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Post by New York Knicks on Nov 22, 2010 23:09:11 GMT -5
Hey y'all. Here is my first attempt at a Mock Draft. Picks are based on the standings done as of January 18, 2011 (Game Time). Based solely on standings with no lotto. This is only the top 14 picks (the lottery) though, at least at this point where we are far away from the draft happening IRL or in here. Enjoy :-) Pick # | Team | Player | Reasoning | 1. | Denver (from Cleveland) | Harrison Barnes - SG/SF, UNC | Nuggets have a PG (or two) for the future in Jennings (and Lawson), and have some solid bigs in Nene/Robin Lopez/Tiago Splitter. Morrow is a borderline starter at best, and he would only cover one of the two swingman positions. Seems like an easy choice here for Denver. | 2. | Minnesota (from Toronto) | Kyrie Irving - PG, Duke | Some like Perry Jones more, and they may be correct, however in this writer's opinion, Irving is not far behind, and fits a need a LOT better. Minny has Kevin Love and Hibbert locking up the PF/C positions for years to come, and Wes Johnson as a promising swingman. Calderon can hold down the PG job alright, but he is older and doesn't seem to fit this team's personality as well. Irving gives the T'Wolves good, young talent at 4 of 5 positions, with actually another decent talent in Afflalo. | 3. | Denver | Perry Jones - PF, Baylor | With Jennings and the newly drafted Harrison Barnes, as well as Ty Lawson, Robin Lopez, Tiago Splitter, and Anthony Morrow forming a young core, there is now talent at all positions. However, Perry Jones could be a really big talent for years to come, and would step in as possibly the most talented big on this roster (pending the Nene trade/non-trade). This would be a dream scenario for Denver. | 4. | Minnesota | Jan Vesely - SF/PF, International | Some don't rate Vesely quite this highly, but he seems a unanimous top 10 lottery pick. Often it is splitting hairs once you get past the top 2 or 3 players, and even more often it is about finding the right player for your system. Vesely fills a need and will fit in well with the new starting lineup of Hibbert/Love/Vesely/Wes Johnson/Irving. Vesely brings a defensive presence (6'11" wingspan and glowing reports back this up) and can be the sort of "glue guy" to a lineup filled with a lot of talent. He is the type of player that can make an impact w/o demanding the ball, which is also good, because his offense still needs to develop a little more. | 5. | Dallas | Enes Kanter - C, Kentucky | Mavs have a bright future at Guard (Teague, Beaubois, and Dominique Jones) and SF (Jeff Green), plus one of the top players in the NBA at PF (Dirk). Shaq and Jerm O'Neal both expire at the end of this season, and one of the next best players available just happens to be a very promising Center, which fills their biggest need. Kanter has a legitimate Center's strengths (size, strength, rebounding, Post Skills, plus a solid mid-range and defensive game), which will be a great addition to the Mavs. | 6. | Indiana | Jared Sullinger - PF, Ohio St. | I would REALLY like for this team to get a legitimate PG, but I suppose Jamal Crawford can handle it for now. If needed, they could reach a little bit and grab one of Kemba Walker/Brandon Knight, in which case I would go for Knight, personally. Anyway, this team can also really use another legitimate Big man (to pair with just Tyson Chandler right now), so Sullinger fills a need and is possibly the top talent available at this point as well. Works for me. | 7. | LA Clippers | Donata Motiejunas - PF/C, International | Quite a lot of young talent on this team already. Tyreke has the PG or SG spot locked up, and Marc Gasol has the C spot locked. While there is other good and young talent at all positions (Blatche (PF/C), Aminu (SF), Harden (SG/SF), Bledsoe (PG), none of these players have proven to this point that they are the definite answer for the future at any of these positions. This is a good problem to have, in some ways. The Clippers take the best available player on their board, a versatile big man in the mold of Andrea Bargnani. A good shooter is something they could use as well, so this fits on multiple levels as he could also play down to SF as Bargs did in his first few years in the league. | 8. | New Jersey | Terrence Jones - SF, Kentucky | Another team with a lot of talent spread around all positions, if we have to pick an area of need, right now it is either a SG or SF (with Paul Pierce going to the other position). Terrence is probably more of a SF, which allows Pierce to stay at SG, the position he is currently playing for the Brooklyn Nets. Pretty well-rounded talent, some compare to a Lamar Odom (or less lofty, Marvin Williams) type player. | 9. | Houston | Jonas Valanciunas - PF/C, International | Some uncertainty if he will be coming out this season or not. If he does, he could move up this list a little bit, possibly going anywhere from 5 to 7. Jonas has put up some some gaudy EUROLeague #'s in limited time (17.6 mpg, 10 pt on 77% shooting, 83.3%FT, 6.4 REB, 1 Blk...again, 17.6 mpg in the EUROLeague, which usually has less gaudy numbers than the NBA). Very exciting young player currently standing 6'10", 230 lbs. With Yao and Zach Randolph expiring, Yao's injury history, and Brad Miller really the only big on the team next year, this seems like the right pick. | 10. | Sacramento | Alec Burks - SG, Colorado | Looking over the Kings' roster just makes me Jizz In My Pants. Too much? Possibly. But it seems to be the best way to express my feelings right now. Blake Griffin and DeMarcus Cousins are holding down the PF and C positions for years and years and years, at a very high level already. Darren Collison looks like an incredibly promising young Point Guard to lead this team. They already have, by far, the toughest and most important spots on a team all locked up. What to do? Take the highest rated SG in the draft. Not a great shooter yet, but is a gifted scorer, and has good size for the position. The Kings are on the rise, better make room at the top in the next couple of years. | 11. | Phoenix | Trey Thompkins - PF, Georgia | The Suns' best players currently consist of a shooting Point Guard, another PG, two Point-Forwards, a weak-ish, shooting Power Forward/Center, and an unproven Center. I don't really know what they will target, at all, but I gotta take a guess, so there it is. Very possible this pick gets moved, or the team has a lot of changes by this time, but I can't account for trades in this activity. Thompkins brings some toughness to this team, which seems needed, and is drawing some comparisons to Kevin Love. Putting aside the fact that it is a little foolish to compare incoming Rookies to players still on their Rookie contract, this seems like it could be a good fit. As good as any, at this point anyway. | 12. | Denver (from Charlotte) | Brandon Knight - PG, Kentucky | Ok, ok, ok. You're saying, "Hey, didn't you drill us earlier about how Denver already has Jennings and Ty Lawson at PG?" Yes, 'twas I. Problem is, Knight is too good to slip any further than this, and I think the Nuggets GM would know this. He can also afford to take some chances with 4 picks in the lotto, including another one coming up shortly, and most of his needs relatively accounted for. If Knight works out, the Nuggs have 3 pretty good PGs, and have the freedom to move one or two of them to fill other needs. Certainly would qualify as another of those "good problems" for a team to have. Oh yea, he plays Point Guard for John Calipari. Knight could move up this board considerably as the year progresses. | 13. | Detroit | John Henson - SF/PF, UNC | So much young talent on this team, but it is far from being proven at this point. I do like Jrue at PG and Gordon at SG, with James Anderson and George Hill among others as good backups at both of these positions. So, the Pistons look for front-court help/depth, and they find John Henson, a highly-touted, very high potential, SF/PF type player who can develop with this young team and maybe be a big piece in the future. | 14. | Denver (from Chicago) | Derrick Williams - PF, Arizona | Denver's final lottery pick goes towards even more frontcourt depth. At this point, any player taken isn't likely to make a huge dent in the rotation for this team filled with young talent, but you can never have enough big men or PGs. I think Denver is closer to proving the PG part incorrect than the PF/C part, so we'll go with a PF/C that can be around for awhile, learn, and develop with the other young players on this team. Williams has a little David West type style to his game. |
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Post by sniper on Nov 22, 2010 23:47:47 GMT -5
Great job Knicks! I was going to start working on one too but now that you have made one I'll wait a bit longer to see how the standings unfold. Haha. Make some more player profiles.
Nice approach on my picks, Barnes is a lock if I get that 1st overall pick. Picking Knight is risky but I do like it a lot! I am high on both Knight and Irving.
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Post by Miami Heat on Nov 23, 2010 9:30:10 GMT -5
Great work NYK, It was really fun and entertaining to read the article, BTW JO (DALLAS) will be a Heat soon and his contract will expire next season LOL. ^^
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Post by Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov 23, 2010 10:49:29 GMT -5
Very well done Josh. It all looks very good and pretty close to where I was thinking for everyone. Good Job
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Post by Dallas Mavericks on Nov 23, 2010 11:07:40 GMT -5
You and I pretty much have the same pick NYK, I was thinking about drafting Kanter for a while now (only guy I'd take over him is Sullinger).
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Post by New York Knicks on Nov 23, 2010 20:44:11 GMT -5
Thanks guys, I really appreciate it. Player names do go towards either player profiles from our league or nbadraft.net or draftexpress.com profiles for these players. This was a fun exercise for me, but took a bit of time. I think it is worth it though right now, pretty good addition to the league.
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