’t include him in his five near-misses, either. DraftExpress has Thompkins going 10th in Round 2 (meaning 40th overall) — four spots behind Iman Shumpert of Georgia Tech, whose draft profile has seemed iffy. NBAdraft.net shows Thompkins going 26th in Round 1 and Sam Amick of SI.com has him going 27th– but those mocks haven’t been updated since May 18, which is significant.
Thompkins took part in the NBA combine in Chicago last week, and he was measured as having 15.5 percent body fat. That’s a huge number for a center, which Thompkins isn’t, and an alarming one for a power forward. (Derrick Favors, also a power forward, had a body-fat index of 6.5 percent last spring.)
The belief here is that Thompkins was in shape only one of his three collegiate seasons. He was hurt in preseason as both a freshman and a junior, and both times his conditioning suffered. Not coincidentally, his best season came as a sophomore.
There now seems a chance that Thompkins will be drafted behind Travis Leslie, his Bulldog teammate of three seasons. DraftExpress has Leslie going with the 26th pick of Round 1; Amick of SI.com has him going with final pick of the first round, and Ford of ESPN lists Leslie as one of the first five picks of Round 2.
Leslie himself had a combine issue, sort of, by suggesting in a DraftExpress interview he was better than Tony Allen of the Memphis Grizzlies.
Responded Allen (he’s @aaOOOG9) via Twitter: “Who is this dude?”
By Mark Bradley
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74 comments Add your comment
JayD
May 25th, 2011
12:40 pm
CANCER???? Nice fans Georgia! The kid came to Georgia after the NCAA killed the program – He went through coaching changes, and drama of all sorts, just to have you crazies throw him under the bus???? Trey will do just fine – Don’t understand all the hate.
Inman Parker
May 25th, 2011
12:52 pm
Leslie is garbage. He was more athletic than most in college, but that alone will not do much for him in the pros. He is not a good basketball player.
Buh Bye you are a selfish loser
May 25th, 2011
12:54 pm
THIS IS WHY RECRUITS DON”T WANT TO COME TO UGA.They read these blogs and know the fans don’t deserve them.
And “Buh Bye” you can trash Trey all you want. He is five times the athlete and person you are. He certainly was at least recruited out of high school,something you can’t say. You’re just mad cause you had to take his leftovers !! Go Back to your low major school HATER!!!! And everyone knows you are a country hater. You’re not fooling Trey or anyone else…
DON”T BELIEVE EVERYTHING U HEAR MARK BRADLEY!! The same ESPN and Katz misidentified a foreign player as coming from UGA instead of the Republic of GA….They have been very wrong b4. Check some other sites.
Paul in RDU
May 25th, 2011
1:05 pm
Mark – I know that Thompkins doesn’t have Coleman’s ability. Hence the “poor man’s Derrick Coleman” comment.
Mark Bradley
May 25th, 2011
1:08 pm
Sorry, Paul. Should have known better than to underestimate your acumen.
Paul in RDU
May 25th, 2011
1:16 pm
No problem – I prefer to be underestimated than “misunderestimated”
bigeasy830
May 25th, 2011
1:21 pm
Trey Thompkins is a very skilled bigman. i believe he will learn to be a good pro and take better care of his body. Charles Barkley had a high fat index in college as well. For his size at 6′10″, not many in college and few in the NBA can handle the ball, shot the 20 foot jumper and pass as well as Trey. I hope he slips to the Hawks in the second round and I hope they are smart enough to draft him.
Homepage | MrSEC.com
May 25th, 2011
2:33 pm
[...] Trey Thompkins body fat may hurt his draft [...]
Web
May 25th, 2011
2:40 pm
Slow it down, guys. Trey will be fine. If you think the NBA won’t get this kid in shape you’re out of your mind. I know Mark was focusing on his draft stock and I agree that it will probably take a nosedive after his combine showing, but rotting on a bench for 3 years? This kid is a legit 6′9 maybe 6′10, long with incredible hands and a great touch and overall feel for the game. It’s not like we’re talking about Joey Dorsey here. I’ll add that I’ve played pickup against both Trey and Travis Leslie in the past year, and while I’m not stupid enough to use that in an internet discussion as a measuring stick for their basketball ability, I will say that they are both level-headed, friendly kids who, after beating the s*** out of you on the court, will shake your hand and say “Good game.” You think the football players here do that?
Ted Striker
May 25th, 2011
2:52 pm
I like Thompkins and hope he does well. Good kid. However there’s no excuse for having 15.5% body fat if he expects to be a first rounder.
Jimmy Crack
May 25th, 2011
2:57 pm
This should be a good lesson for the present Bulldogs players that scouts who gush over them and say they know basketball talent are severely overpaid and probably wrong.
Trey: “il conto, per favore.”
boots
May 25th, 2011
3:13 pm
All those tattoos are weighting him down.
Buckeye
May 25th, 2011
3:53 pm
boots,
OMG, a player from a school not called Ohio State has tattoos?
me
May 25th, 2011
4:16 pm
Lets flashback to Treys last game at Wesleyan. He “gets hurt” and has to carried off the floor. Tanner Smith won the game by himself. Trey is the first person to dive on the “dog pile” at halfcourt. BUT, he had to be carried off the floor because he was “too hurt.” The kid is an attention whore. Over dramatizes EVERYTHING. You can’t win with kids like Trey. End of story. Travis just got poor advice. Trey, he deserves playing in Europe.
the real Kirby Smart
May 25th, 2011
4:18 pm
No surprising. he missed crucial FT’s at the end of games in the Fla, Vandy, Bama(sec tourney game) b/c he was out of shape. And was always whining about something……..wish him the best in the NBA as i do Leslie, but he needs to mature and get in shape.
One Year - Tops
May 25th, 2011
4:34 pm
Give Thompkins one year in the NBA, then maybe a year in Europe, then back here to sell used cars or timeshares.
He was a loser from day one.
Me needs to go back to Wesleyan
May 25th, 2011
5:03 pm
ME- You sound so bitter!!!!!!What’s wrong??? Daddy paid $30k for you to go to Wesleyan but couldn’t buy you any playing time???????? LET IT GO!! YOU WERE A SCRUB and not even a cute one!!! OR were you tired of him having all of the girls and not paying a dime ????
coloradobulldog
May 25th, 2011
10:49 pm
I can’t believe all this bashing of Thompkins. I have never heard anything before about him being a bad teammate. You people are classic! Okay his stock is dropping, so what? A number of guys who were drafted n the 2nd Round have made fine NBA players (Boozer, Marc Gasol, Za Za, Monte Ellis, Arenas, etc.) and a vast number of lottery picks who are studs at combines have been busts. In the end I think a team would love having a big man like him who can score and rebound coming off the bench.
Snoop Dawg
May 26th, 2011
4:51 pm
Thompkins didnt push himself throughout his career. Was not a player who could take over at key moments of the game. Got pushed off his block by defenders. Has the measurements, but havent seen the desire or heart to be a first round pick!! But still appreciate is time and efforts at UGA.
only smart fan
May 26th, 2011
11:38 pm
wow fans always like to be haters! do u not appreciate what he did at georgia! He was nasty! i wish we had him back next year. Ive seen him play in high school. He has the talent if he could used this as a wake up call and get motivated he could be a starter in the nba with his talent! I wish you the bet Trey
The U
May 27th, 2011
1:21 am
Opinions are like a butt hole everyone has one. The experts at the Combines with their slide rulers and fat calculators look for flaws in the prospects. The body of work is most indicative of the player’s ability. Thompkins had a very good career at UGA playing in a very good basketball conference. The kid played for 2 coaches in 3years, hung in there with the injury bug, withstood the away game losing streak in Coach Fox first season and still was thought highly enough to be first team preseason ALL SEC. Trey Thompkins destiny may or may not not be a NBA player, but one thing for sure is that he is in control of that and not some blogging espn experts. Last point, I recall Jay Bilas trashing Josh Smith on draft day, just goes too show you don’t know whats in a guys heart and the experts surely can be wrong more often than right. I feel Thompkins game and physical gifts will translate well to the NBA.
Tom
May 27th, 2011
1:03 pm
He played a little soft but he had some pretty tattoos!
Sloan
May 28th, 2011
8:48 am
No surprise in this column. Surprising would have been if Bradley had reported that Trey had wowed the combine with his physical prowess and hustle.
Horford + Sy for Rockets 2 HOF Picks, Thabeet & Hill
May 28th, 2011
6:27 pm
How embarassing would it be to the organization if passed on Leslie. If you saw the Memphis playoffs you saw what 6′4 motivated guy can do for you.
If Atlanta doesn’t draft this hard nosed kid the they will forever be disrespected as a “dis”organization. Horford has to go sooner or later. There are draft measurements for a reason. Horford is not a guard going to come up with a revolutionary technique. After 3 years in college and 4 in the NBA he is what he is.
I know 3 years college Horford versus high school immature Josh is a talking point. But that pillar needs to fall. Atlanta has no time for semantics. If we miss Motiejunas in this draft omg. Consider this weak draft the varsity You do not want to see the J.V. squad. The first Center off the board is 200 pounds.
Make no mistake about this draft it is full of boys but even if Horford was 3 years younger he would still be getting dominated by Bosh until he’s 30 and starts losing some speed.
This All-3rd NBA 10 minute per game all-star charade needs to stop. Vanity of this situation is critical at this juncture. Either act now or be stuck with 6′9.75 Al Horford trying to become Bargnani. I heard he wants to extend his range out from 3. But he still has a slow release stuck between Amare trying to power in + David Lee’s reach = getting blocked altered so it will not prevail.
::::::::::
Jeff Teague/Joe Johnson/Josh Smith/Donatas Motiejunas*/Hasheem Thabeet
Kirk Hinrich/Travis Leslie*/(Marvin Williams)/Jordan Hill/Zaza Pachulia
Similar height = similar center of gravity. Similar wingspan often means similar ball control/ability to dunk/shoot over defenders in the post.
Oe a catapult’s trajectory.
There are many different combinations of weight, height, and wingspan, standing reach and vertical as well.
For example
Here are similar
Height Wingspan Weight
Donatas Motiejunas 7′0″ 6′11″ 220 lbs.
Zach Randolph 6′10.25 6′11″ 255
Blake Griffin 6′10″ 6′ 11.25″ 248
Kevin Love 6′ 9.5″ 6′ 11.25″ 255
**Prospectus: 7′0 Boris Diaw/Zach Randolph. why he may fall: nonchalance.
#14 Atlanta Hawks Select: Donatas Motiejunas
Chris Paul 6′ 1″ 6′ 4.25″ 190
Jeff Teague 6′ 1.5″ 6′ 7.5″ 175
Derrick Rose 6′2.5″ 6′ 8″ 196
**Prospectus: skies the limit
Jordan Hill 6′10.25 7′1.5″ 232
Amare-lite
Amare Stoudemire 6′10 7′ 1.75″ 233
**Prospectus: bootleg Amare, more fluid Al Horford,
James Harden 6′ 5.25″ 6′ 10.75″ 222
Dwyane Wade 6′ 4.75″ 6′ 10.75″ 222
Travis Leslie 6′ 4.25″ 6′ 10.5″ 205
Tony Allen 6′ 4.25″ 6′ 9″ 214
#23 Atlanta Hawks Select: Travis Leslie
**Prospectus: low center of gravity, explosive slasher, defend
///////////////
Jeff Teague/Joe Johnson/Josh Smith/Donatas Motiejunas*/Hasheem Thabeet
Kirk Hinrich/Travis Leslie*/(Marvin Williams)/Jordan Hill/Zaza Pachulia
model: 07-08 Celtics/’10-’11 Mavericks