New mock......i like

[Paydro70]

I think he sends JRich or Felton to the bench in one year.

You had me until here. I mean... even saying he's a lock for #3 on your board is a little crazy, because nobody else seems to think he should go higher than 7 (RealGM... Chad Ford has him 9, nbadraft.net 17, DraftExpress 11).

Also, from Chad Ford: "At the beginning of the season, he wasn't on any draft boards. By midseason scouts were talking about Westbrook as a first rounder."

So... lets calm down a little here, he's a nice prospect, I think Monta is the most obvious comparison (another 6'3" jump-out-the-gym combo guard), but he doesn't have a very good handle and it's not clear he's going to play point guard at all.

[fatlever]

Well, Rondo is one of those relatively rare cases (along with Monta Ellis, actually) where he really did learn to shoot. His jump shot % this year is up to .426, equal to Iverson, better than Redd, Johnson, or Howard. Granted, he's probably more open than those guys, but hey, not everybody who's open can hit that shot. Maybe Westbrook can do the same thing.

you get what i was saying though, right?

ellis, wade and rondo do a really good job with shot selection. they attack, attack and attack and only take that jumper when its wide open or at least they did when they first came in the league. thats what i would want from westbrook, at least until he improves his jumper his good enough for him to start taking contested shots. i see too many guys that can beat their man off the dribble any time that want, yet they get to the nba and seem to fall in love with shooting jumpers *cough felton cough* and consequently they end up with a fg% in the 30s.

[Paydro70]

I do... there's nothing worse than a player who just keeps shooting when he can't do it. You absolutely want a guy like Monta, before he can learn to shoot, to just mercilessly attack the rim. Maybe it doesn't work out as efficiently as if he could mix in jumpers, but it's better than missing j's.

[Rich4114]

If he could be a Monta Ellis type of player that would be pretty sweet for us. High % lightning quick guard who can finish at the rim. Problem for me is we need to get better shooters on this team. How is he at FT shooting? (too lazy to look it up right now). And pushing Felton or J-Rich to the bench makes no sense. If he can't be as good a PG as Felton he won't push him to the bench and J-Rich is already a 22ppg scorer so how would Westbrook push him out of the lineup? I'm thinking he makes Wallace more expendable if anything, but it's not so bad to have a guy like Monta Ellis coming off the bench either.

[BigSlam]

He has the potential to be a poor mans Wade but will more than likely be a rich man's Delonte West type player IMO.

[fatlever]

how about a worst case scenario of tony allen or keyon dooling? ...two more ubber quick, super athletic, defensive-minded combo guards that arent great outside shooters. not exactly what i would want out of #8, but again, that's the worst case scenario. am i stretching here?

[CarolinaCash]

yes you are stretching. You guys will see how good he is next year. You guys have no clue on his ability.

[fatlever]

what would you say his worst case scenario would be?

or give me an idea of the type of stats you would expect after say 3 years in the league.

[Paydro70]

Dooling is actually a very apt comparison... same size, same crazy hops, same super-athleticism, same great defense, and Dooling went 10th overall as Westbrook probably will. Dooling is totally inept on offense, whereas hopefully Westbrook is better (westbrook has a substantial edge in passing as well), but I see that as a very good worst-case comparison.

[CarolinaCash]

Westbrook is a mix of Wade, Vince Carter, Hinrich, Tayshaun Prince, Barbosa, Kyle Lowry, and Ben Gordon. Put those guys in a blender and you get Russell Mother Freakin' Westbrook. Westbrook couldn't dunk his senior year in high school and now he has like 50 youtube videos up of his dunks. The guy hasn't even scratched the surface and until he does he will still be able to contribute defensively.

[Bizz]

For me Westbrook is also the most obvious choice at #8. Sure there are other talented players, but let's think about it for a minute. Anthony Randolph wouldn't contribiute for at least a few years, Kevin Love is not the anwser for our big man problem, as him and Okafor are too slow to guard most of the PF's in the league. Darell Arthur is an option, but he is way too inconsistent and has more questions than Westbrook. Other players are either project Centers or don't fit our lineup. And if we are going by the best player available it comes down to Westbrook and DJ. And Westbrook fits Larry Brown better.

I agree with fats that Dooling is his floor, which is way better than most other prospects in our area. The only problem I see is where Larry would find the PT. I think one of our SG/SF's should be traded to open some minutes. As they arear to be runing low even befor the draft. Because as of right now I don't see where Ammo will get his minutes with Jrich/MC at SG and Wallace/Dudley at SF