2014 NBA Draft Prediction Thread: Put Up or Shut Up

Do you (think you) already know who the best and worst players from the 2014 NBA Draft class are going to be? If so, speak up now or forever hold your peace. We spend months each year debating the pros and cons of certain prospects, and during that time we often form emotional connections with certain players. Everyone is bound to experience a few strong reactions during the draft process. I mean, how could they pass on that guy? And what was that other team thinking for taking that one guy at that one spot??? It's crazy, right? Those teams are definitely going to regret whatever they did (or didn't do) that we had already figured out for them.

I've created this thread because I struggle to care when unknown people come strutting in weeks or months or years later and start bragging like "I told you Player X would be a beast/bust" and reference some hypothetical conversation I can't confirm ever existed. If you want the glory for your predictions here in the Brew Hoop community, you'd better make sure you get them recorded in this thread.

Here are the general rules:

(1) Pick any prospects you want and predict their degree of success or failure in the NBA. You can make this about whatever you want, but I think predicting the best players from this draft straight-up should be hard enough. Do you think a guy is a lock to become an All-Star, or that someone is a bust, or that some player will drastically outperform/fail to fulfill his draft position? If you have a strong opinion on Bucks picks Jabari Parker, Damien Inglis and Johnny O'Bryant, go for it.

(2) Provide your reasoning for why the prospect will fail or succeed. If you can't come up with the reasons why you think a player will succeed or fail in the NBA, you aren't really analyzing or predicting anything—you're just guessing. Don't guess. There's no glory to be had in guessing. Take the time to make a real prediction. Offer up things to explain your prediction, and if you happen to nail the prognostication and the reasoning down the line, you deserve props. Guess right for the wrong reasons and there won't be as much to brag about.

(3) Put up or shut up. If you try to say "I told you so" down the line and someone posts this link to you, either find your prediction in the comments below or kindly be on your way. If a brilliant draft prediction falls in the forest and nobody is around to hear it, it doesn't make a sound. We're here now. Dazzle us with your draft insights.

To get this party started, I will provide a few of my predictions.

• Prediction 1: Marcus Smart is going to become an All-Star-caliber player by age 25. His shooting stroke will never become a huge asset, but his toughness, defensive ability [steals], and broad base of offensive playmaking skills will allow him to follow a Baron Davis development track where he finds a way to make his mark with becoming a marksman.
• Prediction 2: Noah Vonleh is going to become everything we ever thought John Henson should have been. Vonleh is truly the tubeman's tubeman. Vonleh says he wants to be a small forward, but he's perfectly suited to become an excellent modern PF/C. Vonleh has length, quickness, ball skills and shooting potential to be an impact stretch big. Vonleh will cash in where John Henson did not and take his game to the next level as a pro. His shooting ability will boost his offense and separate him from Henson.