A good defensive talent he still needs to develop his offense to play at power forward in the NBA. He appears to have the raw talent and his defense alone might make him a good pick for the Lakers. He has an outside chance at being a lottery pick but most likely will go in the mid to late 1st round, with a possibility of dropping to the early 2nd round if enough underclassmen declare.

Etan Thomas is a senior at Syracuse where he has played at center for all four years. He will have to switch to power forward in the NBA and for that he will have to expand his offensive game. He is a very good defender and has good strength and quickness. He is a fair scorer with 14 points a game, good rebounder with 9.4 a game and runs the floor well.

Though he can put up a fair number of points his offense is limited. He has good hands and great leaping ability allowing him to get many of his points off of tips and putbacks. He does not have good shooting range nor touch, this may be the result of his large hands which make it difficult for him to put rotation on the ball. He uses his speed and strength to get good position in the post and does well finding his defenders weakness and has good footwork to penetrate for lay-ups. He has a decent hook shot and uses good shot selection which is how he maintains an outstanding 59% field goal percentage. Though sufficient for college his offense seems too limited to make the transition to power forward in the NBA. If he does not overcome the problems with his jump shot he may never be successful on offense in the NBA.

He is an outstanding defender and one of the top shot blockers in the country averaging 3.7 blocks a game and holds several records. Though his aggressiveness can lead to foul trouble he is intelligent about it and has not fouled out of a game this season. He has been named "Big East Defensive Player of the Year" and I consider him a much better defender than some players with more blocked shots because he is disciplined, not taking chances. He lets his intimidation alter shots while staying at home defensively and keeping good rebounding position. If all this is not good enough he is an excellent post defender. He is also a good rebounder, using his quickness and knack of getting to the ball to averaging 9.4 per game.

He was plagued by injuries earlier this season, so he may be subjected to some physicals by perspective teams. He is generally talked about as a mid 1st round pick but like so many others that depends on which underclassmen declare so there is a real possibility that he could slip even as far as the 2nd round. He has been invited to several of the pre-draft camps and will attend the Desert Classic.

His averages per game are 32.3 minutes, 14.0 points, 9.4 rebounds, 0.8 steals, 3.7 blocks, 0.6 assists, 2.0 turnovers, 3.1 fouls, makes 5.2 of 8.8 field goals (59%), and 3.6 of 5.3 free throws (68%).

Scout: Ian McLean