The hype all week has been about Malachi Richardson, but another Orange has made a name for himself as well.
Since the NBA Combine all the talk surrounding Syracuse Orange prospects has been about Malachi Richardson, but Michael Gbinije has quietly been making a name for himself. Over the weekend Gbinije along with about 60 other prospects took part in the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. Unlike Richardson, Gbinine took part in the scrimmages. In these scrimmages Gbinije impressed a lot of people including ESPN's Jay Bilas, Fran Fraschilla and Jay Williams.
Fraschilla referred to him as "an ideal second round player." While Bilas liked the fact that Silent G could play immediately. Bilas remarked that there was "no question on the offensive end" about Gbinije and liked his potential as a role player in the pros.
Gbinije was projected to go in the second round, and since the NBA Draft Combine, he has remained in that category. As of now, NBADraft.net has Gbinije projected to be drafted to the Orlando Magic with the 41st overall pick. Draft Express has Gbinije projected to go 55th to the Brooklyn Nets and they had this to say about him:
"The Syracuse guard helped himself on Friday by using his athleticism to fly around on both ends of the floor, digging in defensively, attacking the rim and making enough shots from the perimeter to keep the defense honest. Gbinije played both on and off the ball and defended multiple positions with success. He's very physical at 6' 7" 205 pounds and got into the body of his opponents on the defensive end.
Gbinije is a bit of a streaky shooter, especially from the NBA line, as he has a wide base and the ball doesn't always come out smoothly or at the top of his jump. With that said, he was able to knock down a corner three, make an off screen three and use his physicality to get into the paint. Gbinije also finished a tip dunk and did some damage in transition. While the near-24-year-old was productive on Friday, he's not quite great in one area and struggles a little bit to create high percentage shots at the end of the clock. Gbinije isn't loaded with upside but he has positional size, solid athleticism and enough shot-making ability to make him an acceptable option for a team picking in the second round."
Other websites such as CBS Sports and USA Today only include the first round projections therefore Gbinije was not included.
