2 Man Mock Over At HoopSpeak | NBA Playbook

2 Man Mock Over At HoopSpeak

One of my favorite Xs and Os bloggers is Brett Koremenos over at HoopSpeak, so I was genuinely excited when he extended an offer to participate in a mock draft with him for HoopSpeak.com (you should be reading this site every single day).  Over there, Brett and I pretended to be a GM 15 times each, not trying to predict the draft, but choosing guys who we thought were the best fit for the team.  I think we did a pretty solid job:

1- Cleveland Cavaliers: Kyrie Irving. Irving played just 12 games in college due to a foot injury that kept him out for most of the regular season, but if you are the Cavs, you can’t really pass him up. Out of all of the players in the draft, I think he has one of the most pro ready games.  He’s very comfortable running the pick-and-roll and while he isn’t the most athletic guy, he can hang in the air and finish around the rim nicely against taller defenders. While there are things that he needs to work on (his kick out passes tend to miss his teammate’s shooting pockets), I think they are easily correctable if he puts the work in. All in all, I’m pretty certain I just chose Cleveland’s point guard of the future. – SP

Cavaliers Selection: Irving

2- Minnesota Timberwolves: On behalf of KAAAAAAAHN and the Timberwolves, I will select Jimmer Fred…kidding! I’ll take the logical choice in Derrick Williams. Williams and Irving are the two best players in this draft. Even though Minnesota’s roster is a jumbled mess of pieces that don’t fit any other player here is probably a reach. While I’m not as high on Williams as most, I think David West-ish numbers are a reasonable projection for his future and that type of production is not worth passing up to take a flier on someone else. – BK

Timberwolves Selection: Williams

Those were the two obvious ones, head on over to HoopSpeak and check out the rest!

23
Jun 2011
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  • Dan

    Who would you take with the number 2 pick? I like Biyombo there – Thorpe initially proposed it before the lottery and I think it makes sense with Love and Biyombo’s complementary skillsets, Williams lack of a position (little empirical success stories of PF/SF tweeners, especially those without a strong defensive background + you can’t play him at PF and Love at center because neither can protect the rim), Kanter’s lack of athleticism, uncertainty, and inability to protect the rim (you need an athletic defensive frontcout player next to Love who can protect the rim – no title team in the last 10 years has won without being able to protect the rim with at least one member of their frontcourt), Valanciunas’ stay in Europe and questions on defense, Knight’s lack of production, and various questions surrounding other players in the draft. 

    I think Biyombo’s defensive presence is one of the safer bets in this draft and I think that if you want to build around and retain Love, you need to start competing now, before Love’s contract runs out.