Post-Lottery Mock!
Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 1:06 am
1) Chicago Bulls-Derrick Rose...Rose/Hughes or Gordon/Deng/Thomas or Gooden/Noah. Kirk Hinrich just ain't cuttin' it and Ben Gordon is not a pure PG. They are reasonably set at SF and PF (Deng/Gooden/re-signed Nocioni/Sefolosha/Thomas).
2) Miami Heat-Michael Beasley...Cook or Banks/Wade/Marion or Wright/Beasley/Haslem or Blount. They don't have a legitimate C and need to resolve the situation with Marion. Beasley could very well play SF if he doesn't come back.
3) Minnesota Timberwolves-OJ Mayo...Foye or Mayo/Mayo or Foye/Brewer/Gomes/Jefferson. Gomes needs to be re-signed, for he played very well down the stretch last season.
4) Seattle Supersonics-Jerryd Bayless...Bayless/Durant/Green/Wilcox/Collison. Neither Ridnour nor Watson are the answer, and this team needs to pick ONE of their bigmen and run with it.
5) Memphis Grizzlies-Brook Lopez...Conley/Miller/Gay/Milicic or Warrick/Lopez. Who knows if Marc Gasol is coming over now, and who knows if he's the answer? The only other center on this team is Kwame Brown...
6) New York Knicks-Danilo Gallinari...Marbury/Crawford/Gallinari/Randolph/Curry or Lee. If D'Antoni thinks Marbury is his guy, then the only weakness in the starting lineup is SF. Neither Jefferies nor Richardson are starting caliber.
7) Los Angeles Clippers-DJ Augustin...Augustin/Maggette/Thornton/Brand/Kaman. Simply put, the Clippers don't HAVE a healthy point guard. Lord knows if Shaun Livingston will be valuable.
8) Milwaukee Bucks-Kevin Love...Williams/Redd/Yi or Villanueva/Love/Bogut. Love's developing perimeter game will complement Bogut very well. They were tempted to take another F tweener in Anthony Randolph but they already have two.
9) Charlotte Bobcats-Anthony Randolph...Felton/Richardson/Wallace/Randolph or May/Okafor. This team decides to go uptempo after seeing Love get snatched up. Their only need was a bigman to complement Okafor, and Randolph may be the guy.
10) New Jersey Nets-Eric Gordon...Harris/Carter/Jefferson/Williams/Krstic. The Nets simply grab the BPA, which happens to have slid. This opens up a trade of either Carter or Jefferson. Their frontcourt has yet to have shaken out, but they have a lot of bodies in the frontcourt.
11) Indiana Pacers-Russell Westbrook...Westbrook or Tinsley/Dunleavy/Granger/Murphy or Foster/O'Neal...This team has been held back by Jamaal Tinsley, and it's time to find a replacement.
12) Sacramento Kings-Darrell Arthur...Salmons?/Martin/Artest/Arthur/Miller or Hawes. There are no PGs left for Sacramento to take, so they opt for their second-biggest need, PF.
13) Portland Trailblazers-Chase Budinger...Blake or Jack/Roy/Budinger or Webster/Aldridge/Oden. Again, no PGs left, so Portland takes the BPA that doesn't happen to be a C.
14) Golden State Warriors-DeAndre Jordan...Davis/Ellis/Jackson/Harrington/Biedrins or Jordan. This team only has one true center on their roster. Jordan is the next, and he will thrive in this offense.
15) Phoenix Suns-Joe Alexander...Nash/Bell/Hill/Stoudemire/O'Neal. Alexander can play SF (to replace Hill) or PF (when Stoudemire moves back to C).
16) Philadelphia 76ers-Donte Greene...Miller/Iguodala/Greene/Young/Dalembert. Greene gives Philly another finisher and removes Willie Green from the starting lineup.
17) Toronto Raptors-Kosta Koufos...Calderon or Ford/Parker/Moon/Bosh/Koufos or Bargnani or Nesterovic. Koufos could be the player Toronto wanted Hoffa to be. Bargnani is reported to be on the block, but could play at SF if needed to.
18) Washington Wizards-Marreese Speights...Arenas?/Stevenson/Butler/Jamison or Speights/Haywood. Washington has the luxury of taking the best player available and has insurance for Jamison.
19) Cleveland Cavaliers-Javale McGee...West/Szczerbiak/James/Wallace/Ilgauskus. All of Cleveland's bigmen are old, besides Varejao, who is really not starting caliber. They draft a project.
20) Denver Nuggets-Nicholas Batum...Iverson/Smith/Anthony/Martin/Camby. They can't find a PG here, and draft a SF with Carmelo on the block. Also, Najera is not coming back, likely.
21) New Jersey Nets-Roy Hibbert...Harris/Carter/Jefferson/Williams/Krstic or Hibbert. They have too many bigmen as it is, but Hibbert is different from all of them. They have no excuse now; between, Sean Williams, Krstic, Diop, Hibbert, Swift, and Boone, they need to find a frontcourt rotation.
22) Orlando Magic-Brandon Rush...Nelson/Rush/Turkoglu/Lewis/Howard. They address their weakest starting position.
23) Utah Jazz-Robin Lopez...Williams/Brewer/Kirilenko/Boozer/Okur. Lopez provides defense and rebounding at the center position better than Collins ever will.
24) Seattle Supersonics-Courtney Lee...Bayless/Durant/Green/Wilcox/Collison. Lee gives the Sonics a worthwhile SG to backup Durant, who plays out of position.
25) Houston Rockets-Chris Douglas-Roberts...Alston/McGrady/Battier/Scola/Ming. They could draft a C, but Landry/Hayes seem to do well there and, not to mention, Mutombo is coming back for one more season. They draft a scoring swingman as injury insurance to McGrady.
26) San Antonio Spurs-Bill Walker...Parker/Ginobili/Bowen/Oberto/Duncan. With Tiago Splitter coming over, the only frontcourt need is at SF. Udoka can lockdown the SF position for as long as SAS allows, but they need a scorer, too.
27) New Orleans Hornets-JR Giddens...Paul/Peterson or Giddens/Stojakovic/West/Chandler. SG is a glaring hole on the Hornets' roster.
28) Memphis Grizziles-Davon Jefferson...Conley/Miller/Gay/Milicic or Jefferson or Warrick/Lopez. Gay can play SG, and behind him they really have to backup SF. Jefferson can dabble at either F position.
29) Detroit Pistons-Jason Thompson...Billups/Hamilton/Prince/Maxiell or McDyess/Wallace. The Pistons don't have a true center on the roster (besides Ratliff, I suppose), and Thompson should be dying to be groomed by all of the bigs Detroit has.
30) Boston Celtics-Alexis Ajinca-Rondo/Allen/Pierce/Garnett/Perkins. They don't have a backup C on the roster. Now they do. and a team as good as this can afford a project.
2) Miami Heat-Michael Beasley...Cook or Banks/Wade/Marion or Wright/Beasley/Haslem or Blount. They don't have a legitimate C and need to resolve the situation with Marion. Beasley could very well play SF if he doesn't come back.
3) Minnesota Timberwolves-OJ Mayo...Foye or Mayo/Mayo or Foye/Brewer/Gomes/Jefferson. Gomes needs to be re-signed, for he played very well down the stretch last season.
4) Seattle Supersonics-Jerryd Bayless...Bayless/Durant/Green/Wilcox/Collison. Neither Ridnour nor Watson are the answer, and this team needs to pick ONE of their bigmen and run with it.
5) Memphis Grizzlies-Brook Lopez...Conley/Miller/Gay/Milicic or Warrick/Lopez. Who knows if Marc Gasol is coming over now, and who knows if he's the answer? The only other center on this team is Kwame Brown...
6) New York Knicks-Danilo Gallinari...Marbury/Crawford/Gallinari/Randolph/Curry or Lee. If D'Antoni thinks Marbury is his guy, then the only weakness in the starting lineup is SF. Neither Jefferies nor Richardson are starting caliber.
7) Los Angeles Clippers-DJ Augustin...Augustin/Maggette/Thornton/Brand/Kaman. Simply put, the Clippers don't HAVE a healthy point guard. Lord knows if Shaun Livingston will be valuable.
8) Milwaukee Bucks-Kevin Love...Williams/Redd/Yi or Villanueva/Love/Bogut. Love's developing perimeter game will complement Bogut very well. They were tempted to take another F tweener in Anthony Randolph but they already have two.
9) Charlotte Bobcats-Anthony Randolph...Felton/Richardson/Wallace/Randolph or May/Okafor. This team decides to go uptempo after seeing Love get snatched up. Their only need was a bigman to complement Okafor, and Randolph may be the guy.
10) New Jersey Nets-Eric Gordon...Harris/Carter/Jefferson/Williams/Krstic. The Nets simply grab the BPA, which happens to have slid. This opens up a trade of either Carter or Jefferson. Their frontcourt has yet to have shaken out, but they have a lot of bodies in the frontcourt.
11) Indiana Pacers-Russell Westbrook...Westbrook or Tinsley/Dunleavy/Granger/Murphy or Foster/O'Neal...This team has been held back by Jamaal Tinsley, and it's time to find a replacement.
12) Sacramento Kings-Darrell Arthur...Salmons?/Martin/Artest/Arthur/Miller or Hawes. There are no PGs left for Sacramento to take, so they opt for their second-biggest need, PF.
13) Portland Trailblazers-Chase Budinger...Blake or Jack/Roy/Budinger or Webster/Aldridge/Oden. Again, no PGs left, so Portland takes the BPA that doesn't happen to be a C.
14) Golden State Warriors-DeAndre Jordan...Davis/Ellis/Jackson/Harrington/Biedrins or Jordan. This team only has one true center on their roster. Jordan is the next, and he will thrive in this offense.
15) Phoenix Suns-Joe Alexander...Nash/Bell/Hill/Stoudemire/O'Neal. Alexander can play SF (to replace Hill) or PF (when Stoudemire moves back to C).
16) Philadelphia 76ers-Donte Greene...Miller/Iguodala/Greene/Young/Dalembert. Greene gives Philly another finisher and removes Willie Green from the starting lineup.
17) Toronto Raptors-Kosta Koufos...Calderon or Ford/Parker/Moon/Bosh/Koufos or Bargnani or Nesterovic. Koufos could be the player Toronto wanted Hoffa to be. Bargnani is reported to be on the block, but could play at SF if needed to.
18) Washington Wizards-Marreese Speights...Arenas?/Stevenson/Butler/Jamison or Speights/Haywood. Washington has the luxury of taking the best player available and has insurance for Jamison.
19) Cleveland Cavaliers-Javale McGee...West/Szczerbiak/James/Wallace/Ilgauskus. All of Cleveland's bigmen are old, besides Varejao, who is really not starting caliber. They draft a project.
20) Denver Nuggets-Nicholas Batum...Iverson/Smith/Anthony/Martin/Camby. They can't find a PG here, and draft a SF with Carmelo on the block. Also, Najera is not coming back, likely.
21) New Jersey Nets-Roy Hibbert...Harris/Carter/Jefferson/Williams/Krstic or Hibbert. They have too many bigmen as it is, but Hibbert is different from all of them. They have no excuse now; between, Sean Williams, Krstic, Diop, Hibbert, Swift, and Boone, they need to find a frontcourt rotation.
22) Orlando Magic-Brandon Rush...Nelson/Rush/Turkoglu/Lewis/Howard. They address their weakest starting position.
23) Utah Jazz-Robin Lopez...Williams/Brewer/Kirilenko/Boozer/Okur. Lopez provides defense and rebounding at the center position better than Collins ever will.
24) Seattle Supersonics-Courtney Lee...Bayless/Durant/Green/Wilcox/Collison. Lee gives the Sonics a worthwhile SG to backup Durant, who plays out of position.
25) Houston Rockets-Chris Douglas-Roberts...Alston/McGrady/Battier/Scola/Ming. They could draft a C, but Landry/Hayes seem to do well there and, not to mention, Mutombo is coming back for one more season. They draft a scoring swingman as injury insurance to McGrady.
26) San Antonio Spurs-Bill Walker...Parker/Ginobili/Bowen/Oberto/Duncan. With Tiago Splitter coming over, the only frontcourt need is at SF. Udoka can lockdown the SF position for as long as SAS allows, but they need a scorer, too.
27) New Orleans Hornets-JR Giddens...Paul/Peterson or Giddens/Stojakovic/West/Chandler. SG is a glaring hole on the Hornets' roster.
28) Memphis Grizziles-Davon Jefferson...Conley/Miller/Gay/Milicic or Jefferson or Warrick/Lopez. Gay can play SG, and behind him they really have to backup SF. Jefferson can dabble at either F position.
29) Detroit Pistons-Jason Thompson...Billups/Hamilton/Prince/Maxiell or McDyess/Wallace. The Pistons don't have a true center on the roster (besides Ratliff, I suppose), and Thompson should be dying to be groomed by all of the bigs Detroit has.
30) Boston Celtics-Alexis Ajinca-Rondo/Allen/Pierce/Garnett/Perkins. They don't have a backup C on the roster. Now they do. and a team as good as this can afford a project.