Dream Draft

I have been planning on creating my own mock draft for a while now, but it has just proven too difficult. I have never heard of half of the players projected to go in the first round, and have seen even fewer of them play. So, instead of putting down what I think will happen, I decided to build a draft representing what i would like to see. This of course is subject to 2 ground rules: first, while the draft selections do not have to be probable, they do have to be within the realm of possibility, second, like most mock drafts no trades are allowed. I am also limiting this mock to just the lottery, since history tells us that most players taken outside of the lottery will never start in the NBA. So without further ado here is my 2011 mock draft.

1. Cleveland Cavaliers - Derrick Williams

Many experts believe that Derrick Williams is the best player in this years draft, and after watching him play in the NCAA tournament it is hard to argue with that assessment. However, I am putting Derrick Williams not because I like him, but because i dislike Irving. I dislike Irving from a scouting perspective because he only played a handful of games last year due to injury, but more importantly, I dislike Irving because he seems like a punk. I have listened to several ESPN interviews, and each time i got the distinct impression that Irving was utterly lacking in any humility or grace. After the Lebron fiasco, Cleveland deserves better.

2. Minnesota Timberwolves - Enes Kanter

I'll be honest, one of the main reasons I picked Williams first is the delicious irony of Minnesota considering a point guard. For those who don't remember, the Timberwolves recently spent two high draft choices on point guards. Futhermore, Minnesota is making Ricky Rubio to be the savior of Minnesota basketball (an absurd proclamation considering he was a bench player on his Spanish team.) If really, presented with this proposition I imagine that the Timberwolves would give into one of the underwhelming trade proposals they have been offered. Personally I love the trade rumor of the nubmer 2 pick plus Kevin love for Pau Gasol and Ron Artest, but since there are no trades allowed in this mock draft, I am going with Kanter. The wolves would bump Love down to the floor and be able to play with two 7 footers, a strategy that has worked very well for the Spurs, Lakers, and Mavericks.

3. Utah Jazz - Kyrie Irving

As much as I dislike Irving, the Jazz would be ecstatic if he fell to them at 3. They desperately need someone to D-Will's place, and what better person than the consensus #1 draft prospect. Another bonus, to this scenario is that it eliminates the possibility of Jimmer landing on the Jazz. I love Jimmer, but realistically he probably wont amount to much more than an exciting bench player. Going to the Jazz, would place too high of expectations upon him.

4. Cleveland Cavaliers - Brandon Knight

Cleveland still gets a point guard, and a pretty good one at that. In fact, there are some who project Knight to be a better long term prospect than Irving. The Cavs are going to suck for a while anyway, why not invest in the better long term player.

This scenario may seem like a stretch but it may be Cleveland's best option. Current, rumors have the Jazz taking Kanter at 3. Thus, Cleveland could choose to have Irving and Valanciunas (who wouldn't play for at least a year due to his European league buyout) or Williams and Knight. Heck they could even take Williams and then trade back and pick up Kemba or Jimmer. Or how about this, the Cavs take Williams, the Wolves get so scared that they trade the second pick to Cleveland for the 4th pick and Baron Davis. Thus, Cleveland gets the two best players in the draft. The more and more I think about it, I like the idea of Cleveland taking Williams and watching the T-Wolves freak-out.

5. Toronto Raptors - Kawhi Leonard

I have seen Leonard play on multiple occasions and the kid is a beast. If the Raptors are truly looking for a defensive presence then Leonard should be their man.

6. Washington Wizards - Jan Vesely

Well Vesely is another international prospect that I know nothing about. I do know this much, the Wizards do not need a point guard so that rules out Kemba or Jimmer, and the Wizards do need some rebounding. At 6-11 hopefully Vesely can help out in that category.

7. Sacramento Kings - Kemba Walker

Can you imagine a more fun and entertaining back-court than Tyreke and Kemba? They may not win a lot of games but they sure will score a lot of points. Jimmer would also fit in well here, and supposedly the Maloof's adore him. However, I have other plans for the Jimmer.

8. Detroit Pistons - Jonas Valanciunas

If it were not for Jonas Valanciunas's scary buyout proposition, he would be a top 4 pick. In fact, there a rumors that Cleveland will still take him at 4 and wait a year. If he falls this far then Detroit should snatch him up. Period.

9. Charlotte Bobcats - Bismack Boyombo

Does anyone care about the Bobcats? Honestly, I couldn't name more than 2 players on their entire team. (And no, Jordan doesn't count.) Let's give them another guy that no one has heard of. Ok, seriously though, the Bobcats need a toughness and defense and Boyombo is supposed to be able to supply both.

10. Milwaukee Bucks - Klay Thompson

I like the Bucks. I like Jennings and I love Bogut. I like that Bogut bought prime seats by the opposing bench and filled them up with the loudest most obnoxious fans that he could find. They are a fun team. I think they need a shooter. They have a slasher in Jennings, and a post presence in Bogut. Having a 6-7 shooting guard seems like perfect fit.

11. Golden State Warriors - Tristian Thompson

Another bigger guy for a team that needs some size.

12. Utah Jazz - Markeif Morris

The Jazz will finally lose A.K. and his horrible contract this year. Although most Jazz fans seem happy to have him gone, they will miss his defense and his shot blocking ability. Markeif Morris is a good defender / shot blocker and would be there best bet at filling the void. Thus, in this draft the Jazz come out with a new franchise point guard and a new shot blocking forward, that seems to fit them pretty well from a need standpoint.

13. Phoenix Suns - Jimmer Fredette

This is my favorite pick of the entire mock. For years and years, Steve Nash was not the MVP we know now. He was a shoot first, pass second point guard who didn't play good defense. (sound familiar Jimmer fans?) It wasn't until his last season at the Mavericks that he finally started piecing it all together. Jimmer Fredette has the vision and the intelligence to make a similar transition. I think the process would go so much smoother if he could play behind Nash for a season and model his game after him. Furthermore, the Suns are more willing than most teams to over-look Jimmer's apathetic stance towards defense.

14. Houston Rockets - Nikola Vucevic

My reasoning is simple: Yao Ming is not going to get healthy. Why not replace the biggest man in the NBA with the biggest man in this years draft? This guy has a 9'5" reach. He only has to jump 7 inches to dunk. He averaged a double double last season, and has a pretty good shooting touch. The down side is that he is not the world's greatest athlete. He sounds like the perfect Yao replacement to me.

There it is - my dream Mock. The funny thing is that this draft is so shallow and so uncertain that any one of these picks could actually happen or I could completely miss all 14. In reality, my dream Mock would involve all sorts of crazy trades and the Lakers some how end up with Dwight Howard, and Lebron James ends up playing in Serbia, but even I can't figure out a way for that to realistically happen.