The second part series in of my mock draft of the NBA Lottery (1-14). Feel free to comment and tell me your opinions of where I went wrong.
#8 Milwaukee Bucks-Kevin Love, PF-C
Pros - He’ll be ready to play on day one. There are no questions about his strength, skills, or knowledge of the game. He’s got a very solid all-around game and certainly won’t have any problem jumping right in and banging on the inside. Playing PF in the NBA with his range should open up the floor by forcing opposing players away from the basket to guard him.
Cons-There are a lot of questions about his potential upside and his lack of athletic ability. You don’t see a lot of guys get quicker as they move through their 20′s, so if this is as quick as Love is going to get, it could be a problem for him. Defensively, he’s going to be a liability, period.
#9 Charlotte Bobcats-Eric Gordon, G
Pros: A quick and athletic pure scorer who dominated the big ten as a freshman. He has the abiltity to get to the rim and has a good jump-shot that will continue to improve over time. Will be a nice fit with the Bobcats as the future SG.
Cons: Is he a PG or a SG? I don’t think he can play point and think he will be too small of a SG. I look at him to have a tough time guarding bigger SG’s in the league and will be his downfall.
#10 New Jersey Nets-Danillo Gallinari, F
Pros- The Nets need to just bring in talent and then make some trade moves (Vince Carter). The 19 year old Italian small forward is being talked up as the typical European import in terms of skills. He knows how to play, has good range, can handle the ball and create his own shot. The downside with most of these guys in the past is their inability to more physical style of play over here, generally due to a lack of strength. They say this kid has good strength, though and loves to drive and draw contact, but I won’t be convinced until I see him do it in the NBA.
Cons- Athleticism is just average for his size. His lack of quickness and explosiveness will hurt his ability to guard NBA small forwards. His offensive game is limited in that he does not have a lot of back to the basket skills.
#11 Indiana Pacers-Roy Hibbert, C
Pros: You know the old saying, “you can’t teach height.” Well, Hibbert is a legit big-man coming in at 7’2 and over 270lbs. He can score on the low-block, hit a jumper out to 15 feet and passes the ball well for his size. He is a very hard-worker who improved his game dramatically since he entered college as a freshman. A smart player with a good head on his shoulders. With Indiana looking to dump O’Neil and his contract, the Pacers should go big and realize they are officially rebuilding.
Cons: If he left last year, most people had him as a top 5 pick. What happened? Needs to improve his lateral quickness in order to defend the pick and roll, which every NBA team is running to death these days.
#12 Sacramento Kings-Brandon Rush, SG-SF
Pros: Maybe not the best pick for the Kings as they are loaded at the wing position and have other needs. However, I think a lottery team needs to draft for best available versus a need. They can make trades down the road with their other wing players. Rush has good size at 6’6 and a strong build. A very good shooter who is willing to play defense. A winner who is unselfish. Doesn’t every winning team need a player like Rush?
Cons: Tore his ACL in college, will he continue to have injury problems? Has he peaked as a player? The potential upside on Rush is not as great as others in the draft.
#13 Portland TrailBlazers-DeAndre Jordan, C
Pros: Portland is loaded with talent and why not go for project with huge potential upside. Jordan is 7’0 and 260 lbs. He has a freakish athletic ability, good hands and rebounds the ball well. His lateral quickness is good for a player of his size and should be able to defend in the NBA pretty easily.
Cons: Is he mentally and physically tough to handle the NBA? He lacks some basic skills and fundamentals and relies too much on his athletic ability. He needs to develop a shooting touch out to 15 feet.
#14 Golden State Warriors-Robin Lopez, C
Pros – As the saying goes, “You can’t teach 7′ tall.” Have you heard that before? Lopez is a legit seven foot with incredibly long arms. He really added on size to his frame in the past year and won’t be entering the league as the typical long, lanky, young big man. He’s the more defensively oriented Lopez twin and projects to be a better rebounder and shot blocker that his brother Brooke. He should be able to come in and contribute immediately on the defensive end.
Cons – Simply put, his offensive game is a work in progress, but there is no reason he shouldn’t be able to develop into a solid low post scorer. Off the court, he’s a little “different”. According to widely published stories, in his spare time he likes drawing cartoons, watching Disney movies and listening to Michael Jackson. Not the end of the world, but it makes you pause for a second.
*Image Source: InsideSoCal, Sports Illustrated
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice! More picks to talk about.
First of all Eric Gordon to the Bobcats…hello Raymond Felton 2.0 (2.0 being Gordon as more of a two than a one as Felton is more of a one than a two, either way they aren’t that great at either)!!! And they already have a 2 in Jason Richardson or are you thinking about him as a 3 and G. Wallace at the 4 which they put out on the floor more than once this season.
I think it is ridiculous that Brandon Rush isn’t getting more talk or stock value. He is a legit 6’7″ shooter who can also score off the dribble and doesn’t need to be the number one guy but can also be called upon in the clutch to hit the big shot. He can and WILL defend, which is something that can’t be said about most of the guards in the projected first rounds of the mock drafts going around. If he goes to the Suns, which I have seen in plenty of mocks, that would be a steal and would help them considerably not only as a player on the roster but in terms of being able to let people go (ie. Barboza, R. Bell, Hill, or Diaw) to trade.
I guess this is what makes this draft one of the most looked forward to in a while for me. A lot could go on. And I am no expert. I also thought Ryan Leaf would be better than Peyton Manning in the NFL but that was mostly for my hatred of UT Vols.
J. Shuttlesworth:
I feel you on the Brandon Rush facts–he is a player, and has size at the “2″, and can probably play the “3″ too, so that is added versatility. However, I went to a few of Eric Gordon’s high school games (my niece attends the same school), and his game is “raw” as in “nice.” I think that he is in the same class as OJ Mayo. Eric Gordon is faster and quicker than he looks, but I was never enamored with his game because it always seemed like he lived to either posterize somebody or make the evening sport’s show highlight reel.
Unfortunately, Eric Gordon chose the wrong school which hired the wrong coach–who ended up ruining his player’s season. Nevertheless, even though I am not a super fan of Eric Gordon, I still recognize and respect his talent, and potential. He could be the best leaper in the draft, and is probably definitely the streakiest shooter. I won’t be surprised if he drops 40 or 50 on some poor, undeserving NBA team once or twice this season because similar to OJ Mayo his game is also made for the NBA style spread offenses, and up tempo game. And yes, EJ is definitely a “2″ so he might fit in well in Charlotte. Ironically, he and Derrick Rose were teammates on the same AAU team when they were high school seniors; Derrick played the “1″ and EJ played the “2″.
In closing, EJ as they call him in “The Nap” may have a game that befits a West Coast team. I respect his talent, and because of this he’s my sleeper in this draft. Also, as I didn’t see Kevin Love ball a whole lot this season, can anyone tell me why Brooke Lopez is being projected as a higher pick? I am stumped!
Brooke Lopez is a legit 7 feet tall and Love is barely 6’9. Love was able to get away with some things in college, as he was playing against smaller players, but dont see him doing it in the pros against bigger more athletic guys. Also, Lopez has more upside and room for improvement. His weakness is in his skill level which can be developed over time. However, Love’s weakness is in athletic ability and quickness which is much more difficult to improve and something most believe we are born with.
Thanks Jaime! Living in Big-10 country, I don’t get to see a whole lot of Pac-10 basketball. K-Love was so hyped up during high school, that I was perplexed by him not being projected to go in the top 5 picks of the draft.
I really don’t know about Eric Gordon. I think he is a sub-par ball handler especially for an undersized two who is going to definitely have to be more dynamic and creative in finding ways to score against bigger 2s. I think this explains why his second half was not as good as his first and not because his team was burning down in front of his eyes. Teams had seen him and schemed him better in the second half and he could adjust properly. Now that he got picked by the Clippers, you can officaly forget about him. Bayless went after this guy and Augustine, ridiculous. Then the Pacers decide to trade their lucky pick to the Blazers who are going to be ridiculous next year, with or without Odom.
Added note: I wonder if Memphis is trying to break the all time record for “most PGs who can illegitimately get playing time” on one team (Mayo, Conley, Lowry, maybe even Crittenton).
i meant legitmately…