1 – Los Angeles Clippers - Blake Griffin
Although they have a a surplus of big men, Blake Griffin is a can’t miss prospect.
2 – Memphis Grizzlies - Hasheem Thabeet
It is becoming more and more likely that the Grizzlies will take Thabeet here. They like Mike Conley, who they took at number 3 a couple years back, and unless they can find a team in love with Rubio to trade with, they’ll pair Thabeet with Marc Gasol and have a promising young front court.
3 – Oklahoma City Thunder - Ricky Rubio
This is a tough pick to prognosticate. The Thunder have Russell Westbrook, who at times this season looked like the point guard of the future, but without Thabeet here, who else is there for them? James Harden just isn’t as good as Rubio, and having Westbrook play off the ball might not be such a bad idea. Maybe he could turn into a Monta Ellis type.
4 – Sacramento Kings – Jrue Holiday
In a draft this weak, upside is everything. Holiday’s got as much as anybody in this draft.
5 – Washington Wizards - James Harden
Harden is a real shooting guard, who would go nicely with Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, and be an upgrade over the injury-prone Deshawn Stevenson. They’ll also give Jordan Hill a long look here, if they keep the pick, that is, but I think they would go with Harden because of Andray Blatche and Javale McGee.
6 – Minnesota Timberwolves - Tyreke Evans
Evans is a long 6’6 shooting guard, who may be able to play the point. He has a good handle, great athleticism, a suspect jump shot, and some questionable shot selection. He can play the 1 or 2 in Minny, because they don’t have stability at either position.
7 – Golden State Warriors - Brandon Jennings
It’s a perfect match. Jennings is lightning quick and has the passing ability already to run the point in Nellie’s system, plus Monta Ellis can play off of the ball.
8 – New York Knicks - Stephen Curry
Last time I had Jrue Holiday, but that was wishful thinking. Everybody seems to think that Curry is a lock here, but Curry is getting looks from as high as OKC at 3. Yes, he fits the Knicks system, but he fits Don Nelson’s system too, and Minnesota wants a point guard that can shoot. If he does drop to the Knicks, he seems to be number one on their lengthy list of guard prospects, so I think they would take him. He can stroke it, and he would probably have the most immediate impact of any of the guards.
9 - Toronto Raptors - Demar Derozan
Derozan is a great prospect, and he can replace Anthony Parker and Shawn Marion with his athleticism, slashing ability, and willingness to D up.
10 – Milwaukee Bucks - Jonny Flynn
The Syracuse boy’s stock is rising fast; Chad Ford has him going at 7. I think that if Flynn had four more inches, he would be a better prospect than Ricky Rubio. People forget what he showed during the Big East Tournament. He logged a ridiculous amount of minutes and still produced. With Ramon Sessions probably leaving the Bucks, Flynn is a great replacement.
11 – New Jersey Nets - Jordan Hill
Dream come true for Rod Thorn and Kiki Vandeweghe…and my boy Nick, who for some reason is a die-hard Net fan.
12 – Charlotte Bobcats - Gerald Henderson
Again, if you look up “Larry Brown type of player” in any dictionary, you will find a picture of Gerald Henderson. They don’t have a shooting guard, because the “Adam Morrison experiment” failed miserably, and Henderson plays defense, and has a lot more upside than a lot of people think. I know Tommy loves the Duke kid, and for good reason.
13 – Indiana Pacers - Eric Maynor
Jarret Jack is a free agent, and Eric Maynor and T.J Ford can share time at the point. Eric Maynor is probably the most NBA ready guard in the draft, and painfully underrated.
14 – Phoenix Suns - Earl Clark
It’s questionable if Clark really has a position, but I think he can be a Tim Thomas type of player at the 4. He can shoot and rebound, and scouts think that his upside is Shawn Marion. He struggles mightily with inconsistency, though, and he rarely dominated at Louisville.
what do you mean by”he seems to be number 1 on their list of guard prospects”do you have access to the KNICKS list?if not,then where are you getting the INFO?just curious
not only is it commonly believed by anybody with any knowledge of the knicks plans, but its been noted by several draft insiders, including chad ford. donnie walsh has voiced his like for curry, and curry has responded to it. my best friend and his dad are in the same golf club as rod thorn and mike d’antoni, and when i visited, curry was all d’antoni talked about. what, do you think that brandon jennings is the player they most covet?
no need to get all snotty about myles,just asking.and why would i think they would want jennings,HOLLIDAY IS THE WAY
i dont meant to be snotty, im just saying curry is clearly at the top of their list
Hill would be an absolute steal for the Nets at 11. I had him going there in my mock as well, but I just have a feeling that he won’t slip that far.
In all seriousness, wouldn’t Hill be a better pick for Memphis than Thabeet? Why have two slower bigs in Gasol and Thabeet when Hill is quicker and can be a good shot-blocker as well. The Grizzlies biggest need is at PF. Hill is by far the second best PF and he seems to fit what they are looking for. If Hill falls to the Knicks at 8, he can be a nice chip to trade up to Memphis to get a crack at Rubio.
Harrington and Hill for Rubio and Darko?
Rubio cant shoot hes even worst that CD, whats he gonna do when he gets a wide open 3 drive for the charge? Case and point would Rondo be a beast in our system i don’t think so.
How do you know rubio has a bad shot? Have you seen him play or looked at any of his statistics?
He has yet to develop a mid-range game, but he shot 43% from 3pt range in 22 games in the Spanish ACB league this year. And its not like he barely ever shot, he took 2.4 attemps per game. In fact, a majority of his 3′s were spot up, wide open jumpers, so CLEARLY he can shoot the ball. And at 18 years old, he will clearly get much better.
Please everyone, stop reading the one-line cliches and thinking they are gospel. Rubio’s shot is 20 times better than Rondo’s, and he is 20 times more efficient than westbrook.
Oh so hes a knock down shooter??? Is he as good as S. Curry?? I guess everyone just wants to find something bad to say about Rubio, give me a break if he could shoot everyone would say he can shoot, he can’t shoot period its not that bad but he cant shoot don’t try to convince me that he can cause he can’t and everyone knows this, not to mention NBA 3 is further than the Euro 3 pt shot. He does alot of things well but shooting is not one of them.
No it is not a strength, but it is not really a big weakness either. Did i say he’s as good as curry? No, because curry is a shooting prodigy and Rubio’s strengths lay elsewhere. My point was that he is not a bad shooter at all, he actually has a pretty decent stroke, but he’s just not very consistent yet. Comparing him to Rondo is completely off the mark, though. Anyone who shoots 2.4 3′s a game and makes 43% of them (even in europe where the 3 is barely closer) clearly doesn’t have a bad shot. Curry shot 38% from three in college, which is closer than europe. Obviously curry is better and shot worse because he took 10 shots a game, but still, my point remains. Rubio does not have a ‘bad’ shot… he can shoot the ball and he will improve.
Am I the only one that feels this way ?? Mucha can Rubio shoot?? Help me out ppl.
YOu read the teh stat but lets talk about what stats dont say….
Kid is a Steve Nash /Kidd type PG
Gifted passer
Great dedender
Best part…….
Already played and took it to a few guys you may know
Lebron
Kobe
Wade
Melo
Who else in the draft has that in his resume
At 18…. the sky is the limit . Shot will come or , rather , get better , and he is a ready now PG versus hopeful other prospects
Rubio’s a poor jumpshooter but maybe he’ll get better. He’s able to knock down open 3 pointers but he has no mid-range game and he’ll struggle trying to create his own shot.
Are Evans, Jennings, and Holiday terrible shooters also. Can they ‘NOT’ shoot? Because Rubio outshot them from 3-pt SIGNIFICANTLY, against BETTER competition, from a FURTHER 3-pt line….
Rubio’s problems are from 2pt range, because as mucha will tell you, he struggles around the basket and can’t create his own shot from midrange. But that is different than ‘not being able to shoot.’ Make no mistake, Rubio has good range.
Holiday, Evans, Jennings if you asked scouts or any one with knowledge of them they would say ” Great player blah blah blah but need to improve there shooting ” Rubio is not a better shooter than any of them. If he were to play for the Knicks he would be shooting 3pt airballs, and having no mid range game is exactly what the problem with CD. Rubio is great or so I have heard and if we had the chance to get him I would say yea but it would not be because I thought he was as good a shooter as Holiday, Evans, or Jennings because I don’t think he is.
Supposedly Gallinari had a good midrange game but would have trouble expanding his range to the NBA 3. That was flat out wrong, and thus proves it’s hard to tell whether a foreign player can shoot or not.
OK he can shoot im done.
I didnt say he will be a great shooter, i’m just saying you never know.
His overall shooting record is horrid. I’ve seen it.
That’s a great deal on paper but who’d be able to score? I’d much rather draft Curry or Holiday and keep Harrington.
HEY GUYS! i just read on DIME,that the PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS are really hot for STEPHEN CURRY,and want to trade with the KNICKS for their 8th pick, any info on this?
They have a surplus of guards, i don’t think it would make sense for them to trade for the 8 pick. they might try and trade up for a good 3 like james johnson or earl clark who would be better fits in my opinion
Portland needs to stay quiet where they are OUT OF THE LOTTERY and they should be happy about that unless they wanna trade their pick to us for sum cash.
Well Chad Ford’s report was really interesting, many GM’s believe that Stephen Curry’s the second best point guard prospect in this draft. Considering that, my mock draft would be :
1. Clippers – Blake Griffin
2. Grizzlies – Ricky Rubio (Trade down for Jordan Hill)
3. Thunder – Hasheem Thabeet
4. Kings – Jordan Hill (Trade up for Ricky Rubio)
5. Wizards – James Harden
6. Timberwolves – Stephen Curry (Jrue Holiday)
7. Warriors – Tyreke Evans
8. Knicks – Jrue Holiday (Stephen Curry)
There are two “x factors” in my opinion : 1. Ricky Rubio’s willingness to play in Memphis or Sacramento and 2. What kind of player (a shooter like Curry, a defender like Holiday or a swingman like DeRozan) the Minnesota Timberwolves are willing to draft.
Memphis will draft Thabeet Rubio is a Headache and they drafted Conley 3 the Rubio talk should make him step his game up for next year, Rubio will go 3 or 4 if im OKL if it aint broke don’t fix it Westbrook is great at PG why would u mess with that they pick Harden. Kings would snatch Rubio, Wiz get Hill and look to trade, T Wolves is where things get interesting if Holiday is projected that high on most boards I don’t see why they take him over Curry or they might take Evans, G state is high on Jennings but we don’t know until he works out for teams and the Knicks take Curry. Wolves may take Jennings too remember they drafted Marbury another flashy guard. Either Holiday, Evans, Hill or Jennings will fall past 8.
Memphis would pick Rubio to TRADE DOWN for Jordan Hill in my scenario. Hasheem Thabeet to the Grizzlies doesn’t make sense in my opinion because they already have Marc Gasol, either the Thunder or the Wizards will draft him – with James Harden going to the other team.
A couple GM’s might draft Holiday instead of Curry because of his defense and both Sacramento and Minnesota have terrible backcourt defenders. And they don’t need to win immediately.
Yeah thats what I meant to say Holiday over Curry of the Wolves because of “potential”.
Brandon Jennings is not going 7.
not to go off subject but readthis article on LEBRON and his poor sportsmanship move when the cavs lost to the MAGIC ,cuz i dont think LBJ took enough heat for his WEAK ACTIONS .heres a linkhttp://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-lebron060109&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
My Mock changes daily lol but this is what I got so far …
1. Clippers – Blake Griffin
2. Grizzlies – Hasheem Thabeet
3. Thunder – James Harden
4. Kings – Ricky Rubio
5. Wizards – Jordan Hill
6. Wolves – Tyreke Evans
7. Warriors – Stephen Curry
8. Knicks – Jrue Holiday
9. Raptors – DeMar DeRozan
10. Bucks – Johnny Flynn
11. Nets – DeJuan Blair
12. Bobcats – Gerald Henderson
13. Pacers – Jeff Teague
14. Suns – Earl Clark
And Jennings Fall outta the Lottery.
Its A Good Joke.
Why Would The Wizards Pick A PF? Especially over a good 2 guard? And where the Hell is Brandon Jennings.
I think the Wiz take Hill but everyone is saying they will trade so they will take the best player and then deal him.
I think the Thunder and Wizards trade out of their pics.
The Grizz stay where they are and take Thabeet
Kings take Curry
G State takes Jrue Holiday
Knicks get Rubio at the 8 spot as the third PG off the board.
Can we please stop the Ricky Rubio falls to 8 wish? It’s never going to happen!
And from DX dot com …
“Should Jennings slip past Golden State at 7, he may be in for somewhat of a tumble on draft night, as players such as Jonny Flynn and Jrue Holiday appear to be the next point guards on most teams’ boards, and a franchise like Indiana could opt for a more experienced player such as Ty Lawson or Eric Maynor.”
never say never.. Kobe slipped to 13th overall in similar circumstances.
If Jennings falls to 8 I guarantee you the Knicks pick him.
i think it is immpossible to predict who any team other the Clippers are gonna take. There are too many variables and too many moving peices. We dont know who might trade, we dont even know who the top eight players are (some people dont think jennings is top 8, some dont think thabeet is, some dont think derozan is, and you can say it for almost anyone except for griffin, rubio, and i guess harden.)
I think the only thing we can really try to figure out is what the knicks draft board looks like…
to figure out where the knicks are, you have to consider the 7 teams before them.
I think Hill goes before us Cheech too.But let’s say Harden,Rubio,Griffen and Hill and Thabeet that’s five before our pick the question is who are the next best four players IMO Curry,Johnson and Flynn are my top three after that.Curry ,Johnson or Flynn for our eight.
I agree with Hill and Thabeet. You like James Johnson over Holliday?
Why hasn’t anyone mentioned OKC taking rubio and trading down for Curry? We heard that they love Curry.