By Trevor Freeman
With the deadline to stay in the NBA Draft having passed, we now know who is available. Therefore it is time to come with our first full mock draft. Let us begin…………..
(David Stern steps to the podium…..With the first pick in the NBA Draft the Milwaukee Bucks select…………….)
1. Milwaukee Bucks: Marvin Williams, PF North Carolina Fr.
Here is my reasoning behind this now that I have sat down and really thought about it. The Bucks already have Dan Gadzuric. While he’s no All-Star, he ain’t bad either, and he’s young. Combine Marvin Williams in a frontcourt with Desmond Mason and you have one of the most athletic pairing of forwards in the NBA. If the Bucks can resign Michael Redd and T.J. Ford gets his health back the Bucks have a starting five that can compete with just about anyone in the league. Remember, this Milwaukee team made the playoffs two years ago when Ford was healthy.
2. Atlanta Hawks: Andrew Bogut, C Utah, Soph.
The Hawks covet Bogut and will breathe a sigh of relief when Williams goes first. With Al Harrington, Josh Childress, and Josh Smith the Hawks have a young nucleus that could be good.
(The pick that shapes the rest of the first round happens here………….)
3. Portland Trailblazers: Gerald Green, High School
You know the Trailblazers aren’t going to take Chris Paul the year after they drafted Sebastian Telfair. Plus they are waaaaayy too high to take one of the established troublemakers in Sean Banks and Pierre Pierce. However this is a poorly run franchise so you are going to have to assume that they will be drafting some kind of unknown. I think they go with a high school kid over a foreigner.
(Jubilation erupts in the draft rooms of New Orleans and Utah with Green selection. David Stern steps to the podium and announces a trade. Utah sends Kirk Snyder and the sixth pick to New Orleans for the sixth pick. With the fourth pick in the NBA Draft, Utah selects…………….)
4. Utah Jazz: Deron Williams, PG Illinois, Jr.
The Jazz instantly become a sleeper in the West by adding the second best player in this draft. Williams is a “Billy Beane” guy. A bad body player who just has the skills, smarts, and audacity to be the best on any court he walks on. Williams will be a perennial All-Star and gives Utah a dangerous starting five with the AK-47, Boozer, and Okur.
(With this pick Bobcat GM Bernie Bickerstaff starts dancing on a table in New York as Wake Forest product Chris Paul just dropped to him)
5. Charlotte Bobcats: Chris Paul, PG Wake Forest, Soph.
The Bobcats get the best player in this year’s draft and the 2005-2006 Rookie of the Year. Not only that, Paul is from the state of North Carolina. With Paul and Okafor, Charlotte will be a contending for an Eastern Conference crown in the next five years.
6. New Orleans Hornets, Danny Granger, SF New Mexico, Sr.
New Orleans is the top five team rumored to be in love with Granger. Granger is one of those guys who can do everything. An athletic freak he has been compared to everyone from Tracy McGrady to Josh Howard. A lot of people quietly think he might be the best player in this draft.
7. Toronto: Martell Webster, SF High School
Toronto is the other team that loved Granger and is pissed he is off the draft board. They need a swing player or a center. I think they give Rafael Araujo another year and grab Webster.
8. New York Knicks: Channing Frye, C Arizona, Sr.
Most believe Frye’s agents are steering him to New York as he cancelled workouts with Charlotte and Toronto. I have ridden Channing Frye for years because I have never thought Frye played up to the talent level and skills he possesses. That being said, when Channing Frye shows up he is as good a center as there is in this draft. Just pop in game tape of that second round classic against Gonzaga. There are moments when Frye is just electric.
9. Golden State Warriors: Chris Taft, PF Pittsburgh, Soph.
He had a disappointing sophomore season and added some “bad weight”. However he is a tremendous rebounder and shotblocker and is not somebody the Warriors take a pass on.
10. Los Angeles Lakers: Sean May, PF North Carolina, Jr.
The absolute freakin’ lock of the draft. Not just because Kupchak is a Carolina alum. May is the most physically ready post player on the draft board. This will be the pick that gives everyone watching at home the shakes. Factor in the recent hiring Phil Jackson and the Lakeshow will officially be back. Bryant, Odom and May will be devastating in the triangle offense.
11. Orlando Magic: Martynas Andriuskevicius, C Lithuania
When I look at the Magic, I see a team that is not that far away. Jameer Nelson, Steve Francis, Grant Hill and Dwight Howard form 80% of a good starting five. All they lack is a legit center. While the jury is definitely out on Andriuskevicius (and yes that took effort to spell) he is 7’3″. I think Orlando rolls the dice and hopes to have the frontcourt of the future with him and Howard.
12. Los Angeles Clippers: Andrew Bynum, C High School
The Clippers will do something stupid here, in my initial installment I had them taking Webster, but I see the Raptors taking him with Granger on the board. Therefore I have them taking Bynum, who I guarantee ends being a big stiff for the Clippers. If I were commissioner of the NBA, I would force the Clippers to take the best available college player on the board every season until they won 50 games. Then I would return control back to Elgin Baylor.
13. Charlotte Bobcats: Rashad McCants, SG North Carolina, Jr.
CBS drew remarkable ratings for the 2005 tournament, with Nielsen estimating that 45.6 million viewers saw all or part of the North Carolina-Illinois championship game. Why do I bring this up? Because there is no way in hell Charlotte doesn’t leave this draft with one of the North Carolina Four in their possession. They need to put a$$es in the seats and adding McCants on top of Chris Paul would do it.
14. Minnesota Timberwolves: Hakim Warrick, SF Syracuse, Sr.
KG needs help now and Warrick will provide it. He is ready to play from day one and give the Timberwolves one of the most athletic starting frontlines in the business. They will slide Wally over the 2 to replace Sprewell and just start Hudson in Cassell’s spot. Warrick is long-armed, athletic, will hit the boards and should be very exciting in transition. Plus you can slide him over to play the 4 and put Garnett at the 5 in a pinch.
15. New Jersey Nets: Fran Vazquez, PF Spain
The Nets are a team that should contend for the Eastern Conference title next season if Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, and Richard Jefferson can all stay healthy. They desperately need some help up front as Jason Collins, Nenad Krstic and an undersized Brian Scalabrine are their only serviceable big men. I think they grab Fran Vazquez. He has a big body and is the most polished foreign big man. The Nets will be praying either Channing Frye or Sean May falls to them, but I don’t see it happening.
16. Toronto Raptors: Raymond Felton, PG North Carolina, Jr.
His slide stops here. With Toronto only having Rafer Alston, it would not shock me if Felton wins that starting job midway through his rookie season.
17. Indiana Pacers: Antoine Wright, SF Texas A&M, Jr.
One of the most explosive athletes in the draft lands in Indiana’s lap. They are going to need someone to replace Reggie Miller out on the wing and Wright fills that need.
18. Boston Celtics: Johan Petro, C France
A lot of people have them taking a point guard, but in my opinion they aren’t going to draft somebody who could be seen as a challenger to Delonte West. At the center spot all you have is an injury-prone Raef LaFrentz and a guy in Kendrick Perkins who may never be ready for primetime. I think they grab Petro. He’s 7 feet tall. Granted he could easily turn out to be a stiff. However the Celts are the kind of team that can roll the dice as they have great young parts already.
19. Memphis Grizzlies: Yarolsav Korolev, SF Russia
Memphis has too many players on their team as it is. I think they draft somebody they can stash overseas for awhile………or until they pull a 3 for 1 trade for a legit superstar.
20. Denver Nuggets: Luther Head, SG Illinois, Sr.
Denver was a team that desperately needed somebody who could stretch the floor. The injury to Voshon Lenard was crippling to them last season. I think the Nuggets take the one of the best shooters in the draft in Head. Luther can also play point guard in a pinch.
21. Phoenix Suns: Roko Ukic, PG Croatia
This pick falls in the category of taking a player and keeping him in Europe for a few years.
22. Denver Nuggets: Ronny Turiaf, PF Gonzaga, Sr.
With Denver’s second pick of the first round they add some more depth to an already strong frontcourt. Turiaf is a gamer. Excellent rebounder and shotblocker. Exceptional athleticism. Had he never gone to college and come straight from France people would have been throwing his name around as a lottery pick. I guarantee it.
23. Sacramento Kings: Wayne Simien, PF Kansas, Sr.
The Kings have to think they have a shot in the West and are going to add somebody who can contribute right away. Simien could step in and give them offense right away at the power forward spot. Extremely smooth post game. Simien’s only problem is that he has a tendency to get injured.
24. Houston Rockets: Jarrett Jack, PG Georgia Tech, Jr.
The Rockets desperately need a quality point guard and Jarrett Jack is exactly that. I think Jack walks right into a starting job in Houston. Would be a great fit as Jack is a very good distributor and tough defender.
25. Seattle Supersonics: Ike Diogu, PF Arizona State, Jr.
The Sonics will think long and hard about drafting Nate Robinson as he is a Seattle legend. However, I think they pull the trigger on Diogu. The Sonics need somebody who can score consistently in the post and that is what Diogu brings to the table.
26. Detroit Pistons: Ersan Ilyasova, PF Turkey
The Pistons take somebody they can keep overseas for a couple years.
27. Utah Jazz: Francisco Garcia, SG Louisville, Jr.
The Jazz need a shooting guard after trading away Kirk Snyder and grab Garcia. Garcia doesn’t excel in any one thing, but he does a little bit of everything. He lands in a good situation as Jerry Sloan is one of the best coaches in the NBA.
28. San Antonio Spurs: Nate Robinson, PG Washington, Jr.
Tony Parker could use a backup………..and Beno Udrih doesn’t count. Robinson instantly becomes the favorite in this year’s Slam Dunk Contest.
29. Miami Heat: Julius Hodge, SF North Carolina State, Sr.
The Heat are going to draft somebody who can help immediately as they know their window of opportunity may only have one year left in it. Hodge can step in and be Miami’s version of Tayshaun Prince. His long arms and overall toughness make him the next big-time perimeter defender.
30. New York Knicks: Monta Ellis, PG High School
You are the Knicks and you have your frontcourt of the future in Ariza, Sweetney and Frye. You just traded for Quintin Richardson and you have Jamal Crawford. I think they grab a point guard who they envision being a starter in two to three seasons. Crawford can’t handle the point and Marbury by that time will have worn out his welcome.
If you have any questions or comments feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].