1. Cavs- Lebron James, Finally a reason to watch clevland play! He and Wagner are a backcourt that could be dominating everyone in 3 years. 2. Pistons- Darko Milicic, I know plenty of people think Carmelo Anthony is the better pick, but Darko is at least as good as 'melo and a better fit. A frontline of Darko/Wallace/Tayshaun, with Rip and Chauncey in the backcourt is better than startin 'melo at 3 and sitting Tayshaun on the bench after his breakout post-season. Sitting Prince for rookie would be like if Jersey had benched Richard Jefferson this season. Also, Detroit has one of the top 3 Euro scouting teams in the League..so they know how good he is. Plus right now Darko is a better shooter and defender than Lebron and he's a 7' footer. In all honesty, I think Darko has a good chance to be better than Lebron in 5 years (not right away though). IMHO, Darko turns into Kevin Garnett with a sweet 3pt stroke and the ability to take people off the dribble. Everyone says KG can put in on the floor, but he never does. *dodges flames that Lebron fanboys will surely spit at me* What is it with you Lebron fanboys anyhow? I haven't seen this much drooling over an 18 year old boy since N Sync was in town.....just kidding! D 3. Denver- Carmelo Anthony- May have more of an immeadiate impact than King James. 'Melo dominated the best teams in college basketball last season, which is far more than Lebron can say, but doesn't quite have Lebron's upside or ability to put butts in seats. Depending on free-agent signings he could average 18, 8, and 4. Reminds me of a more explosive Grant Hill in that he's a small-forward with above average passing and rebounding ability for his position. Also, 'Melo just signed with Nike, sparking a never unending debate; Who will have a cooler looking shoe and who will have the better commercial? Lebron, or Melo? 4. Toronto- Chris Bosh, I was torn here, but 6'10 guys who can play good transistion basketball on both Offense and defense as well as score from anywhere on the court are too hard to pass up. I considered TJ Ford here because he is more of an immediate impact player and Ford runnign the break with VC and Mo-pete on the wings is a tantalizing proposition. I won't be surprised if they take the Texas phenom, especially if Toronto feels they are a playoff team next year. 5. Miami- TJ Ford, Pat Riley is thanking his lucky stars he doesn't have to bench another young, talented player (Bosh) all season long. Miami is dying for a PG and Ford is better than anyone they have at the '1' slot. Ford, Eddie Jones and Caron Butler is a nice 1-3...but the rest of the team will still be awful and they'll be in the lotter again in '04. 6. L.A. Clips- Chris Kaman, this is too easy. The Don doesn't care about winning games so they draft a rookie to replace a departing, established veteran player (Olowakandi). 7. Chicago- Michael Pietrus is by far the best talent on the board right now, he will make the log-jam of young, talented guards even worse. Which is why I think the Bulls may trade down and draft a project, they have too many guys who need playing time right now to draft another. Pietrus is one of the top 3 atheletes in the draft. The Grizzlies would love to have this guy.....Lorenzen Wright and the 13th for this pick and a 2nd rounder? Maybe I'm crazy. 8. Bucks- Maciej Lampe, The bucks are a solid team already and can afford to take a flyer on Lampe. Besides they already passed on Dirk Nowitzki once, why make the same mistake twice? 9. Knicks- Kirk Hinrich. They will consider Pavel Padolzkin here, but if Mcdyess is really going to be healthy next season, a real PG can turn them into a playoff team. Hinrich, Houston, Spree, Mcdyess, Kurt Thomas can hold their own with anyone in the East. Plus Milos Vujanic becomes grade A trade bait. 10. Wizards- A Point guard goes here, but which one....Its hard to tell the difference between the next best 3 PG's...every team's draft board will have them in a different slot. My gut tells me Luke Ridnour gets the nod because he's a purer PG than Reece Gaines and can speak English. 11. Warriors- Leandrinho Baribosa- Someone has to take the uber-talented Brazilian PG who can't speak english. Without Gilbert Arenas around, someone has to run the show. Everything about the Warriors seems eclectic anyway. Why not let someone who cannot speak english run the team? One of those 'so crazy it just might work' deals. 12. Sonics- Michael Sweetney, This is exactly who Seattle wanted and he falls right into their laps. If this happens on draft day, the sonics will celebrate. He instantly makes their bad frontcourt a mediocre one. 13. Memphis Grizzlies- Pavel Padolzkin- Everyone knows Jerry West has a keen eye for talent, so if he passes on someone with top 5 upside this deep, you know something is wrong. I say they trade the Russian Bear and Lorenzen Wright to Chicago for Pietrus. But I'm probably wrong. 14. Sonics- Reece Gaines. Hmmm....Here they need to take one of the many PG's available. Even though Dewayne Wade is the best talent on the board and could take over Desmond Mason's old role. But why draft a super-sub when you can draft a starter? 15. Orlando- Dewayne Wade, he's too good to pass up here. His ability to take some of the scoring load off Tmac's shoulders is a huge plus. They really wanted one of the PG's (Reece Gaines would've been a good pick) here, but just missed out. 16. Celtics- Jarvis Hayes, Another team in desperate need of a scorer drafts a shooter instead. Between Hayes and Walker the Celtics might shoot 100 3's in a game one night this season. 17. Suns- Sofakilis Schortanits- Sofa is a project but the Suns are already a good team. He should help in a year. Besides, the Suns need a big man and he has high-reward potential. The risk may be higher, however. 18. Hornets- Boris Diaw, too much talent to pass on. Diaw can shoot it and play point forward, he's 6'9. He'd feast off penetration and kicks by Mash and Baron Davis. Plush, he's happy not shooting, which is a plus on a team who's primary scorers are set and have another waiting to blossom. 19. Utah- Alexsander Pavlovic- Utah is lucky to get this Peja clone here as the Celtics were THIS close to taking him. He's a bit of a project but a legitimate 3pt threat and will provide some scoring punch on a team that will need it direly. 20. Boston- Alexander Varejo, Boston needs someone who'll mix it up in the paint once in a while and this one-time lottery pick will grab some boards, block some shots and might even put a little of power back in Boston's '4' slot after Antoine Walker sucked it dry 30 feet from the hoop. 21. Hawks- Marcus Moore, this explosive scoring PG will allow Jason Terry to stay in the lineup as Moore is 6'6 and can guard opposing 2's. 22. New Jersey- Maurice Williams, They need size but with Nenad Kristic coming over they need to groom a back-up/injury insurance policy for Kidd. An interesting player; he's a swinging gate on 'D' but is a leader with deadly handles and a solid offensive game from 18' and in. 23. Trail Blazers- Ndubi Ebi, A raw, super-athletic SF, high-schooler who can block shots and shoot it some. The blazers can afford to wait on him. But since there are no drug addicts in this draft Portland will probably trade this one for a future pick or two. 24. L.A. Lakers, It will be entirely unfair if the Lakers biggest need falls right to them. Nick Collison would be a perfect fit on this team. 25. Detroit Pistons- Zaur Pachulia is 6'11 260 and a classic low-post scorer. He's a definite project, but VERY talented rebounder and scorer. I'll actually be surprised if he falls this far. Knowing that Pistons scout Tony Rozone had practically lived in Europe for the last year, I have a hunch they'll be drafting someone who might stay in Europe next year. 26. Minnesota- Carlos Delfino, He might go to Detroit but the T-wolves would be very happy to have him. He's tough, can shoot and slash and has good size for a SG (6'7). Ankle injury hurts his stock though. He'd be great on Minnesota's bench though. 27. Grizzlies (via Kings)- Brian Cook, he's too good to pass up here. Has a lottery type game but people have questioned his mental toughness. He was Big-10 player of the year as a senior but an enormous underachiever as a freshman, sophmore and junior. At 27, worth the risk. 28. Spurs- Kendrick Perkins, Why not keep the kid comfortable by not moving him too far. With Duncan and maybe Jermaine O'neal around, he'd be under no pressure to perform for a couple of years and would learn from the best in the biz. Victor Khryapa is another potential pick here. He could contribute off the bench next year if the Spurs feel vulnerable. 29. Dallas Mavericks- Slavko Vranes, 18 years old 7'6 and 250, he can run the floor better than most 4's and and block shots EVEN IF HE HAS TO MOVE A BIT TO DO IT (unlike most men his size). He has a nice shot but is not ready for the NBA game by any means. But if you're Dallas, who cares? They won 60 games last year and having a rookie in Europe who would be a lottery pick in 2 years would be a plus. They would consider David West and Mario Austin here, but I don't think a tweener sized PF is going to help Dallas much. The excception would be if one measures taller than expected in Chicago. I just wanted to say goodbye to everyone here as this is my last post and visit to the Justbball site (though I'll probably reply to this one a few times). Lately I've noticed a lot of flaming around here, even by some of the moderators, people complaining and cursing futilely about things. Its cool if thats your thing, just not something I want to be part of and defnitely not what I enjoy in an internet community. No hard feelings, and I'll check back in a few months to see if thats changed. peace, rocko220
let me take a shot, i aint got no reasoning but itll be fun, urs was great, mine will be half a$$ed 1. Cavs- Lebron James 2. Pistons- Carmelo Anthony 3. Denver- Darko Milicic 4. Toronto- T.J. Ford 5. Miami- Chris Bosh 6. L.A. Clips- Chris Kaman 7. Chicago- Maciej Lampe 8. Bucks- Michael Pietrus 9. Knicks- Dwayne Wade 10. Wizards- Sofakilis Schortanits 11. Warriors- Luke Rindour 12. Sonics- Michael Sweetney 13. Memphis Grizzlies- Pavel Padolzkin 14. Sonics- Reece Gaines 15. Orlando-Jarvis Hayes 16. Celtics- Leandrinho Baribosa 17. Suns- Kirk Hinrich 18. Hornets- Boris Diaw 19. Utah- Marcus Banks 20. Boston- Alexander Varejo 21. Hawks- Marcus Moore 22. New Jersey- Maurice Williams 23. Trail Blazers- Ndubi Ebi 24. L.A. Lakers - Alexsander Pavlovic 25. Detroit Pistons- Zaur Pachulia 26. Minnesota- Carlos Delfino 27. Grizzlies - Brian Cook 28. Spurs- Kendrick Perkins 29. Dallas Mavericks- Slavko Vranes
a few humble opinions - unless he bombs out in workouts, the knicks probly won't pass on sofokolis at 9, they're apparently very keen on him. sweetney is also an attractive option for the knicks, as they are looking for interior toughness, especially with vujanic in the bank and mcdyess's career in doubt. they likely won't take hinrich or ridnour at 9, cos vujanic's upside is more appealing. if they trade vujanic (or package his rights in a trade), it'll be for a established point to run the show - i doubt wade will slip past 12, and if arenas goes look for the warriors to take him or hinrich, and barbosa to the sonics at 12 - jarvis hayes will go higher than 17, just on pure talent and scoring ability otherwise, great mock. i agree about darko, ppl can rave about carmelo but if darko played a season of college ball (as opposed to the much older pros he plays against) he'd leave no one in doubt why he's widely regarded as second only to lebron
Desmond- thanks for the feedback... Regarding Sofa, I really don't see how he could possibly go in the top ten. He doesn't bring anything to the table that the other undersized power forwards don't and he doesn't have Sweetney's skill or talent. The only possible way he goes that high is if he measures over 6'10. After seeing him play a couple of times, I think knicks fans will be sorely dissapointed if they opt for him over Sweetney...which is who I would assume the pick if they're giving up on Mcdyess, Hinrich if they're not. As talented as Wade is I think he's in for a slight drop on draft day due to being a bit undersized and lack of 3pt range. Mostly though, Unless the Bucks grab at 8 (I doubt the will if Lampe is still on the board), I don't see any team who needs a SG right now. I think Hayes is not going any higher because of just the opposite reason. He has no first step and isn't really a scorer, just a shooter. Like Allan Houston without the ability to get to the free-throw line. However he does have a nice upside. Of course, private workouts, Chicago, draft day trades and how teams feel about free agency determine pretty much all but the top 6-10 picks, so an accurate mock draft is pretty much impossible. Definitely some things will be changing by June, including my opinion on this draft.
Jdub you forgot Nick Collison i think, this guy was Dynamite in college. Kirk Hinrich will be lower than 17 i bet, probably 11th.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting "thefranchise3":</div><div class="quote_post">Jdub you forgot Nick Collison i think, this guy was Dynamite in college. Kirk Hinrich will be lower than 17 i bet, probably 11th.</div> ya my bad, i ment to have him goin to the suns
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting "allnet":</div><div class="quote_post">Milos Vujanic won't be joining the knicks he said..</div> he said he wants to join the knicks but wont if they keep ward and eisly.... he dosent wanna play on a pg jammed team so most likely since layden likes him he'll trade ward who has tradability and drop eisly and milos would be coming to ny, the worst thing the knicks would to is draft a pg in any pick they have this year or milos will never be a knick
picking where wade will go is tough i agree - the fact that he's a combo guard and only 6'4 works against him, but his explosiveness, pure talent and performances in the final 4 will work for him. i guess he could turn out like steve francis, or he could turn out like jason terry. worst case scenario is another william avery...as always, it all depends on draft workouts
Des, the thing is, he's not a point guard, and doesn't have the skills or mentality that project to him as one either. The problem with him being a bit short is that he needs to dominate the ball to be effective. Non point-guards under 6-6 that need to dominate the ball to be effective are rare commodities. Most players like that struggle trying to get their shots within a system. So unless a team thinks Wade can be the number 1 option and ball-handler on their team...then I don't see any of the teams before 15 drafting an under-sized shooting guard (with the exception of Memphis). If one of those teams had more of a need for a '2', I'd have him higher ina second, however. In all likelihood, Wade is good enough that a team may trade away a SG they aren't happy with to draft him, but as it stands, I'd be surprised if he went higher than 13 to memphis.....I've got a hunch Jerry West has got something up his sleave though.....
ppl said gilbert arenas couldn't play point guard in the NBA, that he was an undersized shooting guard i just think unless u are an established team (and lets face it, the only one in the top 12 is detroit) then u can't pass on talent like that. either way, wade is still valuable trade bait if there isn't a spot for him
I don't think you quite understand. Gilbert Arenas had skills necessary to make the transistion. The knocks against him were his scorers mentality and the fact that he was small for a PG (rumours before Chicago were that he wouldn't quite make 6'1). But the important thing is that Arenas had the passing and dribbling ability to to play PG. Wade often misses making the right pass because his head is down (a result of his remarkable ability to penetrate and score) and he's never shown that he can passively resist defensive pressure with the ball. That is; when faced with on-the-ball pressure, he almost invariably penetrates, and never simply resists the pressure and lets the offense flow (when he cannot penetrate he swings the ball). For a team to hope Wade can develop these skills when he didn't after 3 years of college, would be a bit foolish. I really doubt he's going to be a pg. Even if teams believe he can be...Why draft Wade over an established PG, when so many are availabe? This is not to say I don't like Wade as a player. I think he'll be a fine '2' in the league. He has a chance to be an explosive scorer. However, his lack of 3pt range makes him a talented, but undersized SG without 3pt range (he's a solid shooter though, and could develop range in the future, its how Jason Terry held onto a starting spot). His talent guarentees him a spot in the top 15, but unless he blows people away in workouts or in Chicago (or shows he's developed NBA 3pt range), I don't see him being a hot trade commodity As it stands he goes no higher than 8th to the Bucks (and thats only if they lose either Payton or Cassel AND Lampe isn't on the board). Or to the Wizards at 10, if they plan on moving Stackhouse...which they seem very, very willing to do at this point. This becomes more likely if they're impressed by Wade and draft him. The issue isn't with Wade's talent, its just that quality 2-guards are pretty easy to find in the NBA and most teams would rather take a chance on a big-man or a PG, gamble on a PG. Unless of course, they're without a '2', but none of the teams picking around where Wade's talent's dictate need a SG and there are too many high-ceiling 1's and 5's in this year's draft. Remember, teams go NUTS for 1's and 5's. Pavel Padolzkin will be drafted high based on nothing he's accomplished. Just size and raw skills; the last time that happend Michael Olowakandi was picked number 1 and it took him liek 5 years to prove he could turn the talent into something tangible. and Padolzkin has injury trouble. Baribosa is another high pick and he doesn't even speak English...imagine drafting someone to run your offense who can't even talk to your teammates. (he's not a 7'5 superman like Yao either..and yao wasn't asked to run the show). Like I said before, Wade's issue is not his talent, its just that he plays at an overloaded position and GM's are suckers for big men and point-guards. I mean, Dan Dickau was a first round pick....and I didn't even think he'd make a team. I Dickau is a prime example of a player being Overrated because of a strong tournament showing. People forgot about his defencies because he stepped it up in the spotlight. I wonder how Atlanta feels about that...especially with Jamal Tinsley dropping dimes in indiana. Ok, this concludes my final Dewayne Wade post/babble
ok i'll have my final say. i don't think wade will go higher than 8, but at the same time i don't think he'll go lower than 12 (sonics likely won't pass him up at 12). i'm not comparing his attributes to arenas as a point guard, what i'm saying is it would be naive of a team to pass him up on the assumption he can't play point guard. fact is he's one of those guys that could easily become a special player in the stecie franchise mold, and its tough to pass up a guy like that (plenty of players in this draft have talent, but he has that sense about him that he can be a special player). he might only be 6'4, but he plays great man to man defence and also plays a lot bigger than he is in terms of jumping, finishing and rebounding. i just think it would be naive to pass on him just cos his point guard skills aren't up to scratch - don't forget there are planty of veteran point guards in the NBA to learn from. u don't get that sort of hands on experience in college anyway i'm stopping too - opinions are like a*seholes, everyone has one
1. Lebron James 2. Darko 3. Carmelo. 4. Chris Bosh 5. TJ Ford 6. Chris Kaman 7. Mike Sweetney 8. Maicej Lampi (The Polish guy I'm not sure how to spell his name :| ) 9. Luke Ridnour 10. Kirk Hinrich 11. Dwayne Wade 12. Sofoklis Schortsanitis 13. Jarvis Hayes I'll do the rest later I need to find out who's entered etc.
well wade's not dropping below 15, because if he's left at 15, then the magic will take him. They have tmac to help him carry the ball up the court and ball handling, so that's not that much of a problem.
Jdub and Tmac have Sofa going 10th and 12th respectively. Someone else thought he wouldn't slip past the knicks at 9 which begs the question; What is it that makes you think he's going so high? I've seen him play a few times and I really don't see what he brings to the table that American bigs like Nick Collison and David West do not and he certainly isn't as talented as Mike Sweetney. Basically what I'm wondering is, what am I missing that everyone else is seeing?
I was going to have a big post disecting what I though of Rocko's mock draft, but I got confused from replacing certain players at certain spots so I will post a mock draft in a bit. About Sofo, I think he will be drafted mid to late first round because of the questions regarding his size, however I think he can go lottery if a team is desperate due to the best bigmen being taken already.
rocko22 has to be the smartest person on these boards. Everything he says he backs it up, you should try to get on around the horn.
