Ian's 2009 NBA Mock Draft

With the NBA draft looming (happens on Tuesday, June 25th) there are many questions to be asked about how the Knicks will approach their 8th selection. While there are a number of possibilities to be investigated (i.e. trading up with Memphis to the #2 pick to acquire Hasheem Thabeet, or trading down with somebody if the Knicks target Stephen Curry is off the board and roll with a point guard like Ty Lawson etc...), we cannot assume that any of this will happen. That being said, I will now investigate the players likely to available when the Knicks pick comes around on Tuesday.

Ian's Mock Draft:

1. Los Angeles Clippers - Blake Griffin
ESPN Player Comparison: Carlos Boozer meets Amare Stoudemire
By this point, we all know that Griffin is doomed to rot away in Clipper-land, poor kid - he really had so much potential.

2. Memphis Grizzlies - Hasheem Thabeet (barring a trade)
ESPN Player Comparison: Dikembe Mutombo

I would LOVE for the Knicks to trade up to #2 with Memphis and be able to grab Thabeet (who many are calling the next coming of Mutombo). Thabeet's defensive presence would benefit New York moreso than another shoot-first guard and would finally bring a legitimate big man to New York for the first time since Ewing (I'm not counting the ghost of Marcus Camby who wasted away on our bench with injuries before we shipped him off and he had a career resurgence). I just compared Thabeet to Ewing?! Don't get me wrong, the offensive skills are lightyears apart, and while Thabeet may never be even close to the overall player Ewing was, he's still a highly skilled 7'3" defensive guru - last time I checked, those don't grow on trees.

3. Oklahoma City Thunder - James Harden
ESPN Player Comparison: "a less athletic" Brandon Roy

While many "experts" have had the Thunder taking Spanish phenom Ricky Rubio here with the #3 pick, I personally think he will slip a little bit. First of all, the Thunder already have a stud point guard in Russel Westbrook, and if Thabeet is off the board (obviously if he's still here, he would be the pick for the Thunder), I wouldn't be surprised if the Thunder drafted this dynamic scorer to add to the already impressive young core of Durant, Westbrook and Jeff Green.

4. Sacramento Kings - Ricky Rubio
ESPN Player Comparison: didn't give one, so I'm going to say shades of Tony Parker combined with a better version of fellow Spaniard Jose Calderon (see for yourself)

If Rubio is still on the board, I think the Kings would be nuts to pass up on him, although Sacramento ownership has been quoted as saying that even if he is available that "it's far from a done deal." This years draft is incredibly deep and PG, and of all the teams in the league, the Kinds PG need is well documented - do you really want to spend another year starting Beno Udrih?! Of all the talented PG's in this years draft - Rubio, Holiday, Jennings, Flyn, Lawson - I would say Rubio has the most upsided, but at this point it's basically a crapshoot, I'd be happy with any of those guys on my squad.

5. Washington Wizards - Jrue Holiday
ESPN Player Comparison: did'nt give one, I'd say he reminds me a bit of Mo Williams, although not as good a shooter... yet.

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