Going on the record - 2015 NBA draft

[dockingsched]

So I thought it would be fun to create a thread where everyone can kinda go on record with their predictions / preferences for the 2015 NBA draft that way its easier to look back in the future and either brag or eat crow.

This isn't so much for discussion, there's already a thread dedicated to the #2 pick and to the #27/34 picks. Ideally everyone can kinda just make their one post with their submission and leave the discussion for the other threads. Came up with about 10 categories that hopefully cover most of what could be discussed regarding the draft.

To make it easier to look through in the future, I figured we should all follow the same format which you can copy and paste.

Mods hopefully if this is ok you can lock this shortly before the draft to prevent any edits and preserve it for the future.

[b][size=150]YOUR NAME Official Submission[/size][/b]


[u][b]1. My Top 5 picks would be:[/b][/u]

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

[u][b]2. The actual Top 5 picks will be:[/b][/u]

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.


[u][b]3. In 5 yrs, the top 5 players will be: [/b][/u]

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

[u][b]4. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the top 5 will be:[/b][/u]

[u][b]5. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the lottery will be:[/b][/u]

[u][b]6. Looking back down the road, the best player available with the 27th pick will be:[/b][/u]

[u][b]7. Biggest top ten bust will be:[/b][/u]

[u][b]8. Lakers 27th pick will be:[/b][/u]

[u][b]9. Lakers 34th pick will be:[/b][/u]

[u][b]10. Best pick that will be traded before the player ever suits up for the original team holding the pick will be:[/b][/u]

[dockingsched]

dockingsched's Official Submission


1. My Top 5 picks would be:

1. Towns
2. Russell
3. Okafor
4. Mudiay
5. Porzingis

2. The actual Top 5 picks will be:

1. Towns
2. Okafor
3. Russell
4. Porzingis
5. Mudiay


3. In 5 yrs, the top 5 players will be:

1. Russell
2. Mudiay
3. Okafor
4. Winslow
5. Towns

4. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the top 5 will be: Justise Winslow

5. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the lottery will be: Tyus Jones

6. Looking back down the road, the best player available with the 27th pick will be: Norman Powell

7. Biggest top ten bust will be: Devin Booker

8. Lakers 27th pick will be: Terry Rozier

9. Lakers 34th pick will be:JP Tokoto

10. Best pick that will be traded before the player ever suits up for the original team holding the pick will be:Sacramento #6 pick

[kblo247]

KBLO247 Official Submission


1. My Top 5 picks would be:

1. Okafor
2. Mudiay
3. Russell
4. Towns
5. Super Mario

2. The actual Top 5 picks will be:

1. Towns
2. Okafor
3. Porzingis
4. Russell
5. W Trill C-S

3. In 5 yrs, the top 5 players will be:

1. Mudiay
2. Okafor
3. Russell
4. Mario
5. Winslow

4. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the top 5 will be: Emmanuel Mudiay

5. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the lottery will be: Frank Kaminsky

6. Looking back down the road, the best player available with the 27th pick will be: Terry Rozier

7. Biggest top ten bust will be: Stanley Johnson

8. Lakers 27th pick will be: Terry Rozier

9. Lakers 34th pick will be: Larry Nance Jr

10. Best pick that will be traded before the player ever suits up for the original team holding the pick will be: Hornets #9

[Slava]

Slava Official Submission

1. My Top 5 picks would be:

1. Jahlil Okafor
2. D'Angelo Russell
3. Emmanuel Mudiay
4. Karl Anthony Towns
5. Kristaps Porzingis

2. The actual Top 5 picks will be:

1. Jahlil Okafor
2. Karl Anthony Towns
3. D'Angelo Russell
4. Willie Cauley Stein
5. Mario Hezonja


3. In 5 yrs, the top 5 players will be:

1. Jahlil Okafor
2. D'Angelo Russell
3. Karl Anthony Towns
4. Emmanuel Mudiay
5. Kristaps Porzingis

4. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the top 5 will be: Kristaps Porzingis

5. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the lottery will be: Kevon Looney

6. Looking back down the road, the best player available with the 27th pick will be: Jordan Mickey

7. Biggest top ten bust will be: Devin Booker

8. Lakers 27th pick will be: Delon Wright

9. Lakers 34th pick will be: Cedi Osman

10. Best pick that will be traded before the player ever suits up for the original team holding the pick will be: Emmanuel Mudiay, Kings #6

[Wavy Q]

Wavy Q Official Submission


1. My Top 5 picks would be:

1. Towns
2. Russell
3. Okafor
4. Mudiay
5. Winslow

2. The actual Top 5 picks will be:

1. Towns
2. Okafor
3. Russell
4. Mudiay
5. Porzingis


3. In 5 yrs, the top 5 players will be:

1.Russell
2.Towns
3.Okafor
4.Mudiay
5.Winslow

4. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the top 5 will be: Willie Cauley-Stein

5. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the lottery will be:Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

6. Looking back down the road, the best player available with the 27th pick will be: Norman Powell

7. Biggest top ten bust will be: Mario Hezonja

8. Lakers 27th pick will be: Kelly Oubre

9. Lakers 34th pick will be:Jarell Martin

10. Best pick that will be traded before the player ever suits up for the original team holding the pick will be: Knicks #4 Pick

[moonpie]

Moonpie's Official Submission


1. My Top 5 picks would be:

1. D'angelo Russell
2. Karl Anthony Towns
3. Jahlil Okafor
4. Willie Cauley Stein
5. Mario Hezonja

2. The actual Top 5 picks will be:

1. Karl Anthony Towns
2. D'angelo Russell
3. Jahlil Okafor
4. Emmanuel Mudiay
5. Kristaps Porzingis


3. In 5 yrs, the top 5 players will be:

1. D'angelo Russell
2. Karl Anthony Towns
3. Jahlil Okafor
4. Mario Hezonja
5. Willie Cauley Stein

4. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the top 5 will be:

Justise Winslow

5. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the lottery will be:

Jerian Grant

6. Looking back down the road, the best player available with the 27th pick will be:

Justin Anderson

7. Biggest top ten bust will be:

Devin Booker

8. Lakers 27th pick will be:

Justin Anderson

9. Lakers 34th pick will be:

Mouhammadou Jaiteh

10. Best pick that will be traded before the player ever suits up for the original team holding the pick will be:

Stanley Johnson, Hornets

[DadoTheRabbet]

1. My Top 5 picks would be:

1. Towns
2. Russell
3. Porzingas
4. Okafor
5. Winslow

2. The actual Top 5 picks will be:

1. Towns
2. Okafor
3.Porzingas
4.Russell
5. Herzonja


3. In 5 yrs, the top 5 players will be:

1. Russell
2. Curry
3. Clarkson
4. Winslow
5. Porzingas

4. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the top 5 will be:
Since “Looking back down the road” makes no sense whatsoever, I shall presume you mean this cumbersome colloquialism as a way of saying: looking forward (i.e. – “looking down the road”) as opposed to “Looking back.”

Any reasonable answer would also have to be predicated on how one defines “best,”

With regard to basketball, the adjective “best” can mean a number of things, such as: highest scorer, number of championships, most impact (another nebulous term) on the NBA, most impact for a particular team…

For example: Who is the “best” player in the history of the NBA is pretty much an unanswerable question. One would have to take into account any number of variables including position of the players in question, who they played against, etc.

As it is, this is unanswerable.

And please, no trolling just because I’m not a lemming.

5. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the lottery will be:

See #4.

6. Looking back down the road, the best player available with the 27th pick will be:

See #4.

7. Biggest top ten bust will be:

Towns

8. Lakers 27th pick will be:

Traded

9. Lakers 34th pick will be:

Pettaway

10. Best pick that will be traded before the player ever suits up for the original team holding the pick will be:

See #4.

[Wavy Q]

Being a pedant is more annoying than intelligent

[DadoTheRabbet]

Being a pedant is more annoying than intelligent

Didn't take long the personal attacks to begin. Wonder what the record is?

Sadly, how typical.

[Wavy Q]

If you consider being called a pedant a personal attack then you dont internet much.

[DadoTheRabbet]

If you consider being called a pedant a personal attack then you dont internet much.

Thank you for your insight. You do not consider name-calling a personal attack. I shall, therefore, keep my own counsel in this matter.

[TylersLakers]

Interesting. Haven't looked at a single person's response, I'll do that after I post this so I'm not piggybacking off people's ideas.

TylersLakers Official Submission


1. My Top 5 picks would be:

1. Okafor
2. Towns
3. Winslow
4. Russell
5. Mudiay

2. The actual Top 5 picks will be:

1. Towns
2. Okafor
3. Russell
4. Mudiay
5. Porzingis


3. In 5 yrs, the top 5 players will be:

1. Towns
2. Okafor
3. Winslow
4. Russell
5. Lyles

4. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the top 5 will be:

Winslow

5. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the lottery will be:

Justin Anderson

6. Looking back down the road, the best player available with the 27th pick will be:

Norman Powell

7. Biggest top ten bust will be:

Porzingis

8. Lakers 27th pick will be:

Traded

9. Lakers 34th pick will be:

Michael Frazier

10. Best pick that will be traded before the player ever suits up for the original team holding the pick will be:

Detroit #8

[dockingsched]

Sorry, looks like I missed the slash between looking back and down the road.

As far as defining what best means, just cause something is subjective and can have many different answers doesn't make it unanswerable. Define "best" however you want and proceed from there.

[DadoTheRabbet]

Sorry, looks like I missed the slash between looking back and down the road.

As far as defining what best means, just cause something is subjective and can have many different answers doesn't make it unanswerable. Define "best" however you want and proceed from there.

Thanks for clearing all that up DS. Greatly appreciated. This, of course, does mean that we won't all be answering the same questions as we'll all have our own definition of "best" but with this in mind, I'll re-submit my answers.

[DadoTheRabbet]

Re-submitted.

1. My Top 5 picks would be:

1. Towns
2. Russell
3. Porzingas
4. Okafor
5. Winslow

2. The actual Top 5 picks will be:

1. Towns
2. Okafor
3.Porzingas
4.Russell
5. Herzonja


3. In 5 yrs, the top 5 players will be:

1. Russell
2. Curry
3. Clarkson
4. Winslow
5. Porzingas

4. Looking down the road, the best player outside of the top 5 will be:
Defining “best” as players who I expect will have the most national acclaim based on their combination of scoring production and defensive acumen.

Winslow

5. Looking down the road, the best player outside of the lottery will be:
(See #4 for definition of “best.”)

Justin Anderson

6. Looking down the road, the best player available with the 27th pick will be:
(See #4 for definition of “best.”)

Upshaw

7. Biggest top ten bust will be:

Towns

8. Lakers 27th pick will be:

Traded

9. Lakers 34th pick will be:

Pettaway

10. Best pick that will be traded before the player ever suits up for the original team holding the pick will be:
(I am defining “best” here to mean highest draft pick)

Mudiay

[TylersLakers]

By the way, I'm sure people are looking at mine and see the flip flopping between Okafor and Towns so much.

Overall, I think Okafor would be my top player, because it won't take as long for him to develop. We need help right away and we also need it in the future as well. Towns in 5-7 years, will be the best player in this draft with his versatility, shooting, defence, etc. I see their careers playing out like this.

YEAR 1

Karl Anthony Towns- 10.5 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.2 BPG, 79% FT, 55% FG
Jahlil Okafor- 16.2 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 1.1 BPG, 60% FT, 58% FG

YEAR 2

Karl Anthony Towns- 13.5 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 2.5 BPG, 81% FT, 56% FG
Jahlil Okafor- 18.1 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.3 BPG, 62% FT, 59% FG

YEAR 3

Karl Anthony Towns- 17.5 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 2.7 BPG, 81% FT, 56% FG
Jahlil Okafor- 19.2 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.4 BPG, 62% FT, 59% FG

YEAR 4

Karl Anthony Towns- 20 PPG, 12.4 RPG, 2.9 BPG, 82% FT, 58% FG
Jahlil Okafor- 20.2 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 1.4 BPG, 62% FT, 60% FG

YEAR 5

Karl Anthony Towns- 24.1 PPG, 13.9 RPG, 2.9 BPG, 82% FT, 59% FG
Jahlil Okafor- 20.8 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 1.4 BPG, 64% FT, 60% FG


So overall I think Towns will be the better player but there will be a bit of a developmental process early on. Okafor is pro ready and will stay that way his entire career. He'll get better at things like weak shot blocking, free throws, etc. He'll also know his role more and stay pretty much inside the paint except for a mid-range jumper which I think he'll start to use more often around year 4.

[EArl]

EArl's Official Submission[/b]


1. My Top 5 picks would be:

1. Towns
2. Okafor
3. Russell
4. Mudlay
5.Winslow

2. The actual Top 5 picks will be:

1. Towns
2. Okafor
3. Russell
4. Porzingis
5. Mudlay


3. In 5 yrs, the top 5 players will be:

1. Okafor
2. Russell
3. Hezonja
4. Towns
5. Winslow

4. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the top 5 will be: Cauley-Stein

5. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the lottery will be: No idea

6. Looking back down the road, the best player available with the 27th pick will be: N/A

7. Biggest top ten bust will be: Porzingis

8. Lakers 27th pick will be: N/A

9. Lakers 34th pick will be:N/A

10. Best pick that will be traded before the player ever suits up for the original team holding the pick will be:Knicks #4th pick

[MadNESS]

MAdNESS's Official Submission


1. My Top 5 picks would be:

1. Jahlil Okafor
2. Justice Winslow
3. Kristaps Porzingis
4. Stanley Johnson
5. Myles Turner

2. The actual Top 5 picks will be:

1. Karl - Anthony Towns
2. Jahlil Okafor
3. Kristaps Porzingis
4. D'Angelo Russell
5. Willie-Cauley Stein


3. In 5 yrs, the top 5 players will be:

1. Jahlil Okafor
2. Justice Winslow
3. Cliff Alexander
4. Myles Turner
5. Karl-Anthony Towns

4. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the top 5 will be:

Myles Turner

5. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the lottery will be:

Cliff Alexander

6. Looking back down the road, the best player available with the 27th pick will be:

Cliff Alexander

7. Biggest top ten bust will be:

D'Angelo Russell

8. Lakers 27th pick will be:

Robert Upsahw

9. Lakers 34th pick will be:

No One - Traded Pick

10. Best pick that will be traded before the player ever suits up for the original team holding the pick will be:

Pick # 10 - Myle Turner (I can't see the Heat keeping this pick. There will be a trade.

[hands11]

Great idea. Fun read.

[ArC_man]

ArC_man


1. My Top 5 picks would be:

1. Towns
2. Okafor
3. Russell
4. Hezonja
5. Winslow

2. The actual Top 5 picks will be:

1. Towns
2. Okafor
3. Russell
4. Porzingis
5. WCS


3. In 5 yrs, the top 5 players will be:
Same as 1.
1. Towns
2. Okafor
3. Russell
4. Hezonja
5. Winslow

4. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the top 5 will be: Winslow

5. Looking back down the road, the best player outside of the lottery will be: Grant

6. Looking back down the road, the best player available with the 27th pick will be: Upshaw -- Whiteside 2.0

7. Biggest top ten bust will be: Mudiay

8. Lakers 27th pick will be: Delon Wright

9. Lakers 34th pick will be: Anthony Brown

10. Best pick that will be traded before the player ever suits up for the original team holding the pick will be: Knicks #4