Official Ed Davis Scouting Report

Ed Davis:

A lanky bigman that is reportedly highly skilled, but doesn't have a good frame.

6'9"
Small Frame
Fairly weak, but makes up for it with athleticism
Can jump over people
Soft Hands

Strengths:

Davis is reportedly very athletic.  To be honest, I've never really been able to witness any of his jumping ability in games, but I supplied a video of him jumping over someone.  So I suppose that has to count for something.

He also has soft hands, so he's any easy target for outlet passes (due to his athleticism) and the occasionally alley-oop. 

His jumper is fairly fluid and is consistent out to about 15 feet.  There's room for growth here.  I don't see him being Chris Bosh or Sheed, but he'll might be able to stretch the floor.  Which is really a must for him to succede in the NBA, considering his frame.

Umm....

Yeah....

That's about it?  Kinda disappointing, I know. 

Weaknesses:

Cole Aldrich is not a sexy name to most fans.  In fact he's fairly ugly with that missing tooth.  But at all times, he's very active on the floor, consistently altering shots, moving the ball around and being overall a great teammate.

Ed Davis, on the other hand, seems to forget he is UNC's star player.  Their record speaks for itself - they suck this year.  I have watched quite a few UNC games, and to be quite honest, I can't tell the difference between when he's on the floor and when he's off the floor.  He just does not make an impact on the game.

This is due to several reasons:

First and most importantly: He has no heart that I can discern.  You look at guys like Chris Bosh, Ben Wallace or Monta Ellis, they were all told they're too small to play in the NBA.  But they're all very successful due to their constant tenacity and drive to win.  Granted, in Monta's case, it hasn't shown up in wins, but I think, just maybe - and I'm going out on a limb here guys- perhaps GS's problems have little to with his offensive production.  But I digress.  The point is that Davis just does not make his presence felt on the floor on either end.  How the hell he ends up with so many blocks baffles me, just like how Michael Curry ever became a head coach.

Secondly: He has a very small frame and is undersized height wise.  This small frame allows for him to be very athletic, but since he hardly ever uses his athleticism, it is just a major weakness.  He doesn't have the brute strength to seal off his man in the paint.  He's regularly around the key, hoping his defender will magically walk away so that he will get an open shot.  I just don't seem him putting in the time in the weight room because of the aforementioned issues with desire.  And to top it off, he's only 6'9", very mediocre to undersized for an NBA PF.

Thirdly:  His finesse game isn't nearly as good as he thinks it is.  You can always make up for strength issues with good footwork and a nice jumpshot.  Dirk has made a career out of this.  Davis not only has no abdominal or posterior strength but also looks very awkward in his movements.  So what you end up with is 10 seconds wasted off the shot clock, only for him to end up back at out 15-18 feet.  And the few times he does get into the post, he never bothers to call for the ball, and by that time has already been pushed out again.  I suppose a good jumpshot would ease on this, but once again, we have an issue with consistency.  His jumpshot is decent, it has plenty of room to improve, but that's just it, you can't depend on potential for guys who don't have a burning desire to win.

Fourthly: His IQ is mediocre at best.  His timing isn't very good, the only reason why he gets blocks is because he is just so much taller than everyone else and can jump higher.  In the NBA, that ability will not transition at all as everyone will be not only taller and stronger, but around the same level of athleticism.  I suppose its a good thing that he doesn't force the issue, otherwise his lack of IQ would make him an absolute turnover machine.

Imminent Thoughts:

If you recall the game paper Mario, you could revert between 2d and 3d mode.  Ed Davis seems stuck in invisible mode.  Going with my theme of picking great classic symphonies, I would relate Davis to your standard 5th grade orchestra: guaranteed to be very out of tune with no clue of what is going on around them.

Honestly, I'd rather have Amir over this clown any day of the week.  At least you know what you'll be getting out of Amir: constant hustle and perhaps a few jumpshots. I don't think I've been more disappointed by any other draft pick in years (he falls around Walter Sharpe category).

I'm not even sure Davis will make a good role player in the NBA.  Undersized forwards cannot afford to be lazy; Paul Milsap probably has more man in his left nipple than Davis has in his entire body.

Simply put, this guy has bust written all over him.  Even more bust than Thabeet and everyone saw that coming from a mile away.  And I don't think I'm being too harsh.  The only guy I was biased against was Aldrich, and that's because of a big statistical drop from last year.  But as you've read, I quickly became a big fan after watching him consistently.  If anything, I wanted him to succeed, but I just couldn't find anything I liked: he is not Piston material.

Getting back to the Pistons, with the way this team is collapsing, a top 5 pick should be in order.  That will mean at the very least, Wall, Cousins and Turner will be gone.  More than likely Favors will be off the board too. I would snatch up Aldrich in a heartbeat, and in the words of the Crucible, "fart in the direction of [Ed Davis]."

However should the unlikely (and very unfortunate) situation arise that we end up picking around 10.  I hope to dear god Pattrick Patterson is on the board.  I do not intend to make a scouting report for him as I don't think we'll be picking that low, but that guy has serious game.  He's got much more tenacity, is far stronger, is quicker, has a better jumpshot, a very good post game and has only been playing for a few years.  He is very undersized, so he doesn't fit our needs very well, but he has legit game and I think is a better version of Milsap in most respects.

In short, JUST SAY NO, to Ed Davis.

Feel free to add to this scouting report.  Quite frankly what I've seen has been so pathetic I couldn't find many positives in him.  Trust me, I've tried very hard, but dammit he's allergic to the ball.  It's very hard to get a good read on him when he just doesn't do anything on the court, which is why I'm so disgusted that he's even in mention for a top 5 pick.