My top 50 players available on draft night, not necessarily in the order they will be selected, but the order in which I have them on my personal draft board:
1. John Wall 2. Evan Turner 3. Greg Monroe 4. Derrick Favors 5. Wesley Johnson 6. Paul George 7. Al Farouq Aminu 8. Xavier Henry 9. DeMarcus Cousins 10. Ekpe Udoh
11. James Anderson 12. Avery Bradley 13. Damien James 14. Larry Sanders 15. Cole Aldrich 16. Kevin Seraphin 17. Gordon Hayward 18. Luke Babbitt 19. Patrick Patterson 20. Eric Bledsoe
21. Dominique Jones 22. Stanley Robinson 23. Jordan Crawford 24. Craig Brackins 25. Mikhail Torrence 26. Soloman Alabi 27. Hassan Whiteside 28. Quincy Poindexter 29. Elliott Williams 30. Armon Johnson
31. Alexey Sheed 32. Daniel Orton 33. Sherron Collins 34. Jerome Jordan 35. Jarvis Varnado 36. Darrington Hobson 37. Scottie Reynolds 38. Gani Lawal 39. Willie Warren 40. Lance Stephenson
41. Terrico White 42. Armon Bassett 43. Denis Clemente 44. Derrick Caracter 45. Greivas Vasquez 46. Lazar Heyward 47. Tibor Pleiss 48. Thomas Heurtel 49. Charles Garcia 50. Tiny Gallon
Obviously, I really studied hard on the 11 guys I did in depth profiles on. I also did some good preliminary work on the 9 others in the “best of the rest” thread. The others I am going by measurables and scouting reports of others.
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Now let’s make a stab at a mock draft, 22 hours or so before the draft begins. Mock drafts in many ways I think are stupid, but they can be fun too, so let’s try it just for grins…..
1. Washington: John Wall
2. Philadelphia: Evan Turner
3. New Jersey: Wesley Johnson
4. Minnesota: DeMarcus Cousins
5. Sacramento : Derrick Favors
6. Golden State: Greg Monroe
7. Detroit : Ed Davis
8. L.A. Clippers: Al Farouq Aminu
9. Utah Jazz: Luke Babbitt
10. Indiana Pacers: Ekpe Udoh
11. New Orleans : Xavier Henry
12. Memphis : Paul George
13. Toronto: Cole Aldrich
14. Houston: Hassan Whiteside
15. Milwaukee: Gordon Hayward
16. Minnesota : James Anderson
17. Chicago: Kevin Seraphin (saves cap space as they leave him overseas)
18. Oklahoma City: Daniel Orton
19. Boston : Damien James
20. San Antonio: Elliot Williams
21. Oklahoma City : Patrick Patterson
22. Portland: Larry Sanders
23. Minnesota: Tibor Pleiss
24. Atlanta: Stanley Robinson
25. Memphis: Eric Bledsoe
26. Oklahoma City: Armon Johnson
27. New Jersey: Craig Brackins
28. Memphis: Willie Warren
29. Orlando: Jordan Crawford
30. Washington: Lance Stephenson
That will end up being not even close, but since everyone else has a mock draft it seems like, I decided to have one too!
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My gut tells me the Pacers, as I stated above (if they keep the pick) will end up selecting Ekpe Udoh from Baylor. If so it will not be a home run, but instead another solid double as we continue to tread water waiting to make a major impact move down the line.
I clearly would follow my big board order when we select. I think Paul George and Xavier Henry will both be there when we pick, and I think they have alot more talent and upside than Udoh does. I give George the slight edge over Henry due to his potential defensive abilities, but Henry is just a sliver behind him in my eyes. I’d be very happy to end up with either George, Henry, or even Aminu if by some miracle he falls to us at 10. I project those three guys to have much more NBA success than Udoh ends up having.
I’d understand the Udoh pick, and I wouldn’t be upset if we take him, but I like the others better. If we do pick Udoh, he needs to be able to play 15 minutes a game or so at the “5″, otherwise he blocks our other young guys too much in my view in the long term plan. I think he can do that eventually, which is why I won’t be jumping off a balcony if that is who we go with.
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Other random draft night predictions:
1. Players who could be dealt tomorrow include Kirk Hinrich, (maybe to us) Mike Conley (I still think we might trade for him too), Al Jefferson (I see Chicago as a good fit, for Luol Deng perhaps?), Jose Calderon, Hedo Terkoglu, Jeff Green, Teyshaun Prince, TJ Ford, Rudy Fernandez, and Emeka Okafor.
2. I think New Jersey, Memphis, Orlando, and maybe Washington will all try to sell their picks at the end of the first round, and prices for those picks will go down due to the market being saturated with sellers.
3. I think Tom Penn will be great on the ESPN telecast.
4. Thing to watch for: If the Pacers pick at #10, but don’t IMMEDIATELY start to sell the pick to the public, that means they are selecting for someone else…so hang on to your hats. If they right away start telling you how great the selection is, then there is no deal.
5. Team most likely for the Pacers to make a deal with: Memphis
Should be a fun night at Conseco…..no matter what we do, we need to get better tomorrow night to give fans hope for the summer.
As always, the above is just my opinion.
Tbird
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