2014 DBR Mock Draft

[flyingdutchdevil]

With all due respect to our friend pfrduke, I didn't like Lavine at the #10 to the Sixers in the mock. I think that's way too high for him, and pairing him with MCW will result in a pair of guards that will produce turnover-fests with dreadful percentages despite their athleticism. I think Stauskas or maybe Gary Harris are better matches for what the Sixers need if they do get Jabari at #3.

Perhaps Westbrook and Holiday didn't set the world on fire at UCLA because of Ben Howland's coaching style threw a wet blanket on them. (huh? someone call the Metaphor Police - violations in progress!)

My opinion is that you can draft "potential" for the front line; offensively limited athletic big men can still fill a role blocking shots, rebounding, and dunking putbacks / fast break alley oops. That list is pretty long. Guards and wing players need to have actual basketball skills and/or IQ to be established starters or even all-stars.

I also think that LaVine at 10 is too high, but his is a high-risk, high-reward type player. He could be an 5-time All-Star or he could be a massive dud.

I really like Gary Harris. He is a 3-and-D player who could end up being better than Danny Green (huge compliment for a 3-and-D player). With Jabari being a defensive liability, a player like Harris makes so much sense. Stauskas is a bad choice for the Sixers, simply because his D is on par with Jabari (that is to say non-existent). A core of MWC-Harris-Jabari-Young-Noel is very nice and balanced on both O and D, and you can move Young and future draft picks for a borderline All-Star.

[pfrduke]

I also think that LaVine at 10 is too high, but his is a high-risk, high-reward type player. He could be an 5-time All-Star or he could be a massive dud.

I really like Gary Harris. He is a 3-and-D player who could end up being better than Danny Green (huge compliment for a 3-and-D player). With Jabari being a defensive liability, a player like Harris makes so much sense. Stauskas is a bad choice for the Sixers, simply because his D is on par with Jabari (that is to say non-existent). A core of MWC-Harris-Jabari-Young-Noel is very nice and balanced on both O and D, and you can move Young and future draft picks for a borderline All-Star.

The pick for me came down to Harris vs. LaVine. It was very close to 50/50. I'm actually not sold on Harris as a plus NBA defender, at least not at the 2 - he's a little undersized there and doesn't make up for it with elite speed or athleticism (although his fundamentals are strong enough that he is unlikely to be a minus defender). At the end of the day, it was a ceiling pick - who did I think could be the best player if all the cards broke right. Given that the Sixers are not likely to be in any kind of contention next year regardless of who they take at 10, it's a risk that helps both ways - if he's great, I add a great player; if he's terrible, I'm back at the top of the lottery. Then again, I'm also the guy who drafted Jerryd Bayless over Russell Westbrook for the fake Sonics in this mock draft 6 years ago. No one's ever accused me of being a great judge of talent.

Also, I was serious about what I said in terms of #10 offering a lot of reasonable options. Were it an option in our draft, I would have been calling the GMs below me to see who was interested in moving up, as I could have gotten someone I would be happy with anywhere over the next 4-5 picks.

[NSDukeFan]

Houston has some size upfront with Asik and Howard, who both somehow stayed on the team all year. Having two bigs like that isn't necessarily a bad thing (see Spurs). With Beverly being a menace defensively in the backcourt and the size upfront, this team is getting a few solid defensive pieces to go with fantastic offensive player Harden and solid swing man Parsons. Although Cleanthony Earlyand Jarnell Stokes were strongly considered, we felt McDaniels would quickly learn to defend 1 or 2 positions at an NBA level, be able to learn our team's help side responsibilities and run the floor, hit the open jumper and work on his ball handling to quickly be a solid contributor with potential for more.

[Duke3517]

#26 Miami Heat, Cleanthony Early, SF/PF, Wichita State

We really need a point guard in the biggest way. Of the ones available we did not have one that we considered first round potential. We had our sights on Shabazz Napier. Unfortunately we were not able to grab him. We may also need a center who specializes in traffic rebounding. So Mitch McGary was highly considered for this pick. The Spurs beat us down in 5 games because we did not have quality role players who contributed around us. We choose this player because he is highly athletic, fast, and is tremendous at creating his own shot. His defense against post players really needs to improve. We feel once he gets bigger, rebounding will become one of his strengths. He needs to also work on driving to the basket with traffic in front of him. He reminds us of Kawhai Leonard offensively. Tremondous scorer. He certainly is not the defender Kawhai is but we feel he has room to improve. We are very excited about developing into his true potential. But he needs more seasoning.

We go into this off season with a lot of questions. Will LeBron and Wade stay? Will we get to keep them and bring in Melo? Or should we get quality players around us and build a team that closely resembles the Spurs? But for right now we are excited to be able to land a guy with supreme potential.

[Newton_14]

Here is the updated view of the first round. The Phoenix Suns are now on the clock

First Round

1. Cleveland Cavaliers – BlueDevilBrowns - Andrew Wiggins, Kansas
2. Milwaukee Bucks - Turk - Joel Embiid, Kansas
3. Philadelphia 76ers - pfrduke - Jabari Parker, Duke
4. Orlando Magic - Duvall - Dante Exum, Australia
5. Utah Jazz - tommy - Noah Vonleh, Indiana
6. Boston Celtics - Henderson - Aaron Gordon, Arizona
7. Los Angeles Lakers - TheSchwartz - Marcus Smart, Okie State
8. Sacramento Kings – Ichabod Drain - Doug McDermott, Creighton
9. Charlotte Hornets - mattman91 - Julius Randle, Kentucky
10. Philadelphia 76ers - pfrduke - Zach LaVine, UCLA

11. Denver Nuggets - The Alaskan Bear - Jusuf Nurkic, Bosnia
12. Orlando Magic - Duvall - Dario Saric, Croatia
13. Minnesota Timberwolves – FerryFor50 - Rodney Hood, Duke
14. Phoenix Suns - LI Duke - Gary Harris, Michigan State
15. Atlanta Hawks - JasonEvans - Kyle Anderson, UCLA
16. Chicago Bulls - CDu - Nick Stauskas, Michigan
17. Boston Celtics - Henderson - Tyler Ennis, Syracuse
18. Phoenix Suns - LI Duke - Elfrid Payton, Louisiana Lafayette
19. Chicago Bulls - CDu - James Young, Kentucky
20. Toronto Raptors - NovaScotian - Adreian Payne, Michigan State
21. Oklahoma City Thunder - FlyingDutchDevil- Glenn Robinson III- Michigan
22. Memphis Grizzlies - Roywhite- TJ Warren- NC State
23. Utah Jazz - tommy- Jordan Adams- UCLA
24. Charlotte Hornets - mattman91- Shabazz Napier- UConn
25. Houston Rockets - nsdukefan- KJ McDaniels - Clemson
26. Miami Heat - Duke3517- Cleanthony Early - Wichita St
27. Phoenix Suns - LI Duke
28. Los Angeles Clippers- Newton_14
29. Oklahoma City Thunder - FlyingDutchDevil
30. San Antonio Spurs - Brevity

[Duvall]

#26 Miami Heat, Cleanthony Early, SF/PF, Wichita State

Was that the guy you wanted earlier?

[Duke3517]

Was that the guy you wanted earlier?

2nd guy...Shabazz Napier was my first choice at where I was picking. The Heat need a point guard badly.

[awhom111]

The official early entry list will presumably be available by tomorrow at the latest now that the deadline has passed. Good thing nobody has mock drafted Porzingis yet. We are starting to hit the part of the draft where the internationals would fly off the board in real life although I assume we will be more likely to stick with the college guys.

In the spirit of awhom111, it's Nik Stauskas, not Nick Stauskas.

That was an important one to point out. No basketball fan wants to alienate the Lithuanian community.

[Henderson]

The official early entry list will presumably be available by tomorrow at the latest now that the deadline has passed. Good thing nobody has mock drafted Porzingis yet. We are starting to hit the part of the draft where the internationals would fly off the board in real life although I assume we will be more likely to stick with the college guys.

So let me get this straight. The NBA established 5 pm ET today for all early entries to withdraw, right? That applies to both college players and internationals. But the NCAA recently changed its rules to establish its own early entry withdrawal deadline in late May? So there's no longer any reason for the college players to withdraw if the team workouts go poorly, because they can't go back to school? Do I have that right? If so, it seems pretty harsh for U.S. kids who'd like to test the waters and not very conducive to the educational mission of the NCAA (if it still has one) to be discouraging kids from going back to school. OTOH, the internationals have much more flexibility to wait and see how things look? That's what the NCAA has done for its athletes?

I admit I'm not very knowledgable here, so someone correct my assumptions if I have them wrong. And which internationals count as "early entry"? Could a 25 year old, 5 year Euro-pro withdraw by the early entry date? I'm thinking about guys like Splitter and Faverani, who came to the NBA after establishing themselves in leagues abroad.

[Turk]

The pick for me came down to Harris vs. LaVine. It was very close to 50/50. I'm actually not sold on Harris as a plus NBA defender, at least not at the 2 - he's a little undersized there and doesn't make up for it with elite speed or athleticism (although his fundamentals are strong enough that he is unlikely to be a minus defender). At the end of the day, it was a ceiling pick - who did I think could be the best player if all the cards broke right. Given that the Sixers are not likely to be in any kind of contention next year regardless of who they take at 10, it's a risk that helps both ways - if he's great, I add a great player; if he's terrible, I'm back at the top of the lottery. Then again, I'm also the guy who drafted Jerryd Bayless over Russell Westbrook for the fake Sonics in this mock draft 6 years ago. No one's ever accused me of being a great judge of talent.

Also, I was serious about what I said in terms of #10 offering a lot of reasonable options. Were it an option in our draft, I would have been calling the GMs below me to see who was interested in moving up, as I could have gotten someone I would be happy with anywhere over the next 4-5 picks.

Yep, you could go either way with Harris or LaVine, makes sense. As for shopping picks, there have been rumblings (nothing worth linking that I've read so far) where the Sixers will be trying to make deals using that #10 and all the second rounders they have.

[CDu]

So let me get this straight. The NBA established 5 pm ET today for all early entries to withdraw, right? That applies to both college players and internationals. But the NCAA recently changed its rules to establish its own early entry withdrawal deadline in late May? So there's no longer any reason for the college players to withdraw if the team workouts go poorly, because they can't go back to school? Do I have that right? If so, it seems pretty harsh for U.S. kids who'd like to test the waters and not very conducive to the educational mission of the NCAA (if it still has one) to be discouraging kids from going back to school. OTOH, the internationals have much more flexibility to wait and see how things look? That's what the NCAA has done for its athletes?

That pretty much sums it up, yes. College coaches complained that the June deadline left them hanging in the wind, so to speak. So the NCAA changed their rules.

I admit I'm not very knowledgable here, so someone correct my assumptions if I have them wrong. And which internationals count as "early entry"? Could a 25 year old, 5 year Euro-pro withdraw by the early entry date? I'm thinking about guys like Splitter and Faverani, who came to the NBA after establishing themselves in leagues abroad.

A 25-year-old international is automatically eligible for the draft (all internationals over 22 years of age). So they aren't "early entry" candidates at that point. So they wouldn't pull out of the draft.

In fact, I believe that a 25 year old international wouldn't have to be drafted, because he'd have already been eligible to be drafted. So he would be free to sign a contract with any team.

[Henderson]

Excellent info. Thanks.

[Li_Duke]

The official early entry list will presumably be available by tomorrow at the latest now that the deadline has passed. Good thing nobody has mock drafted Porzingis yet. We are starting to hit the part of the draft where the internationals would fly off the board in real life although I assume we will be more likely to stick with the college guys.

Yep, I just picked an international player. Let's hope he's still on the official early entry list later today.

Capela is a long athletic big man who is a good defender and great in transition. We have a precedent for that type of player performing well in the Suns system (Plumlee I). We also considered Mitch McGary with this pick as Mitch's strength makes him more NBA-ready than the much weaker, still raw Capela (at least in regards to holding his ground in the post). In the end though, we see Mitch's upside as a bench big who can come into the game for 5-10 energy-filled minutes for a playoff team. While that is pretty good return for the 27th pick, we see the 20-year old Capela's upside as a Serge Ibaka type player. With four rotation bigs already (Plumlee, Fyre, Morris, Morris), we can afford to gamble.

[Newton_14]

With the 28th pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Clippers select forward Jerami Grant, from Syracuse University. At this point in the draft, we believe in taking the best talent available and believe Grant is that guy. We love his basketbal IQ, athletic ability, and skill set. Grant has the potential to develop into a solid NBA player for years to come.

Had Napier been available I would have taken in him to backup Chris Paul with Collison soon departing, but I am more than thrilled that Grant was still there for the taking. I like both kids a lot actually, so happy either way.

[flyingdutchdevil]

We need size, but we are confident we can get size on the cheap in free agency. Right now, we also need no unnecessary contracts. Since we can't shop this pick, we'll draft an international center with great size (7'1") and try to store him in Europe for another year.

Artem Kilmenko is our guy. Big, goofy, and unathletic...kinda like a taller version of Kendrick Perkins (with hopefully a lot more upside!).

[GGLC]

I think KJ McDaniels will turn out to be incredible value here. I know several extremely knowledgeable draft guys who think that he's got top-10 talent in terms of translation to the NBA.

I also think that McDermott, LaVine, and Hood will ultimately be too high in this draft in terms of retrospective value, while Anderson, Napier, Stauskas, and Capela will be seen as having gone too low. Maybe Nurkic too.

[CDu]

I think KJ McDaniels will turn out to be incredible value here. I know several extremely knowledgeable draft guys who think that he's got top-10 talent in terms of translation to the NBA.

I agree. He has elite athelticism, excellent defensive skills, and good size for his position. At the very worst, he's a defensive stopper as a rotation SG/SF. If he can continue to improve offensively, he's a steal.

It should be noted that he excels in two of the skills that most directly translate to NBA success: steals and blocks.

[FerryFor50]

I agree. He has elite athelticism, excellent defensive skills, and good size for his position. At the very worst, he's a defensive stopper as a rotation SG/SF. If he can continue to improve offensively, he's a steal.

It should be noted that he excels in two of the skills that most directly translate to NBA success: steals and blocks.

I think he projects as a Tony Allen clone, which is not shabby at all.

[flyingdutchdevil]

I think KJ McDaniels will turn out to be incredible value here. I know several extremely knowledgeable draft guys who think that he's got top-10 talent in terms of translation to the NBA.

I also think that McDermott, LaVine, and Hood will ultimately be too high in this draft in terms of retrospective value, while Anderson, Napier, Stauskas, and Capela will be seen as having gone too low. Maybe Nurkic too.

Can someone please explain the appeal of Stauskas? He's got a great shot, good size, and high IQ, but that's it. He can't play D, he can't post, he can't drive that well...

I don't see the appeal. I'm staying away from Stauskas with a 10-foot pole if I can.

[Newton_14]

Would be curious to hear details as to why he cannot defend?