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
Y3ll0wjacket
May 25th, 2011
10:11 am
Great article, Mark. Always enjoy reading your take.
Denver Dawg
May 25th, 2011
10:12 am
too late to come back now, Trey…
Top Dawg
May 25th, 2011
10:12 am
Could it be?
Mark Bradley
May 25th, 2011
10:13 am
Thanks, Y3llOwjacket. And kudos for … well, you know.
Fixerito
May 25th, 2011
10:14 am
They’ll both be out of the NBA in less than 3 years. This is coming from a Dawg fan too. Pass the beer nuts…
me
May 25th, 2011
10:18 am
CANCER. The best thing for UGA hoops was Trey leaving. Buh Bye.
me
May 25th, 2011
10:22 am
And I love the pic Bradley. Trey ALWAYS blamed his teammates, ALWAYS. It was NEVER Trey’s fault. The kid has not one ounce of work ethic and you can blame the wonderful AAU circuit for filling this kids head with unrealistic expectations. Of course we all should have learned when Trey left Oak Hill his Junior year to come back home and play for …………….Wesleyan. Too much work at Oak Hill.
Kdawg
May 25th, 2011
10:28 am
My friends that are unabashed supporters of UGA Hoops had only praise for Trey during his playing days while I looked at him with a healthy dose of skeptisism. He was never in good shape for college let alone the NBA. His work ethic was non existent and he faltered badly his last two seasons. I was in shock to see so many people making Trey an automatic first round pick when he declared for this years draft. Apparently the NBA has caught on to his diminished physical skills and his lack of preperation. He’s going to rot on a NBA bench somewhere and be out of the league in 3 years tops. I hope Trey continues his education. He’s going to need it. The only thing stopping him from a lifetime of European League Basketball is a brief stay in the NBA D League.
Ted M
May 25th, 2011
10:29 am
amazing with all that money on the line he can’t get in shape. I think he may not get drafted at all.
kevin
May 25th, 2011
10:33 am
Ted M,
What money are you talking about?
me
May 25th, 2011
10:33 am
Fat, Drunk and Stupid is no way to go through life Trey.
DawginLex
May 25th, 2011
10:37 am
He has no excuse for not being in better shape. He is trying to become a pro basketball player. His injuries not withstanding, he should have worked harder to be in better shape.
Curiosity Killed the Cat
May 25th, 2011
10:38 am
Someone is giving these kids terrible advice. He has the skill to be a productive player in the LEAGUE but so does every other player that makes it. You have to have the drive and work ethic to go with it. Wish he and Leslie would have come back. UGA would have been a serious contender…
Mark Bradley
May 25th, 2011
10:40 am
Thompkins has great skills — he can shoot and pass — and great size, but he has to get in condition.
Curiosity Killed the Cat
May 25th, 2011
10:42 am
I agree MB, he has fanctastic touch around the glass and handles the ball pretty well for his size. You have to be in shape. The NBA is a fast-paced game.
Mark Bradley
May 25th, 2011
10:43 am
Georgia with Thompkins and Leslie in 2011-2012 would have been a Top 25 team, maybe a Top 15 team.
reality check
May 25th, 2011
10:48 am
Did Thompkins study another language in school? Can he sa “Europe”?
me
May 25th, 2011
10:55 am
Trey needed to go Mark. His teammates didn’t like him and he was becoming uncoachable.
James
May 25th, 2011
10:57 am
What kind of combine did Travis have besides the remark? I thought he needed another year at UGA but he’s a warrior and hopefully will be a draft sleeper.
GIVE ME A BREAK
May 25th, 2011
11:02 am
He couldn’t tie Derrick Rose’s shoes. No passion.
Mark Bradley
May 25th, 2011
11:05 am
According to the famous Andy Katz of ESPN, neither Thompkins nor Leslie was outstanding.
buh bye
May 25th, 2011
11:06 am
Trey was a cancer and I’m glad he’s gone. It’s hard to get in condition when you’re always out at the bars in Athens. I’ve seen this kid baked outta his mind in Athens more than I can count.
seanb
May 25th, 2011
11:08 am
He has a huge upside….. sort of plays like a Tim Duncan, NO I’m not comparing him to Duncan as a player but he has that calmness about him and some of the softest hands in college basketball. Unfortunately he has the lack of motivation thing going on! Trey was a bi-polar type of player where he could look like the best player in college hoops one night and then the next night he was trying to bring the ball up the floor and shoot 3 pointers! He needs to know his role better and get to work!! If he could just find that fire inside and let it burn he would have a chance but I just don’t think it’s there!
Not Don Waddell
May 25th, 2011
11:15 am
Tanner Smith singlehandedly won the state title game for Wesleyan when Trey was hurt. Dennis Felton should have offered Smith.
The really tough thing for these fringe 1st round guys is that the NBA is going to have a long, long layoff and anyone drafted outside the lottery will need to head out of the country to draw a paycheck.
As poorly as the NFL’s labor situation is going, at least most of the owners have billions of dollars and many of the labor force went to college, with many actually getting a degree.
The NBA owners are a rogue collection of nouveau-riche jock sniffers and con artists with little business savvy and the NBA players association is likely one of the most ignorant, least educated collections of people anywhere on earth.
Guys like Latrell Sprewell, JR Rider, Stephon Marbury, Kenny Anderson and Monta Ellis make up most of the voting union. Can you imagine trying to talk legitimate business with those guys and trying to get them to understand the economic benefits and ramifications of a labor agreement? It would literally be like trying to teach an Ethiopian farmer the value of Calculus.
Good luck to Trey, Travis and Iman. Trust me, living in Western Europe, making a couple hundred grand is not a bad deal.
still not sold on Fox
May 25th, 2011
11:17 am
He never wants to crash the boards or play defense. He’s a smart guy but a bit lazy. I think he’s used to people telling him what he wants to hear. I never understood why Fox couldn’t get him to step it up. Maybe Fox isn’t all that great at coaching guys up (he didn’t seem to help Leslie any either).
BulldogBen
May 25th, 2011
11:19 am
It’s a shame if that happens. They could’ve done something special this year at UGA. Hopefully Fox can sell this next crop of players on trying to do something really special.
As for Trey, I’ve seen him be the kind of dominant player a Top draft pick should be only once or twice. His game is pretty inconsistent and to be that big, his post moves are lacking. Wants to play facing the goal way too much and shoots too many threes. Granted if he’s hitting those he’s a force but we hear that all the time with players.
Hopefully this is all smoke and mirrors but I have to believe it’ll be devastating to him if he goes low 2nd round.
Mark Bradley
May 25th, 2011
11:19 am
I’d be surprised if the NBA has a long lockout.
Then again, I’m surprised the NFL is locked out.
LC Dawg
May 25th, 2011
11:21 am
WHO CARES????
They chose to leave UGA early.
Thank them both for their time here, and accomplishments they made as Dawgs, but any mishaps they see in their pro careers, I simply don’t care.
Just like Herschel Walker. Once he left early, I didn’t give a hoot about him as a pro.
what?
May 25th, 2011
11:23 am
Uh…GT BBall…have you seen the latest APR statistics?
Of course not. You’re a Tech fan and you don’t know how to speak intelligently about anything related to sports. Go back to playing video games and pretending that you’re smarter than everyone else.
GT BBall
May 25th, 2011
11:23 am
Another overrated, spoiled, out of shape, underachieving, non-graduating UGA athlete. Only it’s a BBall player instead of an FBall player this time. At least he has no arrest record. Get in shape kid; you can play at the next level.
Jeff
May 25th, 2011
11:25 am
Like so many of us, Trey will not be mature enough to take full advantage of his gifts until it’s too late.
McDawg
May 25th, 2011
11:27 am
i never saw him as a lottery pick-don’t know where that all came from-but lets not trash the kid
kinda of reminds me of danny manning
still not sold on Fox
May 25th, 2011
11:28 am
Well said Jeff. I wish I didn’t have the same problem when I was younger.
Frankly, I’m disappointed that Fox wasn’t able to get through to him (or Leslie).
McDawg
May 25th, 2011
11:29 am
he carried the team-i don’t see how anyonme can trash this kid because we didn’t make the final four
what?
May 25th, 2011
11:32 am
GT BBall,
You said he was another “non-graduating” UGA athlete. My point was that you shouldn’t be remarking about academics.
Thanks for reinforcing my stereotype of a GT fan who knows nothing about sports. I have zero respect for your opinion.
GT BBall
May 25th, 2011
11:33 am
@what? – what does APR statistics have to do with this discussion? Nothing, now go take your ADHD meds and keep reading blogging for dummies.
Buckeye
May 25th, 2011
11:37 am
Howard ( before I was Trey and before I was NBA) has always been soft sorry to say.
As s freshman in high school one thought he had time to develop his frame and would, in fact, develop his frame. Never happened to the extent required to man up in the NBA. He was most often the best player on the court. No longer.
Good luck, Kid. Look at Lebron and Kobe. They’re ripped. You are not.
McDawg
May 25th, 2011
11:37 am
actually fat drunk and lazy is exactly the MO of most NBA players-the pro game is a complete bore until the playoffs-how anyone can get excitied watching that crap after paying those prices is beyond me
The Real JC
May 25th, 2011
11:37 am
Wow, I’VE got 15.5 percent body fat. I’d also make about as much impact as Thompkins will in the league (which is to say not much).
McRib
May 25th, 2011
11:39 am
McDawg,
As bad as regular season NBA basketball is, regular season college basketball is 10 times worse.
Chunkynem
May 25th, 2011
11:40 am
Any chance the Hawks could get him in the second round?
Paddy
May 25th, 2011
11:47 am
Can’t believe a NBA team would risk a first round draft on any player who has not tried to get in shape for the biggest day of his life!! There must be alot more unspoken concerns that would alter any selection that high.
Victorious 1
May 25th, 2011
11:48 am
Mark – This is the ultimate feast or famine story, although I am leaning toward the latter. This kid could be a late-round “steal” ala Tom Brady in the NFL, if he gets chosen by the right team and falls under the tutelage of the right coach/trainer/GM combo that will not take his c__p and whip his buns into shape. Of course, the other extreme is the “out of the league” scenario everybody has already predicted. It’s a shame how such gifted young men read their own press clippings and listen to their personal cheerleaders who won’t be honest with them, right up until they squander their talent…
home cooking
May 25th, 2011
11:51 am
UGA fans kill me! you guys slam the guy once he leaves for what he wants in life once he can’t help your program.
Paul in RDU
May 25th, 2011
11:51 am
Mark – you say that Howard has great skills and great size but has to get in condition (aka work harder).
Sounds like a poor man’s Derrick Coleman to me.
Paul Mooney
May 25th, 2011
12:03 pm
Trey Thompkins is the illegitimate child of….Charles ” Can’t Talk Right” Barkley.
Mark Bradley
May 25th, 2011
12:21 pm
Let’s not get carried away: Talent-wise, Thompkins isn’t in Derrick Coleman’s class. Not many have ever been.
JayD
May 25th, 2011
12:30 pm
Trey will do fine – Don’t understand all of the hate (I’m not even a fan).
Lowcountry Bulldawg
May 25th, 2011
12:31 pm
What was Thompkins doin to get ready for the combine? College kids in Prep for the NFL go to Arizona to camps to train and work on agility, lower Fat index, and get stronger. College kids have the same opportunity but what happened? That is the real story. Why did he not show better?
Najeh Davenpoop
May 25th, 2011
12:31 pm
Mark Bradley’s colon-in-the-headline percentage continues to rise.
In this weak draft the #35 pick is about as likely to become an All Star as the #5 pick. If Thompkins lands in the right situation he’ll be fine.
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