Dallas Mavericks and the #9 pick
Since 1980, Dallas has some history with the #9 overall pick in the NBA Draft. They have selected Rolando Blackman, Dale Ellis, and Samaki Walker, and traded down-but-really-up for Dirk Nowitzki. So no pressure.
Most teams in the lottery would be interested in stockpiling talent, so there is a possibility that Arizona PF Lauri Markkanen gets picked here. Many are tempted to compare him to Dirk, and Dirk himself accepts the comparison in an eye-rolling kind of way. (Real-Dirk, that is, though mock-Dirk feels similarly.) But Dallas' position this high in the draft is an anomaly for them, as was the injury-packed 2016-2017 season. So the worst team in the Southwest Division is in a curious win-now mode.
Part of winning now is keeping your star player happy. Mock-Dirk (and, as I understand, real-Dirk) wants consistency at the point, and Dennis Smith might have worked had the Knicks not selected him at #8. Honestly, though, the measurables highly favor selecting Frank Ntilikina, the 18-year-old Belgian PG who most recently played for Strasbourg in France. Dennis Smith's height and wingspan is 6-foot-3. Frank is 6-foot-5 and is said to have a 7-foot-1-inch wingspan*. Frank should develop and rise quickly in a point guard depth chart that is occupied by J.J. Barea, Devin Harris, and Yogi Ferrell. Time will tell how he works in a backcourt alongside Seth Curry and Wes Matthews.
Ultimately, it's about addressing the needs of a Mavericks organization during the present-Dirk and post-Dirk (both present-mock-Dirk and present-real... oh whatever) by mixing their young and veteran talent, working toward a common goal: making Harrison Barnes look competent.
*Ordinarily, Jay Bilas would be here raving about Frank's wingspan, but he's stuck in Atlanta, yelling at the airline about their restrictive connecting flights policy.
Pick #11 - Charlotte takes Zach Collins
Mattman's grace period is expired, so I will take over the role of Charlotte GM and select the best available players according to the mocks. The Hornets pick Gonzaga freshman big man Zach Collins.
Many folks are projecting Collins to Charlotte. HoopsHabit says this:
Quote:
On paper, Collins looks like a can’t-miss prospect. He may not ever become a star, but he should be a reliable rotation player with the potential to develop into much more than that. He’s a seven-footer, he’s hyper-efficient around the rim, he can shoot from outside, and he can protect the basket. That’s everything you want from your center in the modern NBA.
...
The NBA Draft brings an opportunity to get younger and bring in a potentially franchise-changing player. If Collins reaches his ceiling, he could possibly be that type of player. At worst, he’s a solid role player that they should be able to plug into their big man rotation immediately.
Cody Zeller projects to be their starting center in 2017-18, but he missed 20 games last season. Frank Kaminsky, Marvin Williams, and Miles Plumlee make up the rest of their power forward/center rotation. If drafted, Collins could see minutes at both center and power forward during his rookie season.
-Jason "Detroit is on the clock..." Evans
Pick #12 - Pistons Take Luke Kennard
Reviewing the prospects for the Pistons, it became more clear to me why Frank Jackson chose to go. The Pistons need perimeter shooting, and there is precious little in this draft! When Malik Monk is the best shooter in the draft, you KNOW it is a weak draft.
I am struggling a bit with the “goal” of this mock draft. Are we trying to guess who our team will pick, or are we trying to get the best “value” for our team, or are we trying to make the best pick for the team given certain parameters which we should explain? I’ll shoot for the latter.
Stan Van Gundy runs and coaches the Pistons. He is generally considered a very good coach and a very good judge of veteran talent. SVG has little use for, or patience with, rookies. It is generally likely that SVG will trade a pick for an undervalued veteran. Examples of his acquisitions are Marcus Morris and Tobias Harris, very productive veterans with contracts well below their value.
It is even more likely that SVG trades this year’s pick for a veteran wing, because the Pistons badly need a perimeter shooter – everybody on the team shoots 35% or worse from 3 – and there isn’t much shooting available in this draft. If Luke is available I’ll be forced to choose him (Luke – “force” – get it?) – as he is the best available shooter by far, and has the release and shot fakes that will translate to the next level. I do see a solid career for Luke, but any rookie is going to suffer under SVG. Luke’s time with Coach K, and the development of his game between his freshman and sophomore years, make me believe he can handle and even thrive under SVG. I am extremely worried about Luke’s defense at the next level, but figure that he will be on the second unit and hopefully he can hide a bit on D.
There is a great temptation to take Harry Giles here. Frankly, none of the players available at 12 has much of a chance to ever see an all-star game without buying a ticket. A few may develop into solid starters, but even that is a crap-shoot; this is a weak draft and scouts have been predicting this for years. Depending on his individual work-outs, Harry could be a great pick here. If he were to demonstrate that his athleticism is returning and that he has the skill sets that made him the #1 recruit as a junior, I’d invest this pick on Harry.
If Luke were not available, I’d have gone with Donovan Mitchell – who seems like a SVG guy. Not SG height, but huge wingspan, tough to shoot over and a tenacious defender. This scares me to type, but his outside shot is “developing.” How many pros “develop” an outside shot once in the pros? Mitchell does seem to be one of those guys who is developing, and is a “winner.” He could easily earn minutes on the second unit by playing great defense.
Many mocks have the Pistons taking Zach Collins or Lauri Markkanen, primarily because SVG is fond of “stretch 4s.” However, the Pistons drafted Henry Ellison last year as a “stretch 4” and have no need for 2 developmental “stretch 4s.” They also brought in undervalued Jon Leuer as an undervalued veteran “stretch 4” for the second unit, behind starting “stretch 4” Marcus Morris.
Briefly considered Terrance Ferguson, NBA athleticism for sure, can shoot in streaks, but then thought about how he’d fare under SVG, chuckled, and moved on.
Denver - 13th pick Harry Giles
The Denver Nuggets are in an interesting position. I might compare them to the Celtics-lite. The team has reasonably good players at each position and some depth. The Nuggets best player is power forward Nikola Jokic, who has improved greatly the last couple of years. Danilo Gallinari, a big small forward, was their leading scorer, but just became a free agent. He may re-sign. The team also has Mason Plumlee, who was extremely well coached in college, at center. Also in the mix for bigs are Kenneth Faried, who has dropped off significantly since his Olympic run five years ago, Darrell Arthur, Juan Hernangomez and whatever is left of Roy Hibbert. Wilson Chandler is a solid small forward, as is Gallinari. The backcourt is also solid with Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Jameer Nelson, Will Barton and Emmanuel Mudiay. The team is in the mix for the playoffs, but not close to being contenders. Unless Jokic makes another jump, there are unlikely to be any all-stars.
This team could use a star. Unfortunately, at this point in the draft they aren't likely to get it. So that's why the team is going to roll the dice on one of the top talents in the draft, in hopes that his knee health continues to improve. He is not likely to make a huge impact for the team this year, but should be in the mix for some minutes up front. We would have liked Markkanen or Ntilikina had they been available and considered T.J. Leaf as a stretch four, but are very excited by Harry Giles' potential.