2011 NBA Draft: Top Undrafted Players

And you thought the draft coverage was over! Pysche! As we all know the Sixers stood pat Thursday night selecting underwhelming big men Nikola Vucevic and Lavoy Allen at picks 16 and 50, respectively. Many of the die-hards were not pleased with the selections, the four writers on this site included. But now that the actual draft is behind us, the next order of business comes in the form of undrafted free agents.

Normally teams snatch up the undrafted free agents fairly quickly so they can play on one or both of their Summer League teams in Orlando and Vegas. However; with the looming lockout less than a week away, this year's summer league has been cancelled. I'm not sure what this means for the UDFAs. I assume they'll remain free agents until the conclusion of the lockout, then be signed to non-guaranteed contracts or receive training camp invites from interested teams.

After the jump we'll take a look at a few of the undrafted players who the Sixers should keep their eye on, for whenever the proper time to sign these guys presents itself.

Aron Phillips of Dime Mag lists his top 10 undrafted free agents + honorable mentions:

1. Demetri McCamey, Illinois

2. David Lighty, Ohio State

3. Scotty Hopson, Tennessee

4. Jereme Richmond, Illinois

5. Matt Howard, Butler

6. Jacob Pullen, Kansas State

7. Chris Wright, Dayton

8. LaceDarius Dunn, Baylor

9. Jamie Skeen, VCU

10. Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech

Honorable Mention: Malcolm Thomas (San Diego State), Michael Dunigan (Oregon), Jamine Peterson (Providence), Kalin Lucas (Michigan State), Talor Battle (Penn State), Austin Freeman (Georgetown), Rick Jackson (Syracuse), Alex Tyus (Florida), Ben Hansbrough (Notre Dame), Dwight Hardy (St. John's), Xavier Silas (Northern Illinois) & Mickey McConnell (St. Mary's)

McCamey is an interesting name. He's a big point guard who's lights out from beyond the arc. The Sixers lack a "true backup point guard", and McCamey could be a nice camp invitee. However; the Sixers will likely have plenty of competition for D-Mac's services.

David Lighty, former teammate and buddy of Evan Turner. Turner tweeted "If lighty doesnt get picked i will be sincerely pissed. 4real." Lighty was a real solid player in college, but his only real NBA skill is three-point shooting. He'll probably find his way onto a team sooner rather than later, and maybe his friendship with Turner will lead him to accept a camp invite from Philly, although if Iguodala and Thad remain we really don't need another wing, especially with Lighty's mediocre game.

Richmond had a terribly disappointing freshman season at Illinois and I'm not quite sure why he entered the draft. DX had him as their 36th best prospected and projected him to go early second round. He's said to have a lot of potential, especially defensively, but he's a ways away from ever reaching said potential. Again, another interesting name, but probably not a good fit for the Sixers.

Howard's an interesting guy. He looks like Andy Sandberg. He also produced for back-to-back years on a Butler team that made it to the championship game both seasons. He'll probably be able to find an NBA team and stick as an energy guy who can come in, hit a couple threes, defend averagely, give a couple hard fouls, and rebound adequately for a couple minutes. His destiny is dancing on a float during a championship parade, ala Mark Madsen. He's got all the tools to be a great 15th man on a contender. Goofy-looking, white, and a killer mustache. 

Skeen is a big man, but he's pretty underwhelming as a defender and rebounder. He got to the free throw line a lot in college, but that's his only endearing skill – a skill that isn't likely to translate to the NBA.

Although he's not on Dime Mag's top 10, nor an honorable mention another guy I like is Greg Smith from Fresno State. Smith is another big man standing 6'10", 251 (6% body fat) with a 7'3" wingspan. His max vertical was 35.5", which is impressive for a guy his size.

Smith's strengths are post scoring, defensive rebounding and free throw rate. Although he got to the free throw line a lot in college he converted at a 54% clip. His defense is very inconsistent, despite the tools, and he doesn't have much of an offensive game outside of a few post moves, being bigger than everyone else, and banging his way to the stripe. He's a nice guy to take a flier on though. He has all the physical tools too be a decent big man. Smith also worked out for the Sixers pre-draft.

Last but not least is my man Michael Dunigan, who I wrote about in a separate piece. 

P.S. Jrue's older brother, Justin Holiday, went undrafted. He's a slender 6'6", 178, but possesses a massive wingspan of 7'. There's not much to Justin other than his potential defensively, which is always nice to have. He did however, test pretty poorly in lane agility and 3/4 court sprint.