Mock Draft from NBAdraft.net

[ammofan]

On Nbadraft.net they have us at spot 8 and drafting Nicolas Batum from France. Why would we draft him? We need a big man or a point guard.

Here is the link:
www.nbadraft.net

They have Beasley going 1 to Minnesota and Rose going 2 to Miami. What a backcort Miami would have with Rose and Wade! And Minnesota would have a great young frontline with Brewer/Beasley/Jefferson!!!

The cats on the other hand(If they pick at 8) would be able to pick one of the following players:

1. OJ Mayo (If we are draft a Guard why not draft the next Kobe?)
2. Hasheem Thabeet (He is Huge)
3. Roy Hibbert (See above^^^)
4. Darren Collison (SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Fast!)
5. DJ Augustin (Solid all around player)
6. Kevin Love (BIG-Nasty-and white!! the only one around!!) LOL

The first player I would draft:
OJ Mayo-
He is going to be a great player! He is 6-5 but we could attempt to make him a point guard. Can you imagine Wallace, Richardson, and Mayo? Along with possibly Antawn Jamison and depending on how much money he wants-Emeka Okafor?

That lineup would be sick!

[ohara831]

Batum is very athletic, and taking him would prety much seal Okafor playing Center and Crash as PF. Not horrible if it pans out that way.

I do think Mayo would be a high quality pick at #8 or further back. I LOVE Augustin from TX and he could very easily supplant Ray as our PG. There is a lot of talk now that he is a better PG than Rose, but I am not sure of that myself. Rose is pretty special, but Augustine can dish it out and score from deep 3 pt range with some consistency as far as his games I have seen this season (about 4)

Do not forget about Chase Buddinger from AZ. He can light it up as well and is considered a top 10 pick as well. Would likely be the same thing as if we took Batum, playing him at the 3 and having Crash play the 4.

I was reading the latest on ESPN, and my man John Riek is freefalling. He went from #9 to #19 b/c scouts say he is not staying in shape, not working hard to improve his game and is therefore regressing. All this after scouts saw him several months ago and talked him up and how he was going to be a Lottery pick. If he has motivational issues, we do not need to bring that onto the team.

Thabeet has a long way to go, and I am not sure of Hibbert's athleticism to play the NBA well. I would not take Love inside the Top 10 - he is more around the 14-18 range. Great in half court, but not great running the Court which is a must have quality for a good NBA starting 4. Not sure of Collison; need to study up on him more.

[ammofan]

Yes I forgot about Budinger. The only concerns I have about drafting another small forward is how will Morrison work out in the lineup? He definatley looked like a 15-18 ppg guy during the preseason before the injury.

[dvdbumpus]

Love Budinger but not for the team. Give me a big or a point so J-rich and Crash can man the 2 and 3.

[MattD]

jarryd bayless as a pg who can drive like no other... have him, jrich (3 threat), gerald (drive threat), Antwain (post or 3 threat), and Mek (Yeah we will resign him) and weve got a hell of a squad.

Have Felton come off the bench as 6th man, Carroll can be close to 6th man

[babyj42]

love bayless... would be a great addition

[ohara831]

One guy I have not seen, but he's getting a lot of love is the big man from Stanford - Lopez. A 7 footer who seems to be getting a lot of people liking him to be a top 7 pick by ESPN and nbadraft.net.

[dvdbumpus]

I think nbadraft.net doesn't really go in depth because Nicholas Batum...a SG for us @ 8? I seriously doubt that. Milwaukee taking a center with Bogut? Utah taking a point guard?


Love their profiles on players though. Just wish they would make more logical choices on players for teams.

[ohara831]

I gotta say, I know he has some attitude, but if we are picking as far back as 8-12 and OJ Mayo is still there, I think we take him. Too much talent to let go. May also free us up on some possible trades later. I am not advocating taking him at that point, or the trades; I am just saying that it is something we would have to consider. He is a very talented scoring threat and he will be quite a threat at the NBA level, for sure.


Also, I was reading over some other mock drafts, and one has us down as not having a 2nd round pick as it was traded to the Lakers as part of the Kareem Rush deal a few years ago. All other sites have us with the 2nd rounder. Does anyone know if we traded this year's 2nd rounder?

[dvdbumpus]

Also, I was reading over some other mock drafts, and one has us down as not having a 2nd round pick as it was traded to the Lakers as part of the Kareem Rush deal a few years ago. All other sites have us with the 2nd rounder. Does anyone know if we traded this year's 2nd rounder?


We did lose it in the Kareem Rush trade.

On the topic of 2009 draft picks, we have two. This is due to the vaunted Melvin Ely for Eric Williams and the Spurs 2009 2nd round pick. Woo!

I'd suggest we try to package those picks into something larger. Maybe that's why we're keeping that roster spot open..

[swetooth9]

let's get tyrese rice from BC in the 2009 draft 2nd round...talented scoring PG that can run sets...i like this guy...good backup to felton..could be good 3rd pg if we select a good 2nd pg this draft

[ohara831]

jarryd bayless as a pg who can drive like no other... have him, jrich (3 threat), gerald (drive threat), Antwain (post or 3 threat), and Mek (Yeah we will resign him) and weve got a hell of a squad.

Have Felton come off the bench as 6th man, Carroll can be close to 6th man
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Are you a prophet? Interestingly enough, nbsdraft.net has us taking Bayless withf the #7 pick. I've seen him a couple times and he is truly impressive. I beleive he would beat out Ray for the job during his Rookie yr if we end up taking him.

[dnbman]

I think nbadraft.net doesn't really go in depth because Nicholas Batum...a SG for us @ 8? I seriously doubt that. Milwaukee taking a center with Bogut? Utah taking a point guard?


Love their profiles on players though. Just wish they would make more logical choices on players for teams.


I don't think they attempt to match picks with team needs at this point. I think they just rate the picks and change the teams depending on their record. It's not really worthwhile for us or their time to try and match picks on a regular basis when things can change so quickly with winning streaks, losing streaks, and trades coming up.

After the season is over and the picks are evaluated better, I think they try to match the picks more. For now, it's too much guess work.

[ohara831]

Interesting turn on the nbadraft.net today. They have us taking the 7th pick as Donte Greene of Syracuse. I love this kid. He is a FR listed as a SF, but he is 6-10 and 226. Room to add weight. He sounds like a bigger version of Crash. Both this site and ESPN compare him to Marvin Williams. This site also compares him to Rashard Lewis while ESPN says Rudy Gay.

Greene would be fine with me. keep Crash at the 3 and play Greene at the 4. The word is that he can defend the 4 position, block shots, rebound, etc... and is very every athletic. Just a bigger version of Crash.

With our 2nd, they have us taiking Josh Shipp from UCLA. If he aint Love or Collison, I dont know much about him. ESPN Magazine says he took over the role for Afflalo.

[amour217]

Interesting turn on the nbadraft.net today. They have us taking the 7th pick as Donte Greene of Syracuse. I love this kid. He is a FR listed as a SF, but he is 6-10 and 226. Room to add weight. He sounds like a bigger version of Crash. Both this site and ESPN compare him to Marvin Williams. This site also compares him to Rashard Lewis while ESPN says Rudy Gay.

Greene would be fine with me. keep Crash at the 3 and play Greene at the 4. The word is that he can defend the 4 position, block shots, rebound, etc... and is very every athletic. Just a bigger version of Crash.

With our 2nd, they have us taiking Josh Shipp from UCLA. If he aint Love or Collison, I dont know much about him. ESPN Magazine says he took over the role for Afflalo.


I like the potential of Greene...my only issue is the amount of wing-type players that would give us

[ohara831]

Amour217: Very true. But if he can add 10-15 lbs and he keeps his athleticism, then I am fine with him. If he can defend the 4, but is very athletic, he will be hard to guard himself. He is not my 1st option, as I would really prefer Jordan, Rose or Beasley. But he is a very nice fallback to have.

[spectre]

I haven't seen Greene but like you guys his size intrigues me. We need an athletic PF who can guard the Rashard Lewis types so maybe he could be the guy? Hopefully I can catch a couple of Syracuse games soon.

[ohara831]

I've seen him 2x this yr. Only 19 yrs old, and explosive. Avg is 18 pts 7+ reb 2 blks 1.2 stls; This is playing in a tough Big East with a tough schedule. The only concern right now is he seems about 10-15 lbs light for a PF, but everything I read says he defends the PF well. Still, a few more pounds would be better. I really like the idea of keeping Crash at the 3.

[ohara831]

With our 5 game winning streak, we have moved to the 9th pick. nbadraft.net has us taking OJ Mayo at #9 and Mbah a Moute from UCLA with #39. PG/SG with our first and a SF with our 2nd. Where's our Big coming into play?

Honestly, if we fall to something around 9-12, I be all for trying to trade down. If we could pick up Love or Hibbert around #16-#19, and get another 1st (if someone has multiples) or perhaps they give us their 2009 1st, I'd be happy. I think getting a Big is a little more important than OJ Mayo. (That could come back to haunt me!!)

I checked. Seatte and NJ have multiples. Now, Seattle will have a top 5, and then mid 20's, so they wont work a swap with us. But if NJ finishes better than us, they may talk about moving up a few spots to give us their 2. Currently, NJ has #11 (theirs) and #22(they got Dallas' from the Kidd trade)

[Slam]

You know that this early in the season team needs aren't taken into consideration when these sites come up with these mocks................right?

[ohara831]

You know that this early in the season team needs aren't taken into consideration when these sites come up with these mocks................right?
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I figured it is usually the best available player, but I thought some sites might actually consider needs when it it obvious. Like for us, we have an obvious need for a major presence on the front line to play with Okafor.

[Slam]

Draft sites wont consider team needs until lotto positions are confirmed after the balls have dropped.

[ohara831]

I understand now. Thanks!

[amour217]

man, I would LOVE to have a Mbah a Moute bobcats jersey lol

OR if all else fails, we should look to sign Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje

[ammofan]

Check out thir latest Mock: http://nbadraft.net/
They have us getting Mayo.....which is fine with me if we get him but I am hoping to not have a lottery pick this year....we are close to the playoffs!!!

If we did make the playoffs we would probably have the worst record of any team to make the playoffs som maybe we could pick....

-Roy hibbert
-Kevin Love
-Darren Collison

^Those are pretty good choices for a playoff team!!!