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

[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

[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, 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!