Blair vs. Hill

Numbers matter. Players with better numbers are better prospects. If two players are at the same position and one posts numbers that are clearly superior against similar competition he's almost always the better prospect. Here's a comp of 2 PFs in the upcoming draft. One, Jordan Hill, has been top 5 in most mocks for most of the year. The other, Dejuan Blair, has been around 20.

Height:

Hill: 6'10"
Blair: 6'7"
Advantage to Hill here, though it might be best to wait for the official measurements on both height and wingspan before drawing any final conclusions.

FG pct:

Hill: .537
Blair: .593
Advantage Blair

Points per 40 minutes:

Hill 20.5
Blair: 23.0
Advantage Blair

Rebounds per 40 minutes:

Hill: 12.4
Blair: 18.1
Advantage Blair

Blocks per 40 minutes:

Hill: 1.9
Blair: 1.4
Advantage Hill

Steals per 40 minutes:

Hill: 1.0
Blair: 2.3
Advantage Blair

A/TO

Hill: 0.5
Blair: 1.0
Advantage Blair

Age at start of NBA 2009-10 season:

Hill: 22
Blair: 20
Advantage Blair

Motor:

Hill: Said to be non-stop and high-revvin'
Blair: Unknown at this point
Advantage: Hill I guess

Blair is younger. He scores more often and much more efficiently. He's a better rebounder by a wide margin. Defensively it's basically a wash, but safe to say neither will challenge Dwight Howard's reign as DPOY as a rookie. I'll add that with fewer prospects on his team, Blair led his team to much greater success than Hill during his career. Blair was co-POY in the nations' strongest conference. Hill was all-PAC 10 1st team. I'm not saying Blair will be a star. He has the height issue and potentially weight problems. But he has a much higher upside than Hill, who is pretty ordinary for a PF prospect.