Positives:
# Built like a football player
# Incredible strength
# Huge, 7-foot-3 wingspan
# Soft hands
# Tenacious rebounder
# Excellent motor
# Leadership ability, competitive
# Improving offensively
Negatives:
# Not an explosive athlete
# Bulk really hurts him on the quickness end
# Poor shooter
# Pretty raw offensively
# Conditioning could use a lot of work
Summary: June 16 update: We've been trying to get to the bottom of DeJuan Blair's situation for the past few weeks. We've heard from a number of teams that they've had concerns about his knees and it's only come to light in recent days that those concerns have to do with the fact that doctors can't seem to find his ACLs in the MRIs they've taken. See the full Draft Buzz story
June 4 Update: Multiple NBA teams are saying Blair's knees have been red-flagged. Blair tore both of his ACLs in high school, and the preliminary word from the physicals is that his knees aren't in great shape. How bad they are depends on who you talk to, but the range wasn't good. I heard everything from "devastating" to "troubling." See the full Chad Ford story
June 1 Update Blair wowed a lot of people with his improved physique on the first day of camp. But one GM scolded Blair in the interviews for the way he was jogging up and down the floor the first day. "It does you no good to lose all that weight and still play like you're fat," the GM told Blair. Blair took the constructive criticism to heart and raced like a guard through the second day of workouts. See the full Chad Ford story
May 29 Update: Blair also measured out shorter than expected. He was 6-5¼ in socks and 6-6½ in shoes. However, he has a ridiculous 7-2 wingspan and a very respectable standing reach of 8-10½. See the full Chad Ford story
May 18 Update The problem for Blair is in the definition of "big man." Blair is too big in one sense and not big enough in another. He struggled with his weight through his first two seasons and has cracked 300 pounds. On top of that, no one in the league expects Blair to measure much taller than 6-6, maybe 6-7 in shoes. That's undersized for a power forward by almost any standard. Last week, when I listed the prospects I'd see on my pre-draft workout tour, I got a number of calls from NBA executives with the same request: "Let us know how Blair looks." NBA GMs want to love this guy. They need players like him. But they're scared off by the physical limitations he has. I'm happy to report that the news is good. Blair looks closer to 6-6 than 6-8, but he has a huge 7-foot, 2-inch wingspan that makes up for his lack of height. See the full Chad Ford predraft workout tour story
Apr 8 Update: Blair declared for the NBA Draft today. He's expected to hire an agent, ending his college eligibility at Pitt. Blair is a beast in the paint. The top offensive rebounder in college hoops, he has the body of an NFL player and his 7-foot-3 wingspan allows him to play bigger than his actual height (somewhere between 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-7). While NBA teams worry about his weight, lack of explosiveness and lack of a perimeter game, his rebounding and motor should land him somewhere between 13 and 23 if he stays in the draft.
Mar 30 Update: Blair ended his last game at Pittsburgh on a mixed note. He had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and was 9-for-9 from the field. But for the second straight game he got off to a slow start and showed his limitations at creating his own offense. His lack of size and explosiveness hurts. So does his lack of conditioning. While some NBA executives think his raw talent will help him overcome his physical limitations, a few others keep dredging up the name Robert "Tractor" Traylor. Ouch. If Blair decides to declare, he's looking at going somewhere between 10 and 20 on draft night.
Mar 23 Update: Blair dominated East Tennessee State in the opening round, scoring 27 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. He is one of the best offensive rebounders in the country, and his emerging offensive game has NBA teams now looking at him as a potential lottery pick. In the second round, Blair was often triple-teamed on the offensive end but still managed 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Mar 18 Update: Blair has been one of the biggest risers on our draft board this season. More and more NBA teams feel that Blair, despite his weaknesses, will be a great power player in the pros in the mold of Utah's Paul Millsap. If he has a huge tournament, he could even sneak into the top 10.
Feb 27 Update: The other red-hot prospect right now is Blair, who has put up ridiculous numbers in February. He had 32 points and 14 rebounds against DePaul; 22 points and 23 rebounds against then top-ranked UConn and lottery pick Hasheem Thabeet; and 20 points and 18 rebounds against DePaul again.
Although he's undersized for his position, Blair's freakishly long arms (he has a 7-foot-3 wingspan), power in the paint and nonstop motor have NBA GMs gushing about him. We've had Blair projected as a late first-round pick for most of the season primarily because of his lack of size. But with more and more NBA executives endorsing him, he's moved up to No. 15 on our big board. I think his lack of size puts a ceiling on him, but he looks like a lock to go somewhere between Nos. 10 and 20 on draft night.
Feb 6 Update: There are a number of players who could've taken this last spot, but right now, Blair is the hottest name out there. He lacks the ideal height NBA teams look for in a 4, but his toughness, rebounding skills, long arms and soft hands make up for a lot of his shortcomings. His 23-point, 22-rebound game against Notre Dame on Saturday was the type of performance that has catapulted him into a potential first-round pick.
Jan 15 Update: Blair turned a lot of heads this past week when he dominated Georgetown's Greg Monroe. Teams have always loved his toughness, rebounding and intensity, but to see him pull it off against an elite talent has swayed the opinions of a lot of scouts. Before, teams worried about his lack of size and position in the league. Now names like Carl Landry and Jason Maxiell are floating around as comparisons. If Blair can stay consistent and help lead Pittsburgh to a Big East title, he should be a first-round pick.
Originally Posted by menderouv
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