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The daily round-up I've been putting together each morning involving the best random ruminations and rumors revolving 'round the 2011 NBA Draft seems to be a fairly popular feature. Since Ridiculous Upside aims to please, that's exactly what the loyal readers will receive this morning.
Heading into the weekend, the most interesting tidbit involves Jimmer Fredette. Fredette became a near-demigod with his performances as a BYU Cougar and seems intent on continuing with that career path upon his entry into the NBA.
The 6-foot-2 guard has all but issued a challenge to two of the point guard prospects slated by most mock drafts to be selected ahead of him on June 23 by indicating to the Salt Lake Tribune that he's willing to re-arrange his pre-draft schedule to work out against Connecticut's Kemba Walker and Kentucky's Brandon Knight.
As noted on Thursday, Knight has been rather difficult to tie down in pre-draft workouts. The Jazz are hoping to change that, however, as they try to bring in the three top guard prospects -- behind presumed top pick Kyrie Irving of Duke -- to look at as they vie to become the third overall pick.
The next interesting bit revolves around (Turkey's? Kentucky's?) Enes Kanter. I featured the post Draft Express had about Kanter on Thursday, but SB Nation's Tom Ziller pulled out a quick tidbit that I apparently glossed over in my reading and watching of the video.
According to NBA teams in his draft range, Kanter hasn't helped himself with the way he's choosing to educate them about his abilities. His preference appears to be to leave teams in the dark and force them to make a decision based on limited information, which has frustrated them quite a bit from what they're saying in private conversations.
Kanter has not been consistent in the way he's approached the draft process, sending mixed messages and changing strategies seemingly on a daily basis.
Couple that report along with the less than stellar showing Kanter showed on defense in the video Jonathan Givony posted and it isn't crazy to think that Kanter's draft stock could take at least a minor hit from a guy who was once was presumed to have the Cleveland Cavaliers' No. 4 pick as the farthest he might fall.
In news that can only help Kanter, however, fellow draft-eligible big man Brian Qvale has decided to skip the whole process entirely and instead take a cool six-figure salary to live on the beaches of Turkey. This is obviously very important news because Qvale, a 6-foot-11 big man who played the last four years at Montana, is a native of Williston, North Dakota. HOOAH!
And, just in case it wasn't obvious, the Phoenix Suns have tipped their hand by telling SB Nation Arizona's Seth Pollack that they probably won't pick a wingman. I guess these guys are probably off the board, then, huh?
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