2018 DBR NBA Mock Draft - It's a wrap!

[JasonEvans]

The 2018 DBR Mock Draft is officially underway!

Make your pick by posting it in this thread. Please try to explain your rationale for the pick -- both what you like about the player and how he fits into your team. I kinda like it when folks put the name of the pick in the post title or in bold so it is easy to see who was selected. Also, feel free to comment on previous picks with thoughts and analysis.

Lastly, there is a close. As reminder --

Mon-Fri between 8am and 8pm ET, the clock is 3 hours. Make a pick in 3 hours or forfeit your pick to me (or some other designated picker).
Sat and Sun, the clock is 5 hours between 8am and 8pm ET (to allow for people who have activities away from the computer on weekends).
Please note -- you are allowed to make picks before your time is up and you are allowed to make picks in the evening or late at night even though the clock is suspended. Also, if you are worried you will not be available and can see your pick is coming up, PM some possible picks to me and I can post it for you.

It's a wrap!

First round:
1 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : DeAndre Ayton - Arizona
2 Sacramento - gocanes0506 : Marvin Bagley - Duke
3 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Mo Bamba - Texas
4 Memphis - brevity : Luka Doncic - Real Madrid
5 Dallas - jacone21 : Wendell Carter - Duke
6 Orlando - coldriver10 : Trae Young - Oklahoma
7 Chicago - Furniture : Jaren Jackson - Michigan State
8 Cleveland - subzero02 : Collin Sexton - Alabama
9 New York - ncexnyc : Mikal Bridges - Villanova
10 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Michael Porter - Missouri
11 Charlotte - Acymetric : Miles Bridges - Michigan State
12 LA Clippers - DukieTiger: Lonnie Walker - Miami
13 LA Clippers - DukieTiger: Robert Williams - Texas A&M
14 Denver - CDu : Kevin Knox - Kentucky
15 Washington - reddevil : Shai Gilgeous Alexander - Kentucky
16 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : Dzanan Musa - Bosnia & Herz.
17 Milwaukee - kAzE : Zhaire Smith - Texas Tech
18 San Antonio - Turk (blazindw) : Troy Brown - Oregon
19 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Aaron Holiday - UCLA
20 Minnesota - drummerdevil : Gary Trent Jr. - Duke
21 Utah - tbyers11 : Elie Okobo - France
22 Chicago - Furniture : Grayson Allen - Duke
23 Indiana - luburch : Jerome Robinson - Boston College
24 Portland - FerryFor50 : Chandler Hutchison - Boise St.
25 LA Lakers - JNort : Mitchell Robinson - High School
26 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Josh Okogie - Ga Tech
27 Boston - flyingdutchdevil : Jared Vanderbilt - Kentucky
28 Golden St. - awhom111 : Donte DiVincenzo - Villanova
29 Brooklyn – Billy Dat : Keita Bates-Diop, tOSU
30 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Khyrie Thomas, Creighton

Second round:
31 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : Jalen Brunson, Villanova
32 Memphis - brevity : Omari Spellman, Villanova
33 Dallas - jacone21 : Trevon Duval, Duke
34 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Kevin Huerter, Maryland
35 Orlando - coldriver10 : Melvin Frazier, Tulane
36 New York - ncexnyc : Jacob Evans, Cincy
37 Sacramento - gocanes0506 : Shake Milton, SMU
38 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Rodions Kurucs, Latvia
39 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Jevon Carter, West Virginia
40 Brooklyn – Billy Dat : Mo Wagner - Michigan
41 Orlando - coldriver10 : Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, Kansas
42 Detroit - BD80 : Arnoldas Kulboka, Lithuania
43 Denver - CDu : De'Anthony Melton, USC
44 Washington - reddevil : Landry Shamet Wichita St.
45 Brooklyn – Billy Dat : Rawle Alkins, Arizona
46 Houston - DukeTrinity11 : Anfernee Simmons, High School
47 LA Lakers - JNort : Hamidou Diallo, Kentucky
48 Minnesota - drummerdevil : Kostas Antetokounmpo, Greece
49 San Antonio - Turk : Isaac Bonga, Germany
50 Indiana - luburch : Chimezie Metu, USC
51 New Orleans - theschwartz : Kevin Hervey, UT Arlington
52 Utah - tbyers11 : Alize Johnson, Missouri St
53 Oklahoma Cty - johnb : Devon Hall, Virginia
54 Dallas - jacone21 : Vincent Edwards, Purdue
55 Charlotte - Acymetric : Alonzo Trier
56 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Justin Jackson
57 Oklahoma Cty - johnb : Brandon McCoy
58 Denver - CDu : Bruce Brown
59 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : Devonte Graham
60 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Tryggvi Hlinason

-Jason "so, does NSDukeFan go conventional with Ayton or does he grab Bagley or Doncic?" Evans

[UrinalCake]

Jason "so, does NSDukeFan go conventional with Ayton or does he grab Bagley or Doncic?" Evans

Sorry to call out our fearless leader here, but isn’t there an unwritten rule in any fantasy draft that you don’t discuss players who haven’t yet been taken?!?

[kAzE]

Off to a fast start . . . . :rolleyes:

[ncexnyc]

Off to a fast start . . . . :rolleyes:

Of course as soon as I step away from the computer to run some errands or watch some TV things will take off.

[brevity]

Off to a fast start . . . . :rolleyes:


Of course as soon as I step away from the computer to run some errands or watch some TV things will take off.

Classic Jason. The key point to this thread is in the previous thread (http://forums.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?42017-2018-DBR-NBA-Mock-Draft-pick-teams-now!!&p=1075070#post1075070):


With so many teams taken, I am going to start the mock. There will be a new thread for the actual draft. We will get going right away -- though, because there was no warning, the clock won't officially start until Tuesday at 8am.

-Jason "NSDukeFan, you are up!"

NSDukeFan, take your sweet Canadian time.

[JasonEvans]

Sorry to call out our fearless leader here, but isn’t there an unwritten rule in any fantasy draft that you don’t discuss players who haven’t yet been taken?!?

If such a rule exists, it doesn't really apply to the early part of the first round where the picks tend to be a lot more defined than even the mid-late lottery. Other than the three names I mentioned, I don't think anyone else has been talked about as a potential #1 pick. I mean, if you really, really, really loved Mo Bamba or Tre Young or someone like that, you'd be insane to take them at #1. Trade back a couple picks and get them there**.

-Jason "**going forward, the practice of trading down to get the player you wanted at #1 shall be called either 'pulling an Ainge' or 'doing the Tatum,' can we all agree upon that?" Evans

[Indoor66]

If such a rule exists, it doesn't really apply to the early part of the first round where the picks tend to be a lot more defined than even the mid-late lottery. Other than the three names I mentioned, I don't think anyone else has been talked about as a potential #1 pick. I mean, if you really, really, really loved Mo Bamba or Tre Young or someone like that, you'd be insane to take them at #1. Trade back a couple picks and get them there**.

-Jason "**going forward, the practice of trading down to get the player you wanted at #1 shall be called either 'pulling an Ainge' or 'doing the Tatum,' can we all agree upon that?" Evans
Either/or. Maybe doin' the dirty is appropriate?

[gocanes0506]

Sacramento is ergerly waiting to make a disappointing draft pick that will continue this awful franchise's awfulness.

Again no affiliation, just here to provide the same disappointment as the actual GM.

[NSDukeFan]

With the first pick in the 2018 DBR NBA Mock Draft, the Phoenix Suns select Deandre Ayton. We considered 3 players at this position and none of them was Jaren Jackson. We have some concerns about Deandre’s defense, but love his potential on that end with his NBA-ready body, 7’4 wingspan and overall athleticism. We’re hoping he’s more David Robinson or Dwight Howard than Michael Olowakandi. The Dragan Bender and Alex Len experiments haven’t been massive successes, so we feel there are some minutes up front (read as many as he can handle) for someone to help try to improve on the team’s league worst offensive and defensive efficiencies, a rare double double.

[gocanes0506]

Sacramento's Pick:

PF Marvin Bagley - Duke

Why: We need rebounding and a decent outside threat to open up the middle for our other bigs. He is a good passer as well. Bagley would be the engine that will the get the team moving. I think the team would look to get faster with his presence.

Selfishly I hope Sacramento doesnt take him so I can go to one Hawks game and see him play. I will go to just one, because they are just a mismanaged organization (much like the Hornets).

In all reality if I was the Sacremento's GM I would be looking for move the number 2 pick to LA Clippers for their 2 this year and possibly their number 1 next year. Why? Of the guys that are available at 2, they arent what the Kings need; outside scoring. What about Doncic? He is good but there is a lot of concern about his lateral quickness. He'll get burned in the NBA in 1 v 1 situations; which is about 75% of the offense. He'll be a defensive liability on an already bad defensive team.
Harden doesnt play defense but when he does he can at least stay in front of a guy. Porter would have been the guy if he wasnt hurt all last year and his shot was more consistent.

Again look to move down to 11 & 12 to take some combination of Miles Bridges, Gary Trent Jr and Troy Brown Jr.

[Bluedog]

Sacramento's Pick:

PF Marvin Bagley

Why: We need rebounding and a decent outside threat to open up the middle for our other bigs. He is a good passer as well. Bagley would be the engine that will the get the team moving. I think the team would look to get faster with his presence.

Selfishly I hope Sacramento doesnt take him so I can go to one Hawks game and see him play. I will go to just one, because they are just a mismanaged organization (much like the Hornets).

In all reality if I was the Sacremento's GM I would be looking for move the number 2 pick to LA Clippers for their 2 this year and possibly their number 1 next year. Why? Of the guys that are available at 2, they arent what the Kings need; outside scoring. What about Doncic? He is good but there is a lot of concern about his lateral quickness. He'll get burned in the NBA in 1 v 1 situations; which is about 75% of the offense. He'll be a defensive liability on an already bad defensive team.
Harden doesnt play defense but when he does he can at least stay in front of a guy. Porter would have been the guy if he wasnt hurt all last year and his shot was more consistent.

Again look to move down to 11 & 12 to take some combination of Miles Bridges, Gary Trent Jr and Troy Brown Jr.

How is Bagley an outside threat? I know he took some 3s at Duke, but most peg his outside shooting as one of his major weaknesses (and his FT shooting which as a predictor indicates not the highest ceiling for his 3-ball). Carter is undoubedtly a better outside threat.

Not that I disagree with your pick, just questioning the rationale. That was one issue with Duke potentially this past year -- too many bigs clogging the lane. Hopefully, Bags can develop of more reliable jumper though.

[gocanes0506]

How is Bagley an outside threat? I know he took some 3s at Duke, but most peg his outside shooting as one of his major weaknesses (and his FT shooting which as a predictor indicates not the highest ceiling for his 3-ball). Carter is undoubedtly a better outside threat.

Not that I disagree with your pick, just questioning the rationale. That was one issue with Duke potentially this past year -- too many bigs clogging the lane. Hopefully, Bags can develop of more reliable jumper though.

He is a decent shot with a chance to get much better. He wasnt asked or even pushed to take the outside shot. He only averaged 1.8 attempts per game at Duke. He could get 5 to 7 attempts per game in the NBA. His stroke looked repeatable and able to work on consistency. His 3 pt percentage was only .01 % worse than Jaren Jackson Jr while playing a harder schedule. Bamba played a harder schedule but, his 3 PT average was 10 percent lower. Although Ayton is already chosen even MBIII is 5 percent better 3 PT shooter with Ayton only averaging 1 per game. MBIII isnt a Kevin Durant but compared to the other big men around him in the same draft area (1-7) he is an outside threat. I believe he could be making them with consistency by mid season next year and a respectable 3 point shooter come his second full season.

Watching him a lot, he did well at attacking rebounds form long and short distance. Kings are straight awful at rebounding.

[JasonEvans]

I guess this qualifies as the first surprise of the draft. I really wanted Bagley with this pick. Oh well.

But, I'm thrilled to get Bamba, who is the guy I grade 2nd best in this draft (I'm not an Ayton fan). Mo is the longest player (7-9) in NBA combine history. He will instantly make the Hawks into one of the best teams in the league at rim protection and has the athleticism/quickness to effectively defend the pick and roll or switch on D. That is truly rare in a big man. I have seen video of his improved shooting touch and I think he can become a legit offensive threat down the road. I seriously would have considered him with the #1 pick, though if I wanted him there I probably would have tried to pull an Ainge and done the Tatum if I was the real Hawks GM because Bamba isn't going before #3 in the real draft. I actually think that Bamba's shot blocking ability make him one of the most "sure thing" players in this draft. I mean, is there any reasonable scenario where he is not one of the top 3 defensive big men in the NBA in a couple years (barring injury)?

The Hawks certainly considered Doncic, who is going to be an immediate upgrade in playmaking and scoring for some team picking after me. But, as mentioned by gocanes, I am really worried about his D at this level and the Hawks would be wise to make D their calling card for now. Also, though it sounds crazy, I don't want someone who is too NBA ready with this pick as the Hawks need to really suck again next year to get yet another high draft pick. Doncic might be good enough to ensure the team wins 30 games or so, which would be a real problem for the Hawks long term plans.

-Jason "brevity's turn..." Evans

[pfrduke]

I know we can't make trades in this draft. But in the alternative mock draft world where such trades would be allowed, the mock 76ers GM would be on the phone with the mock Grizzlies GM to make very serious offers for moving up to this 4 spot (and, depending on how the Grizzlies respond and/or pick, would be having the same conversations with the mock Mavericks GM).

[JasonEvans]

I know we can't make trades in this draft. But in the alternative mock draft world where such trades would be allowed, the mock 76ers GM would be on the phone with the mock Grizzlies GM to make very serious offers for moving up to this 4 spot (and, depending on how the Grizzlies respond and/or pick, would be having the same conversations with the mock Mavericks GM).

I'm eager to know who you would mock want. I think Doncic doesn't make sense for the 76ers because you don't need another big ballhandler with Simmons already on the team. I'm betting the 76ers want to improve their ability to his treys by drafting Trae. That would also make it easier to say goodbye to JJ when you use his salary slot to sign Paul George, LJ, or some other stud free agent.

[NSDukeFan]

I like Bamba as a pick and think it likely that he’ll be a good shot blocker at worst but...I keep having Hasheem Thabeet flashbacks.

[Turk]

-Jason "**going forward, the practice of trading down to get the player you wanted at #1 shall be called either 'pulling an Ainge' or 'doing the Tatum,' can we all agree upon that?" Evans

Not bad! I would also suggest "conning a Colangelo" or "selling swampland in Phoenix" or "finding a sucker"...

[brevity]

So I guess we’re doing this today. I’m observing a class for the next few hours, but I didn’t want to make others wait.

I was hoping to do some damage to Mock Draft Conventional Wisdom (MDCW) and looked at Collin Sexton, Wendell Carter, and Michael Porter to take at #4. But I promised myself that I would select Luka Doncic or Marvin Bagley if either fell out of the Top 3.

So the MDCW has been restored? Sorry.

[kAzE]

So I guess we’re doing this today. I’m observing a class for the next few hours, but I didn’t want to make others wait.

I was hoping to do some damage to Mock Draft Conventional Wisdom (MDCW) and looked at Collin Sexton, Wendell Carter, and Michael Porter to take at #4. But I promised myself that I would select Luka Doncic or Marvin Bagley if either fell out of the Top 3.

So the MDCW has been restored? Sorry.

Jeez Louise, Doncic all the way down to 4?

I think many people (myself included) would have drafted him #1.

Calling it now, this is the steal of the draft (although we won't know that for sure until at least 3-4 years from now). However, he should be the heavy favorite for rookie of the year, no matter which of the top 4 teams he lands with.

[NSDukeFan]

Jeez Louise, Doncic all the way down to 4?

I think many people (myself included) would have drafted him #1.

Calling it now, this is the steal of the draft (although we won't know that for sure until at least 3-4 years from now). However, he should be the heavy favorite for rookie of the year, no matter which of the top 4 teams he lands with.

He is the player who has succeeded at the highest level of potential draftees but I was hoping for greater upside potential with Ayton. I was also strongly considering Bagley and his awesome first step and second jump.

[kAzE]

He is the player who has succeeded at the highest level of potential draftees but I was hoping for greater upside potential with Ayton. I was also strongly considering Bagley and his awesome first step and second jump.

Sure, Ayton over Doncic is perfectly fine. No issue there. It's just that almost every expert has Ayton and Doncic in a tier above the rest, so it's surprising that he slid down to 4 here.

But to be honest, I think Doncic's ceiling is just as high, if not higher than Ayton's. He dominated the 2nd best league in the world as an 18 year old. How good is he going to get by the time he's 25? I think people value elite athleticism way too much when it comes to evaluation of "ceiling." Skill and feel for the game are just as important, if not more so.

Not to mention, he's a 6'7" ball handler/play maker who has a sweet jumper, which is really just about the perfect type of player who everyone would want in the current NBA.

[Kedsy]

In all reality if I was the Sacremento's GM I would be looking for move the number 2 pick to LA Clippers for their 2 this year and possibly their number 1 next year.

You really think the Clips would trade two (admittedly late) lottery picks plus another first round pick for the #2 pick this year?

[JasonEvans]

He should be the heavy favorite for rookie of the year, no matter which of the top 4 teams he lands with.

I agree but the Hawks don't want a rookie of the year who helps us win 35-45 games a year for the next decade. We've taken that train before and though the journey is fine, it is a frustrating one that never really gets you anywhere exciting. We specifically wanted to pick a guy who would keep us in the top of the lottery again next year, as crazy as that sounds. I want someone who will show promise but won't be really good for a couple seasons.

Also, I don't think Doncic will ever be the centerpiece on a championship contender. If we are trying to build potential champions, I'm not sure Doncic is that guy.

-Jason "though I do agree that Doncic is likely to be the ROY" Evans

[kAzE]

Also, though it sounds crazy, I don't want someone who is too NBA ready with this pick as the Hawks need to really suck again next year to get yet another high draft pick. Doncic might be good enough to ensure the team wins 30 games or so, which would be a real problem for the Hawks long term plans.

-Jason "brevity's turn..." Evans

Wow, I missed this gem as I was skimming through earlier. That is some next level strategy from Mr. Evans (not being sarcastic): Don't draft the NBA-ready guy so you can continue to suck. :D

Love it.


Also, I don't think Doncic will ever be the centerpiece on a championship contender. If we are trying to build potential champions, I'm not sure Doncic is that guy.

Okay, sure, he's probably not going to ever be the best player on a championship team. There's like 5 guys who are that good. But maybe he's James Harden lite. Maybe he's Manu Ginobili. Point is, he's a guy who can dribble, pass, and shoot. I want as many of those guys as I can get. The bigger, the better. Doncic is a big kid who can do those things, maybe even at an elite level.

If he's so good that we're winning too many games, throw more young guys out there on the floor with him. If you're really trying to tank, there are many, many ways to lose strategically :p

But also, your point needs to apply to the guy you drafted. So in other words, you believe Bamba can be the centerpiece on a championship team. I'm not going to talk bad about your pick, because who knows, you might be right. But I just don't see a center being the guy who swings an NBA finals in this age of the NBA. Everyone goes small now.

When was the last time a center was the best player on a NBA finals team, period? Dwight Howard, like 10 years ago? How about on a NBA champion? Olajuwon?

Not saying any of these picks are "wrong," I just personally think centers are like the running backs of the NBA now, and skilled wings are the QBs. You can get by with a JaVale McGee at center. You're not getting by with league average players at SG and SF. They should just be more highly sought after in drafts, IMO.

[ncexnyc]

MBIII at #2 seems odd as the Kings already have WCS, Skal, and Giles, who supposedly is looking really good.
Love Mo at #3. I think he'll pair really well with Collins.

[JasonEvans]

He dominated the 2nd best league in the world as an 18 year old. How good is he going to get by the time he's 25? I think people value elite athleticism way too much when it comes to evaluation of "ceiling." Skill and feel for the game are just as important, if not more so.

"Dominated?"

14.5 ppg with 4.6 apg and 5.2 rpg is really good for a 19 year old, but I dunno if I would call it "dominated." I am aware he was league MVP, and that is a really impressive accomplishment, but he shot barely 30% from 3 and everyone is worried about his ability to play NBA level defense. Make no mistake, I think Doncic is going to be a fine NBA player, but if he makes an all-star team, he will be the first Euroleague MVP to even come close to doing that.

[phaedrus]

When was the last time a center was the best player on a NBA finals team, period? Dwight Howard, like 10 years ago? How about on a NBA champion? Olajuwon?


I don't think there's a good reason to ignore Tim Duncan, even though it's often said he was primarily a power forward (for some reason).

By the way, I think a young Tim Duncan would still be pretty successful if he entered the League this year.

[jacone21]

With the 5th pick of the 2018 DBR Mock Draft, the Dallas Mavericks select... Wendell Carter, Jr.

I was torn between him and another Jr. But Wendell's mature game seems NBA ready from day one. I think he was overshadowed by Bagley at Duke, and as he may or may not have said, he will show some things in the NBA that he didn't have a chance to show in college. I may regret the pick if the other Jr becomes a hall of famer, but I don't think I can really go wrong with Wendell.

Now it's time make some moves and spend some money.

[CDu]

Somewhere Shaq and Tim Duncan are turning over in their graves (so to speak) at the idea that Olajuwon was the last C to lead his team to a title...

Though to be fair I agree with the point that using the “Doncic can’t lead a title team” argument probably isn’t the best argument for drafting Bamba.

[flyingdutchdevil]

You really think the Clips would trade two (admittedly late) lottery picks plus another first round pick for the #2 pick this year?

In a heartbeat, yes. Ayton has one of the lowest floors. Doncic is a perfect NBA guard. Bamba is the longest player in NBA history.

If I'm the Celtics, I'd trade the Sacramento pick next year, their pick this year, and Scary Terry for the #3 pick.

[flyingdutchdevil]

With the 5th pick of the 2018 DBR Mock Draft, the Dallas Mavericks select... Wendell Carter, Jr.

I was torn between him and another Jr. But Wendell's mature game seems NBA ready from day one. I think he was overshadowed by Bagley at Duke, and as he may or may not have said, he will show some things in the NBA that he didn't have a chance to show in college. I may regret the pick if the other Jr becomes a hall of famer, but I don't think I can really go wrong with Wendell.

Now it's time make some moves and spend some money.

Very, very safe pick. I like the pick a lot, even if #5 is a little bit of a stretch for Carter.

I too would draft Carter at 5, simply because I think he's the 2nd safest pick in the draft after Ayton.

[JNort]

I agree people are sleeping on Bagleys potential to be a good shooter. I think he will probably be better than the other big name bigs in this draft. I disagree with everyone who doesnt take Doncic when available. I still think this draft is bad despite what many are saying

[gocanes0506]

You really think the Clips would trade two (admittedly late) lottery picks plus another first round pick for the #2 pick this year?

The 2nd pick is worth more than the 12th and 13th pick.

Its a 200 point different which would be around the 43rd pick. Is there someone who the Clippers really like who is worth the jump? Doncic? Mo? Maybe the Kings add a 2nd or lower player to balance. In the end it is reasonable request.

[gocanes0506]

MBIII at #2 seems odd as the Kings already have WCS, Skal, and Giles, who supposedly is looking really good.
Love Mo at #3. I think he'll pair really well with Collins.

It is. Kings need scoring. Mo doesn’t do that. Doncic does it but he’ll be a defensive liability. Kings are full of defensive liabilities.

Kings were one of the worst rebounding differential teams. MBIII attacks the basketball from the inside or outside.

Mo would have been my pick but MBIII’s O is more advanced at this point, especially from the outside.

[Acymetric]

It is. Kings need scoring. Mo doesn’t do that. Doncic does it but he’ll be a defensive liability. Kings are full of defensive liabilities.

Kings were one of the worst rebounding differential teams. MBIII attacks the basketball from the inside or outside.

Mo would have been my pick but MBIII’s O is more advanced at this point, especially from the outside.

Isn't there some concern that Bagley may struggle on defense at the pro level (recall that he was part of the reason we went zone this year)?

[gocanes0506]

Isn't there some concern that Bagley may struggle on defense at the pro level (recall that he was part of the reason we went zone this year)?

Could be. His aggression towards rebounds will make up for it. I did say I only wanted to keep them as disappointing as their leadership does.

[Kedsy]

In a heartbeat, yes. Ayton has one of the lowest floors. Doncic is a perfect NBA guard. Bamba is the longest player in NBA history.

If I'm the Celtics, I'd trade the Sacramento pick next year, their pick this year, and Scary Terry for the #3 pick.

No kidding. Maybe I don't understand the value of lottery picks, but to me the #27, an unknown (probably) lottery pick in the future, plus an undersized guard is nowhere the haul that three first round (at least two in the lottery) picks are.

In other words, the trade you propose is not close to the equivalent of the trade the OP suggested. IMO your suggested trade would favor the Celtics; the original suggested trade would favor Sacramento. That's the way I see it, at least.

[gocanes0506]

In other words, the trade you propose is not close to the equivalent of the trade the OP suggested. IMO your suggested trade would favor the Celtics; the original suggested trade would favor Sacramento. That's the way I see it, at least.

My proposal does favor Sacramento. If LAC wants that potential big name for their big market, Doncic could be it. Might be worth the loss of value for LAC.

[kAzE]

Somewhere Shaq and Tim Duncan are turning over in their graves (so to speak) at the idea that Olajuwon was the last C to lead his team to a title...

Though to be fair I agree with the point that using the “Doncic can’t lead a title team” argument probably isn’t the best argument for drafting Bamba.

Nope, you're right, I forgot about Shaq. He definitely qualifies. I guess I was considering Duncan as a PF, but he did play most of his minutes at center, so he's there too. Bad argument by me. But on the other hand, I don't think any of these guys are Shaq or Duncan. I suppose Ayton has a slim chance, but his defense has a LONG way to go.


"Dominated?"

14.5 ppg with 4.6 apg and 5.2 rpg is really good for a 19 year old, but I dunno if I would call it "dominated." I am aware he was league MVP, and that is a really impressive accomplishment, but he shot barely 30% from 3 and everyone is worried about his ability to play NBA level defense. Make no mistake, I think Doncic is going to be a fine NBA player, but if he makes an all-star team, he will be the first Euroleague MVP to even come close to doing that.

Small clarification. He did what he did at age 18 for almost the whole season. He turned 19 February 28. He's going to get a lot bigger and stronger than he is even now. I'm convinced he would have been national player of the year if he played NCAA basketball. La Liga and Euroleague are definitely played a higher level than D1 ball.

[Turk]

I agree people are sleeping on Bagleys potential to be a good shooter. I think he will probably be better than the other big name bigs in this draft. I disagree with everyone who doesnt take Doncic when available. I still think this draft is bad despite what many are saying

I beg to differ on Bagley's shooting ability; I think it's overrated. When he knocked down 3's, it was because they were happy to leave him out there rather than get dunked on. He could take his time, and realize "hey they're giving me this, why not jack one?" That won't happen very often in the NBA. I didn't like what I saw when he had a hand in his face, and at NBA distance, I don't think he will get anywhere near as good as JoJo Embiid, for example.

[CDu]

I beg to differ on Bagley's shooting ability; I think it's overrated. When he knocked down 3's, it was because they were happy to leave him out there rather than get dunked on. He could take his time, and realize "hey they're giving me this, why not jack one?" That won't happen very often in the NBA. I didn't like what I saw when he had a hand in his face, and at NBA distance, I don't think he will get anywhere near as good as JoJo Embiid, for example.

Interesting that you point to Embiid. It is worth noting that Bagley shot about twice the percentage that Embiid shot in college, on almost ten times the number of attempts. So while it is certainly possible that Bagley never approaches Embiid’s NBA shooting, he is starting from a much better spot than Embiid did.

[Acymetric]

Interesting that you point to Embiid. It is worth noting that Bagley shot about twice the percentage that Embiid shot in college, on almost ten times the number of attempts. So while it is certainly possible that Bagley never approaches Embiid’s NBA shooting, he is starting from a much better spot than Embiid did.

When you're comparing sample sizes of 1-5 (Embiid) and 23-58 (Bagley) I'm not sure you can reach a meaningful conclusion other than that Bagley took more threes in college. I do disagree with Bagley "not getting anywhere near as good as JoJo Embiid", as 30% is decent but not exactly scorching the nets.

[coldriver10]

...the Orlando Magic select: Trae Young, PG, Oklahoma

With an aging PG in DJ Augustin, we had a clear need to upgrade our floor general. Although there was one other player that intrigued us here, we decided to go with the player who we feel combines the attributes of the best point guards in the NBA: court vision, ability to create opportunities for others, and unlimited shooting range. We feel very confident we can unleash Mr. Young's potential and believe he will become a superstar here in Orlando.

I, the GM, would like to apologize for not drafting after hours last night but I was at a concert pretending I'm a lot younger than I am.

[CDu]

Nope, you're right, I forgot about Shaq. He definitely qualifies. I guess I was considering Duncan as a PF, but he did play most of his minutes at center, so he's there too. Bad argument by me. But on the other hand, I don't think any of these guys are Shaq or Duncan. I suppose Ayton has a slim chance, but his defense has a LONG way to go.

I totally agree with your point about the silliness of saying “Doncic can’t lead an NBA team to a team to a title, so I prefer Bamba.” And the game has certainly changed since Duncan (and even morseo Shaq) led their teams to titles from the center spot (10+ years since Duncan was the best Spur on a title team; 15+ for Shaq). So you could certainly make the case that it is even less likely for a center to lead a title team. Right now, Embiid is probably closest to achieving it, and he isn’t that close. I was just going for the humor of it rather than arguing against your point.

I guess if the idea is that you think none of these guys are game changers, then you draft the guy you think best fits your vision of your team’s future. I think Doncic offers the safest floor of anyone. He is going to be a good NBA player. He is a clear point forward who can run an offense. The big questions are how effective he will be against better athletes and whether or not he will be a total liability on defense. With Bamba, the question is whether he can hold up physically (that rail-thin lower body is a concern), as is the offense (I am not sold on a video of him hitting uncontested shots in an empty gym). I would personally have taken Doncic too, erring in favor of the skilled guy.

[flyingdutchdevil]

I totally agree with your point about the silliness of saying “Doncic can’t lead an NBA team to a team to a title, so I prefer Bamba.” And the game has certainly changed since Duncan (and even morseo Shaq) led their teams to titles from the center spot (10+ years since Duncan was the best Spur on a title team; 15+ for Shaq). So you could certainly make the case that it is even less likely for a center to lead a title team. Right now, Embiid is probably closest to achieving it, and he isn’t that close. I was just going for the humor of it rather than arguing against your point.

I guess if the idea is that you think none of these guys are game changers, then you draft the guy you think best fits your vision of your team’s future. I think Doncic offers the safest floor of anyone. He is going to be a good NBA player. He is a clear point forward who can run an offense. The big questions are how effective he will be against better athletes and whether or not he will be a total liability on defense. With Bamba, the question is whether he can hold up physically (that rail-thin lower body is a concern), as is the offense (I am not sold on a video of him hitting uncontested shots in an empty gym). I would personally have taken Doncic too, erring in favor of the skilled guy.

Somewhat related, but...wow

Jeron Jackson just fell into Chicago’s lap.

[Turk]

Interesting that you point to Embiid. It is worth noting that Bagley shot about twice the percentage that Embiid shot in college, on almost ten times the number of attempts. So while it is certainly possible that Bagley never approaches Embiid’s NBA shooting, he is starting from a much better spot than Embiid did.


When you're comparing sample sizes of 1-5 (Embiid) and 23-58 (Bagley) I'm not sure you can reach a meaningful conclusion other than that Bagley took more threes in college. I do disagree with Bagley "not getting anywhere near as good as JoJo Embiid", as 30% is decent but not exactly scorching the nets.

I looked up Bagley's shooting stats but not Embiid's. The comp was purely based on my patented "eye test" metric, and trying to extrapolate Bagley's college 3's to future NBA 3's. The "eye test" says that JoJo is a much better shooter than his numbers indicate when you exclude all his "I'm too gassed to bang on the low block, so I'm going to trail the play and jack a 3 from the top of the key and then walk back to the other end" shots.

[fraggler]

I beg to differ on Bagley's shooting ability; I think it's overrated. When he knocked down 3's, it was because they were happy to leave him out there rather than get dunked on. He could take his time, and realize "hey they're giving me this, why not jack one?" That won't happen very often in the NBA. I didn't like what I saw when he had a hand in his face, and at NBA distance, I don't think he will get anywhere near as good as JoJo Embiid, for example.

Embiid shot 1 of 5 from 3 at Kansas and 68% from FT. He certainly has improved in both areas (though his 3pt shooting is below league average for his career), but please don't forget that he got nearly 2 years of NBA level training before his rookie season. Marvin has a workable 3pt shot that he is comfortable taking already as part of his game and he had several games that showed he can hit free throws - nothing looks broken about his shot. I am not saying Marvin doesn't have his work cut out for him or that he will be a lights out shooter, but I think he can definitely improve from both lines to the point where he is league average.

Edit: Sorry, late to conversation

[Furniture]

With the seventh pick of the 2018 NBA draft the Chicago bulls select Jaren Jackson.
The most important needs in the draft for the Bulls are at small forward and center. Jaren Jackson being still available is too good to pass on. We will use our 22nd pick to go after a small forward.
Hopefully Grayson Allen is still available.

[subzero02]

With the 8th pick in the 2018 NBA draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers select Collin Sexton from the University of Alabama.


A natural scorer with truly elite athleticism, Sexton has the potential to become a star in the NBA. He will need to improve his accuracy from the field(44% last year) and more specifically from 3 (33%) to become an efficient scorer. This improvement will be more likely to happen if a certain free agent remains in Cleveland. Sexton has the talent and attitude to takeover the scoring load in big situations. He and two teammates almost pulled off one of the biggest upsets in sports history as they went 3 on 5 against Minnesota. He could become Lebron's new Robin if the chosen one decides to remain in the land.

[CDu]

Somewhat related, but...wow

Jeron Jackson just fell into Chicago’s lap.

Yeah, I wasn't going to say it before the pick. But I suspect that Jaren Jackson Jr won't be available at 7 in the real draft. I suspect (given the players available and the Bulls needs) the Bulls will be choosing between two other Jrs at pick 7: Wendell Carter and Michael Porter. I think Jackson will go sooner, perhaps as high as #3.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Yeah, I wasn't going to say it before the pick. But I suspect that Jaren Jackson Jr won't be available at 7 in the real draft. I suspect (given the players available and the Bulls needs) the Bulls will be choosing between two other Jrs at pick 7: Wendell Carter and Michael Porter. I think Jackson will go sooner, perhaps as high as #3.

He most certainly will. Jackson will go top 4. I don't think that's in question at this point.

Carter should go top 6, but I suspect he'll fall to 7 and the Bulls would be wise to snap him up.

Bamba will fall to 27. Celtics him nab him there /sarcasm

[ncexnyc]

With the 9th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, the New York Knicks select Mikal Bridges from Villanova.

We feel we already have a rising super star in Kristain Porzingis and it's time to mold a solid group of two-way players around him. Our roster already contains a number of guards and none of the available guards are head and shoulders above what we currently have on our roster, so we looked at our next area of need and that was center, however the player we were high on, Wendell Carter Jr. went a lot higher than we anticipated.

That leaves us with the SF position, which we need to fill and that came down to Mikal Bridges, Kevin Knox, and Michael Porter Jr. We feel Knox isn't ready to contribute now and there are questions about his assertiveness. Porter was very tempting, but in the end there was to much concern over his injury history. So we went with Mikal who fits into what Coach Fizdale invisions for the team. A 3 and D guy who improved every year while in college and is ready to make an immediate contribution to the team.

[CDu]

I looked up Bagley's shooting stats but not Embiid's. The comp was purely based on my patented "eye test" metric, and trying to extrapolate Bagley's college 3's to future NBA 3's. The "eye test" says that JoJo is a much better shooter than his numbers indicate when you exclude all his "I'm too gassed to bang on the low block, so I'm going to trail the play and jack a 3 from the top of the key and then walk back to the other end" shots.

Yeah, I'm just not sure there is any reasonable evidence to say confidently that Bagley will shoot worse from 3 in the NBA than Embiid. At age 19 as a college freshman, Bagley shot 39.7% from college 3pt range on 58 attempts. At age 20 as a college freshman, Embiid attempted just 5 total 3s and made just 1 of them.

Embiid has surely improved his 3pt shooting in the NBA. But he's not a great 3pt shooter by any means. And Bagley, at a younger age, is further along than Embiid was at the same point in college.

[flyingdutchdevil]

Yeah, I'm just not sure there is any reasonable evidence to say confidently that Bagley will shoot worse from 3 in the NBA than Embiid. At age 19 as a college freshman, Bagley shot 39.7% from college 3pt range on 58 attempts. At age 20 as a college freshman, Embiid attempted just 5 total 3s and made just 1 of them.

Embiid has surely improved his 3pt shooting in the NBA. But he's not a great 3pt shooter by any means. And Bagley, at a younger age, is further along than Embiid was at the same point in college.

Yeah...Embiid learned from Drew Hanlen, the same guy who improved Tatum's 3pt shot heading into the NBA: https://www.si.com/edge/2018/06/04/mo-bamba-texas-nba-draft-training?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=thecrossover&utm_source=twitter.com&xid=socialflow_twitter_si

I really, really hope Duval does the same. With a shot, Duval becomes an NBA starter. Without it, he's barely a 2nd string PG.

[pfrduke]

Let's start by assessing the 76ers. We know there are two cornerstones - Simmons and Embiid (the latter, technically an RFA, is 100% getting re-signed). There are then three expected major contributors locked up for a while - Covington, Fultz (we remain optimistic he will move to the cornerstone bucket), and Saric. The rest of the roster falls somewhere on the spectrum between intriguing young talent and spare parts (the other people under contract are TJ McConnell, Justin Anderson, Timothy Luwawu, Furkan Korkmaz, Richaun Holmes (technically, a team option, but a very favorable one), and, to steal a bit from Bill Simmons, Jerryd Bayless's expiring contract). Surrounding those players is abundant cap space (as of now, only $45 million committed to next season, but Embiid's extension will eat up some of that), which puts the Sixers in the mix for any big name free agent/star trade.

One could say that the 2018 season was a year ahead of schedule - a 24-win improvement, a playoff series win, and their star young players becoming legitimate all-NBA candidates, even with their most recent #1 pick contributing very little. Yet I don't think 2018 changes the philosophy of building this team - this mock GM believes the 76ers should continue to focus on talent-acquisition and not immediately jump into the win-now mentality. So while I have an eye on fit, and would maybe use it as a tiebreaking consideration, the general approach is still to prioritize best available talent and worry about how it fits together later - if it doesn't fit, we can deal it for something else that does (or more assets to use).

All that being said, we were really hoping that Mikal Bridges would last one more spot, as he would be a perfect defensive minded addition to slot alongside the existing core and has shown the chops to be a good enough shooter to stretch the floor around Simmons. Bridges is getting touted as Kawhi-lite and has the potential to grow into an all-NBA defense piece. We're disappointed the Knicks snagged him.*

*I suspect that if the real life Knicks GM were given the choice between Michael Porter and Mikal Bridges, the 76ers would end up getting the chance to draft Bridges. But I digress.

But to say that Michael Porter is a fallback pick doesn't really seem fair. Coming into the NCAA season, he was touted as possibly the best overall recruit and a real candidate for the #1 overall pick. Injuries slowed his momentum - he only played 3 games and didn't play those particularly well. There's some question of fit - he's a fair outside shooter but tends to be more ball dominant and interior focused, so there's some risk that he, Fultz, Simmons, and Embiid would clog things up too much for the modern NBA. But the talent is unquestionably there, and getting #1 talent with the #10 pick is just too good for this team to pass up. And I don't think anyone else who might be available here is such a better fit that it would be worth passing up on Porter.

[kAzE]

Porter at #10 is almost as good of a steal as Doncic at #4. I love the kid's size and skill level. If he's put his injuries behind him, he could be exactly what the 76ers need to get to the next level. Great pick!

[jacone21]

Yeah, I wasn't going to say it before the pick. But I suspect that Jaren Jackson Jr won't be available at 7 in the real draft. I suspect (given the players available and the Bulls needs) the Bulls will be choosing between two other Jrs at pick 7: Wendell Carter and Michael Porter. I think Jackson will go sooner, perhaps as high as #3.

I almost picked him at #5, and if I had been a real GM, I would have taken him. GMs don't fear picking potential that doesn't work out. They fear passing on potential that does work out. That's why we'll hear the words upside and potential about 103823423 times next week.

JJJ looks so much more "raw" than Wendell, though. He might reach the 10 foul limit in Summer league this year.

[BD80]

... last night ... I was at a concert pretending I'm a lot younger than I am.

And woke up feeling a lot older than you thought you were ...

[Acymetric]

With the 11th overall pick in the draft, the Hornets select...Joel Berry II!

KIDDING!

We are excited to welcome Miles Bridges of MSU to the Hornets family! We had our hopes fairly high as Michael Porter Jr. continued to drop, only to see him snagged by Philladelphia with the previous pick. Miles is a safe pick for this point in the draft, with a high floor even if he may not have as much all-star potential as some of the other players drafted before him.

In reality, if I were the Hornets, after Philly snagged Michael Porter Jr. I would have started working the phones to either trade down or trade out of this year's draft entirely and pick up a potentially high-mid pick for next year. I do think Bridges is a good pick at this spot though. I am not high on any of the guards in this range (I'm not especially high on any guards in this draft, actually, Trae Young included).

[brevity]

In reality, if I were the Hornets...

I have this weird feeling that the real Hornets will take Kevin Knox, out of a 95% belief that he will be the best fit at #11, and a 5% belief that the powder blue fans will think he’s a magically resculpted Kennedy Meeks.

[Acymetric]

I have this weird feeling that the real Hornets will take Kevin Knox, out of a 95% belief that he will be the best fit at #11, and a 5% belief that the powder blue fans will think he’s a magically resculpted Kennedy Meeks.

Please no! I think Knox has some of the highest bust potential of any of the top 15 picks, possibly excepting Porter but I consider a career derailed by injury slightly different than a talent-related bust. If we can't get Bridges (either) or Porter, I would take a chance on a center to step in for Howard in the coming years (although I am not high on any of these centers). If Carter Jr were to fall so far, that would certainly be the top choice (and some people do seem to think he's going to fall, although not necessarily that far). Carter and Miles Bridges are both guys who I consider to be among the safest top 15 picks, but with slightly less ceiling/all-star potential.

[kAzE]

Please no! I think Knox has some of the highest bust potential of any of the top 15 picks, possibly excepting Porter but I consider a career derailed by injury slightly different than a talent-related bust. If we can't get Bridges (either) or Porter, I would take a chance on a center to step in for Howard in the coming years (although I am not high on any of these centers). If Carter Jr were to fall so far, that would certainly be the top choice (and some people do seem to think he's going to fall, although not necessarily that far). Carter and Miles Bridges are both guys who I consider to be among the safest top 15 picks, but with slightly less ceiling/all-star potential.

Wait . . . really? I think Knox has one of the safest baselines you can find in this draft. He's huge, clearly a good shooter, and seems to be a good defender. He seems like he'd be able to guards 3s and 4s, and play some stretch 4 when he gets stronger. That's pretty all you need to live in the NBA for a decade these days.

[tbyers11]

Wait . . . really? I think Knox has one of the safest baselines you can find in this draft. He's huge, clearly a good shooter, and seems to be a good defender. He seems like he'd be able to guards 3s and 4s, and play some stretch 4 when he gets stronger. That's pretty all you need to live in the NBA for a decade these days.

I agree with this take. Knox seems like a high floor, low ceiling type of player to me. I think he will be a rotation player/potential starter for 10 years, but I would be surprised if he ever made an All-Star team

[DukieTiger]

Clips need help on the wings and take a guy with solid 2-way potential and some scoring punch.

Picking from work, GM Tiger will chime in later with his rationale.

[DukieTiger]

Sources within organization say that Clips were looking for insurance in case DeAndre Jordan declines his player option.

Stay tuned for more.

[JNort]

Wait . . . really? I think Knox has one of the safest baselines you can find in this draft. He's huge, clearly a good shooter, and seems to be a good defender. He seems like he'd be able to guards 3s and 4s, and play some stretch 4 when he gets stronger. That's pretty all you need to live in the NBA for a decade these days.

Yeah I'm hoping we can get Knox.

[Turk]

Let's start by assessing the 76ers. We know there are two cornerstones - Simmons and Embiid (the latter, technically an RFA, is 100% getting re-signed). There are then three expected major contributors locked up for a while - Covington, Fultz (we remain optimistic he will move to the cornerstone bucket), and Saric. The rest of the roster falls somewhere on the spectrum between intriguing young talent and spare parts (the other people under contract are TJ McConnell, Justin Anderson, Timothy Luwawu, Furkan Korkmaz, Richaun Holmes (technically, a team option, but a very favorable one), and, to steal a bit from Bill Simmons, Jerryd Bayless's expiring contract). Surrounding those players is abundant cap space (as of now, only $45 million committed to next season, but Embiid's extension will eat up some of that), which puts the Sixers in the mix for any big name free agent/star trade.

One could say that the 2018 season was a year ahead of schedule - a 24-win improvement, a playoff series win, and their star young players becoming legitimate all-NBA candidates, even with their most recent #1 pick contributing very little. Yet I don't think 2018 changes the philosophy of building this team - this mock GM believes the 76ers should continue to focus on talent-acquisition and not immediately jump into the win-now mentality. So while I have an eye on fit, and would maybe use it as a tiebreaking consideration, the general approach is still to prioritize best available talent and worry about how it fits together later - if it doesn't fit, we can deal it for something else that does (or more assets to use).

All that being said, we were really hoping that Mikal Bridges would last one more spot, as he would be a perfect defensive minded addition to slot alongside the existing core and has shown the chops to be a good enough shooter to stretch the floor around Simmons. Bridges is getting touted as Kawhi-lite and has the potential to grow into an all-NBA defense piece. We're disappointed the Knicks snagged him.*

*I suspect that if the real life Knicks GM were given the choice between Michael Porter and Mikal Bridges, the 76ers would end up getting the chance to draft Bridges. But I digress.

But to say that Michael Porter is a fallback pick doesn't really seem fair. Coming into the NCAA season, he was touted as possibly the best overall recruit and a real candidate for the #1 overall pick. Injuries slowed his momentum - he only played 3 games and didn't play those particularly well. There's some question of fit - he's a fair outside shooter but tends to be more ball dominant and interior focused, so there's some risk that he, Fultz, Simmons, and Embiid would clog things up too much for the modern NBA. But the talent is unquestionably there, and getting #1 talent with the #10 pick is just too good for this team to pass up. And I don't think anyone else who might be available here is such a better fit that it would be worth passing up on Porter.

Strong analysis; Porter would be a no-brainer if this happened in real life. Best available SF or SG should do nicely, or even a big who can back up Saric and Embiid.

A couple of clarifications:

1. Per basketball-reference.com, Joel Embiid is locked up thru 2022-23. In the only major achievement of Sonny Corleone's doomed tenure as GM, he signed Embiid to the 5 year $146 mill rookie max extension that walked the tightrope between taking care of JoJo and risking cap-crippling guaranteed money to someone who might miss big chunks of time with injuries.

2. The correct quote to steal from Bill Simmons is "Jerryd Bayless's rotting corpse".

[pfrduke]

Strong analysis; Porter would be a no-brainer if this happened in real life. Best available SF or SG should do nicely, or even a big who can back up Saric and Embiid.

A couple of clarifications:

1. Per basketball-reference.com, Joel Embiid is locked up thru 2022-23. In the only major achievement of Sonny Corleone's doomed tenure as GM, he signed Embiid to an extension that walked the tightrope between taking care of JoJo and risking cap-crippling guaranteed money to someone who might miss big chunks of time with injuries.

2. The correct quote to steal from Bill Simmons is "Jerryd Bayless's rotting corpse".

I use HoopsHype for all my salary information because it presents it in a user friendly way, but I guess it's not always up to date. Adding Embiid's contract puts them at $70mm in committed salaries, so still room for a max player in free agency.

[coldriver10]

And woke up feeling a lot older than you thought you were ...
Fact. The mosh pit was a bad idea.

[Turk]

I use HoopsHype for all my salary information because it presents it in a user friendly way, but I guess it's not always up to date. Adding Embiid's contract puts them at $70mm in committed salaries, so still room for a max player in free agency.

Yup, so JoJo is locked, and the Sixers are definitely hunting for LeBron, Kawhi, or PG13.

[CDu]

Kevin Knox, SF/PF Kentucky. Knox has the measurables and physical profile of a Jayson Tatum. He doesn’t have nearly the game that Tatum had coming out of Duke, of course. But he is one of the youngest players in the draft, and he profiles as a combo forward, capable of defending 2s-4s. He also shows signs of a nice jumper, so even if he doesn’t develop his full offensive arsenal, he can still find a place on the court in the NBA as a catch and shoot wing or smallball 4. At the 14th pick, that seems good value.

[Reddevil]

UK goes back to back with this 6'6" PG.
He does not need to start right away which is good because he won't. Wall will be there for another five years, but DC would be well served to get his backup. SGA has the size and athleticism to defend guards and small forwards. Like most rookies he will need to work on shooting consistency.

[NSDukeFan]

With the 16th pick (sorry I don’t know how to embolden on my phone ), the Phoenix Suns select Dzanan Musa. As indicated with our first pick, we need everything. I think I would prefer to trade up with another of our picks to get a top 12 pick, but can’t in this mock draft. The player that seems to be projected for this spot is not someone I seem to be able to get excited about so we are going for the young, long,(not in terms of wingspan, just height) lean 19 year old scoring machine. We’re hoping we can slot Musa in our wing rotation and have him grow with the rest of our young team and hopefully, pick up the rest of the game as he adds some weight, learns and matures.

[-jk]

With the 16th pick (sorry I don’t know how to embolden on my phone ), the Phoenix Suns select Dzanan Musa. As indicated with our first pick, we need everything. I think I would prefer to trade up with another of our picks to get a top 12 pick, but can’t in this mock draft. The player that seems to be projected for this spot is not someone I seem to be able to get excited about so we are going for the young, long,(not in terms of wingspan, just height) lean 19 year old scoring machine. We’re hoping we can slot Musa in our wing rotation and have him grow with the rest of our young team and hopefully, pick up the rest of the game as he adds some weight, learns and matures.

Quick lesson: you can manually add bold with a vB tag - a "b" in brackets, your stuff to be emboldened, followed by a "/b" in brackets (but no quotes, of course).

For example, your stuff to be emboldened .

(I did some other stuff to make the tags show for this example, though.)

Other stuff in the brackets will do other things; these are the only ones I ever do manually (don't forget to drop the quotes and use the brackets):

"i" and "/i" does italics.

"url=http://www.dukebasketballreport.com" and "/url" will make a nicer looking linky (http://www.dukebasketballreport.com).

"quote" and "/quote" does a
quote box but without the link back to any original post.


-jk

[kAzE]

The Bucks have a pressing need for a competent center, but just about all the options we were willing to draft here at 17 are gone, and with the exception of a few players, young big men usually aren't ready to contribute immediately. Thon Maker, Jon Henson, and Tyler Zeller are not getting the job done (2 Tar Heels and a guy whose real age is still a complete mystery). We would most likely do better in free agency at this point in the draft.

The Bucks are looking to build a contender around all-world talent Giannis Antetokounmpo, and have may have finally found the coach to take them there in Mike Budenholzer.

But with that said, we will draft the unproven 19 year old Smith. He's actually VERY young, as he only turned 19 this month (June).

Zhaire Smith's game tape is ridiculous. (https://youtu.be/3pq92xKl2vQ) (fast forward to 5:03 and you'll see what I mean). This guy is an unreal athlete with hang time rivaling the best dunkers in the NBA. He also really gets after it with his high effort plays, often coming up with putback dunks and chase down blocks as a 6'5" guard. He has a motor that never stops, and is a very good rebounder as a guard.

He's an incredibly versatile defender, who guarded all sorts of players for TX Tech last season, ranging from Jevon Carter to Mo Bamba. He has a 6'10" wingspan, which is how he was able to average 1.1 blocks and 1.1 steals in just 28 minutes per game. He's a very tough kid who battles bigger players, fights through screens, and closes out on jump shooters hard. He crashes the offensive glass like crazy and is obviously a very reliable finisher in transition.

He actually has a very beautiful looking jump shot, and shot 45% on 3 pointers last season, though he rarely took them (9 for 20 on the season). He shot around 72% from the free throw line.

His weaknesses are that he's still a bit physically underdeveloped. As incredible an athlete as he is, he's still just 195 pounds and needs to add a lot of strength before he can really become a consistent contributor. His ball handling could stand to improve, but he has shown a surprisingly high feel for the game in his quick decision making. He doesn't commit dumb turnovers.

So even though we're sort of trying to win now, I'm willing to swing for the fences with the ultra-young Zhaire Smith. There's so much to like about this kid, and the absolute ceiling for him is an all-star level player if everything goes right.

[johnb]

Quick lesson: you can manually add bold with a vB tag - a "b" in brackets, your stuff to be emboldened, followed by a "/b" in brackets (but no quotes, of course).

For example, your stuff to be emboldened .

(I did some other stuff to make the tags show for this example, though.)

Other stuff in the brackets will do other things; these are the only ones I ever do manually (don't forget to drop the quotes and use the brackets):

"i" and "/i" does italics.

"url=http://www.dukebasketballreport.com" and "/url" will make a nicer looking linky (http://www.dukebasketballreport.com).

"quote" and "/quote" does a but without the link back to any original post.


-jk

Thanks!

[brevity]

With the first pick... We considered 3 players at this position and none of them was Jaren Jackson.


But, I'm thrilled to get Bamba, who is the guy I grade 2nd best in this draft (I'm not an Ayton fan).


I was hoping to do some damage to Mock Draft Conventional Wisdom (MDCW) and looked at Collin Sexton, Wendell Carter, and Michael Porter to take at #4.

This is an early sampler, but I feel like there is a wide range of opinions about the top of this draft.

Now that the mystery is gone -- mock lottery selections are complete and we move into the lower half of the first round -- I wanted to field a question to the mock GMs of lottery teams: What did your personal Big Board (top 10-14) look like? You can speak generally, or specifically in the perspective of your assigned team.

I'll start. Once we got a good picture of who was in the draft, I had already decided that, to me, Bamba was not a Top 5 pick and Jaren Jackson was not a Top 10 pick. I preferred Sexton over Young as a pro. Carter was underrated. Porter was a wild card. I chose Memphis because of their draft position, believing I could shape the draft with an early curveball, and figuring (incorrectly) that Ayton-Doncic-Bagley would go 1-2-3. I started to look closer at team needs, but the Grizzlies roster/payroll (https://www.basketball-reference.com/contracts/MEM.html) was too depressing.

So my Lottery Big Board -- not specific to Memphis -- might look like this:

1. Marvin Bagley
2. Luka Doncic
3. DeAndre Ayton
4. Collin Sexton
5. Wendell Carter
6. Michael Porter
7. Mohamed Bamba
8. Miles Bridges
9. Trae Young
10. Mikal Bridges
11. Robert Williams
12. Jaren Jackson
13. Kentucky guyZZZZzzzzz

Evidently I lost interest in this exercise around #13. What about yours? Massive differences of opinion are encouraged.

[JNort]

This is an early sampler, but I feel like there is a wide range of opinions about the top of this draft.

Now that the mystery is gone -- mock lottery selections are complete and we move into the lower half of the first round -- I wanted to field a question to the mock GMs of lottery teams: What did your personal Big Board (top 10-14) look like? You can speak generally, or specifically in the perspective of your assigned team.

I'll start. Once we got a good picture of who was in the draft, I had already decided that, to me, Bamba was not a Top 5 pick and Jaren Jackson was not a Top 10 pick. I preferred Sexton over Young as a pro. Carter was underrated. Porter was a wild card. I chose Memphis because of their draft position, believing I could shape the draft with an early curveball, and figuring (incorrectly) that Ayton-Doncic-Bagley would go 1-2-3. I started to look closer at team needs, but the Grizzlies roster/payroll (https://www.basketball-reference.com/contracts/MEM.html) was too depressing.

So my Lottery Big Board -- not specific to Memphis -- might look like this:

1. Marvin Bagley
2. Luka Doncic
3. DeAndre Ayton
4. Collin Sexton
5. Wendell Carter
6. Michael Porter
7. Mohamed Bamba
8. Miles Bridges
9. Trae Young
10. Mikal Bridges
11. Robert Williams
12. Jaren Jackson
13. Kentucky guyZZZZzzzzz

Evidently I lost interest in this exercise around #13. What about yours? Massive differences of opinion are encouraged.
Mine would be nearly identical.

[kAzE]

Here's my top 10:

1. Luka Doncic
2. DeAndre Ayton
3. Marvin Bagley
4. Wendell Carter
5. Jaren Jackson
6. Michael Porter
7. Zhaire Smith
8. Mo Bamba
9. Mikal Bridges
10. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

[awhom111]

The official early entry list is here, so no excuses for picking an ineligible player:
http://www.nba.com/article/2018/06/12/forty-three-international-early-entry-candidates-withdraw-nba-draft-2018

As usual, I will compare our draft to the real thing next week.

We are moving even faster than usual. I better do my research.

[pfrduke]

(lots of good stuff about Zhaire Smith)

Had both Mikal Bridges and Michael Porter been gone before #10, the mock 76ers were seriously looking at Smith at #10 as a guy who could mess people up defensively and add to the overall athleticism of the roster, with the potential to develop into a legitimate 3-pt shooting threat. I'm high on Smith and think he will be a good fit for a lot of teams. Of course, I also mock drafted Jerryd Bayless over Russell Westbrook a decade ago, so what do I know.

[JasonEvans]

Just so we can keep up... here is where we stand --

First round:
1 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : DeAndre Ayton - Arizona
2 Sacramento - gocanes0506 : Marvin Bagley - Duke
3 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Mo Bamba - Texas
4 Memphis - brevity : Luka Doncic - Real Madrid
5 Dallas - jacone21 : Wendell Carter - Duke
6 Orlando - coldriver10 : Trae Young - Oklahoma
7 Chicago - Furniture : Jaren Jackson - Michigan State
8 Cleveland - subzero02 : Collin Sexton - Alabama
9 New York - ncexnyc : Mikal Bridges - Villanova
10 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Michael Porter - Missouri
11 Charlotte - Acymetric : Miles Bridges - Michigan State
12 LA Clippers - DukieTiger: Lonnie Walker - Miami
13 LA Clippers - DukieTiger: Robert Williams - Texas A&M
14 Denver - CDu : Kevin Knox - Kentucky
15 Washington - reddevil : Shai Gilgeous Alexander - Kentucky
16 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : Dzanan Musa - Bosnia & Herz.
17 Milwaukee - kAzE : Zhaire Smith - Texas Tech
18 San Antonio - Turk (blazindw) : Troy Brown - Oregon
19 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Aaron Holiday - UCLA
20 Minnesota - drummerdevil : Gary Trent Jr. - Duke
21 Utah - tbyers11 : Elie Okobo - France
22 Chicago - Furniture : Grayson Allen - Duke
23 Indiana - luburch : Jerome Robinson - Boston College
24 Portland - FerryFor50 : Chandler Hutchison - Boise St.
25 LA Lakers - JNort
26 Philadelphia - pfrduke
27 Boston - flyingdutchdevil
28 Golden St. - awhom111
29 Brooklyn – Billy Dat
30 Atlanta - JasonEvans

Second round:
31 Phoenix - NSDukeFan
32 Memphis - brevity
33 Dallas - jacone21
34 Atlanta - JasonEvans
35 Orlando - coldriver10
36 New York - ncexnyc
37 Sacramento - gocanes0506
38 Philadelphia - pfrduke
39 Philadelphia - pfrduke
40 Brooklyn – Billy Dat
41 Orlando - coldriver10
42 Detroit - BD80
43 Denver - CDu
44 Washington - reddevil
45 Brooklyn – Billy Dat
46 Houston - DukeTrinity11
47 LA Lakers - JNort
48 Minnesota - drummerdevil
49 San Antonio - Turk
50 Indiana - luburch
51 New Orleans - theschwartz
52 Utah - tbyers11
53 Oklahoma Cty - johnb
54 Dallas - jacone21
55 Charlotte - Acymetric
56 Philadelphia - pfrduke
57 Oklahoma Cty - johnb
58 Denver - CDu
59 Phoenix - NSDukeFan
60 Philadelphia - pfrduke

[JasonEvans]

My lottery big board was this:

1. Bagley
2. Ayton
3. Bamba
4. Young
5. Doncic
6. Porter
7. Carter
8. JJJ
9. Bridges... I mean, M. Bridges... I mean Mi. Bridges... I mean Mik. Bridges (the one from Villanova)
10. SGA
11. Sexton
12. Bridges... I mean, M. Bridges... I mean Mi. Bridges... I mean Mil. Bridges (the one from Mich St.)

[NSDukeFan]

I had Ayton, Doncic and Bagley as the three I considered for the top pick. I’m not sure about Jackson and would have preferred Bamba, Sexton, Young and Carter over him. Porter and the Bridge brothers 😀next. I saw that Smith was the guy projected at Phoenix ‘s second pick, but was higher on Robert Williams, the UK guys. I couldn’t convince myself to take a guy who barely scored in double digits, since I didn’t know enough about him. Of course, there could be a reason why I am a Mock GM and not a real one as I also would have thought Bayless would have been a fine pick, as well as Scottie Reynolds and Kyle Singler was a sure thing to me.

[blazindw]

San Antonio Spurs select Troy Brown, 6'7" SF, Oregon (FR)

San Antonio probably wanted Zhaire Smith if he was around, but they will settle for Brown. Brown has the ability to pass, defend and he has a jack-of-all-trades type of skill set. He can do anything on the court pretty well, particularly in areas like court awareness and just overall baskeball acumen. This is something that San Antonio usually looks for. His scoring can improve, but that is something that can always be done under Coach Pop. He makes sense for this franchise, and he has tremendous upside that the Spurs will be looking for as they try to fully replace the older core of the team.

[JasonEvans]

With the 19th pick in the DBR Mock Draft, the Atlanta Hawks select:

Aaron Holiday, PG , UCLA.

I can't even tell you how close I came to picking Grayson Allen, but I ended up going with my head, not my heart.

Aaron Holliday improved tremendously this year and showed legit NBA chops on D and from 3 with Lonzo gone. He is yet another freakishly long dude (6-8 wingspan) which makes up for his lack of NBA size (he's only 6-1). He is a dynamic shooter, shooting better than 41% from 3 in all three of his seasons in school and over 82% from the FT line this season. I love guys who keep on improving and you don't do much better at that than Holiday going from 12 ppg as a soph to 20 ppg as a junior. He is already a NBA ready defender and I really value that aspect of the game.

I will cry a few tears for passing on Allen, but the Hawks need some backcourt help and if Aaron Holiday turns out to be almost as good as his big brother, Jrue, then I got a huge steal!

-Jason "I would have taken Troy Brown if Donald had not selected him... grrr" EVans

P.S. - I refused to be wowed by everyone who says DiVincenzo should go in the top 20. Dude wasn't even a starter. One good NCAA tournament run will not sway me!!

[JasonEvans]

The Minnesota TWolves select Gary Trent Jr., SG, Duke.

Drummerdevil PMd me this pick. I hope he will post an explanation a bit later.

[Turk]

Thanks, Blazindw. I was having fun with my writeup trying to meet pfrduke's high bar but work got in the way. You called it right and thanks for stepping in.

San Antonio Spurs select Troy Brown, 6'7" SF, Oregon (FR)

We've never drafted in the Top 20 with our own pick since 1997, when we got Tim B. Dunkin. (not counting trading up to #15 to get Kawhi). WE DON"T LIKE IT AND DON’T PLAN ON DOING IT AGAIN!

Last season was a nightmare for the Spurs, both on and off the court, with enough drama, gossip, and controversy for a reality show. Starting from the top, majority owners Peter Holt and Julianna Hawn Holt filed for divorce after more than 30 years of marriage. In April during the playoffs, Gregg Popovich's wife Erin died after a long illness. On the court, the season was marred by injuries and controversy surrounding Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker, snapping our historic streak of 18 seasons with 50+ wins. Our 21st straight playoff appearance was no consolation.

A less disciplined franchise with a weak culture and no class could disintegrate into rudderless, backbiting, sloppy, tanking mess (cough, Lakers, cough), but not us. The Holts have filed a marital property agreement that we expect will keep the divorce private and low-key. The Spurs are safe in San Antonio, and our front office will be doing business as usual.

Secondly, Gregg Popovich is not retiring anytime soon, not now, and not like this. While we continue to grieve with Pop, he has been active in our preparations for the draft, and he is committed to coaching Team USA in 2020. He's all-in, with the energy of a man half his age.

Thirdly, we're signing Kawhi Leonard to his max $219 mill extension. Book it. Sometimes we suspect his moron agent has his own agenda, and that his overprotective uncle thinks he knows more than he actually does. But Kawhi is loyal and so are we, and no one wants a repeat of last season, so we're mending fences and figuring out a professional working relationship with Kawhi's "group" (as Pop likes to call them) as we hammer out the details, and that includes the medical folks too. Word is that Kawhi is almost 100%, and Pop will sit down with him this month. Done, done, and done.

Ok, let's look at the roster and hit the court. (Finally!)

We have only four Spurs with contracts through 2019-20 or beyond: LaMarcus Aldridge, Kawhi, Patty Mills, and Pau Gasol, not counting team options on rookie deals for guards Dejounte Murray and Derrick White. For 2018-19, Rudy Gay, Dancin Danny Green, and backup C Joffrey Lauvergne hold player options. Kyle Anderson, Bryn Forbes, and Davis Bertans are RFA's coming off rookie deals.

Now let's talk about our legends. Manu GINOBILIIIIII!!!! has one year at $2.5 mill on his contract. Last year sure felt like a retirement tour, and the man is going to turn 41 in July; we're not expecting him back. The harder conversation is with unrestricted free agent Tony Parker (and the giant fork sticking out of his back, to steal another Bill Simmons phrase). We want Tony to come back for the veteran minimum and help mentor our young guards Murray and White. He deserves his own retirement tour as well, but Parker still thinks he can play and will test the free agent market.

Our bigs are set, with LMA, Kawhi, Pao, and Bertans as backup. At PG, we are merely decent with Mills and Murray, and maybe Parker, but that's OK for this season. Our biggest need is for an athletic wing and perimeter scoring. We feel like we need more options than Rudy Gay and Dancin Danny.

Troy Brown is the best available athlete at this point. We like his length at 6'6" and 6'10" wingspan. He's versatile, with playmaking and passing skills, good defensive instincts, and a high basketball IQ, in other words, a perfect fit for our culture and how we play. Our vision is to make him a Swiss Army knife glue guy. We are not impressed with his 29% 3PT FG percentage at Oregon, but he shoots 74% from the line, so we think our shooting guru Chip Engelland can improve his 3PT. If that happens, then Brown could grow into our version of Andre Iguodala.

[tbyers11]

With the 21st pick in the 2018 NBA Draft the Utah Jazz select...

Elie Okobo, 6'2" PG/SG, Elan Bearnais Pau-Lacq-Orthez, LNB Pro A (France)

While Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell are cornerstones, the Jazz have a lot of other spots to fill long term. Besides those 2 only Joe Ingles, Jae Crowder, Royce O' Neale are officially under contract (team option for 2017 1st round pick Tony Bradley) beyond 2018-19. However, with Derrick Favors a high flight risk to leave via unrestricted free agency and the Ricky Rubio experiment not paying huge dividends we see PF and PG as the biggest immediate needs.

We decided to go the PG route with French combo guard Elie Okobo. He is rising quickly up many draft boards as a 6'2" guard who can score and distribute. He is 20 years old and scouts say he needs to work on his defense but his 6'8" wingspan should help in that regard and will make Jay Bilas swoon. He gets bonus points for scoring 44 points in a playoff game against LNB Pro A defensive player of the year Aaron Craft (yes, that Aaron Craft)

We think Okobo has a greater upside than other PGs in this range (glad the Hawks took Holiday). He should make a nice backcourt tandem with Donovan Mitchell for many years to come.

[brevity]

Furniture is on the clock, but in case the deadline passes, keep this in mind:


With the seventh pick of the 2018 NBA draft the Chicago bulls select Jaren Jackson.
The most important needs in the draft for the Bulls are at small forward and center. Jaren Jackson being still available is too good to pass on. We will use our 22nd pick to go after a small forward.
Hopefully Grayson Allen is still available.

[Furniture]

With the 22nd pick of the 2018 NBA Draft the Chicago Bulls refuse to trip on this and select Grayson Allen from Duke University.

[luburch]

With the 23rd pick in the NBA Draft the Indiana Pacers select Jerome Robinson from Boston College

The Pacers had a surprisingly strong 2017-18 campaign, finishing 5th in the Eastern Conference and taking the Cavaliers to 7 games in the first round of the playoffs. With a few key additions and quality draft selections, the Pacers can hang around the 3-5 seed in the East for years to come.

Jerome is one of the best shooters in the draft, connecting on 41% of his 3 point attempts while in college. His ability to play on and off the ball makes him an ideal partner for Victor Oladipo. Robinson will be able to provide an instant lift to the offense and has the athleticism to be a solid defender.

FWIW here was how I rated the lottery:
Doncic
JJJ
Bagley
Carter
Porter
Ayton
Bamba
Mikal Bridges
Walker
Sexton
SGA
Young
Miles Bridges
Brown Jr

[pfrduke]

Slowly but surely several of the players I was hoping would slip to the 76ers at 26 are coming off the board...

[drummerdevil]

The Minnesota TWolves select Gary Trent Jr., SG, Duke.

Drummerdevil PMd me this pick. I hope he will post an explanation a bit later.

Explanation for this pick:

basically, the wolves are a solid young team who are looking to add pieces around the edges to contend. With that said, the biggest issue with our current roster is that our only real backup shooting guard is Jamal Crawford - who is very inefficient by almost any advanced metric. The problem this season was that the wolves had so little shooting on their roster that Crawford had to play. We are now prepared to give Gary Trent Jr. the minutes of Jamal Crawford, knowing that he is more than fifteen years younger and cannot be a more inefficient player. Trent was one of if not the best shooters left on the board, and the mock wolves are excited to see how he can stretch the floor playing the backup 2 for us next season.

[JasonEvans]

Explanation for this pick:

basically, the wolves are a solid young team who are looking to add pieces around the edges to contend. With that said, the biggest issue with our current roster is that our only real backup shooting guard is Jamal Crawford - who is very inefficient by almost any advanced metric. The problem this season was that the wolves had so little shooting on their roster that Crawford had to play. We are now prepared to give Gary Trent Jr. the minutes of Jamal Crawford, knowing that he is more than fifteen years younger and cannot be a more inefficient player. Trent was one of if not the best shooters left on the board, and the mock wolves are excited to see how he can stretch the floor playing the backup 2 for us next season.

Plus, Trent comes home and gets to play with his former Apple Valley teammate, Tyus Jones!

[JasonEvans]

FerryFor50 told me he wants to pick...

Chandler Hutchison, SG/SF, Boise St

I am sure he will post an explanation.

[Furniture]

FDD. Fully expect you to pick Tricky.

[JNort]

Mitchell Robinson of WKU?

This is purely a 100% risk and there's no beating around the bush about it and If you don't remeber who he is you're forgiven. Mitchell was ranked 6th (RSCI) overall (3rd center) ahead of guys like Colin Sexton, Gary Trent, Trae Young and several other names we are more familiar with and was supposed to play at WKU this past season. So what happened?

He originally signed with WKU despite being courted by some of the top programs in the country, after arriving to school early he abruptly left without giving reason and went home. While he was away he visited other schools but was told he might not be given his release to transfer since he already attended basketball activities at WKU so he decided to sit out and prepare for the draft. The whole process raised many red flags about his character and commitment.

So aside from the potential character issues what does he look and project like going forward? Standing at 7'1" and 235lbs with a 7'4" wingspan and 9'2" standing reach he is a fairly long guy with broad shoulders to go on that frame which suggests he could pack on some muscle. He is reportedly athletic with soft hands and a good shooting touch to go along with insane blocking and rebounding abilities. I think his floor is Javle McGee with a likely projection of Tyson Chandler, if his shooting ability continues on into the NBA his ceiling is the roof :rolleyes:. So why so low in the draft?

Teams question his character from how he handled his recruiting to withdrawing from the combine and canceling his interviews. His on court weaknesses are mostly around his lack of basketball IQ. To expand on this he gets lost in rotations, doesn't box out and is foul prone. Basketball IQ can be remedied with lots of film study, practice and game time so these hopefully shouldn't be an issue.




A few tidbits courtesy of Draft express:

-Averaged 20 rebounds per-40 minutes in the EYBL, best in the competition's history.

-8 offensive rebounds per-40 also #1 in EYBL history.

-Quick off his feet as a shot blocker. Led the EYBL in both blocks per-game and per-40. Second best shot-blocker in EYBL history after Nerlens Noel.

- Source: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Mitchell-Robinson-84500/ ©DraftExpress

[FerryFor50]

Why Portland chose a lesser known talent out of Boise St

Portland, coming off one of its best seasons in recent years before being swept out of the first round by New Orleans, is looking for someone who can help take the scoring load off of CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard, but that also can rebound and defend. Hutchison fits that description, with his 6'7" frame, 7'1" wingspan and 20ppg, 7.7 rpg averages out of Boise St on 36% shooting from 3. He compares favorably to one of last year's surprising rookies, Kyle Kuzma.

Hutchison has a plus motor, as well, and will work hard every night for a Portland team that is on the cusp of being a Western Conference contender.

[pfrduke]

Will post my pick by noon eastern. Asking the boards forbearance for slight delay while I wrangle two toddlers out of the house and off to preschool.

[tbyers11]

Will post my pick by noon eastern. Asking the boards forbearance for slight delay while I wrangle two toddlers out of the house and off to preschool.

Forbearance granted. At least by me.

I think Jason's time schedule had a definite East Coast bias to it :D

[pfrduke]

We considered several options for this spot, but settled on Okogie, who we see as someone who can play somewhat of a similar role as Robert Covington (although skewed more toward defending guards than forwards) - lock down on defense, space the floor and hit jumpers. Okogie is someone who can be part of a valuable bench rotation and who might be able to squeeze into some defensive-minded closing time lineups, depending on the matchups. It's not necessarily as high an upside pick as the 76ers are prone to make, but sometimes getting a reliable bench contributor is enough (particularly when we have four more chances to roll the dice in this draft).

[CDu]

We considered several options for this spot, but settled on Okogie, who we see as someone who can play somewhat of a similar role as Robert Covington (although skewed more toward defending guards than forwards) - lock down on defense, space the floor and hit jumpers. Okogie is someone who can be part of a valuable bench rotation and who might be able to squeeze into some defensive-minded closing time lineups, depending on the matchups. It's not necessarily as high an upside pick as the 76ers are prone to make, but sometimes getting a reliable bench contributor is enough (particularly when we have four more chances to roll the dice in this draft).

I like Okogie a lot as a late first-rounder. He is the type of guy who you are pretty sure can contribute on an NBA roster (which is important considering he will get guaranteed money) with still some potential to be an impact player.

[JasonEvans]

I like Okogie a lot as a late first-rounder. He is the type of guy who you are pretty sure can contribute on an NBA roster (which is important considering he will get guaranteed money) with still some potential to be an impact player.

Yeah, I looked at Okogie with my pick several spots earlier. I think he's a really nice pickup and has a NBA future.

[JasonEvans]

Just so we can keep up... here is where we stand --

First round:
1 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : DeAndre Ayton - Arizona
2 Sacramento - gocanes0506 : Marvin Bagley - Duke
3 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Mo Bamba - Texas
4 Memphis - brevity : Luka Doncic - Real Madrid
5 Dallas - jacone21 : Wendell Carter - Duke
6 Orlando - coldriver10 : Trae Young - Oklahoma
7 Chicago - Furniture : Jaren Jackson - Michigan State
8 Cleveland - subzero02 : Collin Sexton - Alabama
9 New York - ncexnyc : Mikal Bridges - Villanova
10 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Michael Porter - Missouri
11 Charlotte - Acymetric : Miles Bridges - Michigan State
12 LA Clippers - DukieTiger: Lonnie Walker - Miami
13 LA Clippers - DukieTiger: Robert Williams - Texas A&M
14 Denver - CDu : Kevin Knox - Kentucky
15 Washington - reddevil : Shai Gilgeous Alexander - Kentucky
16 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : Dzanan Musa - Bosnia & Herz.
17 Milwaukee - kAzE : Zhaire Smith - Texas Tech
18 San Antonio - Turk (blazindw) : Troy Brown - Oregon
19 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Aaron Holiday - UCLA
20 Minnesota - drummerdevil : Gary Trent Jr. - Duke
21 Utah - tbyers11 : Elie Okobo - France
22 Chicago - Furniture : Grayson Allen - Duke
23 Indiana - luburch : Jerome Robinson - Boston College
24 Portland - FerryFor50 : Chandler Hutchison - Boise St.
25 LA Lakers - JNort : Mitchell Robinson - High School
26 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Josh Okogie - Ga Tech
27 Boston - flyingdutchdevil : Jared Vanderbilt - Kentucky
28 Golden St. - awhom111 : Donte DiVincenzo - Villanova
29 Brooklyn – Billy Dat : Keita Bates-Diop, tOSU
30 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Khyrie Thomas, Creighton

Second round:
31 Phoenix - NSDukeFan
32 Memphis - brevity
33 Dallas - jacone21
34 Atlanta - JasonEvans
35 Orlando - coldriver10
36 New York - ncexnyc
37 Sacramento - gocanes0506
38 Philadelphia - pfrduke
39 Philadelphia - pfrduke
40 Brooklyn – Billy Dat
41 Orlando - coldriver10
42 Detroit - BD80
43 Denver - CDu
44 Washington - reddevil
45 Brooklyn – Billy Dat
46 Houston - DukeTrinity11
47 LA Lakers - JNort
48 Minnesota - drummerdevil
49 San Antonio - Turk
50 Indiana - luburch
51 New Orleans - theschwartz
52 Utah - tbyers11
53 Oklahoma Cty - johnb
54 Dallas - jacone21
55 Charlotte - Acymetric
56 Philadelphia - pfrduke
57 Oklahoma Cty - johnb
58 Denver - CDu
59 Phoenix - NSDukeFan
60 Philadelphia - pfrduke

[flyingdutchdevil]

Trevon Duval! Just kidding. Despite loving the kid, I think he's a horrible fit for the Celtics.

With the #27th pick of the 2018 NBA draft, the Boston Celtics select...Jarred Vanderbilt. Is this a reach? Absolutely. Does Jarred offer more potential than any player left in the draft? Yup!

The Celtics aren't going to draft a wing or a guard. There isn't a Marcus Smart out there, and if we draft another 6'7"-6'8", we clearly don't understand the role of a big man. We're taking a risk on Jarred, who is arguably the best rebounder in this class (yes, better than Marvin or Wendell) but offers little else at this point. Also, there is a small change Jarred becomes a Clint Capela-type player in a few years, which will be helpful once Horford is too old.

[JasonEvans]

awhom111 will have more details later, but he tells me...

With the 28th pick in the DBR Mock Draft, the Golden St. Warriors select - Donte DiVincenzo, SG, Villanova.

[kAzE]

Trevon Duval! Just kidding. Despite loving the kid, I think he's a horrible fit for the Celtics.

With the #27th pick of the 2018 NBA draft, the Boston Celtics select...Jarred Vanderbilt. Is this a reach? Absolutely. Does Jarred offer more potential than any player left in the draft? Yup!

The Celtics aren't going to draft a wing or a guard. There isn't a Marcus Smart out there, and if we draft another 6'7"-6'8", we clearly don't understand the role of a big man. We're taking a risk on Jarred, who is arguably the best rebounder in this class (yes, better than Marvin or Wendell) but offers little else at this point. Also, there is a small change Jarred becomes a Clint Capela-type player in a few years, which will be helpful once Horford is too old.

Definitely a reach (I think he would still be there in the 40s), but I still like the pick. The kid can't stay healthy, but everyone who has ever played with him or watched him play says he's one of the best rebounders they've ever seen. There's definitely uside with him that just about no one else still available has. He probably won't contribute much at all for at least 2 years, but it's high risk/high reward at a position of need. Good pick.

[dukelifer]

awhom111 will have more details later, but he tells me...

With the 28th pick in the DBR Mock Draft, the Golden St. Warriors select - Donte DiVincenzo, SG, Villanova.
That is a great pick for them. Fits their mold- gets them younger.

[Billy Dat]

The Sean Marks front office era in Brooklyn is in the early months of year 3, long enough to have established an identity and a fledgling culture, but not long enough to get out from under the franchise crippling moves made by our Billy King at the behest of owner Mikhail Prokhorov. Marks and his team, which include top lieutenant the Alaskan Assasin, have made solid moves over the past few years as they attempt to work with what they have. The first great move was hiring Kenny Atkinson to be their head coach, and he has installed a very modern system predicated on the usual ball movement, 3-point shooting and a defense where players can guard multiple positions lending line-up flexibility and the resulting ability to "go small". Undermanned from a talent perspective in nearly every game they played, the group formed an identity as one that plays extremely hard, executes the game plan as best they can, and fights until the end. The fact that they didn't finish last in the East is a testament to not only their effort, but also the lack of effort of the other teams fighting for the bottom - the Nets had no incentive to tank. While, to me, 28 wins was a heck of a season for the Nets, my friend Avvocato might answer, "What do they want, a biscuit?"

This team needs talent at every position, but in the wing happy NBA where 3-and D shooters who can guard 1-4 (or 5 depending on the opposing line-up) are en-vogue, that's where I am going first. With two picks in the first half of the second round to take chances, I am going with a proven defender/shooter, the Big Ten Player of the year, the man fellow Buckeye alum, Mark Titus, calls Keita Big D***...Brooklyn Make Some Noooooooise for Ohio State's Keita Bates-Diop!

[JasonEvans]

With the final pick of the first round, the Atlanta Hawks select...

Khyri Thomas, SG, Creighton

Have I mentioned once or twice how much I love length? Thomas is 6-3.5 with a 6-10.5 wingspan. He's an excellent defender, in fact some say he may be the best perimeter defender in the draft. On the offensive end, he hit better than 40% of his threes and an outrageous 64% of his 2-pt shots. That's a sick number. He's a strong rebounder for a guard, grabbing more than 4.5 boards per game over his career. What is not to like?

Well, his one weakness appear to be athleticism. His testing at the combine was really poor -- he seemed slow and not as explosive as the other top perimeter players there. But, his performance in games shows a guy who seems to have plenty of athletic skills. If he had a good combine, he'd probably be knocking on the doors of the lottery. So, perhaps the combine was just him having a bad day or maybe I am getting a guy who will find it tough playing against the quickness and explosiveness of the NBA. If the former, I got a steal at #30. If the latter, well... he's still long and can shoot.

-Jason "I'm betting he is off the board looong before the last pick of the first round... some say he could go in the late teens" Evans

[NSDukeFan]

With the first pick of the second round #33 overall, the Phoenix Suns select:
Jalen Brunson, PG, Villanova
The defensive end could be a challenge for Jalen at the next level as he is not particularly tall, long, or quick. He projects to only be able to guard one position and will take work to be able to achieve that. We haven’t asked our other players to defend yet either, so we shouldn’t be that concerned about a rookie.
We are excited that the reigning national player of the year and two-time national champion was still available. A left-handed point guard who shoots well from deep and inside the arc, and sees the floor and can distribute will fit on our roster very well. He should be able to step in and run the second unit and keep the first unit going smoothly when in. We are happy to have such an accomplished player available to start the second round.

[brevity]

Slowly but surely several of the players I was hoping would slip to the 76ers at 26 are coming off the board...

Tell me about it. No, really, tell me about it. I made a list of 6 possibilities for this selection about 8 picks ago, and none of them were those 8 picks.

Memphis has a guard-heavy roster, and we selected Luka Doncic in the first round, so our focus is on the frontcourt. My list of 6 was topped by a pair of players that were in the national championship game, and I'm going to choose Omari Spellman, a redshirt freshman at Villanova.

According to the NBA Combine (https://stats.nba.com/draft/combine-anthro/?SeasonYear=2018-19), Spellman has a 7' 2" wingspan, and he measures out at 6' 8" without shoes, 6' 9.25" with shoes. (Spellman has assured us that he will play the game wearing shoes.) Among participants, he ranked highly in vertical leap and various shooting categories. Obviously, many first-rounders did not participate, but we are no longer in the first round.

Finally, I want to point out one last combine measure: 253.8 pounds. Spellman was a heavier high schooler, weighing 269 at the Nike Academy and 287 at the USA Junior Mini-Camp. Can he keep his weight down? Fortunately, Memphis is a great place to do that, with no oppressive heat or local meat specialties whatsoever.

[tbyers11]

The Sean Marks front office era in Brooklyn is in the early months of year 3, long enough to have established an identity and a fledgling culture, but not long enough to get out from under the franchise crippling moves made by our Billy King at the behest of owner Mikhail Prokhorov. Marks and his team, which include top lieutenant the Alaskan Assasin, have made solid moves over the past few years as they attempt to work with what they have. The first great move was hiring Kenny Atkinson to be their head coach, and he has installed a very modern system predicated on the usual ball movement, 3-point shooting and a defense where players can guard multiple positions lending line-up flexibility and the resulting ability to "go small". Undermanned from a talent perspective in nearly every game they played, the group formed an identity as one that plays extremely hard, executes the game plan as best they can, and fights until the end. The fact that they didn't finish last in the East is a testament to not only their effort, but also the lack of effort of the other teams fighting for the bottom - the Nets had no incentive to tank. While, to me, 28 wins was a heck of a season for the Nets, my friend Avvocato might answer, "What do they want, a biscuit?"

This team needs talent at every position, but in the wing happy NBA where 3-and D shooters who can guard 1-4 (or 5 depending on the opposing line-up) are en-vogue, that's where I am going first. With two picks in the first half of the second round to take chances, I am going with a proven defender/shooter, the Big Ten Player of the year, the man fellow Buckeye alum, Mark Titus, calls Keita Big D***...Brooklyn Make Some Noooooooise for Ohio State's Keita Bates-Diop!

I like KBD. He was third on the board for my Utah Jazz at #21 (after Troy Brown and Okobo) when I started looking at who was left after the 15th pick.

[jacone21]

With the 33rd pick, the Dallas Mavericks select... Trevon Duval of Duke University.

I feel a bit like a homer for picking my second Dukie, but I think 33 is about right for Tre. He has elite athleticism. He's ridiculously fast with the ball and has great court vision and the ability to finish at the rim in traffic. We just have to get him a shooting coach. That can be fixed... right? Right?

To quote Grayson after his 37 point outing against Michigan State...

Paraphrased reporter: "Grayson, great win. Career high. What was that was working for you out there tonight?"
Grayson: "Trevon."

[fraggler]

With the 33rd pick, the Dallas Mavericks select... Trevon Duval of Duke University.

I feel a bit like a homer for picking my second Dukie, but I think 33 is about right for Tre. He has elite athleticism. He's ridiculously fast with the ball and has great court vision and the ability to finish at the rim in traffic. We just have to get him a shooting coach. That can be fixed... right? Right?

To quote Grayson after his 37 point outing against Michigan State...

Paraphrased reporter: "Grayson, great win. Career high. What was that was working for you out there tonight?"
Grayson: "Trevon."

How are you envisioning him working with Dennis Smith? Backup?

[jacone21]

How are you envisioning him working with Dennis Smith? Backup?

Right... for now. Berea's getting long in the tooth and a 33rd pick for a backup is pretty good. We'll see what happens.

[JasonEvans]

Updated draft...

First round:
1 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : DeAndre Ayton - Arizona
2 Sacramento - gocanes0506 : Marvin Bagley - Duke
3 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Mo Bamba - Texas
4 Memphis - brevity : Luka Doncic - Real Madrid
5 Dallas - jacone21 : Wendell Carter - Duke
6 Orlando - coldriver10 : Trae Young - Oklahoma
7 Chicago - Furniture : Jaren Jackson - Michigan State
8 Cleveland - subzero02 : Collin Sexton - Alabama
9 New York - ncexnyc : Mikal Bridges - Villanova
10 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Michael Porter - Missouri
11 Charlotte - Acymetric : Miles Bridges - Michigan State
12 LA Clippers - DukieTiger: Lonnie Walker - Miami
13 LA Clippers - DukieTiger: Robert Williams - Texas A&M
14 Denver - CDu : Kevin Knox - Kentucky
15 Washington - reddevil : Shai Gilgeous Alexander - Kentucky
16 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : Dzanan Musa - Bosnia & Herz.
17 Milwaukee - kAzE : Zhaire Smith - Texas Tech
18 San Antonio - Turk (blazindw) : Troy Brown - Oregon
19 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Aaron Holiday - UCLA
20 Minnesota - drummerdevil : Gary Trent Jr. - Duke
21 Utah - tbyers11 : Elie Okobo - France
22 Chicago - Furniture : Grayson Allen - Duke
23 Indiana - luburch : Jerome Robinson - Boston College
24 Portland - FerryFor50 : Chandler Hutchison - Boise St.
25 LA Lakers - JNort : Mitchell Robinson - High School
26 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Josh Okogie - Ga Tech
27 Boston - flyingdutchdevil : Jared Vanderbilt - Kentucky
28 Golden St. - awhom111 : Donte DiVincenzo - Villanova
29 Brooklyn – Billy Dat : Keita Bates-Diop, tOSU
30 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Khyrie Thomas, Creighton

Second round:
31 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : Jalen Brunson, Villanova
32 Memphis - brevity : Omari Spellman, Villanova
33 Dallas - jacone21 : Trevon Duval, Duke
34 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Kevin Huerter, Maryland
35 Orlando - coldriver10
36 New York - ncexnyc
37 Sacramento - gocanes0506
38 Philadelphia - pfrduke
39 Philadelphia - pfrduke
40 Brooklyn – Billy Dat
41 Orlando - coldriver10
42 Detroit - BD80
43 Denver - CDu
44 Washington - reddevil
45 Brooklyn – Billy Dat
46 Houston - DukeTrinity11
47 LA Lakers - JNort
48 Minnesota - drummerdevil
49 San Antonio - Turk
50 Indiana - luburch
51 New Orleans - theschwartz
52 Utah - tbyers11
53 Oklahoma Cty - johnb
54 Dallas - jacone21
55 Charlotte - Acymetric
56 Philadelphia - pfrduke
57 Oklahoma Cty - johnb
58 Denver - CDu
59 Phoenix - NSDukeFan
60 Philadelphia - pfrduke

[JasonEvans]

So, in real life I fully expect the Hawks to make a deal, likely involving this pick or #30 along with the #19 pick in the hopes of moving into the low-mid teens. I don't think they want 4 rookies on the roster and with 4 of the top 34 picks, they are going to get 4 guys good enough to be in the league. The Clippers and Washington each only have 2 picks and might be in the mood to make a deal.

That said, if the real NBA draft goes the way ours has and the Hawks find this guy still on the board at 34, I suspect they will be doing backflips.

With the #34 pick in the DBR mock draft, the Hawks pick Kevin Huerter, SG, Maryland.

Many mocks have Huerter going in the late teens and he supposedly has a promise from a team picking in the mid-20s. At 6-7, he has excellent size for the SG position, though he does not have great length and is not an explosive athlete. What he is is a dynamic shooter (42% from 3) and a really smart ballplayer who moves the ball well and seems to make the players around him better. He really wowed scouts at the NBA combine where lots of folks simply said, "he just the kind of guy you want on your team." I've seem some folks call him "a poor man's Gordon Heyward."

-Jason "there may be some question about my first pick or two, but I scored homeruns with my last 2 picks... I bet both go higher in the NBA draft than I took them" Evans

[kAzE]

So, in real life I fully expect the Hawks to make a deal, likely involving this pick or #30 along with the #19 pick in the hopes of moving into the low-mid teens. I don't think they want 4 rookies on the roster and with 4 of the top 34 picks, they are going to get 4 guys good enough to be in the league. The Clippers and Washington each only have 2 picks and might be in the mood to make a deal.

That said, if the real NBA draft goes the way ours has and the Hawks find this guy still on the board at 34, I suspect they will be doing backflips.

With the #34 pick in the DBR mock draft, the Hawks pick Kevin Huerter, SG, Maryland.

Many mocks have Huerter going in the late teens and he supposedly has a promise from a team picking in the mid-20s. At 6-7, he has excellent size for the SG position, though he does not have great length and is not an explosive athlete. What he is is a dynamic shooter (42% from 3) and a really smart ballplayer who moves the ball well and seems to make the players around him better. He really wowed scouts at the NBA combine where lots of folks simply said, "he just the kind of guy you want on your team." I've seem some folks call him "a poor man's Gordon Heyward."

-Jason "there may be some question about my first pick or two, but I scored homeruns with my last 2 picks... I bet both go higher in the NBA draft than I took them" Evans

I was seriously considering this guy at #17. I was wondering when someone would finally scoop him up. He's a great shooter with size, and underrated defensively. Awesome value in the 2nd round. Nice pick!

[awhom111]

awhom111 will have more details later, but he tells me...

With the 28th pick in the DBR Mock Draft, the Golden St. Warriors select - Donte DiVincenzo, SG, Villanova.

Here is my writeup:

After another championship this year, this offseason is likely to be far more eventful than last offseason. While the obvious plan involves keeping the four core players together, the pieces around them will change due to a combination of choice and cost. Counting Kevin Durant, the team has nine of fifteen roster spots filled. David West has earned the chance to return or leave on his own terms. Patrick McCaw and Kevon Looney may end up out of our price range even though both would certainly have a role to play. Zaza Pachulia has outlived his usefulness and Javale McGee may have worn out his welcome, although it would not be surprising to see him find his way back. Hopefully a season of playing with him will have made the players forget any notion that Nick Young should be around. With the need for new faces and some younger players who can help during the regular season as Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston are around to be ready for the playoffs, this pick represents an opportunity. If the pick is a good one, it is the cheapest way to lock down a young player for up to four years as we have had reasonable success in this area of the draft in recent years. Unfortunately, this draft format does not allow us to trade cash considerations and secret scouting reports from EuroCamp for a pick from the Bulls.

The only position where we clearly have three players is point guard so there was no specific position need to chase. A potential Eurostash player was also not in consideration as the need is to get a player who can contribute in a season or two. As our pick approached, a number of players that fit the bill were still available. We chose Donte DiVincenzo as both of our backup shooting guards may be gone next season. He fits the mold of what we were often looking for during the regular season and failed to find, a player who can come off the bench and provide scoring. It is a bonus that he is already used to being a substitute and he has the kind of confidence that will allow him to assert himself immediately and not just defer to the star players. With the veterans around, some of his rough edges should be smoothed out over time.

[luburch]

I was seriously considering this guy at #17. I was wondering when someone would finally scoop him up. He's a great shooter with size, and underrated defensively. Awesome value in the 2nd round. Nice pick!

Wonder if he fell since he broke his hand and will be out for the next 2+ months?

[coldriver10]

...Melvin Frazier, G/F, Tulane

He's a bit hard to project due to the fact he played at Tulane against inferior competition. But 2nd round picks are all about potential, and we argue Mr. Frazier has amongst the most potential in this draft. He's a very athletic 6'6" with a crazy wingspan of almost 7'2". He's a great defensive player, an area we struggled with mightily, and even shoots 3s at a decent 38% clip. A solid 3-and-D player at 35? Yes, please.

[ncexnyc]

With the 36th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, the New York Knicks select Jacob Evans, from the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Evans is a hardnosed SF, who will nicely fit into Coach Fizdale's two-way system. Jacob led the Bearcat's in scoring and assists, while locking down the opposition's best offensive player.

[Reddevil]

Tell me about it. No, really, tell me about it. I made a list of 6 possibilities for this selection about 8 picks ago, and none of them were those 8 picks.

Memphis has a guard-heavy roster, and we selected Luka Doncic in the first round, so our focus is on the frontcourt. My list of 6 was topped by a pair of players that were in the national championship game, and I'm going to choose Omari Spellman, a redshirt freshman at Villanova.

According to the NBA Combine (https://stats.nba.com/draft/combine-anthro/?SeasonYear=2018-19), Spellman has a 7' 2" wingspan, and he measures out at 6' 8" without shoes, 6' 9.25" with shoes. (Spellman has assured us that he will play the game wearing shoes.) Among participants, he ranked highly in vertical leap and various shooting categories. Obviously, many first-rounders did not participate, but we are no longer in the first round.

Finally, I want to point out one last combine measure: 253.8 pounds. Spellman was a heavier high schooler, weighing 269 at the Nike Academy and 287 at the USA Junior Mini-Camp. Can he keep his weight down? Fortunately, Memphis is a great place to do that, with no oppressive heat or local meat specialties whatsoever.

I love this pick for the Warriors in real life because of his inside out game and another body for LeBron to contend with wherever he plays. If Spellman has a good work ethic, he could have a nice long NBA career.

[JasonEvans]

Updated draft...

First round:
1 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : DeAndre Ayton - Arizona
2 Sacramento - gocanes0506 : Marvin Bagley - Duke
3 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Mo Bamba - Texas
4 Memphis - brevity : Luka Doncic - Real Madrid
5 Dallas - jacone21 : Wendell Carter - Duke
6 Orlando - coldriver10 : Trae Young - Oklahoma
7 Chicago - Furniture : Jaren Jackson - Michigan State
8 Cleveland - subzero02 : Collin Sexton - Alabama
9 New York - ncexnyc : Mikal Bridges - Villanova
10 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Michael Porter - Missouri
11 Charlotte - Acymetric : Miles Bridges - Michigan State
12 LA Clippers - DukieTiger: Lonnie Walker - Miami
13 LA Clippers - DukieTiger: Robert Williams - Texas A&M
14 Denver - CDu : Kevin Knox - Kentucky
15 Washington - reddevil : Shai Gilgeous Alexander - Kentucky
16 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : Dzanan Musa - Bosnia & Herz.
17 Milwaukee - kAzE : Zhaire Smith - Texas Tech
18 San Antonio - Turk (blazindw) : Troy Brown - Oregon
19 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Aaron Holiday - UCLA
20 Minnesota - drummerdevil : Gary Trent Jr. - Duke
21 Utah - tbyers11 : Elie Okobo - France
22 Chicago - Furniture : Grayson Allen - Duke
23 Indiana - luburch : Jerome Robinson - Boston College
24 Portland - FerryFor50 : Chandler Hutchison - Boise St.
25 LA Lakers - JNort : Mitchell Robinson - High School
26 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Josh Okogie - Ga Tech
27 Boston - flyingdutchdevil : Jared Vanderbilt - Kentucky
28 Golden St. - awhom111 : Donte DiVincenzo - Villanova
29 Brooklyn – Billy Dat : Keita Bates-Diop, tOSU
30 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Khyrie Thomas, Creighton

Second round:
31 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : Jalen Brunson, Villanova
32 Memphis - brevity : Omari Spellman, Villanova
33 Dallas - jacone21 : Trevon Duval, Duke
34 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Kevin Huerter, Maryland
35 Orlando - coldriver10 : Melvin Frazier, Tulane
36 New York - ncexnyc : Jacob Evans, Cincy
37 Sacramento - gocanes0506 : Shake Milton, SMU
38 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Rodions Kurucs, Latvia
39 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Jevon Carter, West Virginia
40 Brooklyn – Billy Dat
41 Orlando - coldriver10
42 Detroit - BD80
43 Denver - CDu
44 Washington - reddevil
45 Brooklyn – Billy Dat
46 Houston - DukeTrinity11
47 LA Lakers - JNort
48 Minnesota - drummerdevil
49 San Antonio - Turk
50 Indiana - luburch
51 New Orleans - theschwartz
52 Utah - tbyers11
53 Oklahoma Cty - johnb
54 Dallas - jacone21
55 Charlotte - Acymetric
56 Philadelphia - pfrduke
57 Oklahoma Cty - johnb
58 Denver - CDu
59 Phoenix - NSDukeFan
60 Philadelphia - pfrduke

[gocanes0506]

with the 37th pick the Kings Select G Shake Milton- SMU

He is a bigger guy a 6'6 and would be welcome addition on the wings. He is a very capable 3 point shooter at 43.4% last year. he doesnt have to have the ball in his hands to be a contributor. I am hoping he will be a very capable 3 PT shooter by either dribble drives from Fox or inside-outside work from the one of 18 big men we have. He is also very capable of playing solid defense with is long arms. Kings need defense, badly.

We were hoping for Jacob Evans but was taken one pick earlier. In the end we are very satisfied with Milton.

[ncexnyc]

with the 37th pick the Kings Select G Shake Milton- SMU

He is a bigger guy a 6'6 and would be welcome addition on the wings. He is a very capable 3 point shooter at 43.4% last year. he doesnt have to have the ball in his hands to be a contributor. I am hoping he will be a very capable 3 PT shooter by either dribble drives from Fox or inside-outside work from the one of 18 big men we have. He is also very capable of playing solid defense with is long arms. Kings need defense, badly.

We were hoping for Jacob Evans but was taken one pick earlier. In the end we are very satisfied with Milton.

Funny how that works out as before shutting it down last night I had Frazier lined up and in my sights. I also considered Issac Bonga a SF and Brandon McCoy a C.

[JasonEvans]

PFRDuke told me who he wants with his 2 consecutive picks here. I am sure he will explain more later.

With the 38th pick in the DBR Mock Draft, the 76ers take Rodions Kurucs, F, Latvia

With the 39th pick in the DBR Mock Draft, the 76ers take Jevon Carter, defensive stud/G, West Virginia

[Billy Dat]

While it is now hipster heaven, Williamsburgh, Brooklyn was, at the turn of the century, a German neighborhood. One of my favorite places to eat, regardless of cuisine, was originally known as “Carl Luger’s Café, Billiards and Bowling Alley”, owned by Carl's Uncle Peter, a man who knew how to select a porterhouse. I am sure many of you have eaten there, and recognize the German influence in its beer hall style long tables, beer stein decorations, and the like.

What does this have to do with anything?

The Brooklyn Nets want our 40th pick to feel at home, and we are especially hoping he'll eat there often enough to put some meat on his frame. With Jarrett Allen a promising young center, our pick will be free to shoot over smaller 4s and space the floor. Sure, his defense is suspect, but Kenny Atkinson is a player development guru. Grow yourself a handlebar mustache, pick up some flannel, and throw in some avant-garde Euro flourishes for good measure. The locals will think you are just part of the circus, Moritz Wagner.

[brevity]

with the 37th pick the Kings Select G Shake Milton- SMU

Do you want some Channing Frye with that?

[BD80]

… The Brooklyn Nets want … [as] part of the circus, Moritz Wagner.

So the Barclay Center will be blaring strains of Tristan und Isolde? Wagnerians taking over Brooklyn bars?


Love the suggestion of the handlebar mustache … Mo could make it work.


The Pistons thank you for removing the temptation of picking what would be the seventh or eighth "Stretch 4" with "No - D" on the roster. He is very popular with UM fans. I can see him sticking with the right roster, not the Pistons roster.

[pfrduke]

PFRDuke told me who he wants with his 2 consecutive picks here. I am sure he will explain more later.

With the 38th pick in the DBR Mock Draft, the 76ers take Rodions Kurucs, F, Latvia

With the 39th pick in the DBR Mock Draft, the 76ers take Jevon Carter, defensive stud/G, West Virginia

Briefly - the 76ers have 6 picks, so we're not expecting all of them to end up on the NBA roster this season. Drafting and stashing some developing European talent is thus high on our list of priorities, particularly once we get out of the first round. Kurucs was considered a first-round talent in 2017, but had to withdraw because of concerns about his Barcelona buyout. That situation did not go over well with anyone this year and the resulting turmoil has taken him off the first round radar now that he's back in the draft, but the talent is still there. A 6'9" combo forward with good shooting touch, decent athleticism, and scoring chops, Kurucs is someone who could develop into a meaningful NBA rotation player down the road. But we don't need him to do that next season. Enjoy another year in Europe young man!

For Carter, I think all you need to know is that Jason added "defensive stud" of his own accord when listing my picks. That's exactly why we like Carter here - someone who can be a disruptive defensive force at the point of attack in spot minutes. The mock 76ers are tentatively slotting Carter into one of the G-League two-way player roster spots with the goal of getting him extended time running the offense for the 87ers* while keeping him available to fill in over the course of the NBA season.

*apparently, the 76ers rebranded the 87ers the "Blue Coats" a couple months ago - the mock 76ers do not endorse.

[Billy Dat]

So the Barclay Center will be blaring strains of Tristan und Isolde? Wagnerians taking over Brooklyn bars?
Love the suggestion of the handlebar mustache … Mo could make it work.
The Pistons thank you for removing the temptation of picking what would be the seventh or eighth "Stretch 4" with "No - D" on the roster. He is very popular with UM fans. I can see him sticking with the right roster, not the Pistons roster.

You're welcome, I wouldn't want him taking shots from Luke.

[coldriver10]

The Orlando Magic had a mental write-up explaining the reasons we drafted Mo Wagner. Thanks for nothing, Brooklyn.

Instead, with the 41st pick, we are pleased to add:

Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, SG/S, Kansas

to our team. We need reliable outside shooting almost as much as we need anything else, and we're thrilled to add a talented and lengthy 3 pt assassin to our lineup. (I know someone described how to bold something on one's phone earlier in the thread but I don't have time to look it up. Solo paragraph it is!)

[BD80]

The Pistons select Arnoldas Kulboka, a 6’11” SF out of Lithuania. He is a pure shooter that could really give a boost to the second squad. Only 20, he may/should/might fill out. The Pistons don’t have much direction right now, Kulboka is at least a piece that could help. Low risk, potential starter or top sixth man in a few years. The only SF on the Pistons crowded roster that is under contract is Stanley Johnson. We have mucho dinero tied up in Drummond, Griffin and Reggie Jackson, and have Luke and Reggie Bullock (there's THREE Reggies on the roster) doing a good job at the PG slot. With a full roster and no salary cap room, might as well take a swing at a potential difference maker instead of adding another workman-like fringe player.

[drummerdevil]

The Orlando Magic had a mental write-up explaining the reasons we drafted Mo Wagner. Thanks for nothing, Brooklyn.

Instead, with the 41st pick, we are pleased to add:

Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, SG/S, Kansas

to our team. We need reliable outside shooting almost as much as we need anything else, and we're thrilled to add a talented and lengthy 3 pt assassin to our lineup. (I know someone described how to bold something on one's phone earlier in the thread but I don't have time to look it up. Solo paragraph it is!)

Good pick. Was hoping he would fall to me at 48, but unfortunately not.

[awhom111]

I love this pick for the Warriors in real life because of his inside out game and another body for LeBron to contend with wherever he plays. If Spellman has a good work ethic, he could have a nice long NBA career.

He was my second choice for my pick when I made my final list. We could definitely use one center who is a credible offensive threat.

[CDu]

So, in real life I fully expect the Hawks to make a deal, likely involving this pick or #30 along with the #19 pick in the hopes of moving into the low-mid teens. I don't think they want 4 rookies on the roster and with 4 of the top 34 picks, they are going to get 4 guys good enough to be in the league. The Clippers and Washington each only have 2 picks and might be in the mood to make a deal.

That said, if the real NBA draft goes the way ours has and the Hawks find this guy still on the board at 34, I suspect they will be doing backflips.

With the #34 pick in the DBR mock draft, the Hawks pick Kevin Huerter, SG, Maryland.

Many mocks have Huerter going in the late teens and he supposedly has a promise from a team picking in the mid-20s. At 6-7, he has excellent size for the SG position, though he does not have great length and is not an explosive athlete. What he is is a dynamic shooter (42% from 3) and a really smart ballplayer who moves the ball well and seems to make the players around him better. He really wowed scouts at the NBA combine where lots of folks simply said, "he just the kind of guy you want on your team." I've seem some folks call him "a poor man's Gordon Heyward."

-Jason "there may be some question about my first pick or two, but I scored homeruns with my last 2 picks... I bet both go higher in the NBA draft than I took them" Evans

Huerter probably was the right pick where Trent went. Good pick here for sure.

[CDu]

With the 43rd pick, the McNuggets select De’Anthony Melton, PG, USC. We are pleased to see a mid/late 1st round talent fall to us in the second round. Melton will compete in a crowded backcourt with Mudiay and Murray to pair alongisde SG Gary Harris. But neither of the other two guys has stepped up in the role. So hopefully the third time is a charm. And as a second rounder, the cost to find out is low.

[fraggler]

With the 43rd pick, the McNuggets select De’Anthony Melton, PG, USC. We are pleased to see a mid/late 1st round talent fall to us in the second round. Melton will compete in a crowded backcourt with Mudiay and Murray to pair alongisde SG Gary Harris. But neither of the other two guys has stepped up in the role. So hopefully the third time is a charm. And as a second rounder, the cost to find out is low.

Mudiay was traded to the Knicks during last season. Devin Harris is on the Nuggets in his place.

[CDu]

Mudiay was traded to the Knicks during last season. Devin Harris is on the Nuggets in his place.

Even better!

[Reddevil]

Expect a major roster overhaul this offseason. We have an aging, over the cap team, and we need cheap talent. Expect us to make some trades for draft picks. Shamet is a combo guard that can really shoot the three - perhaps the best in this class. He can defend both guard positions and can also attack the basket. We are thrilled to see him fall to us. Part of our makeover may include trading for DeMarcus cousins. He needs the ball, and this would provide us with higher percentage shots than Beal and Wall throwing up prayers at the end of the shot clock. Making the playoffs is fun, but we need to make moves to go deeper and our current roster is getting stale and unsustainable.

[Billy Dat]

45 - Brooklyn - Rawle Alkins, Arizona

With our final pick in the draft, we are continuing the versatile wing fest. I thought about a lot of different players here. Having been a victim of the "The players I watch the most are the best" many times, I was a little biased against my ACC brethren. That made me consider, but move away from, Miami's Bruce Brown and Virginia's Devon Hall. I also tried to avoid "The guy who lit Duke up is great!" when I thought about Malik Newman. I nearly took Hammy Diallo, with his NY roots and upside. But, in Alkins, I think I got the best of all worlds. He fits the Nets needs and style, he's got a fellow young Wildcat in Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to be a mentor, and hailing from Queens, he's got the street smarts to not be overwhelmed by the temptations of NYC and can take his fellow rooks home to Mama for a nice meal and some coddling when they need it.

[JasonEvans]

Updated draft...

First round:
1 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : DeAndre Ayton - Arizona
2 Sacramento - gocanes0506 : Marvin Bagley - Duke
3 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Mo Bamba - Texas
4 Memphis - brevity : Luka Doncic - Real Madrid
5 Dallas - jacone21 : Wendell Carter - Duke
6 Orlando - coldriver10 : Trae Young - Oklahoma
7 Chicago - Furniture : Jaren Jackson - Michigan State
8 Cleveland - subzero02 : Collin Sexton - Alabama
9 New York - ncexnyc : Mikal Bridges - Villanova
10 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Michael Porter - Missouri
11 Charlotte - Acymetric : Miles Bridges - Michigan State
12 LA Clippers - DukieTiger: Lonnie Walker - Miami
13 LA Clippers - DukieTiger: Robert Williams - Texas A&M
14 Denver - CDu : Kevin Knox - Kentucky
15 Washington - reddevil : Shai Gilgeous Alexander - Kentucky
16 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : Dzanan Musa - Bosnia & Herz.
17 Milwaukee - kAzE : Zhaire Smith - Texas Tech
18 San Antonio - Turk (blazindw) : Troy Brown - Oregon
19 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Aaron Holiday - UCLA
20 Minnesota - drummerdevil : Gary Trent Jr. - Duke
21 Utah - tbyers11 : Elie Okobo - France
22 Chicago - Furniture : Grayson Allen - Duke
23 Indiana - luburch : Jerome Robinson - Boston College
24 Portland - FerryFor50 : Chandler Hutchison - Boise St.
25 LA Lakers - JNort : Mitchell Robinson - High School
26 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Josh Okogie - Ga Tech
27 Boston - flyingdutchdevil : Jared Vanderbilt - Kentucky
28 Golden St. - awhom111 : Donte DiVincenzo - Villanova
29 Brooklyn – Billy Dat : Keita Bates-Diop, tOSU
30 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Khyrie Thomas, Creighton

Second round:
31 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : Jalen Brunson, Villanova
32 Memphis - brevity : Omari Spellman, Villanova
33 Dallas - jacone21 : Trevon Duval, Duke
34 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Kevin Huerter, Maryland
35 Orlando - coldriver10 : Melvin Frazier, Tulane
36 New York - ncexnyc : Jacob Evans, Cincy
37 Sacramento - gocanes0506 : Shake Milton, SMU
38 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Rodions Kurucs, Latvia
39 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Jevon Carter, West Virginia
40 Brooklyn – Billy Dat : Mo Wagner - Michigan
41 Orlando - coldriver10 : Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, Kansas
42 Detroit - BD80 : Arnoldas Kulboka, Lithuania
43 Denver - CDu : De'Anthony Melton, USC
44 Washington - reddevil : Landry Shamet Wichita St.
45 Brooklyn – Billy Dat : Rawle Alkins, Arizona
46 Houston - DukeTrinity11 : Anfernee Simmons, High School
47 LA Lakers - JNort : Hamidou Diallo, Kentucky
48 Minnesota - drummerdevil : Kostas Antetokounmpo, Greece
49 San Antonio - Turk : Isaac Bonga, Germany
50 Indiana - luburch : Chimezie Metu, USC
51 New Orleans - theschwartz
52 Utah - tbyers11
53 Oklahoma Cty - johnb
54 Dallas - jacone21
55 Charlotte - Acymetric
56 Philadelphia - pfrduke
57 Oklahoma Cty - johnb
58 Denver - CDu
59 Phoenix - NSDukeFan
60 Philadelphia - pfrduke

[mgtr]

Looking through the selections so far, it is striking that the ACC is so poorly represented, except for 5 Duke, 1 Boston Colllege and 1 Ga Tech. Am I missing something here? Very few declared for the draft? Not very good? It surprises me -- Duke was better than other ACC teams, but not by that much. A mystery.

[camion]

Looking through the selections so far, it is striking that the ACC is so poorly represented, except for 5 Duke, 1 Boston Colllege and 1 Ga Tech. Am I missing something here? Very few declared for the draft? Not very good? It surprises me -- Duke was better than other ACC teams, but not by that much. A mystery.

Duke bias probably accounts for some of this. But...

Duke was very young and talented.

Youth + Talent = POTENTIAL.

NBA GMs love POTENTIAL.

[brevity]

Looking through the selections so far, it is striking that the ACC is so poorly represented, except for 5 Duke, 1 Boston Colllege and 1 Ga Tech. Am I missing something here? Very few declared for the draft? Not very good? It surprises me -- Duke was better than other ACC teams, but not by that much. A mystery.


Duke bias probably accounts for some of this. But...

Duke was very young and talented.

Youth + Talent = POTENTIAL.

NBA GMs love POTENTIAL.

Also, after those 7 players taken (plus an 8th, Miami's Lonnie Walker), the list of early entrants (http://www.nba.com/article/2018/06/12/forty-three-international-early-entry-candidates-withdraw-nba-draft-2018) doesn't have many ACC players:

Deng Adel, Louisville
Bruce Brown, Miami
Bryant Crawford, Wake Forest
Doral Moore, Wake Forest
Ray Spalding, Louisville

The rest eligible for the draft are seniors, many of which will be undrafted and have to work their way onto a roster. Well, most of them.

"Michael and I can assure everyone that we have not set aside spots for Joel Berry and Theo Pinson. And I can further assure you that I am not crossing my fingers right now."
-- Charlotte Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak (UNC class of 1976)

[CDu]

Also, after those 7 players taken (plus an 8th, Miami's Lonnie Walker), the list of early entrants (http://www.nba.com/article/2018/06/12/forty-three-international-early-entry-candidates-withdraw-nba-draft-2018) doesn't have many ACC players:

Deng Adel, Louisville
Bruce Brown, Miami
Bryant Crawford, Wake Forest
Doral Moore, Wake Forest
Ray Spalding, Louisville

The rest eligible for the draft are seniors, many of which will be undrafted and have to work their way onto a roster. Well, most of them.

"Michael and I can assure everyone that we have not set aside spots for Joel Berry and Theo Pinson. And I can further assure you that I am not crossing my fingers right now."
-- Charlotte Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak (UNC class of 1976)

Yeah, the McNuggets would have taken Walker at 43 if they didn’t already have an overload at SG. He will likely be gone in the teens in the real draft.

[Reddevil]

Also, after those 7 players taken (plus an 8th, Miami's Lonnie Walker), the list of early entrants (http://www.nba.com/article/2018/06/12/forty-three-international-early-entry-candidates-withdraw-nba-draft-2018) doesn't have many ACC players:

Deng Adel, Louisville
Bruce Brown, Miami
Bryant Crawford, Wake Forest
Doral Moore, Wake Forest
Ray Spalding, Louisville

The rest eligible for the draft are seniors, many of which will be undrafted and have to work their way onto a roster. Well, most of them.

"Michael and I can assure everyone that we have not set aside spots for Joel Berry and Theo Pinson. And I can further assure you that I am not crossing my fingers right now."
-- Charlotte Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak (UNC class of 1976)

I'm guessing Bonzi Colson and Theo Pinson get a chance to prove themselves somewhere.

[brevity]

Yeah, the McNuggets would have taken Walker at 43 if they didn’t already have an overload at SG. He will likely be gone in the teens in the real draft.

Did you mean Bruce Brown? Lonnie Walker was drafted by DukieTiger and the Clippers at #12.

[CDu]

Did you mean Bruce Brown? Lonnie Walker was drafted by DukieTiger and the Clippers at #12.

Yeah I meant Walker. I misread Jason’s post to mean Walker hadn’t been taken yet. Not that he was an 8th ACC player that had been taken already. I hadn’t even looked at SGs because they were off the McNuggets menu.

[DukeTrinity11]

With the 46th pick in the draft, the Houston Rockets will select G Afernee Simmons, a prep to pro prospect who didn't attend college. By all accounts he's a raw prospect who has good athleticism (6’9 wing span, 8’3.5 standing reach) and a shot that has a chance to be special. With the Rockets in win now mode and focused on how to dethrone the Warriors, it makes sense to draft an exciting young prospect to send the G League to develop and perhaps get on the roster later in the year where he can get some run in garbage time at the end of the regular season.

The Rockets would be smart to prepare for the post CP3 era which, based on his injury history, may be coming to an end.

[JNort]

With the 47th pick the LA Lakers select... Hamidou Diallo from the University of Kentucky.

This was difficult as I was stuck on 3 guys and was hoping someone would take 1 or 2 to make my decision easier but alas Diallo, Newman and Bruce Brown were all available. I think Newman and Brown are the better fit if LA brings in LeBron since these guys can from the start be respectable shooters but since I don't know for certain I went with Diallo who would have been a lottery pick last year for his upside, which is mostly due to his length and athleticism which already makes him a great defender. As I type this out I think he can still fit with LeBron just because you don't need many scorers around LeBron but good rebounders and defenders which Diallo is right away.

[drummerdevil]

With the 48th pick, the Minnesota Timberwolves select Kostas Antetokounmpo, f. Ultimately, the wolves were looking for a big man who could play defense, and we decided that no one has more potential than Kostas. After Giannis turned into such a good player, we had a hard time passing up on Kostas even if his stats don’t jump off the page.

[brevity]

With the 48th pick, the Minnesota Timberwolves select Kostas Antetokounmpo, f. Ultimately, the wolves were looking for a big man who could play defense, and we decided that no one has more potential than Kostas. After Giannis turned into such a good player, we had a hard time passing up on Kostas even if his stats don’t jump off the page.

I know it's a mock draft, and Milwaukee has no second round picks, but somewhere there's a group of Milwaukee Bucks jersey stitchers breathing a sigh of relief. Now they won't have to change their existing Giannis jerseys to "G. ANTETOKOUNMPO" to differentiate from the new "K. ANTETOKOUNMPO" set.

Unless, of course, they are paid by the letter.

[Turk]

49 - San Antonio: Isaac Bonga, F, Frankfurt, Germany

We were a bit distracted yesterday with all the leaks from Kawhi's people and their polite suggestions about where he might like to play next season. While we appreciate their helpfulness, we're the Spurs; we keep our business in-house, and we will not share our opinions about Uncle Dennis and Kawhi's overmatched agent's approach to contract negotiations and relationship building.

We're going the draft-and-stash route with young Isaac. At 6'9" with a 7'0" wingspan, he has Tremendous Upside Potential. He's a versatile, athletic playmaker, with a high basketball IQ and good instincts defending the pick-and-roll and rebounding. We like his 90%+ free throw shooting, which is encouraging as an indicator of NBA 3-pt range. The lad is only 18, so he will need to hit the weights, continue to develop his game, and dial down his Reckless Abandon just a little bit. Meanwhile, we'll get back to sorting out this mess with Leonard's "group" and see where we are with Isaac after next season.

[JasonEvans]

With the 47th pick the LA Lakers select... Hamidou Diallo from the University of Kentucky.

This was difficult as I was stuck on 3 guys and was hoping someone would take 1 or 2 to make my decision easier but alas Diallo, Newman and Bruce Brown were all available. I think Newman and Brown are the better fit if LA brings in LeBron since these guys can from the start be respectable shooters but since I don't know for certain I went with Diallo who would have been a lottery pick last year for his upside, which is mostly due to his length and athleticism which already makes him a great defender. As I type this out I think he can still fit with LeBron just because you don't need many scorers around LeBron but good rebounders and defenders which Diallo is right away.

A fine pick, but I would like to point out that Diallo was never projected as a lottery pick last year. Had he been assured of being a first rounder he would have come out last year, for sure. He has elite athleticism, even by NBA standards, but his basketball skill-set is still very much a work in progress. This could be a total steal in a few years or he could be nowhere near NBA ready. But, for a mid-2nd rounder, that works.

[JNort]

A fine pick, but I would like to point out that Diallo was never projected as a lottery pick last year. Had he been assured of being a first rounder he would have come out last year, for sure. He has elite athleticism, even by NBA standards, but his basketball skill-set is still very much a work in progress. This could be a total steal in a few years or he could be nowhere near NBA ready. But, for a mid-2nd rounder, that works.

Yes you're correct I misread what I looked at. He was however projected by most scouts to be drafted in the mid 20s last year but wasnt given any guarantees. This late in the draft I swung for the upside and his potential to guard multiple spots.

[luburch]

With the 50th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft the Indiana Pacers select Chimezie Metu from USC

Metu stands at 6'10" and has shown high level athleticism. He needs work on both ends of the court, but at pick 50, he's worth taking a chance on.

[JasonEvans]

Updated draft...

First round:
1 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : DeAndre Ayton - Arizona
2 Sacramento - gocanes0506 : Marvin Bagley - Duke
3 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Mo Bamba - Texas
4 Memphis - brevity : Luka Doncic - Real Madrid
5 Dallas - jacone21 : Wendell Carter - Duke
6 Orlando - coldriver10 : Trae Young - Oklahoma
7 Chicago - Furniture : Jaren Jackson - Michigan State
8 Cleveland - subzero02 : Collin Sexton - Alabama
9 New York - ncexnyc : Mikal Bridges - Villanova
10 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Michael Porter - Missouri
11 Charlotte - Acymetric : Miles Bridges - Michigan State
12 LA Clippers - DukieTiger: Lonnie Walker - Miami
13 LA Clippers - DukieTiger: Robert Williams - Texas A&M
14 Denver - CDu : Kevin Knox - Kentucky
15 Washington - reddevil : Shai Gilgeous Alexander - Kentucky
16 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : Dzanan Musa - Bosnia & Herz.
17 Milwaukee - kAzE : Zhaire Smith - Texas Tech
18 San Antonio - Turk (blazindw) : Troy Brown - Oregon
19 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Aaron Holiday - UCLA
20 Minnesota - drummerdevil : Gary Trent Jr. - Duke
21 Utah - tbyers11 : Elie Okobo - France
22 Chicago - Furniture : Grayson Allen - Duke
23 Indiana - luburch : Jerome Robinson - Boston College
24 Portland - FerryFor50 : Chandler Hutchison - Boise St.
25 LA Lakers - JNort : Mitchell Robinson - High School
26 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Josh Okogie - Ga Tech
27 Boston - flyingdutchdevil : Jared Vanderbilt - Kentucky
28 Golden St. - awhom111 : Donte DiVincenzo - Villanova
29 Brooklyn – Billy Dat : Keita Bates-Diop, tOSU
30 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Khyrie Thomas, Creighton

Second round:
31 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : Jalen Brunson, Villanova
32 Memphis - brevity : Omari Spellman, Villanova
33 Dallas - jacone21 : Trevon Duval, Duke
34 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Kevin Huerter, Maryland
35 Orlando - coldriver10 : Melvin Frazier, Tulane
36 New York - ncexnyc : Jacob Evans, Cincy
37 Sacramento - gocanes0506 : Shake Milton, SMU
38 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Rodions Kurucs, Latvia
39 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Jevon Carter, West Virginia
40 Brooklyn – Billy Dat : Mo Wagner - Michigan
41 Orlando - coldriver10 : Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, Kansas
42 Detroit - BD80 : Arnoldas Kulboka, Lithuania
43 Denver - CDu : De'Anthony Melton, USC
44 Washington - reddevil : Landry Shamet Wichita St.
45 Brooklyn – Billy Dat : Rawle Alkins, Arizona
46 Houston - DukeTrinity11 : Anfernee Simmons, High School
47 LA Lakers - JNort : Hamidou Diallo, Kentucky
48 Minnesota - drummerdevil : Kostas Antetokounmpo, Greece
49 San Antonio - Turk : Isaac Bonga, Germany
50 Indiana - luburch : Chimezie Metu, USC
51 New Orleans - theschwartz : Kevin Hervey, UT Arlington
52 Utah - tbyers11 : Alize Johnson, Missouri St
53 Oklahoma Cty - johnb : Devon Hall, Virginia
54 Dallas - jacone21 : Vincent Edwards, Purdue
55 Charlotte - Acymetric
56 Philadelphia - pfrduke
57 Oklahoma Cty - johnb
58 Denver - CDu
59 Phoenix - NSDukeFan
60 Philadelphia - pfrduke

[drummerdevil]

Kostas is actually from Dayton most recently.

[theschwartz]

After one of their best seasons in years and sweeping Portland in the 1st round of the playoffs before falling to the champs, the Pelicans have a pivotal offseason ahead of them. With only 7 players under contract for 2018-19 (including our own, Frank Jackson, who did not play a minute in his rookie season) at $92 million, the Pelicans' priority is to decide what to do with some of their own free agents, including Boogie Cousins, Rajon Rondo, and Ian Clark. If the Pelicans re-sign all three players (even if they're able to re-sign Cousins at a lower number coming off a torn Achilles), they'll be nudging against the luxury cap, putting them in a tricky position for filling out the rest of their roster. Historically, the 51st pick of the draft has not made much of an impact in the NBA, but in this case, with a need for minimum salary contracts, the Pelicans may be looking for someone who can come in right away and contribute to the team at a low cost. We were initially looking at Bruce Brown for the Pelicans, but with Frank Jackson reportedly ready to play in Summer League, we felt there might be some redundancy there. Once we saw that Kevin Hervey was still available though, we decided to go with him. He had a great career at UT Arlington, where he was a prolific scorer and a surprisingly effective rebounder. He's not the best shooter, but improved his 3-point shooting each year, getting to 33.9% by his senior year. Bodes well for future improvement down the road. He's got a history of knee injuries which is definitely concerning, but at #51, sometimes you have to take a risk. If Hervey can come in and contribute 10-15 mpg, Pelicans will consider that a win.

[tbyers11]

With the 52nd pick the Utah Jazz select

52 - Alize Johnson, 6'8" PF, Missouri St

The Jazz are looking at a power forward that can play the stretch 4. Jazz were very much interested in Kevin Hervey here so kudos to New Orleans for taking him.

Alize Johnson is a 6'8" PF with "wing-like" fluidity that should be able to guard positions 1-4 in today's switch-happy NBA. He also has a nose for rebounds finishing in the top 10 for DR% nationwide the last 2 seasons. His 3 pt shooting was bad in his senior year (28% on about 5 attempts/gm) but it was much better (39% on 4 attempts/gm) his junior year. If he can regain his 3 pt stroke he could have some upside as a late second round pick. The Jazz aren't looking to draft and stash and this 22 yr old could help right away if things fall into place. He was also the KenPom player of the year last year for the Missouri Valley conference, so he's got that going for him.

[johnb]

The OKC GM chose to travel on draft weekend and will soon be fired.

Pick coming up soon.

[johnb]

The OKC GM chose to travel on draft weekend and will soon be fired.

Pick coming up soon.

After carefully reviewing who is available this late in the draft, the Thunder believe they have found someone who can fit what they need: a very solid overall player who can shoot the rock. With the 53rd pick, OKC picks Devon Hall, who led the ACC in 3 point field goal percentage last year while also making the all defensive team. He is seen as someone who doesn't have a freakish specific skill, but UVA has surprised to the upside for years, and I'm thinking he is going to be a rotation player when OKC thunders through next year's postseason.

[jacone21]

The Dallas GM is a night owl.

With our final pick in the draft, we select Vincent Edwards out of Purdue. This late in the draft, we're looking for a steal, someone who can beat the odds. We like Vince's length, scoring and rebounding ability, along with his 40% three point and 85% free throw percentage. We think he can produce at the NBA level as a 3 and D guy, and are willing to give him a shot with this pick.

[Acymetric]

With the 55th pick in the NBA draft, the Hornets select Alonzo Trier.

We were tempted to go with a center, and there is one we like still on the board, but decided to look for some possible scoring off the bench in Alonzo.

We had to kick MJ out of the room because he kept insisting we draft Theo Pinson.

[pfrduke]

Continuing our trend of picking players with 2017 first round buzz who are getting less attention this year, the 76ers will roll the dice on Justin Jackson, who wowed as a freshman before doing decidedly less wowing as a sophomore until bowing out with an injury 11 games into the season. I think some of the struggle early in the 2018 season came from plain bad shooting luck - after hitting 44% of his 3s as a freshman he was just 10-40 in 11 games as a sophomore, but the underlying shooting fundamentals are encouraging, as he's a career 73% FT shooter (and his FT #s were even better in 2018). We think Jackson is also a versatile defender and - along with Okogie and Carter - gives us another bench contributor who we can ask to come in and just make life miserable for the opposing team for a few minutes a game. If it pans out - a big if - we end up with a first round talent at the #56 pick, which is hard to argue with (and if it doesn't pan out - whatever, it's the #56 pick).

[Acymetric]

Continuing our trend of picking players with 2017 first round buzz who are getting less attention this year, the 76ers will roll the dice on Justin Jackson, who wowed as a freshman before doing decidedly less wowing as a sophomore until bowing out with an injury 11 games into the season. I think some of the struggle early in the 2018 season came from plain bad shooting luck - after hitting 44% of his 3s as a freshman he was just 10-40 in 11 games as a sophomore, but the underlying shooting fundamentals are encouraging, as he's a career 73% FT shooter (and his FT #s were even better in 2018). We think Jackson is also a versatile defender and - along with Okogie and Carter - gives us another bench contributor who we can ask to come in and just make life miserable for the opposing team for a few minutes a game. If it pans out - a big if - we end up with a first round talent at the #56 pick, which is hard to argue with (and if it doesn't pan out - whatever, it's the #56 pick).

There were three players I was considering, and Justin Jackson was the third. Nice pick with some upside in the late 2nd round.

[drummerdevil]

Continuing our trend of picking players with 2017 first round buzz who are getting less attention this year, the 76ers will roll the dice on Justin Jackson, who wowed as a freshman before doing decidedly less wowing as a sophomore until bowing out with an injury 11 games into the season. I think some of the struggle early in the 2018 season came from plain bad shooting luck - after hitting 44% of his 3s as a freshman he was just 10-40 in 11 games as a sophomore, but the underlying shooting fundamentals are encouraging, as he's a career 73% FT shooter (and his FT #s were even better in 2018). We think Jackson is also a versatile defender and - along with Okogie and Carter - gives us another bench contributor who we can ask to come in and just make life miserable for the opposing team for a few minutes a game. If it pans out - a big if - we end up with a first round talent at the #56 pick, which is hard to argue with (and if it doesn't pan out - whatever, it's the #56 pick).

I saw it suggested in an article that his struggle early in the 2018 season was because he was asked to play through the injury, and then he got a second opinion and decided he had to stop playing.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23815804/2018-nba-draft-10-sleepers-steals-watch

[johnb]

With the 57th pick, OKC selects Brandon McCoy, UNLV.

He's a 19 year old center or power forward who was conference freshman of the year while averaging 16.9 ppg, 10.3 rpg, and 1.8 bpg. He shot 72.5% from the line.

Against Deandre Ayton and Arizona, his numbers were 33 (13 for 17) and 10.

He apparently anchored the UNLV defense as a freshman. While not as explosive as many NBA athletes, he was able to run fast enough to keep up with (and lead) a UNLV offense that was more fast paced than most college teams.

A former 5 star recruit with offers from Kansas, Arizona, Oregon, Cal, etc, McCoy apparently chose UNLV because his mentor (Sean Manning) was close with the UNLV head coach (Marvin Menzies). Playing against and with 2nd tier talent might have contributed to his stock slipping the last few months (especially in contrast to the enthusiasm after his Arizona game). Nevertheless, he was projected into the first round as recently as a month ago. His footwork needs to be refined. He doesn't shoot a lot of 3 pointers and so can't be a stretch 4 despite being an athletic guy who shot 72% from the foul line. He goes right too often. His wingspan is average (for a 7 footer). He is less flashy than guys like Ayton and Bagley and ends up with a double double because he hustles around the glass and outworks his opponents.

Well, ya know, call me old school, but I don't want my 7 foot, 250 pound, end-of-second-round center hoisting lots of 3 pointers or routinely bringing the ball up the court. At the 57th pick, if I can get a big, strong guy who can supply front court depth and get points via rebounds, great. And as for skills and footwork, give us time to coach him while he gets frustrated playing against guys who are as good as he is (probably in the G league for a year or two), and I think he'll turn out to be a steal this late in the draft.

[NSDukeFan]

With the 57th pick, OKC selects Brandon McCoy, UNLV.

He's a 19 year old center who was conference freshman of the year while averaging 16.9 ppg, 10.3 rpg, and 1.8 bpg. He shot 72.5% from the line.

Against Deandre Ayton and Arizona, his numbers were 33 (13 for 17) and 10.

He apparently anchored the UNLV defense as a freshman. While not as explosive as many NBA athletes, he was able to run fast enough to keep up with (and lead) a UNLV offense that was more fast paced than most college teams.

A former 5 star recruit, his stock has slipped for the last few months--he was projected into the first round as recently as a month ago. His footwork needs to be refined. He doesn't shoot 3 pointers. He goes right too often. His wingspan is average (for a 7 footer). He is less flashy than guys like Ayton and Bagley and ends up with a double double because he hustles around the glass and outworks his opponents.

Well, ya know, call me old school, but I don't want my 7 foot, 250 pound, end-of-second-round center hoisting lots of 3 pointers or routinely bringing the ball up the court. At the 57th pick, if I can get a big, strong guy who can supply front court depth and get points via rebounds, great. And as for skills and footwork, give us time to coach him while he gets frustrated playing against guys who are as good as he is (probably in the G league for a year or two), and I think he'll turn out to be a steal this late in the draft.

I was hoping he would last a couple more picks.

[Acymetric]

Interesting that the two other players I was considering at #55 ended up going in the two subsequent picks! Hopefully I made the right choice.

[CDu]

Bruce Brown, SG, Miami. If someone had said a year ago that Brown would be available at #58, I'd have said "that's crazy." Brown has first-round talent. He's extremely strong and athletic, a dynamite defender, with some playmaking ability and fearlessness. Unfortunately, a foot injury and a poor shooting season torpedoed his draft stock. The mock-Nuggets have taken a combo forward and a PG already in this draft, and we have a really capable SG (harris) and combo guard (Murray) on the roster already. So getting Brown here is a bit of doubling down at a position of potential strength. Worst case, Brown as a usable defender capable of switching 1-3. If he can improve his shot (he shot 74% from the line and 35% from 3 as a freshman before cratering this year) he has a bright future. At pick 58, we're willing to see if he can make it happen.

[NSDukeFan]

With the 59th pick, the Phoenix Suns select [Devonte Graham, PG, Kansas]
With 4 picks in this draft and weaknesses galore, we are trying to get some good basketball players. Now that we have 60% of last year’s first team All-Americans, we feel we have some more good basketball players.
Graham isn’t particularly large at 6’2 185, but he does have a nice wingspan and has shown the ability to play off the ball and to be a lead guard. He sounds like a prototypical combo guard that we hope can be a contributor to our team.

[pfrduke]

About to get on a plane so can’t give the detail, but we are closing out the draft with another draft and stash - Tryggvi Hlinason, the 7-foot-plus Icelandic center from a family of farmers. He has several years left on his EuroLeague deal and although he’s not perfect for this version of the NBA, if the league starts to pivot back to bigs (and he works on his conditioning) he could be a useful talent in the post. Plus, how often do you get to draft a 7-foot Icelandic farmer into the (mock) NBA?

[MarkD83]

About to get on a plane so can’t give the detail, but we are closing out the draft with another draft and stash - Tryggvi Hlinason, the 7-foot-plus Icelandic center from a family of farmers. He has several years left on his EuroLeague deal and although he’s not perfect for this version of the NBA, if the league starts to pivot back to bigs (and he works on his conditioning) he could be a useful talent in the post. Plus, how often do you get to draft a 7-foot Icelandic farmer into the (mock) NBA?

I trust the process.

[Turk]

I saw it suggested in an article that his struggle early in the 2018 season was because he was asked to play through the injury, and then he got a second opinion and decided he had to stop playing.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23815804/2018-nba-draft-10-sleepers-steals-watch

The mock Spurs are not amused at this exercise in deja vu all over again. "Why don't you give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it?"

We were seriously tempted by both Justin Jackson and Alize Johnson before we decided to go the Eurostash route.

[Acymetric]

With the 55th pick in the NBA draft, the Hornets select Alonzo Trier.

We were tempted to go with a center, and there is one we like still on the board, but decided to look for some possible scoring off the bench in Alonzo.

We had to kick MJ out of the room because he kept insisting we draft Theo Pinson.


With the 57th pick, OKC selects Brandon McCoy, UNLV.

He's a 19 year old center or power forward who was conference freshman of the year while averaging 16.9 ppg, 10.3 rpg, and 1.8 bpg. He shot 72.5% from the line.

Against Deandre Ayton and Arizona, his numbers were 33 (13 for 17) and 10.

He apparently anchored the UNLV defense as a freshman. While not as explosive as many NBA athletes, he was able to run fast enough to keep up with (and lead) a UNLV offense that was more fast paced than most college teams.

A former 5 star recruit with offers from Kansas, Arizona, Oregon, Cal, etc, McCoy apparently chose UNLV because his mentor (Sean Manning) was close with the UNLV head coach (Marvin Menzies). Playing against and with 2nd tier talent might have contributed to his stock slipping the last few months (especially in contrast to the enthusiasm after his Arizona game). Nevertheless, he was projected into the first round as recently as a month ago. His footwork needs to be refined. He doesn't shoot a lot of 3 pointers and so can't be a stretch 4 despite being an athletic guy who shot 72% from the foul line. He goes right too often. His wingspan is average (for a 7 footer). He is less flashy than guys like Ayton and Bagley and ends up with a double double because he hustles around the glass and outworks his opponents.

Well, ya know, call me old school, but I don't want my 7 foot, 250 pound, end-of-second-round center hoisting lots of 3 pointers or routinely bringing the ball up the court. At the 57th pick, if I can get a big, strong guy who can supply front court depth and get points via rebounds, great. And as for skills and footwork, give us time to coach him while he gets frustrated playing against guys who are as good as he is (probably in the G league for a year or two), and I think he'll turn out to be a steal this late in the draft.

Poor communication in the Hornets organization leading up to the [mock] draft...if I knew about the Howard to Nets trade, I probably would have gone with McCoy.

[johnb]

Poor communication in the Hornets organization leading up to the [mock] draft...if I knew about the Howard to Nets trade, I probably would have gone with McCoy.

Happy to have him drop. Thunder management had been following McCoy quite closely, or at least closely during its mad 15 minute scramble to find somebody tall who was viewed as a top 50 player. Since Thunder management tends to watch only Duke and NCAA games, we’ll be interested in watching him play for the first time.

[-jk]

It's a wrap!

First round:
1 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : DeAndre Ayton - Arizona
2 Sacramento - gocanes0506 : Marvin Bagley - Duke
3 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Mo Bamba - Texas
4 Memphis - brevity : Luka Doncic - Real Madrid
5 Dallas - jacone21 : Wendell Carter - Duke
6 Orlando - coldriver10 : Trae Young - Oklahoma
7 Chicago - Furniture : Jaren Jackson - Michigan State
8 Cleveland - subzero02 : Collin Sexton - Alabama
9 New York - ncexnyc : Mikal Bridges - Villanova
10 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Michael Porter - Missouri
11 Charlotte - Acymetric : Miles Bridges - Michigan State
12 LA Clippers - DukieTiger: Lonnie Walker - Miami
13 LA Clippers - DukieTiger: Robert Williams - Texas A&M
14 Denver - CDu : Kevin Knox - Kentucky
15 Washington - reddevil : Shai Gilgeous Alexander - Kentucky
16 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : Dzanan Musa - Bosnia & Herz.
17 Milwaukee - kAzE : Zhaire Smith - Texas Tech
18 San Antonio - Turk (blazindw) : Troy Brown - Oregon
19 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Aaron Holiday - UCLA
20 Minnesota - drummerdevil : Gary Trent Jr. - Duke
21 Utah - tbyers11 : Elie Okobo - France
22 Chicago - Furniture : Grayson Allen - Duke
23 Indiana - luburch : Jerome Robinson - Boston College
24 Portland - FerryFor50 : Chandler Hutchison - Boise St.
25 LA Lakers - JNort : Mitchell Robinson - High School
26 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Josh Okogie - Ga Tech
27 Boston - flyingdutchdevil : Jared Vanderbilt - Kentucky
28 Golden St. - awhom111 : Donte DiVincenzo - Villanova
29 Brooklyn – Billy Dat : Keita Bates-Diop, tOSU
30 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Khyrie Thomas, Creighton

Second round:
31 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : Jalen Brunson, Villanova
32 Memphis - brevity : Omari Spellman, Villanova
33 Dallas - jacone21 : Trevon Duval, Duke
34 Atlanta - JasonEvans : Kevin Huerter, Maryland
35 Orlando - coldriver10 : Melvin Frazier, Tulane
36 New York - ncexnyc : Jacob Evans, Cincy
37 Sacramento - gocanes0506 : Shake Milton, SMU
38 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Rodions Kurucs, Latvia
39 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Jevon Carter, West Virginia
40 Brooklyn – Billy Dat : Mo Wagner - Michigan
41 Orlando - coldriver10 : Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, Kansas
42 Detroit - BD80 : Arnoldas Kulboka, Lithuania
43 Denver - CDu : De'Anthony Melton, USC
44 Washington - reddevil : Landry Shamet Wichita St.
45 Brooklyn – Billy Dat : Rawle Alkins, Arizona
46 Houston - DukeTrinity11 : Anfernee Simmons, High School
47 LA Lakers - JNort : Hamidou Diallo, Kentucky
48 Minnesota - drummerdevil : Kostas Antetokounmpo, Greece
49 San Antonio - Turk : Isaac Bonga, Germany
50 Indiana - luburch : Chimezie Metu, USC
51 New Orleans - theschwartz : Kevin Hervey, UT Arlington
52 Utah - tbyers11 : Alize Johnson, Missouri St
53 Oklahoma Cty - johnb : Devon Hall, Virginia
54 Dallas - jacone21 : Vincent Edwards, Purdue
55 Charlotte - Acymetric : Alonzo Trier
56 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Justin Jackson
57 Oklahoma Cty - johnb : Brandon McCoy
58 Denver - CDu : Bruce Brown
59 Phoenix - NSDukeFan : Devonte Graham
60 Philadelphia - pfrduke : Tryggvi Hlinason

[awhom111]

Here are the picks that we had that were identical to the real draft:
1 1 Deandre Ayton NSDukeFan 0
2 2 Marvin Bagley III gocanes0506 0
8 8 Collin Sexton subzero02 0
35 35 Melvin Frazier coldriver10 0
53 53 Devon Hall johnb 0

Here were the players who we picked after their actual selection:
34 59 Devonte' Graham NSDukeFan 25
24 46 Anfernee Simons DukeTrinity11 22
26 44 Landry Shamet reddevil 18
42 58 Bruce Brown CDu 16
19 34 Kevin Huerter JasonEvans 15
25 40 Moritz Wagner BillyDat 15
43 56 Justin Jackson pfrduke 13
17 28 Donte DiVincenzo awhom111 11
13 23 Jerome Robinson luburch 10
39 49 Isaac Bonga Turk 10
28 36 Jacob Evans ncexnyc 8
32 39 Jevon Carter pfrduke 7
20 26 Josh Okogie pfrduke 6
9 14 Kevin Knox CDu 5
11 15 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reddevil 4
4 7 Jaren Jackson Jr. Furniture 3
15 18 Troy Brown Turk *blazindw 3
22 24 Chandler Hutchison FerryFor50 2
30 32 Omari Spellman brevity 2
45 47 Hamidou Diallo JNort 2
50 52 Alize Johnson tbyers11 2
52 54 Vincent Edwards jacone21 2
3 4 Luka Doncic brevity 1
5 6 Trae Young coldriver10 1
16 17 Zhaire Smith kAzE 1
21 22 Grayson Allen Furniture 1
49 50 Chimezie Metu luburch 1

Here are the players we picked before their actual selection:
48 29 Keita Bates-Diop Billy Dat -19
37 20 Gary Trent Jr. drummerdevil -17
54 37 Shake Milton gocanes0506 -17
27 13 Robert Williams DukieTiger -14
41 27 Jarred Vanderbilt flyingdutchdevil -14
29 16 Dzanan Musa NSDukeFan -13
55 42 Arnoldas Kulboka BD80 -13
60 48 Kostas Antetokounmpo drummerdevil -12
36 25 Mitchell Robinson JNort -11
31 21 Elie Okobo tbyers11 -10
38 30 Khyri Thomas JasonEvans -8
18 12 Lonnie Walker DukieTiger -6
47 41 Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk coldriver10 -6
57 51 Kevin Hervey theschwartz -6
14 10 Michael Porter Jr. pfrduke -4
23 19 Aaron Holiday JasonEvans -4
6 3 Mohamed Bamba JasonEvans -3
46 43 De'Anthony Melton CDu -3
7 5 Wendell Carter Jr. jacone21 -2
33 31 Jalen Brunson NSDukeFan -2
40 38 Rodions Kurucs pfrduke -2
10 9 Mikal Bridges ncexnyc -1
12 11 Miles Bridges Acymetric -1

Here are the players we picked, but were not drafted:
33 Trevon Duval jacone21
45 Rawle Alkins Billy Dat
55 Allonzo Trier Acymetric
57 Brandon McCoy johnb
60 Tryggvi Hlinason pfrduke

Here are the players that we did not pick:
44 N Issuf Sanon
51 N Tony Carr
56 N Ray Spalding
58 N Thomas Welsh
59 N George King

[CDu]

Some talented players wound up not getting picked.

[gocanes0506]

I can say as the fake Kings GM, GT Jr would have been my 2nd round pick had he been there.

How good would Duke be if he stayed? A year to improve his shot and passing. Get into the 1st round, even if it is late 1st round so that you aren’t stuck with the Kings.

[Acymetric]

While I did pick Miles Bridges one spot earlier than he went in the real draft, I'll note that I did have him going to the correct team (just without the pick trading shenanigans). :cool:

[kAzE]

I can say as the fake Kings GM, GT Jr would have been my 2nd round pick had he been there.

How good would Duke be if he stayed? A year to improve his shot and passing. Get into the 1st round, even if it is late 1st round so that you aren’t stuck with the Kings.

Trent was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers.

[gocanes0506]

Trent was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Happy for him! Missed that somehow.