CLEVELAND -- Go ahead. Bet against Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.
Call him offensively challenged. Dissect his shooting hitch. Wring your hands over his ballhandling.
Wonder aloud about the sanity of using the No. 2 pick on a player with his weaknesses.
The NBA draft is a game of labels, and Kidd-Gilchrist doesn't fit many of the ones NBA scouts and draft analysts love to use on top-tier picks. But be careful.
Ask anyone who knows anything about basketball what label should adorn Michael Kidd-Gilchrist as he prepares for the 2012 NBA draft and they all, to a man, say the same thing.
Winner.
To read more of Chad Ford's blog on Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, become an Insider today.
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Chad Ford
Chad Ford covers the NBA and NBA draft for ESPN Insider. He also is a frequent contributor to ESPN The Magazine and makes weekly appearances on ESPN Radio and ESPNEWS.
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Fran Fraschilla
Fran Fraschilla is a college basketball analyst for ESPN and ESPN Insider. He formerly was the head coach at Manhattan, St. John's and New Mexico. He has been part of ESPN's NBA draft broadcast coverage each of the past five seasons.
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David Thorpe
David Thorpe is an NBA analyst for ESPN.com's Scouts Inc. and the executive director of the Pro Training Center in Clearwater, Fla., where he oversees the player development program for NBA and college players. David has trained Kevin Martin, Corey Brewer, Omri Casspi, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, Yi Jianlian, Courtney Lee, Kyrylo Fesenko, Earl Clark, Jrue Holiday, DeJuan Blair and others.
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