Feel free to post here what you think will happen, news articles, trade ideas or rumors. I'll kick us off with my prediction for the 1st round: Minnesota #1- Karl Anthony-Towns- good roster fit, great upside, knows Wiggins. Lakers #2- Jahlil Okafor- wants to be in LA, best Center prospect since Duncan? Philadelphia #3- D'Angelo Russell- already says he likes Philly, friends with Noel, fits need/talent. New York #4- Kristaps Porzingis- might be best player in draft, NY needs a homerun. Orlando #5- Willie Cauley-Stein- excellent fit defensively and good fit for system Sacramento #6- Emmanuel Mudiay- won't slide further than this, exactly what Karl wants. Denver #7- Justise Winslow- Hezonja a legit threat to go here, Winslow to me is the better pick. Detroit #8- Stanley Johnson- Word is he's got a guarantee. Charlotte #9- Mario Hezonja- Won't slide past here. Might be best value grab so far. Miami #10- Devin Booker- Potential Wade replacement? They need the shooting anyway. Indiana #11- Frank Kaminsky- Good fit, good replacement for inconsistent Hibbert. Utah #12- Myles Turner- Value pick even though they've got great size already. Phoenix #13- Kelly Oubre- Talent on the wing? Sounds like Phoenix. OKC #14- Cameron Payne- Word is he's got a guarantee. Atlanta #15- Trey Lyles- They love their versatile big men, right? Lyles fits right in. Boston #16- Bobby Portis- Wants to be KG and Boston needs that intensity back down low. Milwaukee #17- RJ Hunter- OJ Mayo experiment just isn't working... Houston #18- Sam Dekker- Take the value here. Not necessarily a need, but best player here. Washington #19- Jerian Grant- Been slotted here for a while, good fit. Toronto #20- Rondae Hollis-Jefferson- Need wing depth badly. James Johnson? Eh. Dallas #21- Tyus Jones- Dallas loves him. He won't get past here. Chicago #22- Delon Wright- I like Heinrich, but he's long in the tooth. Wright is a good fit. Portland #23- Jonathan Holmes- Reach? Yup. He's Aldridge insurance. Cleveland #24- Montrezl Harrell- They've got so many bigs that are hurt, you need more bodies. Memphis #25- Jarrel Martin- Word is he got a guarantee here even though Jeff Green opted in. San Antonio #26- Guillermo Hernangomez- Duncan will eventually retire, good Euro big. Lakers #27- Justin Anderson- A bit of a slide, but he interviewed extremely well. Fits need. Boston #28- Arturas Gudaitis- Stash pick, but not much available that they'd want here. Brooklyn #29- Anthony Brown- They need a dynamic forward, he fits the bill. Golden State #30- Rakeem Christmas- Athletic, good character, Lee replacement.
Wow, if Anderson slides to the #27th slot and we end up trading or selling the pick. I like your predictions. Even though WCS meets Orlando's needs everyone has him dropping so I'm going to guess they take Mudiay and try to imitate Golden State with smaller ball. That moves Winslow to Sac Town, and Hezonja to Denver.
Alright here goes my last mock: 1. MIN - Karl Anthony-Towns - Couldn't pass up on the versatility and potential. Great fit for the Wolves. 2. LAL - Jahlil Okafor - Probably not a secret that Okafor was the Lakers pick all year long. And to have won the lottery and moved up to get him? Perfect. 3. PHI - D'Angelo Russell - With two bigs already, Russell is naturally the player they need. 4. NY - Emmanuel Mudiay - I don't think they can pass up on Mudiay's athleticism. 5. ORL - Willy Cauley-Stein - Defensive pairing with the talent they have. 6. SAC - Kristaps Porzingis - Karl likes his Euros. Would pair nicely to spread the floor with Boogie. 7. DEN - Cameron Payne - I've heard good things from the Payne workouts, including ours, and has moved up a lot of boards. Thinking Denver will move Lawson in the Summer. 8. DET - Justise Winslow - He'll fit the wing need there and the physical profile that Stan likes. 9. CHA - Mario Hezonja - Though he probably would go higher, does Jordan take a chance on the mystery Euro? 10. MIA - Devin Booker - They'll need another wing if Wade is on his way out. 11. IND - Myles Turner - They'll go for a big man to backup Hibbert. 12. UTA - Frank Kaminsky - Utah would love for Frank to fall to them. With Kanter out, Frank would fit right in with Gobert as a defensive center and the talented Favors. 13. PHO - Stan Johnson - With to many guards and PF's, they could use physical defensive presence like Stanley Johnson. Sad he fell so low, but he'll fit here nicely. 14. OKC - Kelly Oubre - They'll probably like a wing that could provide some defensive skills the way Thabo did for them. 15. ATL - Trey Lyles - He'll fit right in next to Horford. 16. BOS - Bobby Portis - They'll need a big to fit next to Smart. High intensity player. 17. MIL - RJ Hunter - NOj Mayo. 18. HOU - Sam Dekker - They might be lucky enough to find a Parsons replacement with Dekker this late. 19. WAS - Jerian Grant - More point guards? Why not. Small ball. 20. TOR - Montrezl Harrell - Could use some more size here. 21. DAL - Tyus Jones - Will fit nicely in this system 22. CHI - Rondae Hollis-Jefferson - Butler replacement for the future? 23. POR - Justin Anderson - Wes Mathews insurance if he leaves or can't get healthy. 24. CLE - Delon Wright - He'll be a good fit at PG here. 25. MEM - Kevon Looney - Big, physical defender type. They'll love him here. 26. SAS - Cedi Osman - The Spurs being Spurs and take someone no one really scouted, but will turn out good. 27. LAL - Anthony Brown - Lakers probably like his ability to spread the floor. Good size, good fit with Okafor's post game. Will need to work on D, but it will be a good pick up. If a player we like (Anderson, Hollis-Jefferson, Delon Wright) slips to this position, I still think the Lakers take him with #34. 28. BOS - Robert Upshaw - Boston would be the team that will take the chance on this guy. 29. BRL - JP Tokoto - Really athletic kid. Interesting to say the least. 30. GS - Terry Rozier - Volume scoring PG will fit nicely behind Curry. Barbosa doesn't really cut it.
I just can't imagine Orlando going Mudiay with Payton and Oladipo on board. Those guys look like their guard rotation of the future. If they don't go Cauley-Stein, I see them going with Winslow there and either moving Gordon to the bench or simply letting go of Harris. Hezonja to Denver seems like a pretty natural fit to me. It just didn't happen on my mock draft. I think if Sacramento gets Winslow, they lost this draft. That'd mean they missed out on all the players that could be more impactful for them in Towns, Okafor, Russell, Mudiay, and Cauley-Stein. Heck Porzingis could be a really good fit there too.
The only one I can't see is Payne going to Denver... I think that's a big reach for them and they could trade down to get him if they wanted to.
For sure! The other one is I've read a bunch of times that Stan Johnson doesn't make it past Miami. His floor is the 10th pick or I don't think he'd have come out this year. Miami LOVED his workout there.
remember when everyone said boston was doing so much better at rebuilding? yeah, that was a few weeks ago...
Forgot which beat writer tweeted it, but I read the Pistons are turning their attention to Stanley Johnson.
btw, wonder what it would take to get Bennett. both he and derrick Williams interest me as draft bust reclamation projects.
I'm a little surprised they're ready to give up on Bennett already. He'll never live up to his draft tag, but could be useful in the right hands. Lot of work needed though.
