Originally Posted by
Revering4Blue
I had a mock draft ready to post, but it contained two players (Johnny Juzang and Max Abmas) who elected to return to school. With that in mind, the updated version:
1)Pistons: No explanation necessary -- Cade Cunningham.
2)Rockets: The rebuilding Rockets cannot focus upon possible positional redundancy at this point -- Evan Mobley
3)Cavaliers: Cavs reportedly covet Mobley, but land more shot-creation and playmaking ability -- Jalen Green
4)Raptors: A long-term backcourt solution, Kyle Lowry or no Kyle Lowry -- Jalen Suggs
5)Magic: Magic think long and hard about Kuminga here, and very likely come out ahead in the long run -- Scottie Barnes
6)Thunder: Scouts are divided about this selection's ceiling, but Thunder have nothing except time -- Jonathan Kuminga
7)Warriors (from T-Wolves): More dribble penetration, along with a well-rounded skillset, to further diversify the Warriors' attack -- Davion Mitchell
8)Magic (from Bulls): Magic gain a walking bucket, who was impressive during the combine -- James Bouknight
9)Kings: Not exactly a 'sexy' pick, but one that makes a ton of sense on so many levels -- Franz Wagner
10)Pelicans: A 3-and-D floor-spacing swingman to lessen the pressure on Zion -- Moses Moody
11)Hornets: Hornets resist the urge to reach for a big -- a need which they will later fill via free-agency -- and instead add another transitional weapon for Ball and company -- Keon Johnson
12)Spurs: If any franchise/culture can sap the tremendous potential of this selection, it's San Antonio -- Jalen Johnson
13)Pacers: McBuckets is an unrestricted free agent. And the second unit, with or without McBuckets, can't eschew more shooting -- Corey Kispert
14)Warriors: Having landed an immediate contributor with their previous pick, Bob Myers can afford to swing for the fences here -- Josh Giddey
15)Wizards: At last, a dependable third guard -- Chris Duarte
16)Thunder (from Boston): In time, possibly the type of solid floor-stretching, switchable-defending big that teams covet -- Kai Jones
17)Grizzlies: A 6'9" shooter, defender and all-around glue guy. And possibly the long-term answer at small forward -- Trey Murphy III
18)Thunder (from Miami): This uber-talented combo guard with a 6'9" wingspan is a strong candidate for the annual 'How in the hell did he fall so far in the draft?' award -- Nah'shon Hyland
19)Knicks: With Rose heading for free-agency, Knicks land additional backcourt scoring and shot-creation -- Tre Mann
20)Hawks: Assuming he's cleared to play (health issues), this is his absolute floor, and a perfect fit -- Jared Butler
21)Knicks (from Dallas): A center tag-team of Mitchell Robinson and this selection, who has been compared with a budding Domantas Sabonis, could eventually create havoc for opposing teams -- Alperen Sengun
22)Lakers: As for the reasoning for this selection, I echo the previous sentiments of adkindo -- Miles McBride
23)Rockets (from Portland): While he didn't exactly set the world on fire during his lone NCAA season, there's no denying the upside of this 6'10 small forward -- Ziaire Williams
24)Rockets (from Milwaukee): It's not a stretch to suggest that this combo guard possesses lottery-level talent -- Ayo Dosunmu
25)Clippers: An often overlooked floor general with tremendous on-court leadership skills, who can distribute the ball to the right personnel at the right time -- Jason Preston
26)Nuggets: A pure shooter? No, A pure scorer? One of the best that this draft has to offer, and an asset to the Nuggets second unit -- Cameron Thomas
27)Nets: Fills two needs: Bench production and a possible replacement for the likely-departing Spencer Dinwiddie -- Jaden Springer
28)76ers: This floor-stretching, switchable defender at 6'9" with a 7'3" swingman presents an intriguing option (as well as another frontcourt gun) playing next to or behind Joel Embiid -- JT Thor
29)Suns: Local hero with eye-popping upside provides additional wing depth -- Josh Christopher
30)Jazz: The playoff loss to the Clippers exposed the lack of a floor-stretching, switchable defending stretch four. The Jazz address that issue here. And what's more, gain another rim-protector in the process -- Usman Garuba