philohoopis

Greetings ya’ll. Last night I started my NBA Draft preview. I picked the top 2 spots,and then made a Bold self-serving trade prediction as an inexcusably biased Trailblazer fan. Tonight I’ll refrain from anymore trade speculations but will finish my mock Draft of the lottery picks. After that it gets a little dicey because I only follow college basketball loosely. But I follow the NBA close enough and, once again, these are predictions of what a team SHOULD do, or more accurately; what I would do if I were GM for all 31 teams. Again, for the purposes of this mock draft, besides the Blazer trade from yesterday, I’m assuming each team will keep the pick and are drafting players to play for their own franchise. I did this at espn.com and have a link to it here where you can compare my picks to the so called “Draft Insider” Chad Ford, and the espn nation fan consensus.

So without further ado….

3.)The T-wolves will snag OJ Mayo.
Minnesota has Al Jeffereson, and that is all we know for certain. Every other spot is up for grabs. This means they have need everywhere, in which case they will be all too happy to take the supremely talented Mayo.

4.) All of the experts say the Sonics will take Jerryd Bayless at 4. I can see that they are frustrated with the No range No D of  home boy Luke Ridnour, and the No J No stamina of Earl Watson. Bayless in my opinion is one of several undersized 2 guards that are going to be viewed as PG in the league.
Arizona produces good NBA players. I’m not sure he fills the PG void long term, but he will get minutes either along side or at the expense of Damien Wilkins this season.  Quality talent with lots of upside will compliment last years dual lottery picks, Green and Durrant nicely for the Location as of yet undetermined SuperSonics.

5.) Here is where I go out on a limb. The Grizzlies have had success going overseas high before, when they took Pau Gasol at 3. Thanks to the Bucks finagling of Yi Jinglian from China last year, Memphis will roll the dice that Danilio Gallinari will back off of the New York/
New Jersey or bust routine, and will Draft the Italian swingman at 5. Memphis seems to poised to go small now with out
Pau and move Rudy Gay to the PF, opening up a slot for Gallinari.. With the point guards they have in Conly and Crittenton and a shooter in Mike Miller, Coach Marc Ivaroni will run this team up and down the floor this year. Besides Gallinari is probably the most talented player on the board.

6.) The Knicks have Mike D’antoni,, MR Seven seconds or less coaching them now, and 2 front court players who  can’t make it past half court in 7 seconds. He needs a PG to push the rock hard and if need be, become  a one man fast break, ala Leandro Barbosa’s in Phoenix. Well Russell Westbrook is the splitting image of Barbosa. This pick will ensure Jamal Crawford will never have to pass the ball again.

7.)The Clippers are said to be looking to move Elton Brand. He has the option to opt out July 1^st. However the emergence of Al Thornton at the PF spot last year means resigning Brand or not the Clips can look to fill other needs.  The surprisingly super athletic Joe Alexander would be able to play the other wing opposite Catino Mobley, and makes the hobbled Clips more athletic. This opens up the possibility of finally moving Corey Maggette.

8.) I think Yi was a reach last year. The Bucks get lucky here. Kevin Big Sexy Love goes to
Milwaukee and can team up with Aussie C Andrew Bogut to feature the first legitimate White starting frontcourt since the 86 Celtics “second String” of McHale and Walton. Love is possiblly the most skilled big man to come out of college since Tim Duncan, only the limits of his athletic ability will prevent him form being an All star one day. Even so he should be a quality pro for years to come. He doesn’t have the upside of other players in this portion of the draft, but Love is as close to a sure thing as anyone not named Rose or Beasley.

9.) Brook Lopez is a real Option here for the Bobcats, who would like a legit center so Emeka Okafor can slide to PF. However the Jason Richardson or Gerald Wallace will emerge as a superstar plan didn’t pan out last season, and with Adam Morrison a huge ?, the Cats need a shooting star to guide them. New Coach Larry Brown is determined to prove he can coach young guns, but he also knows he would have much better luck coaxing  a quality performance out of  Nazi Mohamad  or Othello Harrington than to spend his patience on Rookie centers who play  too soft fro his liking. Eric Gordon will rekindle the excitement from when they Drafted the Stash 2 years ago. Hopefully Gordan will turn out better than that. It’s also worth considering that in Michael Jordan’s career as a basketball exec, he has never really had a player he looked at as potential protégé’. The cocksure Gordon might fit the bill in an important year that might dictate the long term future of the franchise.

10.) It’s not often that 7 footers fall this far it the draft, but teams are starting to recognize that making a reach for a player, because he has the one thing you can’t teach, when a shorter but more talented player who you can teach a lot to is available, can be a regrettable decision (Kwame Brown,  The Kandyman, and the Greg Oden knee surgery are a few examples). However the free fall stops here as
New Jersey takes Brook Lopez to fill a center spot that most recently was successfully filled by Aaron Williams in the 2003 finals. Lopez will solidify a front line that will now feature a quality PF in last years impressive rookie Sean Williams, Josh Boone, and the Euro-Duo of Nachbar and Kristic, who despite their height aren’t much help on the boards or in the paint. Brandon Rush is a possibility here as the Nets look to move Richard Jefferson.

11.) This one is a done deal for the Pacers. Larry Bird has confirmed that much. He just can’t announce who it is officially until Indian is on  the clock. But I can say it now. DJ Augustin. The final nail in the Jamal Tinsley coffin has been hammered!

12.) No surprise here. The Kings need a PF and at the 12 spot there are a few options to choose from namely NCAA Champion Darrell Arthur, or  the high flying but still raw Anthony Randolph, or possibly a bit of a reach with J.J Hickson out of NC State and the always tough ACC. I’ll go with Darrell Arthur, the proven commodity, and remember the words of Rudy T “never underestimate the heart of a champion.”

13.) I’ve already made my one bold prediction of the Blazers draft night activities. But for the sake of argument, keeping with my assumption that each team is picking  players for it’s own, the blazers can fill the one question mark spot on their roster by taking Brandon Rush out of
Kansas. Rush worked out for the Blazers last week and Nate McMillan was impressed, saying he had the NBA ready body to come in and contribute right away,  especially on the Defensive end.. Assuming the
Roy/ PG decision is affirmative; this pick establishes a ridiculously young Nucleus that will soon be a contender and remain so for years to come.

14.) The Run and Gun Warriors still have Don Nelson , which means that raw athletic talent is all he needs to make his fast break machine run at maximum. Is there any more obvious pick here  than Anthony Randolph?  I’ve mentioned his name more than once already, but in my mock draft, upside and potential are weighed cautiously.  Chad Ford is having a heart attack if
Randolph is still in the green room at this time.  

A few random picks I’m predicting…

15.)
Phoenix wants to keep Amare Stoudamire at the PF  spot for the rest of his career, so they draft an heir apparent to the Shaq daddy here. Kostas Koufos, , Marreese Speights, or DeAndre Jordan  seem the most likely candidates, although Roy Hibbert has an outside chance as does Robin the other Lopez, and some French 7 footer I’ve never heard of ( there is no shortage of 7 footers in the late first round this year).  I like Koufas, he has the most game right now, but Speights is very solid and
Jordan has that thing called upside but I can’t figure out why or how.

20.) Ty Lawson was supposed to go here, but the Nuggets wouldn’t commit to taking him here so he went back to school. His loss the Nuggets take Mario Charlmers in his place.

21.) Most don’t have him going just yet, but I Say New
Jersey picks up the legitimate swingman they desperately need to solidify the position. With the track record of Vince Carter and Richard Jefferson, expect Chris Douglass-Roberts to get major minutes filling in for the guy on the injured list, and to put up good numbers in the process. He may even make one of them expendable by the trade deadline.

23.) Robin Lopez goes to a loaded Jazz Team and has statistically even, but much more successful career than his sister, err, brother Brook. 

26.) The Spurs are at a bit of a cross roads. Their nucleus is in their prime but it’s the back nine of the prime course. The free agent flocking for the minimum isn’t a certainty anymore. The international gems are not going to take less money to come play a role in San Antoine They need to gather young talent that they believe can play the right way. Ryan Anderson  is a smart, talented  player out of Cal, who could probably use another year of school to really show his potential, but this is one of those cases where the learning curve of going up against TD in practice will accelerate his development much faster than dominating the Pac-10 for another year. Eventually
Duncan will cut the PF charade and fully assume the center position he has been playing since David Robinson left (Ok, since Rasho Nesterovic left, happy Timmy?).