What Lincoln is Thinkin’ - NBA Mock Draft

What Lincoln is Thinkin' - 10th annual NBA Mock Draft

1. Washington Wizards: John Wall, PG, Kentucky - He's the best prospect coming into the NBA since Dwight Howard. I also feel personally cheated that I was present at his worst game as a college player - when DD and the Gamecocks pimp-slapped him and the #1 Cats in Cola.
2. Philadelphia Sixers: Evan Turner, SG, Ohio State - The Sixers are a team going nowhere, and they seem definitive on Turner. I don't know if he's good enough to be an elite player - he's sort of like Andre Iguodala with a better shot. But Philly is building from not a whole heck of a lot, and he should help in the process. He so overshadowed by Wall, I don't know how high the expectations will be for him, which should help him.
3. New Jersey Nets: Wesley Johnson, SF, Syracuse - Lots of talk about this being one of the big guys, but if the Nets think Wesley Johnson could turn out to be the best all around player in this draft, then I think they have to take him. Any Syracuse fan knows however, that he needs to get tougher and hungrier to warrant being a #3 pick.
4. Minnesota Timberwolves: DeMarcus Cousins, PF/C, Kentucky Scariest people that I've seen in person: 1. Marilyn Manson. 2. That Will Ferrell/Mickey Rourke dude who covers the Masters and 3. Demarcus Cousins. He immediately improves the toughness of TWolves, and adds that "borderline criminal factor" that can make improve your team when it's handled in the right manner. Plus, I think he's much better than...
5. Sacramento Kings: Derrick Favors, PF, Georgia Tech Weights: Cousins: 289 lbs, Favors: 246 lbs. They're the same height, but Favors showed up to one camp admittedly overweight. And he's still forty pounds lighter than Cousins.
6. Golden State Warriors: Greg Monroe, PF/C, Georgetown Even more talented than Cousins and Favors is Monroe. They really like him, and unless the Kings take him, the Warriors will be happy he falls to here.
7. Detroit Pistons: Cole Aldrich, C, Kansas Time for the Pistons to start rebuilding. The bottom fell out of their season last year, and it looks like Rip Hamilton will be on their way out. Aldrich is much more than a white stiff - he's a Joel Przybilla with a better offensive game. Does that warrant a seventh overall pick? Baylor's Ekpe Udoh and UNC's Ed Davis are options here, but Aldrich is a better value.
8. Los Angeles Clippers: Al Farouq-Aminu, F, Wake Forest The Clippers love Farouq-Aminu, and while his shot is lacking at this point, he has great athleticism.
9. Utah Jazz: Ed Davis, PF, North Carolina One of my least favorite players in this draft, I believe he could be the guy that's a proposed lottery pick that winds up falling. The leader of a great program, with a great coach, the Heels were awful this year under Davis's watch. He has some good post moves, but he's nowhere near strong enough to battle for rebounds in the NBA. Jazz could take him, let Carlos Boozer mentor him, and hope they have a good post player in a few years.
10. Indiana Pacers: Ekpe Udoh, PF/C, Baylor Larry Bird wants to trade this pick, but if they do take here, they could do worse than Udoh. A great defender with skills that can translate to the NBA. He had no offensive skills in college, so he won't have to worry about translating those to the NBA. Learning some eventually would help however.
11. New Orleans Hornets: Paul George, SF, Fresno State The Mike Mamula of the draft, people who've watched him workout believe that he's the guy who's improved his draft stock the most since the end of the season. He's a 6'9" forward, who some of compared to Danny Granger. He would fit well for the Pacers at 10, but they all ready have a guy who's comparable to Danny Granger. His name is Danny Granger.
12. Memphis Grizzlies: Xavier Henry, SG/SF, Kansas Grizzlies hit their first of three picks in the first round and are looking for a scoring small forward to replace Rudy Gay, who'll almost definitely be leaving. Their options at this point, are George, Henry, or Nevada's Luke Babbitt. Grizzlies seemed to be set on Babbit until two weeks ago, when they brought in over 20 guys over a couple of days. A vocal minority within their camp started talking up Henry, and I think that's the smarter pick.
13. Toronto Raptors: Patrick Patterson, PF, Kentucky The Kentucky power forward left Toronto with a guarantee that if he's available, they'll take him. Of course in professional sports, I'm not sure how much one of those guarantees are worth.. but he makes sense for a team that needs to improve its toughness. Also he can provide some of things that Hedo Turkoglu does for them, minus the whining and the whole looking incredibly ugly thing.
14. Houston Rockets: Luke Babbitt, SF, Nevada He's comparable to a current NBA player who: 1. Played college at a mid-major school, 2. Is a lights-out scorer, albeit over weaker competition, 3. Has floppy hair with facial stubble that comes and goes. 4. He's white. Let's just say if Nevada had made the NCAA tournament, I'm betting there would have been some crying involved.
15. Milwaukee Bucks: Larry Sanders, PF, VCU One of those examples where one team really likes a player, but other teams around them haven't showed as much interest. Which means, if the Bucks really want Larry Sanders, they can probably trade down and get him.
16. Minnesota Timberwolves: Gordon Heyward, SF, Butler The Stephen Curry of this year's draft - and NCAA tournament darling who everyone and their mother have an opinion about what kind of pro he'll be. This would be a good situation for Heyward, the 4th overall pick will get most of the attention, and he can continue to improve his offensive game fairly under the radar. Because let's be honest, not many radars pick up what's happening in Minnesota.
17. Chicago Bulls: James Anderson, SG, Oklahoma State Bulls will make most of their moves in signings and probably a trade or two. Does LeBron wind up here? Who the hell knows, but if he does, drafting the best spot up shooter available would make sense.
18. Miami Heat: Eric Bledsoe, PG, Kentucky Heat need a point guard and are scouring through the free agent pool looking for one. Bledsoe is the only true point guard that is garnering serious first round attention after his teammate, Wall. My guess is they draft Bledsoe and sign a veteran as well.
19. Boston Celtics: Dominique Jones, SG, South Florida Celtics have a lot of decisions to make in this offseason, and very low on that list is this pick. At least one report has Jones coming in for workouts, and the Celtics liking him so much that they didn't not work out that many players after him. He's a good scorer, that would have had more publicity if he wasn't on a bad team in such a great league.
20. San Antonio Spurs: Elliott Williams, SG, Memphis A decent guard with some offensive skills but not a lot. Defintely cannot play the point yet, but Spurs are enamored with him. Also, good to hire another shooting guard when Manu Ginobli misses 325 games a season.
21. Oklahoma City Thunder: Daniel Orton, PF, Kentucky Everyone seems pretty split on Orton - he only averaged three points and three rebounds this year. Is it because he played for a juggernaut with two guys who were better than him on the front line? Or is he just not that good? He reportedly has a guarantee from the Thunder, but they pick again five picks later - they could wait, because his stock is dropping.
22. Portland Trail Blazers: Avery Bradley, PG/SG, Texas Still hurting after taking Greg Oden over Kevin Durant, Portland decides not to skip over a Longhorn this time, taking the talented guard who could play either the point guard or the shooting guard position.
23. Minnesota Timberwolves: Hassan Whiteside, C, Marshall Timberwolves up yet again, and while David Kahn may be tempted to take Kevin Seraphin from France, and have another player decide he'd rather stay in Europe rather than go to the Twin Cities, Minnesota will go with another raw big man. Some have compared Whiteside to Tyrus Thomas - a player who doesn't have great offensive skills but can jump out of the gym. Some NBA scouts understand that gyms have roofs, and therefore avoid these players at all costs.
24. Atlanta Hawks: Damion James, SF, Texas Hawks are looking for another piece to their ever-improving team that will help them get into that upper echelon of the Eastern Conference. If there was a big guy here that the really liked, they could use some frontcourt depth. But James can still help.
25. Memphis Grizzlies: Lance Stephenson, SG, Cincinnati Grizzlies like Stephenson, and believe he'll fall to here. When you add Henry to this mix, you've made up for the loss of Gay.
26. Oklahoma City Thunder: Solomon Alabi, C, Florida State Thunder have some no-name frontcourt players and are looking at these two picks to improve that. Alabi is raw, but he may have more of an upside than Orton.
27. New Jersey Nets: Jordan Crawford, SG, Xavier New coach Avery Johnson wants guys who can play right away. With a new owner, new coach and new home, the Nets aren't looking for projects, and adding Johnson and Crawford to Devin Harris and Brook Lopez and the Nets are well on their way back to respectability.
28. Memphis Grizzlies Kevin Seraphin, PF, France Third pick of their first round, take a flier on the foreign dude, the only one taken in the first draft.
29. Orlando Magic: Armon Johnson, PG, Nevada Magic could use some depth at the point behind Jameer Nelson. Also a possibility is New Mexico's Darington Hobson, an enigma of a player that is rising up some draft boards.
30. Washington Wizards: Gani Lawal, PF, Georgia Tech Wizards will go for a big man here. I threw the remaining ones in a hat and picked one.

I do believe that Clemson's Trevor Booker will go at some point early in the second round. Who will your favorite team pick in the draft?

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