SB Nation Dallas - NBA Draft 2012: Perry Jones III Selected By Oklahoma City Thunderhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48887/dallas-fave.png2012-06-30T14:25:40-05:00http://dallas.sbnation.com/rss/stream/27042912012-06-30T14:25:40-05:002012-06-30T14:25:40-05:00NBA Offseason 2012: Texas' J'Covan Brown Signs With Miami Heat
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<img alt="GREENSBORO NC - DECEMBER 18: J'Covan Brown #14 of the Texas Longhorns reacts after their 78-76 win over the North Carolina Tar Heels Greensboro Coliseum on December 18 2010 in Greensboro North Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HMsOqMQmr9fHF1h--pw729w2wA4=/0x169:541x530/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/1577522/GYI0062857926.jpg" />
<figcaption>GREENSBORO NC - DECEMBER 18: J'Covan Brown #14 of the Texas Longhorns reacts after their 78-76 win over the North Carolina Tar Heels Greensboro Coliseum on December 18 2010 in Greensboro North Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) | Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Ex-Texas Longhorn J'Covan Brown has found his NBA home with the Miami Heat</p> <p>After watching Thursday night's 2012 NBA Draft come and go and not hearing his name called, ex-Texas Longhorn J'Covan Brown had to be wondering where his opportunity would be coming from.</p>
<p>He didn't have to wait long to get his answer.</p>
<p><a href="http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/2012/06/texas-jcovan-brown-goes-undrafted-signs-with-defending-champion-miami-heat.html/">The defending champion Miami Heat extended a contract to Brown</a>, of course which he happily agreed to. Brown will fight for a roster spot on Miami's thin and aging bench come training camp, where he'll be taking the floor alongside <span>LeBron James</span>, <span>Dwyane Wade</span> and <span>Chris Bosh</span>.</p>
<p>Brown was a standout for Texas, averaging 20.1 points per game as a junior last year to lead the Big-12 conference.</p>
<p>Although Brown was on the fringe of being drafted according to many, he went undrafted and as it turns out, he probably wouldn't have it any other way. He'll now have time to develop his skills behind some of the greatest to ever play, not a bad way to enter the league.</p>
<p><i>For more on the University of Texas, please be sure to check out our blog <a href="http://burntorangenation.com">Burnt Orange Nation</a> and <a href="http://dallas.sbnation.com">SB Nation Dallas</a> for all the latest news and updates.</i></p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/texas-longhorns/2012/6/30/3128500/nba-offseason-2012-texas-jcovan-brown-miami-heatMatt Verderame2012-06-29T09:00:26-05:002012-06-29T09:00:26-05:002012 NBA Draft Results: J'Covan Brown Goes Undrafted
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<p>After three years at Texas, J'Covan Brown declared for the 2012 NBA Draft despite not receiving much interest for most NBA teams. Now, after going undrafted, Brown will have an uphill climb to make an NBA roster and may end up playing overseas.</p>
<p>Brown is an excellent shooter and a crafty ball-handler at 6'2 200, but his lack of lateral quickness will make it difficult for him to contribute defensively at the next level.</p>
<p>If he's going to make a team, it will have to be as a shooting specialist off the bench, so his agent will need to be very careful in picking which summer-league team he plays for. For fringe guards like Brown, opportunity is as important as talent to avoid playing overseas.</p>
<p>That being said, there's no shame in being a high-level professional basketball player in Europe and Brown's skill level should allow him to make a comfortable living within the sport.</p>
<p><i>For more coverage on Texas and the NBA draft, stay tuned to the <a href="http://dallas.sbnation.com/baylor-bears/2012/4/10/2940250/nba-draft-2012-perry-jones-iii-quincy-miller">SB Nation Dallas storystream.</a> </i></p>
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https://dallas.sbnation.com/baylor-bears/2012/6/29/3124370/nba-draft-2012-results-jcovan-brown-undraftedJonathan Tjarks2012-06-29T08:00:21-05:002012-06-29T08:00:21-05:002012 NBA Draft Results: Quincy Miller Taken By Denver Nuggets
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<p>If Quincy Miller had stayed in school another year, he was widely projected as a lottery pick. But, after an inconsistent freshman season where he was recovering from a high school knee injury, his draft stock has plummeted to where he was taken by the Denver Nuggets with the No. 38 selection of the 2012 NBA Draft.</p>
<p>Miller, at 6'10 220 with a 7'1 wingspan, has one of the most intriguing combinations of size, skill and athleticism in the draft, and he if continues to regain explosiveness in his knee, he could end up being a huge steal for the Nuggets.</p>
<p>In Denver, Miller could thrive in George Karl's uptempo system next to a PG like Ty Lawson, but he may need a year to get a chance to contribute, as Karl is notoriously loathe to play rookies.</p>
<p><i>For more coverage on Baylor's NBA draft prospects, stay tuned to the <a href="http://dallas.sbnation.com/baylor-bears/2012/4/10/2940250/nba-draft-2012-perry-jones-iii-quincy-miller">SB Nation Dallas storystream </a>and <a href="http://www.ourdailybears.com/">Our Daily Bears</a>.</i></p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/baylor-bears/2012/6/29/3124360/nba-draft-2012-results-quincy-miller-denver-nuggetsJonathan Tjarks2012-06-29T06:38:36-05:002012-06-29T06:38:36-05:00A Bittersweet Night For Baylor
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<p>Having three players selected in the NBA Draft is a great accomplishment for Baylor's program, but they may have planted the seeds of their own destruction in the process.</p> <p>The lifeblood of a college basketball program, as any coach would tell you, is recruiting.</p>
<p>The best programs, like UNC and Kentucky, don't even blink when they lose waves of players to the NBA Draft. That's because they've got players just as good coming in behind them, and if you have good enough inputs (recruits), it's going to be difficult to screw up your outputs (winning).</p>
<p>However, thanks to the influence of AAU basketball, recruits are wiser to the game and the nature of the beast these days. Success in the NCAA Tournament doesn't attract players; success in the NBA Draft does. And by those standards, Baylor's season was an absolute failure.</p>
<p>At a certain point towards the end of the first round, it became uncomfortable how far <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/123221/perry-jones-iii">Perry Jones III</a> was plummeting. Jones is one of the five most talented players in the draft; it's pretty insulting for a guy like that to be passed over for stiffs like <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/52190/miles-plumlee">Miles Plumlee</a>. ESPN's analysts, trying to be sympathetic, only made things worse with backhanded compliments about Jones "being a good kid".</p>
<p>Being a coach is like being a doctor, the first rule is "do no harm". And after two years under Scott Drew, an athletic and coordinated 6'11 235 big man with a 7'2 wingspan was selected No. 28 overall. Given the scarcity of big men in the modern NBA, a player like that should be a lottery pick just by rolling out of bed. Drew couldn't have done a better job of tanking Jones' draft position if he had tried.</p>
<p>In comparison, after one year under Rick Barnes, Tristan Thompson went No. 4 overall. Thompson isn't close to the prospect Jones is, but he played for a coach who ran an aggressive man defense scheme that showcased his athletic ability to NBA teams. Drew sat Perry Jones, one of the most gifted big men to come into college basketball in the last generation, in a 1-3-1 zone for two years.</p>
<p>Jones was the No. 9 rated player in the high school class of 2010; <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/145084/quincy-miller">Quincy Miller</a> was the No. 7 rated player in the high school class of 2011. These are guys whose recruiting pedigrees alone should have made them near locks for the first-round. And while Jones' slide was more high-profile, Miller's plummet to the middle of the second round was even more humiliating for the Bears.</p>
<p>Once again, it's useful to compare Drew's draft track record with Rick Barnes. In 2011, Jordan Hamilton, a small forward not as big, skilled or athletic as Miller, was taken No. 26 overall. They're now teammates on the Denver Nuggets, but Barnes' player is the one with a guaranteed contract and (the opportunity at least) to make himself financially secure.</p>
<p>Miller, on the other hand, was so eager to get out of Waco that he declared for the draft rather than return to school, despite being projected as a lottery pick in 2013. He, or his advisors, had apparently seen enough of the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/145085/pierre-jackson">Pierre Jackson</a>/AJ Walton show at the point to decide it was worth the risk to declare as a freshman without any type of first round guarantee.</p>
<p>Both Miller and Jones have the chance to be two of the biggest steals of this year's draft, which could still rebound on Baylor's program in a negative light. People will wonder how players as talented as those two forwards almost fell out of the first round, and they're going to look back and say, "well they weren't <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2012/1/24/2726101/nba-draft-2012-perry-jones-quincy-miller-baylor-basketball">really given the opportunity to showcase their games at Baylor</a>."</p>
<p>That might as well be the kiss of death to big-time recruits. Quincy Acy being drafted was a nice win for the program, but Jones and Miller's slide will stick longer in the minds of elite players, who closely follow the careers of the highly-ranked players in the classes above them. Even the ones who don't have handlers that do. (And yes, almost every elite player has handlers)</p>
<p>Jones and Miller's fall in the draft cost them millions and millions of dollars in a profession where they have a very small window to cash in on their talent. For many top basketball recruits, a missed opportunity in the draft can be the difference between breaking their family out of a cycle of poverty or falling right back into it. When Jones was in high school,<a href="http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7630611/the-story-baylor-bears-star-perry-jones-iii-men-college-basketball"> there were times when his family was homeless</a>. If they had sent their son to almost any other coach in the country, they would have a lot more money than they do now. I don't want to sound crass, but that's the reality of their situation.</p>
<p>Drew is a well-known negative recruiter within coaching circles, and now he's given his rivals a ton of dirt to attack him. Wherever he goes on the trail, the draft day slides of his two most high-profile recruits will follow him.</p>
<p>If either one had played at Kentucky, they would have been no worse than a mid first-round pick. John Calipari got <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/53432/darius-miller">Darius Miller</a>, a marginal recruit, drafted only a few spots behind Quincy in the second. He knows how to get the most out of players, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2012/2/14/2796060/nba-draft-2012-kentucky-basketball-john-calipari">which is why so many flock to his program year after year</a>.</p>
<p>That's one of the hallmarks of elite coaches: their players, at the very least, don't get worse under their care. Some actually go as far as to develop and improve them as prospects. Does anyone think <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/99945/thomas-robinson">Thomas Robinson</a>, <a href="http://rivals.yahoo.com/basketballrecruiting/basketball/recruiting/rankings/rank-rivals150/2009">the No. 31 player in the class of 2009</a>, would have been a Top 5 pick playing the middle of Drew's 1-3-1 zone with guards who weren't interested or capable of getting him the ball?</p>
<p>Perry Jones and Quincy Miller were drafted <i>in spite</i> of what they did at Baylor. That's the kind of difference, if not corrected, that can bring down a program.</p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/baylor-bears/2012/6/29/3125595/nba-draft-perry-jones-quincy-millerJonathan Tjarks2012-06-28T22:15:02-05:002012-06-28T22:15:02-05:002012 NBA Draft Results: Quincy Acy Selected By Toronto Raptors
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<p>Former Baylor forward <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/52408/quincy-acy">Quincy Acy</a> was selected by the Toronto Raptors in the second round with the No. 37 overall pick.</p>
<p>The 6-foot-8, 224-pound Acy averaged 12 points and 7.4 rebounds for Baylor last season. It was uncertain if Acy was going to be selected, but he ended up being the second Baylor taken at the time of his pick. </p>
<p>The athletic forward will be able to help the Raptors in the rebounding category, especially on the offensive end. He can certainly finish at the rim, as 40 percent of his field goals were dunks. However, he'll need to bulk up if he wants to be a power forward, as a lack of perimeter skills don't make him a good fit at small forward.</p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; background-color: transparent;"><i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;">For more coverage on Baylor's NBA draft prospects, stay tuned to the <a style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #c82527; font-weight: bold;" href="http://dallas.sbnation.com/baylor-bears/2012/4/10/2940250/nba-draft-2012-perry-jones-iii-quincy-miller">SB Nation Dallas storystream </a>and <a style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #c82527; font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.ourdailybears.com/">Our Daily Bears</a>.</i></p>
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https://dallas.sbnation.com/baylor-bears/2012/6/28/3125098/2012-nba-draft-results-quincy-acy-selected-by-toronto-raptorsChris Vannini2012-06-28T21:17:13-05:002012-06-28T21:17:13-05:002012 NBA Draft Results: Perry Jones Taken By Oklahoma City Thunder
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<p>After a tumultuous two months that has seen his draft stock slowly slip from the lottery to the middle of the first round, Baylor sophomore Perry Jones was selected No. 28 overall by the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.welcometoloudcity.com/">Oklahoma City Thunder</a>.</p>
<p>Jones, an athletic 6'11 235 forward with a 7'2 wingspan, is one of the most talented prospects in the draft, but concerns about his toughness as well as issues with his knee sent him falling down draft boards in the last few weeks.</p>
<p>But if he had any motivation issues, he certainly received motivation on draft night, as big men with nowhere near as much talent (<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/52494/andrew-nicholson">Andrew Nicholson</a>, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/124094/jared-sullinger">Jared Sullinger</a>, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/52190/miles-plumlee">Miles Plumlee</a>) went ahead of him.</p>
<p>In Oklahoma City, he'll have a great chance to grow into a complementary role next to the Thunder's stars and he could make their small-ball line-up deadly next to <span>Kevin Durant</span> and <span>Serge Ibaka</span>.</p>
<p><i>For more coverage on Baylor's NBA draft prospects, stay tuned to the <a href="http://dallas.sbnation.com/baylor-bears/2012/4/10/2940250/nba-draft-2012-perry-jones-iii-quincy-miller">SB Nation Dallas storystream </a>and <a href="http://www.ourdailybears.com/">Our Daily Bears</a>.</i></p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/baylor-bears/2012/6/28/3124343/nba-draft-2012-results-perry-jones-oklahoma-city-thunderJonathan Tjarks2012-06-28T15:13:23-05:002012-06-28T15:13:23-05:00NBA Draft Rumors: Perry Jones Sliding To Cleveland Cavaliers
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<p>Every year, there's at least one prospect who begins sliding, and once a slide begins, a herd mentality can erupt. Teams who didn't think they would have a chance at a player everyone thought would be a Top 15 pick get cold feet about a player who they never evaluated and a free-fall begins.</p>
<p>In 2012, the late dropped could be Baylor star <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/123221/perry-jones-iii">Perry Jones III</a>. With concerns about his knee popping up at the last minute, Jones slips <a href="http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2012/story/_/id/8105981/nba-mock-draft-version-10">all the way to the Cleveland Cavaliers at No. 24 in ESPN Insider Chad Ford's final mock draft</a>:</p>
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<p><b>Analysis:</b> Jones might be the toughest player in the draft to project right now. Everyone is both scared to take him and scared not to take him. (I've heard the same assessment from a number of NBA GMs the past few weeks.) <a href="http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2012/story/_/id/8106785/nba-draft-2012-knee-baylor-bears-perry-jones-iii-raises-red-flags-sources-say">His knee issues</a> aren't helping things.</p>
<p>Whichever GM first overcomes his fear gets a super-athletic, 6-foot-11 forward who lacks the motor or toughness teams usually look for in a big man. But at some point, the reward outweighs the risk, and that calculation probably starts here.</p>
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<p>Two weeks ago, the same things were said about Jones risk/reward ratio, <a href="http://dallas.sbnation.com/baylor-bears/2012/6/14/3078820/nba-mock-draft-2012-milwaukee-bucks-perry-jones-floor/in/2704291">except at the No. 12 pick instead of the No. 24</a>. NBA players have always made a point of "proving the doubters wrong", and if anything is certain, it's that Jones has no shortage of doubters to inspire him.</p>
<p><i>For more coverage on Baylor's NBA draft prospects, stay tuned to the <a href="http://dallas.sbnation.com/baylor-bears/2012/4/10/2940250/nba-draft-2012-perry-jones-iii-quincy-miller">SB Nation Dallas storystream </a>and <a href="http://www.ourdailybears.com/">Our Daily Bears</a>.</i></p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/baylor-bears/2012/6/28/3124164/nba-draft-rumors-perry-jones-cleveland-cavaliersJonathan Tjarks2012-06-28T09:05:55-05:002012-06-28T09:05:55-05:002012 NBA Draft Rumors: Perry Jones Knee Injury Could Be Reason For Falling Draft Stock
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<p>Baylor's Perry Jones has began to slide down most draft boards, and ESPN's Chad Ford is reporting that the reason is because of a knee injury:</p>
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<p>Sources: Perry Jones knee issue may be the cause of draft night slide <a href="http://t.co/PunRtt9Y" title="http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2012/story/_/id/8106785/sources-knee-baylor-bears-jones-raises-red-flags">espn.go.com/nba/draft2012/…</a></p>
— Chad Ford (@chadfordinsider) <a href="https://twitter.com/chadfordinsider/status/218340501923954688" data-datetime="2012-06-28T13:50:06+00:00">June 28, 2012</a>
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<p>Specifically, Ford reports that a meniscus issue in the left knee of the Baylor guard has several clubs concerned about Jones' long-term durability. While the issue isn't considered career threatening, <a href="http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2012/story/_/id/8106785/sources-knee-baylor-bears-jones-raises-red-flags">Ford reports</a> that enough clubs are concerned to push Jones to the bottom of the first round:</p>
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<p>While opinions vary among NBA doctors on the ramifications of the issue, some teams feel that the knee could be an issue down the road and at some point in the future require surgery. Not all teams have the same degree of alarm, but the concerns have caused Jones' stock to slide from the mid-to-late lottery portion of the draft down into the late teens and early 20s of the round.</p>
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<p>Over at SB Nation's NBA page, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba-draft/2012/6/27/3120379/nba-mock-draft-2012-dunce-cap-anthony-davis">Tom Ziller still has Jones in the Top 10</a>, going to the Golden State Warriors seventh overall. </p>
<p><i>For more on the 2012 NBA Draft, check out <a href="http://sbnation.com/nba">SB Nation's NBA page</a>. </i></p>
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https://dallas.sbnation.com/baylor-bears/2012/6/28/3123175/2012-nba-draft-rumors-perry-jones-knee-injury-could-be-reason-forSteven Godfrey