(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
College basketball fans love Stephen Curry, but if he does indeed go to Philly, making 6-of-17 shots from the floor against the big boys won’t have fans sending any praise his way. It’ll probably be popcorn or beer.
17. Phoenix Suns - Wake Forest F Al-Farouq Aminu
Welcome to Phoenix, Al-Farouq, where your shot-blocking and defensive tools will more than likely become "liabilities."
18. Minnesota Timberwolves (via Miami) - Wake Forest F James Johnson
Another Demon Deacon forward in the first round. Seems Wake players understand the first round, and first round only.
19. Atlanta Hawks - Syracuse G Jonny Flynn
Joking aside, I think this would be an excellent fit.
20. Dallas Mavericks - Louisville G Terrence Williams
The last time Dallas made a solid first-round pick was 2003, when Josh Howard became a Maverick. This pick would mirror that one, especially since Williams’ game is comparable to Howard’s. The only differences are Williams respects "The Star-Spangled Banner" and only gets high by way of his vertical jump.
21. Utah Jazz - Virginia Commonwealth G Eric Maynor
Among NBA point guards, Utah's Deron Williams ranks third in minutes per game this season. Like The Beatles, he "needs somebody, not just anybody, to help him out when he’s feeling a little down." Maynor would be a solid backup.
22. New Orleans Hornets - Wake Forest G Jeff Teague
Teague goes to The Big Easy, where it won’t be so "easy" for him to get sufficient playing time.
23. Portland Trailblazers - Pittsburgh F DeJuan Blair
This really fills a crucial need for the Blazers. The franchise has been struggling to fill the short, fat guy role since the departure of Zach Randolph.
24. Sacramento Kings (via Houston) - UCLA G Darren Collison
The Kings seriously need to add some point guard depth. Now, Collison has proven he’s abysmal in big games, but that’s OK with the Maloof brothers, since the team they own won’t be playing in any games of significance.
25. Oklahoma City Thunder (via San Antonio) - Ohio State C BJ Mullens
After really improving in the second half of the season, the Thunder must make a move that will help in their efforts to run Kevin Durant out of town after his rookie contract expires. This pick would would be a huge step in that direction.
26. Chicago Bulls (via Denver) - Georgia Tech F Gani Lawal
Between Lawal and Tyrus Thomas, the Bulls would have the league’s best rotation of offensively unskilled and overdrafted power forwards.
27. Memphis Grizzlies (via Orlando) - Villanova F Dante Cunningham
What can I say, Memphis has a thing for scrawny power forwards from the Big East.
28. Minnesota Timberwolves (via Boston) - Georgetown F DaJuan Summers
Raising the number of people named “DaJuan” in the state of Minnesota to one.
29. Cleveland Cavaliers - North Carolina F Tyler Hansbrough
Huge move here in the Cavs’ attempt to keep LeBron James. The team is sending a big message about its commitment to winning championships by a acquiring a spastic forward to dance like Mark Madsen at title celebrations.
30. Los Angeles Lakers - Connecticut G A.J. Price
Look for this new Windows commercial: After a day of Beverly Hills shopping, A.J. gets a few fully loaded MacBooks and gets to keep all of his $1,000.
Additional Notes
- Draft order is based on how I think the regular-season records end and which teams have the best chance of landing top picks.
- I left out European players, because their contracts are apparently as confused as an unsolved Rubik’s Cube.
- This is all assuming current declarations stand and who I think will declare will (for instance, Kentucky forward Patrick Patterson said he’s returning to UK, but if he does end up making the jump, he’d be a lottery pick, and the same thing goes for a lot of players on the fence).
- The selections with "(via [team])" denotes a trade. If you're curious as to why certain teams get another team's pick, you can research that yourself.
Hope this was enjoyable.
We're going to send you the most entertaining NBA articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
1 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete