NBA Draft: Stock Mixed

1. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia

For someone with a reputation as a great shooter, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has been consistently poor, shooting just 30% from 3 as a Freshman and is just 13-for-40 from deep this season. Despite these consistently poor results, he's still taking a whopping 10 threes a game. That's a big problem for Caldwell-Pope, his shot selection has been awful, gunning away early in the clock. The problem is that without a jumpshot, Caldwell-Pope doesn't bring much else to the table; he's a good but unspectacular defender and nothing special as a rebounder, passer, or ball handler. Unless he can find his stroke, and taking better shots will help that, Caldwell-Pope isn't a legitimate draft prospect right now.

2. Nerlens Noel, Archie Goodwin, and Alex Poythress, Kentucky
Looking at their numbers so far this year, you'd think that the top three Kentucky Freshmen were dominating, but in fact they've been up and down. Poythress struggled against Maryland and dominated Duke and Lafayette while Goodwin and Noel have had some good moments and some bad in every game. Poythress might be the best prospect of the bunch, he simply needs to learn to harness all his energy and athleticism and play with a plan, because his reckless aggressiveness has led to fouls and turnovers as well as spectacular plays. Goodwin is adjusting to playing more point guard and should improve over the course of the season as he learns to balance his own scoring and making teammates better. Noel has been solid on defense, but he's still adjusting to the improved strength, speed, and skill of the college game on that end. Offensively, he's got a ways to go, but that's nothing new. Overall, none of these players have hurt their standing much, and Poythress may have helped his, but as other prospect rise, they need to keep improving.

3. Cody Zeller, Indiana
After dominating two cupcakes, Cody Zeller struggled against the first real team Indiana played, Georgia. Zeller finished with only just 6 points and 4 boards in 27 minutes of action, even more trouble some were the 4 turnovers. When Zeller tried to beat his opponent with footwork, he traveled and when he tried to use power, he was called for an offensive foul. It's only one bad game and I'm sure Zeller will bounce back, but if he wants to be a number 1 overall pick, there can't be many more of these type of games for Zeller. Scouts are already not sold on Zeller as a top pick because he lacks big upside and doesn't dominate in any particular aspect of the game.

4. Adonis Thomas, Memphis
Thomas has been solid scoring the ball in Memphis' first two games, averaging 12 points on 50% shooting. However, after all the hype that he's got a legit 3 point shot, Thomas is 0-for-5 from deep. More disconcerting is Thomas' lack of rebounding; last seasons 3.2 a game seemed like a fluke for the athletic, physical 6-7, 230 pound forward, but he's only grabbing 3 a game, including a goose egg in 39 minutes of play against Samford. He's also only blocked 1 shot in 60 minutes this season. Thomas needs to show he's actually improved his shooting and make more athletic plays on the boards and on defense if he wants to be a lottery pick.

5. C.J. Leslie and Lorenzo Brown, North Carolina State
After cruising to three easy wins, North Carolina State got punched in the face by Oklahoma State and lost by 20. Two of the biggest reasons for the loss were C.J. Leslie (2 points, 1-for-5 shooting, 5 fouls) and Lorenzo Brown (6 points, 2-for-9 shooting, 7 turnovers), the Wolfpack's two leaders. Both are potential first round picks, but any more performances against good teams like this and that will change quickly. Leslie needs to continue to be aggressive while also improving his shot selection while Brown needs learn how to control an offense better and not turn the ball over as much.