NBA Team Scouting Report

Scouting out NBA teams for UNC's players:

Ty Lawson: Given Lawson's height and speed, I think he'd be best suited to a run-and-gun environment just like he had at UNC. I can see him wreaking havok in the open court with his usual coast-to-coast cruising, but plodding half-court set teams might not allow him to utilize his strengths. According to John Hollinger, the fastest NBA teams are Golden State (101.1 possessions/game), New York (99.2), Indiana (98.9), and Phoenix (98.3). The slowest NBA teams are Cleveland, San Antonio, New Orleans, Detroit, and Portland, and I think those would be the worst match for him. Of the good matches, I kinda like the idea of him on the Knicks because I hear Mike D'Antoni is supposed to be a great coach, and the other teams I'm not so sure about coaching-wise.

Wayne Ellington: I was pretty impressed with Wayne's performance in the second half of the season. I saw the Miami game where he found his shot, and since then, he's been fantastic. He hit 8 of 10 three pointers in the Final Four. And he was coming off of screens too, not just hitting open jumpers. As NBA shooting guards go, he's a little short at 6'4", so run-and-gun might be best, but if can he nail shots off of screens, then he'd probably be able to get enough separation to get his shot off in the half court set. I'd stick him on the Charlotte Bobcats for all of the Carolina connections, including coach Larry Brown.

Tyler Hansbrough: What stands out to me is that Tyler was 9 of 23 from 3-point range this year, a 39% hit rate. This is pretty impressive for a guy who isn't known for his perimeter play. I'm really happy he has built up this skill while at UNC. He also hit 84% of his free throws, so I think his three point percentage can continue to improve. I see Hansbrough working out well on a veteran team that needs some younger high energy players who will do all the little things and be selfless. I pick San Antonio for the team-first attitude and the great coaching.

Danny Green: He's a solid 3-point shooter, and he collects a lot of steals and blocks, which is an unusual combination. As far as I can tell, one of his weaknesses is ball handling, so maybe if he's on a team with great ballhandlers, he won't be required to dribble too much and he can spot up for open shots. I'm having a tough time finding the perfect situation, but for some reason I keep coming back to Toronto. They've got a good point guard in Jose Calderon (8.8 assists per game, leads point guards in assist/turnover ratio at 4.16), they're a low turnover team, and they play at a medium pace. I'm not really confident about this choice, but hey, I don't get to choose anyway so what does it matter. He'd probably be good on a variety of veteran teams, like Boston, San Antonio, etc.

I hardly know anything about the NBA, so maybe I'm way wrong. Good luck to all the Tar Heels!