Now that LeBron James and the Miami Heat have been crown NBA champions, the focus for the league quickly turns to the 2012 NBA Draft. Weber State point guard Damian Lillard has impressed scouts and general managers with his efficient style of play and strong scorer's mentality during workouts and on film, but where does he rank among the other prospects vying to be drafted among the lottery picks?
To answer this question, Chad Ford of ESPN has complied his NBA Draft Tier Rankings to sort out the best available players in the draft. Anthony Davis is alone in Tier 1, while Lillard slides in as the first listed point guard on the board by landing in Tier 3 with Andre Drummond and Dion Waiters.
What does it mean to be in Tier 3? For starters, Ford notes that players on the third level are consensus top-10 picks among the GMs he polled, but they come in just below projected very good starters or potential all-star talents in Tier 2 (Harrison Barnes, Bradley Beal, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Thomas Robinson).
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