Mock NBA Draft
I think this is going to be looked at in the future as a weak draft. There are a few solid players toward the top who will be starters in the league for a while, but only a small handful (Bargnani, Morrison, Roy) with a chance to be special.
Top 10 picks in this year's NBA draft:
(1) Andrea Bargnani, F/C, Toronto Raptors. It appears that the Raps will keep their pick. They claim that they have narrowed it to Bargnani and LaMarcus Aldridge, but they appear to have tipped their hand by hiring VP and Assistant GM Maurizio Gherardini. Bargnani was the star of Gherardini's team in Italy, Benetton Treviso. Bargnani has drawn favorable comparisons to Dirk Nowitski in a year where the Dallas Mavericks did extremely well, which has helped his stock tremendously. If Bargnani pans out, he and Bosh should make for a quick, athletic front court. The Raptors will have to build around these players by getting other personnel who can run like the Suns.
(2) LaMarcus Aldridge, F/C, Chicago Bulls. The Bulls will happily take Aldridge, who, when ready, will round out an incredibly talented young starting lineup for the Bulls. Together with Ben Gordon, Kirk Heinrich, Tyson Chandler, and Luol Deng, Aldridge's Bulls will be a contender by the end of this decade.
(3) Rudy Gay, SF, Charlotte Bobcats. Now that MJ is in town, time for some bad decisions. Gay will join the Bobcats, collect a fat paycheck, and put forth the same sort of half hearted effort that you saw him put forth in college. The Bobcats will continue to suck.
(4) Tyrus Thomas, PF, Portland Trailblazers. Thomas is a talented young man. It's not his fault that he's overrated. It's even less his fault that he will wind up in the most disfunctional organization in all of sports. Thomas will go to the Blazers, and hopefully he will be traded early enough so that it doesn't ruin his career as a solid bench player.
(5) Brandon Roy, PG, Atlanta Hawks. ROY stands for Rookie of the Year, and that's what Brandon Roy will be. He will start right away for a bad Hawks team, win about 20 games, and put up 18 points and 7 assists per game. Mediocre superstar Joe Johnson will have the Hawks cap strapped for many years to come, so don't expect any miracles out of Brandon Roy. It will be many years until he gets a taste of the NBA playoffs, but it won't be Roy's fault. He's a future all star.
(6) Adam Morrison, SF, Minnesota Timberwolves. This is a great fit. Morrison won't need to start right away for the T-Wolves. He can play behind Ricky Davis for a year or two while he learns to play some D and works on his endurance. In the meantime, he'll become a fan favorite in Minnesota...he is just their style with his gangly body, unconventional style and eccentric personality. Comparisons to Bird are premature, unwarranted, and outright unfair...but if Morrison can learn not to be a defensive liability, he will continue doing what he did in college...shoot the lights out and put up gaudy numbers. Eventually, Morrison will become the T-Wolves primary building block in the post-Garnett era (which, we all know, is inevitable. Garnett probably has a Knicks jersey at home already).
(7) Patrick O'Bryant, C, Boston Celtics. Raef LaFrentz is not the answer. Kendrick Perkins probably isn't either. Maybe O'Bryant will be...but probably not. In need of a big man, the Celtics will reach for O'Bryant with this pick, and get a quality big man who is very coachable and definitely has some upside. However, O'Bryant did not play against top talent in college (excluding, of course, Bradley's miracle tournament run), and the transition to the NBA game will be far from seamless. O'Bryant has the talent to be a decent NBA center, but he will never be the dominant force the Celtics hope he will be.
(8) Marcus Williams, PG, Houston Rockets. Williams is a quality pure PG who will fill a gaping hole in the Rocket lineup. He will start right away and won't be relied upon for scoring with Yao and McGrady on the floor, so he can rely on his strengths: protecting the ball and playing solid D. Williams will make the Rockets a better team right away.
(9) Ronnie Brewer, PG, Golden State Warriors. The Warriors like players who create mismatches, and they have plenty of shooters and scorers, so Brewer should be a good fit. The 6' 7" point guard is not much of a shooter, but he can play great D. He won't need to score being in the same backcourt as J-Rich. With the Fish entering his 30's and no real plan B at the point guard position, Brewer will be the Warriors PG of the future. This will turn out to be a decent but not great pick...like most picks by Golden State.
(10) Randy Foye, G, Seattle Supersonics. With no pressing needs, the Sonics will draft the best available player in Foye, and will thank themselves for it later. Foye will come off the bench, rotating in for Ridnour and Ray Allen. Foye's future in this league is bright, but he may have to wait his turn with the Sonics. Playing behind Ray Allen doesn't result in a lot of minutes.
Top 10 picks in this year's NBA draft:
(1) Andrea Bargnani, F/C, Toronto Raptors. It appears that the Raps will keep their pick. They claim that they have narrowed it to Bargnani and LaMarcus Aldridge, but they appear to have tipped their hand by hiring VP and Assistant GM Maurizio Gherardini. Bargnani was the star of Gherardini's team in Italy, Benetton Treviso. Bargnani has drawn favorable comparisons to Dirk Nowitski in a year where the Dallas Mavericks did extremely well, which has helped his stock tremendously. If Bargnani pans out, he and Bosh should make for a quick, athletic front court. The Raptors will have to build around these players by getting other personnel who can run like the Suns.
(2) LaMarcus Aldridge, F/C, Chicago Bulls. The Bulls will happily take Aldridge, who, when ready, will round out an incredibly talented young starting lineup for the Bulls. Together with Ben Gordon, Kirk Heinrich, Tyson Chandler, and Luol Deng, Aldridge's Bulls will be a contender by the end of this decade.
(3) Rudy Gay, SF, Charlotte Bobcats. Now that MJ is in town, time for some bad decisions. Gay will join the Bobcats, collect a fat paycheck, and put forth the same sort of half hearted effort that you saw him put forth in college. The Bobcats will continue to suck.
(4) Tyrus Thomas, PF, Portland Trailblazers. Thomas is a talented young man. It's not his fault that he's overrated. It's even less his fault that he will wind up in the most disfunctional organization in all of sports. Thomas will go to the Blazers, and hopefully he will be traded early enough so that it doesn't ruin his career as a solid bench player.
(5) Brandon Roy, PG, Atlanta Hawks. ROY stands for Rookie of the Year, and that's what Brandon Roy will be. He will start right away for a bad Hawks team, win about 20 games, and put up 18 points and 7 assists per game. Mediocre superstar Joe Johnson will have the Hawks cap strapped for many years to come, so don't expect any miracles out of Brandon Roy. It will be many years until he gets a taste of the NBA playoffs, but it won't be Roy's fault. He's a future all star.
(6) Adam Morrison, SF, Minnesota Timberwolves. This is a great fit. Morrison won't need to start right away for the T-Wolves. He can play behind Ricky Davis for a year or two while he learns to play some D and works on his endurance. In the meantime, he'll become a fan favorite in Minnesota...he is just their style with his gangly body, unconventional style and eccentric personality. Comparisons to Bird are premature, unwarranted, and outright unfair...but if Morrison can learn not to be a defensive liability, he will continue doing what he did in college...shoot the lights out and put up gaudy numbers. Eventually, Morrison will become the T-Wolves primary building block in the post-Garnett era (which, we all know, is inevitable. Garnett probably has a Knicks jersey at home already).
(7) Patrick O'Bryant, C, Boston Celtics. Raef LaFrentz is not the answer. Kendrick Perkins probably isn't either. Maybe O'Bryant will be...but probably not. In need of a big man, the Celtics will reach for O'Bryant with this pick, and get a quality big man who is very coachable and definitely has some upside. However, O'Bryant did not play against top talent in college (excluding, of course, Bradley's miracle tournament run), and the transition to the NBA game will be far from seamless. O'Bryant has the talent to be a decent NBA center, but he will never be the dominant force the Celtics hope he will be.
(8) Marcus Williams, PG, Houston Rockets. Williams is a quality pure PG who will fill a gaping hole in the Rocket lineup. He will start right away and won't be relied upon for scoring with Yao and McGrady on the floor, so he can rely on his strengths: protecting the ball and playing solid D. Williams will make the Rockets a better team right away.
(9) Ronnie Brewer, PG, Golden State Warriors. The Warriors like players who create mismatches, and they have plenty of shooters and scorers, so Brewer should be a good fit. The 6' 7" point guard is not much of a shooter, but he can play great D. He won't need to score being in the same backcourt as J-Rich. With the Fish entering his 30's and no real plan B at the point guard position, Brewer will be the Warriors PG of the future. This will turn out to be a decent but not great pick...like most picks by Golden State.
(10) Randy Foye, G, Seattle Supersonics. With no pressing needs, the Sonics will draft the best available player in Foye, and will thank themselves for it later. Foye will come off the bench, rotating in for Ridnour and Ray Allen. Foye's future in this league is bright, but he may have to wait his turn with the Sonics. Playing behind Ray Allen doesn't result in a lot of minutes.
posted by AdmiralLando at 8:21 PM
3 Comments:
Sounds like Bobby Grich needs sensitivity training.
Kings will take a PG to back up Bibby. If Rondo is available, they'll take him. If not, it will be Quincy Douby, or maybe Diaz.
Douby is a high scoring combo guard out of Rutgers. Solid offensive player, he'll need to work on his D. Think Bobby Jackson but not as good yet.
The Kings have gone from being a Euro-finesse team to a more gritty athletic defensive team. This style better compliments the Kings current star, Ron Artest. Back in the C-Webb days, a high flying offensive attack with great perimeter shooting was the way to go. Now that it's Artest's team, the Kings are loading up with bruisers to compliment Artest. I don't see this philosophy leading to a title, however. The Kings are not finished rebuilding, regardless of what they may think. They are a playoff calibre team now, but not a championship calibre team, and nowhere near as good as the Kings team with C-Webb, Vlade, Peja, Bibby and Doug Christie, with Bobby Jackson coming off the bench. It's going to be a long time until the Kings are that good again. Unfortunately, they happened to be that good when the Lakers were at least as good, and also a little luckier.
The NBA is between dynasties at the moment. Right now is a real opportunity for teams like Dallas and Phoenix to cash in on a championship before another team (possibly the Cavs, though maybe the Pistons will get it back) rises to power and dominates the next era.
Post a Comment
<< Home