I was on a plane from Nashville to San Antonio on Friday evening, which gave me plenty of time to put together another mock draft for Thursday’s festivities. Without further ado:
1. Portland - Greg Oden
2. Seattle - Kevin Durant
3. Atlanta - Al Horford (many are convinced Horford is going here, either to Atlanta or someone else, which is fitting because Atlanta screwed up tremendously last year by drafting Shelden Williams about 15 picks to early. At least Horford fixes that screw-up).
4. Memphis - Mike Conley (Conley, Gay, Warrick and Gasol is a pretty outstanding young core)
5. Boston - Corey Brewer (makes Gerald Green expendable, ubertalented trade bait)
6. Chicago (trade with Milwaukee) - Yi Jianlian (Bulls need a power forward who can score)
7. Minnesota - Jeff Green (please take an NBA ready small forward to play alongside Garnett. I’m not ready for him to go elsewhere)
8. Charlotte - Joakim Noah (just makes sense across the board)
9. Milwaukee - Brandan Wright (and in the trade from Chicago they get Chris Duhon, a future first round pick, and pick #49. I think that is a pretty solid deal).
10. Sacramento - Spencer Hawes (another offensively gifted center with no defensive skill sets, ala Divac and Miller)
11. Atlanta - Javaris Crittenton (Atlanta drafts a point guard two years too late! At least they got Acie Law, wait, what?)
12. Los Angeles Clippers - Al Thornton (what an awesome starting five: Cassell, Mobley, Thornton, Brand, Kaman)
13. New Orleans - Nick Young (obvious pick)
14. San Antonio (trade with Philly and Los Angeles Clippers. I know I’m a homer) - Julian Wright (I hope they can pull this deal off. Philly gets picks #28, 58, Luis Scola, and from Los Angeles, pick #45 and a future first rounder)
I believe this would work, because Philly’s most glaring need is at power forward. They won’t get anything remotely resembling the toughness that Scola has to offer them. He’s also a proven winner on all levels of international competition. I think it is a pretty sweet deal for them, but what do I know, I’m a San Antonio fan.
15. Detroit - Rodney Stuckey
16. Washington - Acie Law (insurance for Arenas, and Antonio Daniels is expendable this season to free up free agent money)
17. New Jersey - Jason Smith (perfect fit for Jason Kidd, a power forward who can get up and down the court. Do you remember when Kenyon Martin was an All Star in the East? Smith could benefit just as much.)
18. Golden State - Sean Williams (and two bong hits)19. Los Angeles Lakers - Thaddeus Young
20. Miami - Gabe Pruitt - (need a starting point guard desperately)
21. Philly - Derrick Byars (another talented player for Philly. They could stack their roster with all kinds of young talent.)
22. Charlotte - Morris Almond (Sleeper alert! He’s the best shooter in the draft)
23. New York Knicks - Wilson Chandler (he’s a reach here. Can’t wait for Spike Lee’s reaction)
24. Phoenix - Rudy Fernandez
25. Utah Jazz - Daqueen Cook (plays the 2/3, shoots well, and is incredibly talented)
26. Houston Rockets - Nick Fazekas
27. Detroit - Marco Bellineli
28. Philly - Tiago Splitter (this year’s Anderson Varejao)
29. Phoenix - Peteri Koponen (right about the time Nash is on the way out, Koponen will be ready to take over the point guard duties)
30. Philly - Josh McRoberts
31. Seattle - Ali Traore
32. Boston - Aaron Gray
33. San Antonio - Taurean Green (can’t wait for him to back up Parker and contribute every game for the next four years)
34. Dallas - Alando Tucker (so they can’t get Michael Finley back, Tucker’s from the same school and nearly as old at this point)
35. Seattle - Jared Dudley (what a steal. I really like Dudley. He will give them solid minutes in every facet of the game. For the record, if San Antonio doesn’t make their deal, and they remain at 28, they should take Dudley then.)
36. Golden State - Kyrylo Fesenko (I got nothing here)
37. Portland - Glen Davis (Replacement for Randolph?)
38. Philly - Reyshawn Terry (perhaps the best all-around athlete in the draft, and the Sixers are still adding players. David Noel was the best athlete in last year’s draft class and he contributed some a lot of quality minutes for the Milwaukee Bucks. Terry is similar to Noel, but is a better shooter/scorer. Guys like that can contribute quite a bit early on in limited action until they figure the NBA game out.)
39. Miami - Aaron Afflalo (plays tough and hard. Could be a solid addition at small forward.)
40. Los Angeles Lakers - Zabian Dowdell (pretty darn good. He may be starting by the All Star break)
41. Minnesota - Marc Gasol (great white stiff, makes Aaron Gray look like an awesome athlete)
42. Portland - Demetris Nichols (perhaps the second best shooter in the draft, and much more sane than Rashad McCants)
43. New Orleans - Jared Jordan (great insurance for Chris Paul, who has missed some time in each of his first two seasons. Jordan will be a great backup, who will handle extended minutes because he won’t turn the ball over)
44. Orlando - Dominic McGuire (too enticing to pass up here)
45. Philly - Stanko Barac (take a flyer on a huge body, and let him develop)
46. Golden State - Renaldis Seibitis
47. Washington - Herbert Hill (vastly underrated. I think he can give the Wiz quality minutes in the post. Heck, he can’t be any worse than the junk they throw out there now.)
48. Los Angeles Lakers - Kyle Visser
49. Milwaukee - Marcus Williams (he’s talented, but he’s a headcase)
50. Dallas - D.J. Strawberry (he belongs with Avery Johnson or Pop)
51. Chicago - Chris Richard (will probably see more minutes than Yi at the start of his career, but he won’t be around nearly as long)
52. Portland - Sun Yue (throw away pick)
53. Denver - Bobby Brown (Portland gets a future second round pick in this trade, and Denver gets Steve Blake’s replacement)
54. Orlando - Ron Lewis (I bet he plays more than J.J. Reddick)
55. Utah - Stephen Lasme (big body and little else)
56. Milwaukee - Ryvon Coville (talented and probably should have gone earlier)
57. Detroit - Aaron Brooks (tough backup point guard)
58. Philly - Joao Gomez (let him develop oversees)
59. Phoenix - Ivan Radenovic
60. Denver - Coby Karl
If you take a look at what the Sixers were able to do, they should have a roster that looks like this:
Point guard - Andre Miller/John Salmons/Koponen
Shooting Guard - Andre Igoudala/Willie Green
Small Foward - Carney/Korver/Terry
Power Forward - Scola/McRoberts/Joe Smith
Center - Dalembert/Hunter/Randolph
They have several players developing oversees (Splitter (PF), Stanko Barac (C), Gomez (PF), and Koponen (PG)), and they have picked up two more future first round picks, one of which will likely be in the Lottery again (Los Angeles Clippers). Igoudala should be an All Star next year, and the Carney/Korver shooting tandem will benefit even more from his passing ability, and from the all around game of McRoberts. Scola is just flat out tough, and won’t allow any rough stuff on A.I.2. He’s a proven international post player who could average close to a double-double for the Sixers.
