Monday, June 25, 2007

NBA Mock Draft

Let me preface this by telling you I don’t know as much about the NBA as I do about the other big three sports, and my knowledge of the prospects is very limited as well. I did some homework and put together the first round, not counting trades, which obviously won’t happen.

  1. Portland Trailblazers- Greg Oden, C, Ohio State: Bruiser Flint says a team is a fraud if they don’t have low post presence on both sides of the court. With the #1 pick, Portland does not want to become a fraud.
  1. Seattle Supersonics- Kevin Durant, SF, Texas: Duh. What else am I supposed to say?
  1. Atlanta Hawks- Yi Jianlian, PF, China: He may not be a swingman, but he’ll be a good player- something Atlanta could use.
  1. Memphis Grizzlies- Joakim Noah, PF, Florida: They like his hustle, energy, toughness and lack of basketball ability enough to go off the board to get him.
  1. Boston Celtics- Al Horford, PF, Florida: He’s no Greg Oden, but Boston’s consolation prize is better than Memphis’.
  1. Milwaukee Bucks- Mike Conley, PG, Ohio State: Do they even have a Point Guard on their roster? Someone get back to me on this.
  1. Minnesota Timberwolves- Jeff Green, SF, Georgetown: Randy Foye projects to be a nice SG, so they could use another guy who can score off the dribble.
  1. Charlotte Bobcats- Brandan Wright, PF, North Carolina: They haven’t been successful going to the hometown well for lottery picks, so if they keep trying, they’ll nail one of them eventually.
  1. Chicago Bulls- Spencer Hawes, C, Washington: If you would’ve told me eight teams would have finished worse than the Knicks, I would’ve called you Isaiah Thomas. Legitimate big guys are hard to come by, and frankly, Chicago probably didn’t find one here either.
  1. Sacramento Kings- Corey Brewer, SG, Florida: While the rest of the teams are drafting for need and reaching a bit, the Kings get a steal and a guy that’s ready to score in the NBA now.
  1. Atlanta Hawks- Julian Wright, PF, Kansas: He’s been slipping down draft boards, but the Hawks might as well draft him.
  1. Philadelphia 76ers- Al Thornton, SF, Florida State: The Sixers need a second scorer to go with Andre Iguodala, and Thornton can be that guy.
  1. New Orleans Hornets- Nick Young, SG, Southern California: They finally settled back in New Orleans, and return with the same average players they left with.
  1. Los Angeles Clippers- Javaris Crittenton, PG, Georgia Tech: He still has both knees, so he’s at the very least, an upgrade over what they already have.
  1. Detroit Pistons- Thaddeus Young, SF, Georgia Tech: He plays decent defense, which is all you need to fit into the Pistons.
  1. Washington Wizards- Rodney Stuckey, G, Eastern Washington: With Gilbert Arenas on the way out, Stuckey’s nuclear potential for scoring can replace him in the very near future.
  1. New Jersey Nets- Rudy Fernandez, SG, Spain: It’s time to start the run on Euros that no one will remember in two years.
  1. Golden State Warriors- Tiago Splitter, PF, Brazil: He runs the floor well, so he’ll add a lot to Golden State’s run and miss offense.
  1. Los Angeles Lakers- Josh McRoberts, PF, Duke: They need a low post presence, so they’ll continue looking for that later in the draft and in free agency.
  1. Miami Heat- Acie Law IV, PG, Texas A&M: He’s a clutch player in his own right, but he’ll be taking a backseat to D-Wade at the foul line.
  1. Philadelphia 76ers- Jason Smith, PF, Colorado State: I actually think they’ll trade up to get Smith because he’ll be taken earlier, but I wanted the Sixers to get him anyway.
  1. Charlotte Bobcats- Daequan Cook, SG, Ohio State: He hardly played at Ohio State, so the Bobcats can make up for lost time when they weren’t able to draft Marvin Williams two years ago.
  1. New York Knicks- Morris Almond, SG, Rice: Remember when the Knicks lost two first round picks in that trade for that player I can’t remember?
  1. Phoenix Suns- Marco Belinelli, SG, Italy: Andrea Bargnani didn’t get many minutes for Toronto last year, so the Suns can make a nice value pick here by taking a guy from the same country and give him the same minutes.
  1. Utah Jazz- Sean Williams, FC, Boston College: The Jazz could go a number of ways here, so they’ll take the guy who didn’t even play half of last season.
  1. Houston Rockets- Derrick Byars, SF, Vanderbilt: The Rockets will continue to be a two man team until they stop trading high lottery picks for players like Shane Battier.
  1. Detroit Pistons- Gabe Pruitt, PG, Southern California: The Pistons accidentally ended up with two first round picks, so they’ll grab a PG to replace the departing Billups.
  1. San Antonio Spurs- Marc Gasol, FC, Spain: It wouldn’t be a draft without the Spurs taking a foreign player that will bust onto the scene in three years and make everyone wonder “Damn, how do the Spurs do it?”
  1. Phoenix Suns- Wilson Chandler, SF, DePaul: He has great athleticism, so the Suns will continue to have highly competitive conditioning sessions instead of working on their defense.
  1. Philadelphia 76ers- Petteri Koponen, PG, Finland: The Sixers aren’t going to be picking at 30, but in this mock without trades, I have to give them someone here.

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