NBA Draft Preview: Al Horford

Talk about taking the long way home. Al Horford just isn't doing things right...Aren't all of the draft picks supposed to be freshman or sophomores that are racing towards the dollars of the NBA? Aren't people supposed to be scared more of their maturity as much as their awesome games?

Well, for Horford, the answer is no to all of those. What we have here is a mature, fundamentally sound, impact player with big-game numbers (almost averaging a double double for his career) and big-game experience (two-time national champion Florida Gators). What Horford hasn't got is a defined, smooth aspect of his game--he's solid in a lot of ways both offensively and defensively. But the rawness of his athletic ability and penchant to take over a game when his team needs it has GMs frothing at the mouth over his upside. Ballhandling and rebounding are two big components of Horford's game, and his scoring will just get better.

Prognosticators have Horford listed as high as number 3 in some mock drafts, and rightfully so. Some critics have claimed that Joakim Noah should be ahead of Horford because of team's constant pressure on the pony-dreaded center and also Noah's ability to block shots. But don't underscore what Horford can do for a team that may be in need of a solid power forward. Give him a couple of years, and we could be seeing another Zach Randolph emerging.

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