Jim Boeheim says 2014 draft ‘not worth tanking for’

Of course, there will always be contrarians who disagree with the pre-draft consensus. Playing that role this year is Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who made some interesting comments to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv on Thursday:

“There’s no player that’s out there on the horizon that’s a Tim Duncan or a LeBron James,” Boeheim said. “I’ve seen all these guys play. I think they’re very talented players. They’re not that kind of player. They’re not transcendent players that are gonna make your franchise into a 10-12-15-year winning franchise because you’re there. I don’t see that.”

While this could be a case of sour grapes from a legendarily prickly coach, Boeheim’s comments should not be dismissed out of hand either. He coached Carmelo Anthony in college and he was an assistant for Coach K on the last two Olympic teams. He knows elite talent.

At this point in the season, it’s best to keep an open mind about every prospect, no matter how much hype they get. After all, it’s hard to compare any 18-year old to LeBron James or Tim Duncan.

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