EddieJonesFan's Post-lotto 1st Round Mock Draft (5/24)

[EddieJonesFan]

I'm picking players from DX's mock draft, and I'm assuming that teams are not trading their picks.

1.) Golden State Warriors - PG John Wall, Kentucky
- Golden State doesn't deserve to be this lucky. They're already pretty loaded in the backcourt with Curry and Ellis, but chances are they take Wall and try to maneuver Ellis for a big rather than trade down for Favors or something. I'm sure Nelson jizzes his pants at the thought of having Wall. Wall would be great in that up tempo offense, Curry and him can switch on and off the ball with ease, good combo.
2.) Utah Jazz - PF/C Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech
- Hey, what do you know? They still end up getting a high pick from the Knicks despite the Knicks best recent effort to lessen the pain of losing this pick as much as possible. Great timing for the Jazz, they're likely to trade Boozer at some point and Favors comes along and replenishes their frontcourt. Gives them some needed post defense and with Williams & Sloan's help he can become a pretty good offensive player as well.
3.) Washington Wizards - SG/SF Evan Turner, Ohio State
- They just need the best player possible and Turner is that. It's hard to say where they'd go with this pick now with the mess that's going on, but if they're going to begin cleaning house and starting from scratch, Turner is a good place to start. Good defender (something they don't have in their big 3), selfless (another quality they don't have in their big 3), a leader (same), and has all-star potential (okay, they've been all-stars). They could use a big, but none of the bigs are sure enough to pass up on Turner.
4.) New Jersey Nets - SG/SF Wesley Johnson, Syracuse
- Poor New Jersey. They have big holes at the wing, but they also have a decent sized hole at the 4. They can afford to wait in the frontcourt with Lopez already providing all-star level low post scoring and shot blocking, and a decent player in Yi Jianlian. Pairing him up with the rebounding/shot blocking Aldrich could make for a pretty tough frontcourt, but I don't know if that's enough upside for them after the season they're bound to have. Picking Davis here is tempting, but he's based too much in projection at this point. So I'm going with Johnson, who I really like. He seems like a super complimentary player, potential lockdown defender, 3 pt shooting, good passer, decent ball handler, rebounder, plays off the ball, and is very athletic. Almost like a Shawn Marion with better guard skills. Really fits in with any of the possible star FA's that they have the cap to get, e.g. Bosh, Wade, Johnson, LeBron.
5.) Minnesota Timberwolves - C Cole Aldrich, Kansas
- Minny just missed out on Johnson and Turner to shore up their wing positions. However, Aldrich gives them a true blue center that can get down and dirty playing real post defense. They're going to have to trade one of Love/Jefferson since no team can win a championship with that kind of frontcourt D, if they can get a good SG/SF for one of them then they're looking pretty good once they get Rubio on their roster.
6.) Philadelphia 76ers - SG Xavier Henry, Kansas
- Whoever I pick here is going to be stupid. What they need is a true center that isn't a dolt like Dalembert, or a PG. Neither one of those are available so since I'm making picks based on those teams not trading them, I'm going with Xavier Henry who gives the sixers a pure shooter, efficient scorer who doesn't need to pound the ball like some of their other players.
7.) Indian Pacers - PF Ed Davis, North Carolina
- Easy choice for them. They lack a true PF and Davis has some pretty good all-around upside.
8.) Detroit Pistons - C Solomon Alabi, Florida State
- Honestly I think the Pistons are a mess. They trade their team leader for an expiring, okay I get it, they weren't going to contend with that team so they start to rebuild with picks and cap space. However, why the F spend that cap space on Gordon and Villanueva, and then keep the veterans (Prince and Hamilton) that are now useless to your new direction? Okay, end of rant. They need a real center that can provide a real post presence defensively, and that's clearly Alabi at this point.
9.) Sacramento Kings - PF/C Demarcus Cousins, Kentucky
- A lot depends on what they decide to do with Kevin Martin. If they trade him for a big maybe they'd get tempted by Willie Warren here. Lets not make that assumption though. They have Jason Thompson at PF who they seem to be far more satisfied with than Hawes at the 5, and they also have some big forwards like Greene and Casspi who might need some minutes at the 4 every once in a while. Cousins is someone whose stock I can see rising by the time of the draft, but it's not like Petrie needs that to happen since he has no problem taking someone higher than expected. He has the potential with his size and length to play the center and add some needed shot blocking and rebounding. He also brings some guard skills that Petrie likes in his bigs. Big question is whether the Kings are willing to take on Cousins who supposedly has some character issues.
10.) Chicago Bulls - PG/SG Willie Warren, Oklahoma
- They're going to need some guard depth once they inevitably trade Salmons and/or Hinrich. Hopefully Warren gets his shot back because he's going to need it if he's to play in between Rose and Deng who aren't great long range shooters. Motiejunas could be an option here since he's an offensive minded big (something they've been severely lacking) but I'm not sure they want to take on that much risk.
11.) Los Angeles Clippers - SF/PF Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest
- They have players at every position, if they're thinking about a player long term it's probably at PG or SF (since Al Thornton isn't really a mainstay there) and there are no PG's so they take the bpa.
12.) Memphis Grizzlies - PF/C Donatas Motiejunas, Lithuania
- With a frontcourt that already consists of Gasol, Randolph, and Thabeet, they can perhaps take a chance on a high upside big that can fit well offensively with their other bigs, being an inside/outside scoring threat and an athletic 7 footer.
13.) New Orleans Hornets - SF Devin Ebanks, West Virginia
- Who knows how the Hornets roster is going to look by draft time, but Ebanks seems to be the best talent on the board. Whatever happens they need to take BPA.
14.) Utah Jazz - PF/C Greg Monroe, Georgetown
- Halfcourt player for halfcourt offense. Smart, good ball handler, good passer, and has got some low post game. Height and length to play either the 4 or 5, Okur/Millsap/Favors/Monroe make a pretty good frontcourt for Sloan.

[canucklife21]

great mock draft! aminu maybe a little higher. what about xavier henry?

[canucklife21]

henry to philly could work they need a shooter

[EddieJonesFan]

Yeah, Aminu probably goes a little higher than that but that's just how things worked out, which is what happens in the real draft a lot. Maybe he gets picked by Detroit and they look for a C somewhere else, but other than that I don't know.

[PeeDee]

How did you decide the lottery?

BTW, as a MN fan, I wanna punch you in the face for giving us the worst possible pick. I mean that in the nicest possible way, of course.

[EddieJonesFan]

How did you decide the lottery?

BTW, as a MN fan, I wanna punch you in the face for giving us the worst possible pick. I mean that in the nicest possible way, of course.

http://www.realgm.com/src_lottosim.php

[Esohny]

Did you push the simulator button until you found the most unrealistic outcome? Because the odds that both of the two teams with the most ping pong balls drop the maximum 3 spots are ASTRONOMICAL. Just sayin.

[Worm Guts]

There's a 12.3 percent chance that the 2nd worst team gets the 5th pick, it's happened to the Wolves like 3 times already.

[EddieJonesFan]

Astronomical? Hardly. It's what I got the first time I pressed it.

[jman3134]

I like the mock except Ed Davis needs to be higher imo. Alabi is a little too high because he is very raw at this stage. But, you never know by season's end. Still, I like your top 5 with the exception of Davis missing.

[canucklife21]

Wolves will go after a wing player

[Esohny]

There's a 12.3 percent chance that the 2nd worst team gets the 5th pick, it's happened to the Wolves like 3 times already.

Edit: The chances that BOTH the worst team and 2nd worst team drop 3 spots is very low.

The wolves have dropped many times, but this situation hasn't happened a lot.

[EddieJonesFan]

There's a 12.3 percent chance that the 2nd worst team gets the 5th pick, it's happened to the Wolves like 3 times already.

Yes, but the chances that BOTH the worst team and 2nd worst team drop 3 spots is very high.

The only way the 2nd worst team can drop 3 spots is if the the worst team does as well.

[Esohny]

There's a 12.3 percent chance that the 2nd worst team gets the 5th pick, it's happened to the Wolves like 3 times already.

Yes, but the chances that BOTH the worst team and 2nd worst team drop 3 spots is very high.

The only way the 2nd worst team can drop 3 spots is if the the worst team does as well.

Edit:

Yes, and there are high odds against that.

[Esohny]

Anyways. Order aside.

Way too high for Alabi, Cousins, and Warren. The Wolves probably go Xavier Henry if the 1-4 was like that.

[EddieJonesFan]

Edit:

Yes, and there are high odds against that.

12.3%

[EddieJonesFan]

Anyways. Order aside.

Way too high for Alabi, Cousins, and Warren. The Wolves probably go Xavier Henry if the 1-4 was like that.

Yeah, well players go too high in the real draft as well.

I don't know about Henry going that high, I'm kind of assumig the Wolves eventually move Jefferson which would create a need for a defensive oriented big to make up for Love's inefficiencies.

[EddieJonesFan]

1.) Detroit Pistons - PG John Wall, Kentucky
- This stroke of luck can cancel out some questionable decisions as of late. Perhaps with Wall they can get something of value with a package centered around Stuckey to get a big. This would be great for Detroit, gives them a true franchise player to build an identity around.
2.) Minnesota Timberwolves - SG/SF Evan Turner, Ohio State
- They need a wing player and bad, Turner is the best one in this draft and he gives them exactly what they need. He gives them good all around ability, all-star potential, playmaking ability to make up for Flynn's lack of being a true PG, and a leader.
3.) New Jersey Nets - PF/C Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech
- Favors didn't play great his last game, but he is still likely to be highly thought of come draft time with his upisde. He should fit in well next to Lopez.
4.) Golden State Warriors - PF Ed Davis, North Carolina
- It's hard to tell what the future identity of the Warriors entails, but Davis' stock is going up and is probably best big available at this point and GS needs bigs. Aldrich is probably a better fit at the moment, but they're probably going to end up keeping Biedrins and he's fine at C for the moment. Davis might remind the Warriors a little too much of Brandan Wright though.
5.) Philadelphia 76ers - C Cole Aldrich, Kansas
- Just what they need to move beyond Dalembert. Aldrich may not have much upside offensively, but I think he'll find a niche there eventually to make him less than useless. Rebounding and shot blocking really helps that team. They are still without a PG though.
6.) Washington Wizards - SG/SF Wesley Johnson, Syracuse
- Best player on the board and he isn't some one-on-one no defense chucker like the rest of their players.
7.) Indiana Pacers - PF/C Donatas Motiejunas, Lithuania
- That's a fun name to say. The choice here was between Henry, Aminu, and Motiejunas. Rush is not doing well so far and they could use Henry, but they want and need a big here. It may be over-drafting a bit here, but Motiejunas offers a high upside, he can probably end up at least as useful as Bargnani, which isn't a bad player to get at the 7th pick. Aminu is a tough call on what position he's going to play, probably a SF unless he can cut out a Josh Smith type niche, maybe he's the pick here but I don't care.
8.) Sacramento Kings - PF/C DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky
- I'm going with him here again. Alabi is not playing well, I don't think they'd grab a shot blocker just for the sake of a shot blocker, especially not this high. If they don't trade Kevin Martin they're going to want someone who can fill in at PF/C and also has some low post scoring potential, both Monroe and Cousins has that, but I felt that they'd go with Cousins because he has a little more of what they don't already have in Hawes and Thompson.
9.) Milwaukee Bucks - SF/PF Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest
- Best player available and they don't have much at the forward spots.
10.) Utah Jazz - SG Xavier Henry, Kansas
- Falls a little bit more than he should here, but Utah could definitely use a shooter/scorer like Henry.
11.) Los Angeles Clippers - SF Devin Ebanks, West Virginia
- This the only position where the Clips don't have a long term solution at or a huge contract. Thornton is alright but lacks the upside of Ebanks, regardless Thornton should give Ebanks some time to grow. He'll add depth and upside to their wings.
12.) Memhpis Grizzlies - PF/C Greg Monroe, Georgetown
- I was considering Udoh, but I think Monroe is probably the most talented PF available here and he'd be a fit with Gasol here, good passer like him and he can play in the high post.
13.) New Orleans Hornets - SG Willie Warren, Oklahoma
- Definitely the highest upside on the board and their 2 guard depth is not great. They could use a perimeter scorer to go to outside of Paul.
14.) Utah Jazz - PF/C Ekpe Udoh, Baylor
- They need shot blocking and Udoh can probably fill that role at both big positions for Utah. Enough offensive skills to fit into a role in Sloan's offense.

[Baddy Chuck]

As a Bucks fan, if we pass Cousins or Henry for Aminu I'd be dissapointed. Hell, even Monroe.

[Silver Man]

As a Kings fan I'd rather want us to draft Xavier Henry because of what Thompson has shown me, and I wouldn't feel comfortable playing Cousins at center for an extended period.

*If we trade Martin