Vs: NBA draft 2007
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1. Portland: Greg Oden – A sure shot at no 1.
2. Seattle: Kevin Durant – An ice-hockey fan could make this pick as well, though he may slip because of poor physicals…
3. Atlanta: Brandan Wright – I think Atlanta will go with potential again, they have always selected potential over experience on the high picks. Wright is a quite safe pick as he could become an All-Star one day. Plus, they don’t need to take Conley here as he could slip to 11, but Law and Crittenton are there for sure at 11. Not a bad consolation price in my opinion.
4. Memphis: Al Horford – Good pick for the Grizzlies, well he’s not Greg Oden but still. Horford brings power to their frontline in both ends of the court. Gasol can be moved permanently to C.
5. Boston: Mike Conley – This pick depends a lot on the fact that is Telfair out or not? If he is, then Conley is a good choice as I trust more in Gomes and Jefferson as I do in West and Rondo. If they can work out a trade for Eg. Duhon, then Jianlian is their pick.
6. Milwaukee: Corey Brewer – Brings depth to their starting five and moves a decent player to the bench, as a good defender Brewer will be a good choice for the Bucks. His lack of offensive skills aren’t that big, IMO, he can shoot and dribble quite well and he is fast and athletic. If they decide to let Mo Williams go and Celtics select Jianlian, then Conley goes here.
7. Minnesota: Jeff Green – Minnesota has a lot of needs and Green is an athletic three with a little questionable jump shot, but as a pretty good defender and with his effort and banging style of play, he’ll be just fine in the NBA. He would replace Trenton Hassell in the starting five the day he appears in Minnesota.
8. Charlotte: Spencer Hawes – I’ve seen this in a dozen of boards, mocks and everything and to me, it makes sense. Bobcats need an offensive big man and a SG. Nick Young would be a reach, Thornton isn’t a SG nor is Stuckey a pure-SG. So they could Hawes even though he is a little soft. Jianlian could also be their choice here.
9. Chicago: Yi Jianlian – I belive he is going to slip to 9, even more if the Bulls want to pick Noah.
10. Sacramento: Joakim Noah – It’s either Noah to be their PF or Wright/Thornton to replace Artest. If they decide to go with Artest then Noah would their pick as he fills a void in their roster and he is the BPA. If they trade Artest then look for them to try to replace him through the draft.
11. Atlanta: Acie Law – They need a point guard I highly doubt that they pass their opportunity once again. I haven’t seen enough of Crittenton playing to see whether or not he’s worth the 11th pick. So I’m going with Law, who I think could adjust well to ATL.
12. Philadelphia: Julian Wright – Good pick for the 76ers at this point, drafting Wright higher is risk, as I think that he is the biggest possibility to bust. He has a good upside, but I’m not convinced about his games at Kansas. He can do pretty much a little of everything, needs to improve his scoring.
13. New Orleans: Nick Young – A good natural born scorer to come and play next to Paul one day. A good shooter alongside Peja to add to the Hornets roster.
14. L.A. Clippers: Al Thornton - BPA. Played well last season and has the potential to become legit player in the league. Also ever ongoing speculations of a Maggette-trade back this up a bit.
15. Detroit: Rodney Stuckey – Has Detroit given a promise to Stuckey? If yes well.. If no, then I trust Pistons to pick Splitter and Miami to pick Stuckey. Splitter would make more sense to me, especially if Webber is going to retire. If Billups is still there, do they need Stuckey?
16. Washington: Javaris Crittenton – As a big point guard he might be able to play the 2 also, therefore can be on the court at the same time with Arenas. If Arenas opts out of his contract and goes elsewhere, the Wiz don’t have to start from the very scratch if they Crittenton. If Arenas stays, Crittenton will be a good back-up or a starter as a combo-guard?
17. New Jersey: Josh McRoberts – Mikki Moore will probably make his departure in the summer. So Kristic and Collins are their main big guys, they need at least one more so McRoberts could be their guy, also Splitter is a possibility, but I think that Nets will rather go with a little better known player.
18. Golden State: Tiago Splitter – Splitter is a good inside player to play the PF spot for them, McRoberts would fit very well, but I think he’ll go a spot earlier. They also could draft T. Young, but what’s the use when they tons of players who can play the wing.
19. L.A. Lakers: Thaddeus Young – If Young is on the board at 19, the Lakers should go for it. Some have Young going in the lottery and it’s not an impossibility at all. He has got tremendous upside and could one day be a solid contributor in any team.
20. Miami: Derrick Byars – Miami’s player of choice is the hardest to predict. If Stuckey or Thad Young are available, they should either one. Jason Smith is a possibility and they could consider giving Ante Tomic a promise to keep him in the draft. Shaq is getting older so I would draft Tomic, but I believe I heard a rumor that he’s pulling out. So Byars could be a good pick as he can play the wing and SG. He could be a decent player of the bench.
21. Philadelphia: Jason Smith – Philadelphia needs some inside scoring and Jason Smith has been praised because of his offensive game. He is not a true inside player from what I have read about him, but think that he could complement Dalembert just fine. He could as a four player in their roster.
22. Charlotte: Rudy Fernandez – Even though Fernandez has a long contract with buyout clause (not sure) Charlotte could use him. He is a fast, skilled and pretty smart SG, who can score by driving and shooting. Has decent range on his shot but needs gain some strength. Skill wise I believe that he is one top 10 players in this draft. He is putting up minutes and numbers in one Europe’s best clubs.
23. New York: Morris Almond – New York does have roster full of little men, but none of them is a great shooter. Almond can go and flat out shoot the ball. If NYK skips Almond, Utah might be the next to consider him.
24. Phoenix: Marcus Williams – I think this would be a good fit. Williams plays with quite good tempo and has a little range on shot. But he still needs to improve his outside scoring. He can still develop and would be a good pick from the next-door-college.
25. Utah: Arron Afflalo – It’s 50-50 that should Utah pick yet another shooting guard (Miles-Brewer-Afflalo?) or should they try to find a big to come off the bench with Millsap? I would propably go with Afflalo here. He is a proven player on the college level with back-to-back Final Fours under his belt. This pick would give Utah a little problems as they would have too many shooting guards (Miles-Brewer-Giricek-Afflalo and occasionally Fisher), so maybe they should go big on this pick…
26. Houston: Marco Belinelli – I’m not quite sure about this pick, because I don’t know whether Houston wants a big man or a guard. In my opinion Belinelli is the best player available so that’s why I have him here. Also it wouldn’t hurt the Rocketts to add a little back-court scoring threat if they want to play T-Mac as a SF.
27. Detroit: Aaron Gray – I think that someone will fall on Gray’s size in the first round and with Webber thinking retirement, Pistons might need to bulk up their frontcourt a little. Even though Gray was not a spectacular at Pitt, he did a solid job there. We have seen GM’s reaching for 7+ footers before. Other possibilities on this pick could be Sean Williams, Kyle Visser, Nick Fazekas or Ali Traore, whom I know very little about.
28. San Antonio: Marc Gasol – San Antonio takes a foreigner? Seen that before and it has worked for them. At 28 Pau’s little brother might be worth gambling on.
29. Phoenix: Petteri Koponen – If Phoenix thinks that Koponen will continue to develop as he has for the past 18 months, it might be that he’s out of their reach next year. By sacrificing this pick on Koponen now and sending him to Europe, they might get a decent point guard back in maybe two years. Still, some scouts think that he is already the 4th best PG in the draft, so this pick might be possible.
30. Philadelphia: Taurean Green – Good back-up point guard for Andre Miller. I like Green a lot and think that he is definitely worth a first round pick, he was the leading scorer in Florida’s team last year, so he can’t be bad? Uptempo guard who I see pairing up well with Iggy and Carney.