RealGM

1. Heat - Michael Beasley (6

Russell Westbrook goes about 25 places higher.

Do the Sonics take Mayo over Bayless?

As mentioned before, Russel Westbrook won't be a 2nd round pick at all.
He's looking like a late lotto pick right now and i expect him to go no farther then when the Blazers are on the line.

As far as us taking Mayo over Bayless, i could see it happening, but it could easily be the other way around.

I'm also not all that high on Lopez and i could see the Grizzlies taking Mayo over him, as he's capable of playing the two guard position without giving up all that much of size.

Gallinari should also go a little higher, as he's playing really well over here in Europe. Hardin and White i don't see going all that high. White might make it in the late first round, but Hardin looks more and more like a 2nd round pick, if he doesn't gets a guarantee(he had one last year by the Pistons) from some team, that will pick him in the late first round.

Ogilvy most likely will stay in College and i'm missing a guy like Sam Young(Pittsburgh) on your list. Heytvelt would be way better served to stay in College, as long as the Zags don't have a deep run in the tournament, with him playing as good as he did in the WCC semi-finals.

All things considered, it's a pretty solid mock, which just needs some smaller changes. Good job DJ.

Mayo ... no arguement
Rush... perfer Weaver
Dorsey or Rodrigue Beaubois 6-3 PTG super quick

Sonics3408 wrote:Do the Sonics take Mayo over Bayless?

Absolutely. The Sonics are in dire need of someone that can take over a game and score in bunches. Durant, while a capable scorer, is not the facilitator that Mayo is. Mayo can facilitate, create his own shot at will. He is kind of a cross between Wade/Kobe/Arenas in that sense...

I wouldn't mind seeing Mayo as a scoring point, or the 2 guard. I like the size of a Mayo/Durant backcourt, I just hope Mayo continues his developing team-ball mentality (he has progressed immensely in this sense).

I want no part of the following people we may consider w/ either of our picks:

Brook Lopez - people are comparing him to Brad Daugherty, and I just don't see it. He just has the advantage of being the biggest player in the conference with a few offensive skills. See: Jon Koncak in college, Rich King in college, etc

DeAndre Jordan - We have our "project" in Sene. No more big man projects unless he is a sure thing. DeAndre Jordan had a lot of hype this season but hasn't shown any development. If he drastically improves over the summer, I'd consider him if he stayed in school.

Jerryd Bayless - I know Bayless gets a lot of love on this board, but I just don't see him being a huge difference maker. He is the PG on one of the most disappointing, if not most disappointing team in the conference. Arizona has 3 lottery/near lottery picks and they finished 7th in the conference. Arizona should have been one of the top 2/3 teams in the conference w/ their talent. Bayless is not a PG in the traditional sense, and too small to be a shooting guard. If we are going to have a scoring PG, i'd rather him be 6 5 like Mayo instead of 6 2 like Bayless, that way you can use him at more than 1 position. Plus, Mayo owned Bayless when they played anyways...

Kevin Love - Unless this guy can magically develop post skills a la McHale, we have a better version in Nick Collison.


I DO want the following people, in order of preference:

1st 1st rd pick -

1. Michael Beasley - self explanatory
2. OJ Mayo - Will be than Derrick Rose, and we should trade down if we slot high to get him
3. Derrick Rose

If we can't get 1 of these players, we trade down, period.

2nd 1st rd pick -

1. Serge Ibaka - This guy is going to be the steal of the draft. If his stock goes up before the draft, we have to trade up to get him. Athleticism of an Amare, w/ better outside shot, ball handling, and defense. Plus a very hard worker

2. Bill Walker - An ACL injury has slowed his development, but if people don't remember he was the hype before Beasley even arrived on campus. The guy is a crazy athlete and has an edge. He would be a great energy guy to replace Wilkins on the bench (whom we hopefully can trade).

3. Russell Westbrook - Combo guard that is a high fly act- if he can learn PG skills he could be devastating

4. Darren Collison - Super quick PG that will make one of our points expendable.

4.

Westbrook is a top 15 pick theres no way he falls to the late 1st round.

Here are some guys we should look at with our other picks. Serge Ibaka, Devon Hardin, Jason Thompson, Weaver, Beaubois, Dorsey, Trent Plaisted, Nicola Pekovic, Richard Roby, Shan Foster.

I'm a reformed J Bayless > OJ Mayo guy. I see it OJ Mayo >> J Bayless now. OJ Mayo struggles can be traced to the fact that he's playing with small bigs on a not very good team with a lousy offense scheme implemented by a very mediocre coach. OJ Mayo has demonstrated he's not selfish, he's got skills galore & he'll defend. He's going to be a star in the NBA. For sure. I'm now putting OJ Mayo on the same level as D Rose, and only slightly behind M Beasley.

As for R Westbrook, yes, everyone knows his value has increased a ton. He's gone from a can't get no minutes freshman to a starter on a top rated team as a sophomore. Clearly among the top perimeter defenders as well. But here's the thing. He's not the best player on his team. Not even close. That'd be K Love. Then D Collison. He's third. Or tied for third with J Shipp. With respect to Hippie & his exemplary naming conventions, I like to refer to this as the "Corey Brewer Effect". Or for those, how shall say, more experienced, members of the crowd, of which I include myself, it was originally called the "Bobby Wilkerson Effect". As the Sonics' 1976 first round pick, #11 overall, he was the 3rd 1st round pick from that 1976 Indiana team (Scott May at #2 & Quinn Buckner at #7, not to mention Kent Bensen at #1 overall in the 1977 draft). While B Wilkerson was a decent defensive player, he never delivered anything to speak of in the NBA. Bottom line, it's tough to get it right on a top pick unless he's demonstrated the capability of bringing it, successfully & consistently, as the go-to star player on their college team. And even then it sometimes comes down to luck. R Westbrook has not demonstrated he's that go-to star guy at UCLA. While I think he's good player who will make it as a role player in the NBA, I don't consider him a top pick. More like a Hollywood version of WSU's Kyle Weaver. However, having said all that, I also agree that some team may mistakenly take him earlier.

As for some of these other guys, ya, I agree. I think it's going to be a relatively deep draft in terms of guys that stick in the NBA. I'd also add T Hansbrough (UNC), R Hendrix (Alabama), C Douglas-Roberts (Memphis), JJ Hickson (NC State), C Lee (Western Kentucky), S Foster (Vanderbuilt), Bill Walker (Kansas State), K Weaver (WSU) & S Young (Pittsburg) as guys who have a decent shot at cracking the last third of first round.

Dj, you've spoken to my heart. Courtney Lee from WKU is a player I really hope the Sonics can grab. He's a mix of Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia, and I think he's going to have a productive career.

djthesonicsfan wrote:
As for R Westbrook, yes, everyone knows his value has increased a ton. He's gone from a can't get no minutes freshman to a starter on a top rated team as a sophomore. Clearly among the top perimeter defenders as well. But here's the thing. He's not the best player on his team. Not even close. That'd be K Love. Then D Collison. He's third. Or tied for third with J Shipp. With respect to Hippie & his exemplary naming conventions, I like to refer to this as the "Corey Brewer Effect". Or for those, how shall say, more experienced, members of the crowd, of which I include myself, it was originally called the "Bobby Wilkerson Effect". As the Sonics' 1976 first round pick, #11 overall, he was the 3rd 1st round pick from that 1976 Indiana team (Scott May at #2 & Quinn Buckner at #7, not to mention Kent Bensen at #1 overall in the 1977 draft). While B Wilkerson was a decent defensive player, he never delivered anything to speak of in the NBA. Bottom line, it's tough to get it right on a top pick unless he's demonstrated the capability of bringing it, successfully & consistently, as the go-to star player on their college team. And even then it sometimes comes down to luck. R Westbrook has not demonstrated he's that go-to star guy at UCLA. While I think he's good player who will make it as a role player in the NBA, I don't consider him a top pick. More like a Hollywood version of WSU's Kyle Weaver. However, having said all that, I also agree that some team may mistakenly take him earlier.

Which doesn't means all that much, as you should look if how his game could translate into the NBA.
Westbrook is not the featured player on that UCLA team(he's doing a little bit of everything), but i even believe that he'll have the best NBA career of any of those current UCLA Bruins. Love needs to lose at least 15 lbs and still only looks like a lesser version of Nick Collison, with some better (outlet)passing skills. Collison is a great college point guard, but a little too small, to really go up against those Deron Williams or Baron Davis type of points.
Westbrook, on the other hand, is a real good defender, strong and big enough to go against those bigger point guards and should be able to addapt to the point guard position in this league.

To me, Westbrook should be picked somewhere around 12 - 16 right now and i think that's alright for what he brings to the table.

oj mayo oj mayo oj mayo

Det the Threat wrote:To me, Westbrook should be picked somewhere around 12 - 16 right now and i think that's alright for what he brings to the table.

I've always believed reasonable people can disagree. Hopefully this board will still be around three or four years from now so one of us will be able to ever so casually mention this difference of opinion at an opportune time.