Durant Says Wiggins has 'Hall of Famer, All-Star' Potential; NBA GM Ranks His Top 5 | Zagsblog
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Thursday / March 28.
  • Durant Says Wiggins has ‘Hall of Famer, All-Star’ Potential; NBA GM Ranks His Top 5

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    Count Kevin Durant among those highly impressed with Kansas superstar frosh Andrew Wiggins.

    “He’s raw, but his ceiling is high. He can be like a Hall of Famer, All-Star, for sure. He’s good,” Durant told Yahoo! Sports.

    Durant watched on TV Tuesday night as Wiggins and Kansas held on to beat fellow frosh Jabari Parker and Duke in the Champions Classic. And like the nearly 80 NBA personnel in attendance, he came away impressed with both.

    “That [Parker] kid is amazing,” Durant said. “I think he is the best player in the country. Him and Wiggins are like ‘1A’ and ‘1B.’ Those guys are going to do the one-and-done thing, do it early. They are going to do really well in college and lead their teams to, I think, the Final Four. That’s kind of like, ‘Close your eyes and pick one.’ You’re good with either one of those guys.

    “I love Jabari’s game. He’s so skilled. He has it all right now. Wiggins is on another level with God-given ability. You look at him, you can tell he’s going to be really big and fill out a lot. He’s really athletic.”

    One NBA GM also spoke very highly of both Wiggins and Parker.

    “Wiggins is already close to Parker but has a higher ceiling,” the GM told SNY.tv.

    Asked to rank his draft order right now, the GM said:

    1. Andrew Wiggins

    2. Jabari Parker

    3. Dante Exum

    4. Julius Randle

    5. Aaron Gordon

    Of course, others thought Kentucky’s Randle was the most impressive freshman on Tuesday night.

    Both Magic Johnson and Jalen Rose told SNY.tv exclusively that Randle would be their No. 1 overall pick. Of course, they made their comments before the second game of the doubleheader.

    Meantime, Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski says he’s shocked to hear that some NBA teams might be tanking for these Diaper Dandies, and says “shame on” any franchise that is.

    **For previous articles on Andrew Wiggins, click here.

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    Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle. A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.

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