NBA Mock Draft

Nothing is more fun than speculating on what a professional sports team will do and no event lends itself to this better than a draft in any of the professional sports.  The NBA draft is just around the corner and I have decided to give it a shot.  In writing a mock draft, I had to force myself to remember how stupid GMs can be.  I had to try to remember that the smartest move isn't necessarily the move a GM will make.  For example, in a NFL mock draft, to correctly pick the Raiders' pick, I would need to look up whoever ran the fastest 40-yard dash time and I would get the pick right.  Or that in a NBA mock draft, I have to remember that the Atlanta Hawks will never pick a point guard, no matter how bad they may need one.  So, without further ado, let's get this thing going.

1. Washington Wizards (26-56)
After a season in which two of the Wizards best players attempted to make the team live up to their previous name by pulling guns on each other in the locker room, the Wizards could use a little excitement to get them going.  There are too many weaknesses to list on this Wizards team, they could really go anywhere with this pick.  I personally think that the best available player is Evan Turner, but popular opinion would say that John Wall is that player.  Like Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans, Wall is another one of John Calipari's one-and-done point guards.  Though the other two have been extremely successful, I'm not sure that Wall possesses the size (Evans) or the explosiveness (Rose) necessary to be as successful as these other two have been in the league.  Nevertheless, I still think the Wizards will go with Wall.

Washington Wizards select: PG John Wall, Kentucky

2. Philadelphia 76ers (27-55)
With a new head coach and the second pick of the draft, this offseason will be very important in shaping the next few years for the 76ers.  With Wall most likely gone with the first pick of the draft, there are a lot of different directions the Sixers could go.  The only truly talented player the Sixers have is Andre Igoudala.  Sure, they have Brand, Dalembert, Young, and Holiday, but none of these players are good enough to be regarded as players that can not be replaced.  As I mentioned earlier, I would undoubtedly select Turner.  I believe Evan Turner is going to be the next Dwayne Wade.  His explosiveness, composure, and general ability to just fill it up night in and night out remind me of all of the things D Wade did while at Marquette.  In other mock drafts, I have seen Wesley Johnson as the pick for the Sixers, but I think it would be ignorant not to pair up Iggy and The Villain (for all of you Club Tril members) for the next five years.  Drafting Turner would allow Igoudala to move from the main scorer to the role of secondary scorer in which he is much better suited and thrives.

Philadelphia 76ers select: G Evan Turner, Ohio State

3. New Jersey Nets (12-70)
The Nets were undoubtedly the worst team in the league and definitely could have used a player like Wall or Turner, but unfortunately they got unlucky in the lottery and will have to settle for one of the other talented players that will be available at #3.  This is one of the predictions I feel most confident in because of the interviews Mikhail Prokhorov has conducted so far.  He has been adamant in the Nets' need for a new power forward to pair with center Brook Lopez, which leads me to believe he will almost certainly go with Derrick Favors.  Favors is the best power forward prospect in the draft and would be a small piece of the puzzle that will help the Nets get started on their path back to relevance.

New Jersey Nets select: PF Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech

4. Minnesota Timberwolves (15-67)
With three picks in the first 23 picks of the NBA Draft, the Timberwolves will be able to make vast improvements on a team that had the second worst record in the NBA.  The T'Wolves don't need a point guard considering they drafted two of them last year and they are pretty well sweet down low with PF Kevin Love and C Al Jefferson.  It would seem to make sense that the T'Wolves would try to find a shooting guard or small forward, but in the last week Love has been quoted as saying he has no idea what his future would look like if the T'Wolves would draft another big man.  I would think that the T'Wolves would understand that it would be ignorant to alienate and upset one of their former first round draft picks, but then again who would have thought the T'Wolves would draft two point guards last year, so anything could happen.  And with that said...

Minnesota Timberwolves select: C Demarcus Cousins, Kentucky

5. Sacramento Kings (25-57)
The Kings have been wildly successful in the draft in the past few years drafting two starters in 2010 Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans and SF Jason Thompson.  With Evans and Thompson making plays and scoring a majority of the points on the perimeter, along with the low-post rebounding and toughness added in the mid-season acquisition of Carl Landry, the Kings only seem to be lacking a legitimate low post scoring threat.  Sadly for the Kings, though, the best low-post scoring option, Cousins, was just drafted by the T'Wolves.  Unable to address their most pressing need, the Kings will be forced to go elsewhere.  Along with a low-post scoring option, the Kings could use a shooter who can help take the scoring load off of Thompson and Evans.  Wesley Johnson from Syracuse might just be their guy.  He can help spread the floor to give their playmakers more room to operate and he can knock down some big shots.

Sacramento Kings select: SF Wesley Johnson, Syracuse

6. Golden State Warrior (26-56)
The Warriors have made some great picks in the last few years, but with Don Nelson's quirky rotation patterns, many of their draft picks have either wasted away or been frustrated with their lack of playing time.  One of the few draft picks to find success under Nelson was Davidson standout Stephen Curry, who nearly won   If the Warriors were a typical NBA team, I would say they could use a low-post scorer, but obviously we know that the Nelson-led Warriors are far from typical.  With that said, though the last thing they need is a wing scorer, I wouldn't be surprised if the Warriors would take Al-Farouq Amino.  After being compared to Michael Jordan in high school, Aminu struggled in his two seasons at Wake Forest to live up to the hype.  He could simply just be a player whose game fits better in the NBA than in college, but only time will tell.

Golden State Warriors select: SF Al-Farouq Aminu

7. Detroit Pistons (27-55)
After a huge-spending spree last year on Ben Gordon and Charlie Villaneuva, the Pistons.......whoa, whoa, whoa.....Let's take a little time to reflect on that.  A spending spree on Ben Gordon and Charlie Villaneuva.  What were the Pistons thinking?  Why would those two players help a team?  Well, anyways, with those two signings the Pistons weren't overly successful.  With Ben Wallace and Kwame Brown as the only two centers on their roster, the Pistons definitely need to fortify their front line and the best available center in the draft would be Cole Aldrich from Kansas.  There were times during this past season that Aldrich looked like the best player in the nation, but there were also times where he looked like a bum.  The main concern with Aldrich is definitely his athleticism and his lack of athleticism is the main reason why I'm not sure he will be able to cut it in the NBA, but it seems like the place the Pistons are going to have to go to fill their rebounding and shot-blocking needs.

Detroit Pistons select: C Cole Aldrich, Kansas

8. Los Angeles Clippers (29-53)
I would say that the Clippers are probably about a Lebron James away from being relevant.  Unfortunately, Donald Sterling is still the owner and they have a general manager who has served under Mike Dunleavy, Sr. for the last few years.  It seems much more likely that the Clippers will get the consolation prize and I'm not talking about Dwayne Wade or Chris Bosh, I'm thinking more along the lines of Joe Johnson or maybe Ray Allen or maybe even Udonis Haslem.  The Clippers don't have any really glaring weaknesses and will essentially have two lottery picks this year with the addition of this pick and a healthy Blake Griffin.  In all reality, they could go anywhere.  If I've learned one thing about the Clippers, it's that Chris Kaman does not like having other post players around to steal his shots, so I think the logical pick for the Clippers would be a guard.  Just a guess here...

The Los Angeles Clippers select: G Xavier Henry, Kansas


To be continued....