Official JBB 2005 NBA Mock Draft Rnd 1 (v2.0)

The Celtics have 2 young big men who are developing into monsters. They also have Raef locked up for 3 more years and possibly Antoine Walker. Why would they draft a European Center with their first pick? If anything, they'll look for a power 3/small 4 to fill in for Toine if he leaves.

Also, Delonte West is being used as a shooting guard. So that leaves them with Banks at PG. Payton is a free agent, and even if he gets signed, he's only got a few years left, if that. I think PG is the most likely position that the C's will be looking for.

 

why

why would the Knicks pass up gerald green? They have ariza but truthfully he isnt gonna be a good starter but he would be a great 6th man. If the knicks did pass green up toronto would snatch him in a second. Also I dont think Atlanta would take bogut because of the way their team is built. Harrington, Smith, childress are all athletic players who would thrive in more open styles of play. By drafting Bogut they wouldnt be able to run which is why many people think they will take Paul if he is in the draft. If not I think they will trade the pick.

 

I thought Paul wasn't declaring this year? Did he change his mind?

Also, why would the Knicks draft Monta Ellis? There are many big men they can get to help them with their front court. Taft??? Yuck, how about no! I'll rather get Petro like in the other one. Green > Taft and Petro. The Knicks can get a more than solid big man with Phoenix's pick.

 

Orlando already has Christie, Francis, An ever-improved Nelson and Deshawn Stevenson in the backcourt, why take McCants?

If Orlando passed up McCants, Toronto would take him next.

 

I really don't think Sean May and Shelden Williams are coming out... at least everything they've said since the tournament has indicated that.

Also, what's up with Jarrett Jack being taken so late? I don't think he'd slip past Minnesota (would be a great PG there), and there has been rumours abound that Toronto will take him, being good mates with Chris Bosh and all.

 

^With the NCAA championship in his grasp and his draft status at an all time high it would be foolish for May NOT to declare. He even said that he doesn't know anymore about declaring even though he stated he would. His thoughts are that if he is a top 10 pick he will have to seriously consider declaring.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">Great points. This pick did not come down to Celtic needs, instead it came down to BAP (best available player.) The Celtics greatest need is going to be salary cap space. Adding Petro, gives them some insurance to move either Blount or LaFrentz in the off-season. The Celtics will be at $46Million in salary next season, and they need to cut cap to bring back Walker, and possibly Payton. Both LaFrentz and Blount have reasonable salaries, and they should be able to get a solid player, possibly a PG in return. The best PG available at is Jarrett Jack, but neither of us feel he's worthy of a #18 pick.</div>Why do they have to create cap room for Walker and Payton? They are their players so they can sign them to however much money they want to without even worrying about the cap. Thier only concern will be the luxury cap.

If anything, it'll be Walker that gets traded in a sign-and-trade deal. Both Raef and Blount will be hard to move. Raef's getting a max deal of 10 million and up for the remaining 3 years, and Blount is overpaid for the next 5 years. I think Kendrick Perkins is the future starter at center, with Big Al Jefferson the future power forward. That leaves Raef and Blount as the backups, respectively.

Our wings are stacked with athletic players. There's Pierce, Davis, Allen, and West. So obviously they have no need there. They do not have a power 3 besides Justin Reed, and the ballots are still out on him. He is the 12th man for a reason.

At the point, there's Banks. GP may or may not be back, but like I said, the clock is ticking on his career. Our biggest needs are a 3/4 tweener and a point guard. I think Ainge has proven that he's not scared to take somebody early if it's what he's looking for. He's not going to pick an unknown European center just because it's supposedly the "BPA". He doesn't even like European players in the first place.

I look for the C's to go after Gilchrist, Jack, Warrick, Wright, Simien, or even Ryan Gomes.

 

Do you think Isiah Thomas has seen enough? You said it yourself that his job security is on the line, so why risk it on an ever underachieving Taft? Also Isiah Thomas has said it himself, he has to plan has if Houston is not there. Also with Isiah Thomas never being able to keep his hands to himself, we can count on him doing something with those expiring contracts of Tim Thomas and Trevor Ariza. Isiah has got to be interested in a young athletic swingman who resembles a player he?s drafted, who has also had a lot of success in his career. I don?t think he?s two years away from competing. I think he can make the same impact Ariza made to the Knicks this season. Also with his ?flashy? play will keep the Garden crowd pleased. It?s not like we?ll have to ?Darko? him. Who knows, could he win a dunk contest?

Taft is capable, but will he do it? Sure they can push Taft hard to reach his potential, but it?s up to him to decide what he wants to do. I heard a majority of Taft?s offense was off putbacks and dunks. Aguirre can turn him into a very good player, but that?s up to him. Let me ask you this: May you give me what your opinion of his best and worst case scenarios are. I heard that he could be an Amare Stoudemire at full potential or McDyess, and a Chris Wilcox (I?ve been seeing that a lot) at his worst case scenario. If the Knicks got the 5th pick (looks like it could very well be heading like that), do you think they?ll draft Taft? Or let?s say by some miracle they get the 3rd pick and Bogut and Williams are gone, who do you see them taking? Do you still see them taking Taft?

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">It's not entirely what Ainge wants, and besides, wasn't he the guy drooling over the Euro, Jiri Welsch a few years ago and obtained him by dealing Walker?</div>Let's just say he learned his lesson on that one. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Athletic 7 footers don't come around often.</div>Well, we already got two, so we'll pass.

And by seven footers, I mean guys who are 6'10 and taller.

 

I think the Knicks need to pick Gerald Green or Chris Taft. With Green, the Knicks won't have the opportunity to pick a guy of his potential for some time - unless they completely bottom out and get the #1 pick in the next few years. If they land Green, they need to trade Tim Thomas for whatever they can get (even if it's a couple of 2nd rounders, and let him and Ariza split time at 3 to run-and-gun with Marbury and Crawford.

Taft, I think was biding his time with Pittsburgh this year and is ready to unleash his full potential. Taft, Kurt Thomas and Sweetney is a decent front court from the first game onward, at least by recent Knick standards. Hopefully Marbury will utilize Taft like he did Stoudemire in his first year in Phoenix.

 

I'm quite sure that if Green is there when we draft, Bobcock is taking him even if Felton was available.

He's very high on GG, and recently he has been sending scouts to Houston and all over Texas to check on his background.
Few weeks ago when we played at Detroit, Babcock said on air that his #1 priority in the draft is to get an athletic swingman who could play both ends, and it don't get better than Green as far as B'Cock's assessment.

He might look at Jack with the Philly pick, or trade down few picks to get him later. But if Green is available when we're up, he's a Raptor.

 

I really think that Charlotte, according to your mock draft would make out very well. They bring in two players that are coming from winning college franchise's (Warrick and Paul) and it looks like they are trying to do something that the Bulls did last year by drafting Deng, Duhon, and Gordon. A combination of Okafor, Warrick, and Paul should be something that Bobcats fans should look forward to. Not to mention it looks like three guys off the all-american team in 2003.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Do you think Isiah Thomas has seen enough? You said it yourself that his job security is on the line, so why risk it on an ever underachieving Taft?</div>

Actually, Chris Taft is the safe pick here. We're just starting to get over the monster High School classes of Amare Stoudamire, LeBron James, and Dwight Howard, because not many people seem to realize that an eighteen year old player like Green is most likely not going to be able to step right into a starting NBA role or be a 10+ ppg scorer on a team like New York. While Taft's effort is questioned, Green's effort is even more suspect. In fact, that's probably the biggest knock on Green, so if you're worried about guys not trying hard then you don't even want to look at Green. As for Green's projected draft position, he's a guy who scouts are all over the board on right now. While he'll likely be picked somewhere around the lottery, he doesn't have the potential to go in the top five like Taft does. Taft is a player who still has the potential to be as high as the #3 pick if he could just shed some of those labels place on his work ethic, because his body and hands are so amazing. Pretty much all scouts agree that if the NBA Draft were today then just about the furthest Chris Taft could fall is to #8. Picking Taft won't put Isiah Thomas' job in danger. What would possibly put his job in danger is if Taft slipped that far and Isiah took a High School player over him.


<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Also Isiah Thomas has said it himself, he has to plan has if Houston is not there. Also with Isiah Thomas never being able to keep his hands to himself, we can count on him doing something with those expiring contracts of Tim Thomas and Trevor Ariza.</div>

If Isiah Thomas wants to plan for Houston not being there, then he has to be reasonable. What happens if Houston ends up coming back and you just spent your #8 pick on a Shooting Guard? You also have to consider that the draft is not the only way to get new talent at the Shooting Guard position. If you want to play out possible scenarios about Houston not coming back or Thomas being traded, then why not play out scenarios where the Knicks pick up a good Shooting Guard via Free Agency or trade? Besides, Gerald Green is not a player that you'd want to be thrown into that big time role right off the bat anyway. I doubt he wants to risk starting a high school player who's coming out of what is possibly the weakest crop of high school players in the last fifteen years, and if he did then Monta Ellis at #30 should be considered a huge steal. Although he had a bad All-American game, Ellis still has the potential to climb back into lottery consideration. If worst comes to worst for the Knicks and Allan Houston leaves, they can't sign a decent Free Agent, and they can't work out a trade, they'll always have Monta Ellis.

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I don?t think he?s two years away from competing. I think he can make the same impact Ariza made to the Knicks this season.</div>

Either you're extremely easy to please or you're contradicting yourself, because Ariza is nothing special. He's had two or three great games, but when it comes down to it he only averages six points and three rebounds per game. Do you want that kind of productivity out of your #8 pick and starting Shooting Guard? I don't know about you, but if all he can do is six points and three rebounds per game then I would personally say that he's two years away from competing.

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Also with his ?flashy? play will keep the Garden crowd pleased. It?s not like we?ll have to ?Darko? him. Who knows, could he win a dunk contest?</div>

Flashy is nice, but it doesn't win basketball games. Would you rather draft Fred Jones or Tim Duncan (not that I'm comparing Green and Taft to them or anything)? Also, I don't know about the actual crowd that shows up at the Garden, but Knicks fans in general won't let a guy get by with a below average season just because he's "flashy". As for having to "Darko" him, I'm not suggesting that he'll be getting 2 mpg. In fact, he might even be a 30 mpg type of player, but don't expect him to do great things with that time right away. Taft is your man for the present, and his upside is almost as great.