OK - here’s my 4th mock draft. Once again, very few changes, but you change one pick, you change them all. I’ll explain the adjustments I made below.
- The top 6 are unchanged. Also unchanged is my desire for the Sixers to move into the 5 or 6 spot to grab Gordon or Love.
- I now have the Clippers going with D.J. Augustin. After non-tendering Shaun Livingston and making him an unrestricted free agent, the Clippers only point guards under contract are Brevin Knight and Smush Parker. 2-5 is decent on their squad with Maggette, Thornton, Brand and Kaman. My thoughts, right now, are that they will hang onto Maggette and Brand and pick up the most NBA ready PG in Augustin and try to make a run at the playoffs this year.
- I moved Brook Lopez up a bit. Not because I think that’s where he should go, but I keep reading that the Bobcats would like to move Okafor to the 4 and Lopez is the safest Center prospect in the draft.
- Danilo Gallinari is only working out for the Knicks and Nets so I was tempted to have the Nets take him at 10. However, if Anthony Randolph slides this far, he will be impossible to pass up.
- If a PG doesn’t slip to Portland, I really don’t know what they will do. With both them and Golden State, I just gave them high risk, high reward picks.
- I still have Darrell Arthur falling to the Sixers, but here is a name to keep in mind - JaVale McGee. Not sure how many of you caught Ed Stephanski on Daily News Live last week, but he was pretty explicit that he wanted a big man out of this draft, and that it wasn’t going to be an impact player if they stayed at 16. This was disappointing to us in the Brandon Rush fan club, but it made me think that we might go with someone we aren’t really thinking about. I did some research on McGee, and after watching some tape, he strikes me as someone with a lot of potential who I could see a team falling in love with. Check out this short compilation here - and keep in mind that McGee is a legit 7-footer with the largest wingspan and standing reach in the draft.
- I’ve read that Ty Lawson has a promise from Denver, so that’s why he’s there. He seems be well on his way to fitting in with Carmelo Anthony after his DUI arrest last week. (ZING!)
- Omer Asik enters the first round at #30. Apparently he’s been playing well at the Euro camp.
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20 comments ↓
McGee… 7-footer… raw… potential… ugh
That highlight video was very very impressive. Now I prefer to evaluate players by watching full games to see every play but I saw a few very promising things that have me very interesting in this guy.
McGee has good hands, good footwork, is very agile and athletic which works great for our uptempo style of play. Already has a go-to move in the right hand hook. He already established good post position, MUCH better than what Dalembert currently does. He “sits down” when he defender is on his back very well.
We need a back-up center. Although Calvin Booth picked up his player option I think the Sixers need to move him and bring in a back-up center who can actually play and challenge Sammy everyday. I don’t like Jason Smith as a center and think he is better suited as a bigger, perimeter oriented PF.
I’d be ok taking a project center with more offensive potential than Sammy if we can’t get an impact player at 16.
I hate player options!!
Normally I would agree with that last paragraph about the project center but…
We are close to being relevant again. I’m a looong time 6er fan, used to live close to Caldwell Jones’ bar in West Philly, was in the streets when half the team showed up after game one of the only Finals they would win. That being said, I crave an impact player, if that means moving up in the draft then we had better move up.
I’m not position specific but anyone who can make a 10 game difference (not ALL by himself) is what is needed.
About a month ago i absolutly fell in love with JaVale McGee. I loved his hieght and his wing span. I heard of Dirk Nowitzki with a little Dikembe Mutombo comparisons. I heard about is ability to shoot from anywhere on the floor and drive to the hoop. I heard of his amazing shot blocking ability and his run n’ gun style. I was kind of going through the same thing you guy’s are right now. Then I did my own research on the guy. He is very inconsistant. He is undersized. He has shown little desire to be a banger and go down low. Sure he has a great highlight reel, but that was two games. If I took Bo Owtlaw’s best two games and showed you the highlights i could make him look like an all-star. If you look closely at the highlight reel you can see there is noone close to his size on the court, which brings up questions about his competition level. Can someone name the last solid NINBA (No Integrity National Basketball Association) player to come out of the WAC? Don’t worry I’ll wait. Oh thats right, there are none. Another big question about McGee is his work ethic. He showed up to Orlando over wieght and out of shape. This worries me since that is his most important moment since he singed his letter of intent at Nevada. If i were philly i wouldn’t think about touching this guy. Although his potential is through the roof, thats about all he has right now. It could take him three to five years to even sniff his potential. Correct me if I’m wrong, but i dont think you guys want to wait on this guy for that long. He wasn’t right for my Suns and he is not right for your 76ers. He is much more suited for a team like Seattle who can afford to wait on him. I’m not doubting this guy’s talent. I just think it will take him a while to get used to the NINBA. By the way, I will be calling organization that untill it is proven otherwise.
Dannie, Pete - what are your takes on Tim Donaghy’s recent remarks? They really lowered my expectations for the Sixers. They have no chance in the playoffs without a “star”. I’m thinking, as long as they play over .500 ball and can entertain us in the regular season, that’s all we should expect. No talk of championships unless the NBA has tabbed us as a team that can draw ratings, and therefore will be allowed to go deep into the playoffs.
Brent - If there is question about his desire, then he’s not gonna fit in with this squad, and I don’t think Stefanski will take him. Apparentely he hasn’t been very impressive in workouts either, which confuses the hell out of me, because that’s where he should shine. You are correct in that you can take a highlight reel of almost anyone (Ryan Bowen excluded) and make them look amazing - but you can tell from the video that he has a lot of skills that many kids his size don’t have. I haven’t made up my mind on him yet/
sixerzguy - don’t buy it. the spurs and pistons both won championships and won’t draw ratings. if you look at the spurs/suns series last year - the refs completely blew it for the suns, and they would clearly have gotten higher ratings.
I’m with Brent. I don’t think any stock at all can be put into highlight reels, even if on a few plays he seems to show fundamentals. You could make a highlight reel of Ryan Bowen that would be just as impressive.
Any tape on actual whole Nevada games would show that he is the single biggest raw project big man in the draft, as Brent said he is horribly inconsistent, and the guy is flat out not ready for the NBA. He’s extremely underwhelming when watching an entire game with him involved, sometimes looks completely lost on the court, has (like Hasheem Thabeet) ZILCH sense of moving without the ball and screen setting, doesn’t box out, and picks and chooses moments to show the little flashes he’s capable of. He’s not a guy that’s going to help an NBA team for at least 3 years if drafted, and I think he’s the biggest bust of this draft. Just my .02!
If I’m gambling on a big man, I’d far rather gamble on Arthur and Speights.
Brent- I have read differently about most of what you said. He isn’t undersized at all. His body weight was 5.3 at the Orlando camp which is pretty fantastic and in the top 18 of all players that were measured. Like most bigs this young he is thin and needs to put on muscle weight on his upper body, but his base is very strong. I think his work ethic is fine and his inconsistency comes from getting down on himself when he is struggling to make baskets (umm this is not uncommon people).
I am not even saying we should outright draft this dude. But if Stefanski wants a big who he knows is not going to be an impact player and is cool with developing for a little while take the big with the most talent and highest ceiling. If that is the case you can’t deny that McGee will be on of the top 3 at our pick.
I think people are getting confused a little bit. Obviously moving up and getting an impact player is optimal and therefore plan A and B for that matter. But you gotta consider if that falls through what will we do if stuck with our current pick.
Dannie- most of the info i get is from ESPN.com and Draft Express so if you looked at those sites you would see what im talking about. when it comes to his inconsistency, if it is because he is getting down on himself then it is a problem because it is a mental issue. you cant have a guy miss a few shots and then be down on himself all game. what makes the great players so great is there ability to not lose confidence in there game even when they are struggling. what really worries me isnt the fact that he isn’t consistant, but the fact that he is inconsistant while playing against lower competition. if he posted the same #’s and played in a major conference like the pac 10, big east, or big 12, then i wouldn’t be as worried. he was held to under 10 points by central florida, santa clara, northern iowa, and boise state (twice). he shot 32.4% in those games. once again its more the teams he is struggling against that i am worried about. like Dave T said, mcgee could be the biggest bust in this draft. in my opinion he has the highest risk, but nowhere near the highest reward.
ok, now time to get serious. i might be a conspiracy freak, but i am not an idiot. i know what to believe and what not to. i think the information donaghy gave is legit and here is why. people say he has nothing to lose. HE HAS EVERYTHING TO LOSE!!!!! he is not an idiot and this guy has some damn good lawers. he is not about to lie to FEDERAL OFFICIALS!! at best he could shave a few years off his sentence. at worst, he could be sentenced longer for perjury, and he could be sued by the league. infact, the league is demanding $1 mil from donaghy because they believe they are the victims in this donaghy scandal. give me a break. if there are any victims here its the false hope of NINBA fans everywhere that believed what they were seeing was real. am i saying every game was fixed, no. what i am saying is the games the NINBA needed to be greatly influenced were. the sad thing is, unless someone mans up and says something, we wont know for sure untill half of these guys are retired. i do believe there are some good refs out there, but there are more bad ones than good. i am a huge suns fan and a huge basketball fan, but i will never be able to love David Stern and his NINBA.
ok, just because i had nothing better to do i went through every teams roster and found every player from the WAC.
Anthony Carter PG Hawaii
Rafer Alston PG Fresno St.
Ramon Sessions PG Nevada
Nick Fazekas PF Nevada
Kirk Snyder SF Nevada
Melvin Ely PF Fresno St.
Paul Millsap PF Louisiana Tech
Dominic McGuire PF Fresno St.
Raman Sessions could turn out to be the best player from this bunch. Carter and Alston are solid pros and Millsap could turn into someting good.
I was just curious as too why you have Mayo going to the Heat, it seems like the logical choice for them would be to grab Beasley. As a Wolves fan i would love for Beasley to slip to us and i was just wondering why you have just that happening.
Brent, slight bone to pick…if you’re going to list Anthony Carter and Rafer Alston as WAC players, who were from a different era, then you have to list Keith Van Horn, Shawn Marion, and all the other stars off the dominant Utah and UNLV teams…not to mention the very good New Mexico, Tulsa and TCU teams…who were part of the WAC until 2000 when they split to form the Mountain West. Throughout the 90’s there were many times when the WAC and the A-10 were equivalent to the Big 6 conferences in terms of talent.
Not trying to be a petty a**hat with the distinction, but it’s worth noting that some of these guys, particularly Anthony Carter and Melvin Ely, were phenomenal players in an extremely talented and respected league, plus there are other WAC guys that were solid NBA players, just not currently on rosters.
I’m not too big a fan in general of talking about the competition level of conferences as a whole…I think it has to be done year to year. For instance, the Big-10 this year, completely top heavy with really 4-5 good teams, would have gotten slaughtered by the Big 10 of the late 90s and early 00s. The ACC this year was freaking horrible in comparison in years when they had 7 teams dancing each year.
You could also have a situation where individual teams in the WAC play a ridiculously tough out of conference schedule, and then walk back into what is still pretty tough conference play. Just saying keep the McGee comparisons to the two years he played, and the out of conference comp. he played, instead of putting him head to head with other WACers.
Mike -
Based on what I’ve read, I think that that Heat want Mayo more than Beasley. They worked him out first, he’s been out to dinner with D-Wade, they clearly want a guard more than a PF and Mayo has been extremely impressive in all his interactions with the Heat brass.
That being said, I don’t think they will select Mayo #2. Beasley is obviously a great talent, and I think that the Heat will trade the pick. The Wolves would love Beasley and might give another young player up to move up one spot to take him. So - my mock draft represents where I think the player will end up, not where they will be picked (though this is the only trade i am “forecasting”)
Foye, Brewer, Beasley and Jefferson would be an exciting young core.
Dave T- thanks for correcting me there. it was blind of me to only look at teams that were currently in the WAC. i was trying to show the players that those particular schools produced to show those programs dont have a great recent history of great players. 10 or 15 years ago it was a great conference and your right that i should of focused on the past two years. that said, recently the WAC hasnt been a great conference, and your comments support that it hasnt been in a while because of the better teams leaving.
like i said earlier, the talent is there for javale mcgee. i just think it will take a while to get him to play on a consistant level, and thats why i think he could fall to seattle. it has been rumoured that the suns could start rebuilding after one more run so he is starting to make sense there, but i dont think he is a great fit for teams on their way up. the teams at 10-14, 16, 17, and 19-23 should not take him. i dont expect him to drop past 24.
pete- i realize you have miami and minnisota trading picks, but if miami is set on taking mayo and beasley will be there at 3 what would be the benifit of moving up? im not really arguing they shouldn’t, i guess im just a little confused. would it be to dump a contract?
Brent -
its been written here and there, and it’s my personal opinion that the Heat want Mayo. But - there is NO WAY that that is what they are telling other teams. If they believe that the Wolves want Beasley, they will call them up - infer that they (the Heat) plan on taking Beasley at #2 and try to get another player out of a deal. Happens all the time in the NBA and NFL. teams will leak false rumors, agents will leak false rumors, all sorts of stuff happens so that you are never really sure what a team is thinking so they can broker deals like this.
quick question: why are the wolves so high on beasley? How would you play those two together?
by those two, I mean Beasley and Jefferson. Oh, and what do you guys make of this Shaun Livingston situation? Seems like a worthy gamble…
I am assuming they will keep playing Jefferson at center and Beasley at PF and just be small. That is unless (this is mildly outside the box thinking) they are confident enough in Beasley’s perimeter game (he shot the NBA three very well in his Orlando workouts) that he can be like Lamar Odom and play small forward at that size.
I am ok with grabbing Livingston because I love his size at that position. But only if he proves he can play basketball this season (heard he was suppose to start playing pick up ball in the middle of June) and understand he won’t get paid much of anything until he proves not only that he can play but that he can play to the potential everyone thought he had before he got hurt.
With that said if his first basketball action is two weeks before FA opens on July 1st how can you really evaluate this kid? We would literally be tossing money in a wishing well or playing the lottery with a ticket that likely cost us $2 million dollars.
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