quick insomniac mock i just threw together, before i know about combine results and the like
1. Cleveland - Kyrie Irving, PG Duke
2. Minnesota - Enes Kanter, C Turkey
3. Utah - Derrick Williams, SF Arizona
4. Cleveland - Jan Vesely, PF Czech Republic
5. Toronto - Kawhi Leonard, SF San Diego State
6. Washington - Alec Burks, SG Colorado
7. Sacramento - Brandon Knight, PG Kentucky
8. Detroit - Kemba Walker, PG UConn
9. Charlotte - Marcus Morris, SF Kansas
10. Milwaukee - Donatas Motiejunas, PF Lithuania
11. Golden State - Jonas Valanciunas, C Lithuania
12. Utah - Klay Thompson, SG Washington State (I can hear everyone in Utah revolting...)
13. Phoenix - Markieff Morris, PF Kansas
14. Houston - Jordan Hamilton, SF Texas
some quick thoughts before i try to go back to sleep...
irving to cleveland - the biggest unkept secret as of now, i really believe its a two horse race as people suggest... but i think its kanter over williams as the 2nd choice. but as of now, i think irving is the only potential franchise guy. and even though i dont think he would ever be in the elite pg argument, i do think he'll be the best player in the draft.
kanter to minnesota - love isnt a center, beasley is already a combo forward that can score... similar to williams, though williams is considerably less insane. unless they can find a suitor for beasley, or attract a true center [aka, not darko], i think they go with kanter. kanter seems to be in the marc gasol mold, as opposed to a bargnani mold, and i think that will translate better to the nba. not a sexy pick, but i think his skills can make him a gasol/bogut type player.
williams to utah - i think williams is a combo forward... he can play offense at an nba level, but im not sure which position he'll play on the defensive end. if his foot speed can prove up to par, i think he can be a kirilenko type, and if he can bulk up, he can be a boozer type. but those are two major ifs... as it is right now, i think he can be a nice 3rd option on utah right now [jefferson, harris, then him], though him and jefferson could be a nightmare defensively if they try to put them at the 4 and 5 respectively. me personally, id rather have brandon knight here... but due to what appears to be a league wide consensus, im not sure if utah would pull the trigger on that. it also depends what they think of devin harris, who im not very high on.
vesely to cleveland - i think hes the most nba ready foreigner. thats pretty much it... i like the 4 foreigners upside better than anybody elses in the draft except brandon knight and the 3 guys drafted above this spot, and quite honestly i dont see 2 of them translating to the nba quickly [biyombo and motiejunas], and i dont see 1 of them translating at all [valanciunas].
leonard to toronto - theres alot of reasons they could go brandon knight here, but i went with leonard just to keep with the up tempo foreign ball type pace they have in play already. they got bayless, who looked decent enough down the stretch... though i would argue is likely more a 2 than a 1... and calderon, who went down the tubes a ton over the last year, but i suppose we'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. i think leonard can run around and make hustle and defensive plays, which will allow derozan and bargnani to continue to be the offensive focal points here.
burks to washington - i considered kemba walker here, but walker, even though hes not truly a point guard, is a better playmaker with the ball in his hands obviously. i think burks can feed off wall a bit more, and burks is a nice athlete who can get up and down and make plays at the rim. i dont see burks as much of a shooter, nor do i think hes a combo guard as people say. but i do believe he can be a real nice defender, i think hes a solid fit for washington.
knight to sacramento - if the draft would happen to fall this way, this is a no brainer, and sacto rushes to the podium. evans needs to be switched to the off guard, and they need a guy who can evenly distribute between d-mo [cousins] and evans. plus knight can be the shooter in crunch time, if need be, as he showed in college the willingness to take those shots. but he'll be a superb distributor, and allow evans and cousins to be the scorers.
walker to detroit - a superior version of stuckey. a combo guard, but a leader and a winner... he will be the new face of this franchise, which is precisely what they need, to get away from the old guard of billups and wallace who are gone, and rip and prince who will be gone soon enough. you know theyre gonna lose... but walker and monroe are a nice start to rebuilding this team back up.
morris to charlotte - god only knows with this team. i just went best player available... yet this is a team that traded their best player [gerald wallace] for nickels. perhaps they go foreigner here, since theyre obviously a team thats looking 5 years down the road, and i dont think marcus morris is a face of a franchise... but since they can still compete in the east, go bpa, and pray.
alright im gonna try to sleep again, ill come back for more later if i fail at that.