The Great 2007 Blogger's NBA Mock Draft: Grades
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Remember that this is very subjective grading based on a fake draft. Tell me again why I just spent an hour on this post? Oh well....it was fun.
Portland- Greg Oden, Ramon Sessions, Marcus Williams, Jemareo Davidson, Ron Lewis
Grade: B, Portland obviously need a great Center. With the rest of the lineup full most of these guys are going to end up in the NBDL. Sorry Ron. Overall the Blazers got the job done by getting Oden and then drafting a solid PG.
Seattle- Kevin Durant, Taurean Green, Aaron Gray
Grade: B+, Great fake draft by Seattle. Getting Aaron Gray with their 2nd 2nd Round pick is a steal. Green should be a great backup to Luke Ridinour as well.
Atlanta- Al Horford, Acie Law
Grade: A-, They got their PG and a better F than the Williams sisters.
Memphis- Yi Jianlian
Grade: C+, Mainly because they only have one pick, but they really don't need another athletic forward.
Boston- Joakim Noah, Morris Almond
Grade: D+, The Noah pick was a stretch, but not entirely bad. Almond was the only SG left, so they're stuck with them.
Milwaukee- Brandan Wright, DaShaun Wood
Grade: B-, DaShaun Wood was a great late round pickup...especially if they can't hang onto Mo Williams. B-Wright is an unknown, but worth the gamble.
Minnesota- Mike Conley Jr., Herbert Hill
Grade: C+, Liked the Conley pick as he'll fit right in, but Hill was a stretch. There were plenty of good big men left at the time.
Charlotte- Corey Brewer, Sean Williams
Grade: A+, Having Brewer fall to them was a godsend. They now add two amazing defenders to a great lineup that consists of Okafor and Wallace.
Chicago- Jeff Green, Jared Jordan, Carl Landry
Grade: C-, Just personal opinion, but I don't like Jeff Green here. You're already adding him to an overcrowded 3 spot with Nocioni and Deng. Landry isn't a bad pick, but they should have gone bigger with the first two selections.
Sacramento- Spencer Hawes
Grade: C-, White centers workout about as much as Michelle Wie playing in Men's Tournament (or Women's). He's the most over-hyped player in the Draft.
Philadelphia- Julian Wright, Nick Young, Rudy Fernandez, Reyshawn Terry
Grade: A-, You get to potential stars in Wright and Young and you add two more athletic players in the 2nd. Amazing that Young fell this far....won't happen tonight.
New Orleans- Aaron Aflalo, JamesOn Curry
Grade: F+, I take blame for the Curry pick, but Aflalo this early is not the way to go.
LA Clippers- Jarvis Crittenton, Dominic McGuire
Grade: B-, I love Crit, but as an ACC fan I'm biased. The Clippers need a PG and got the best available.
Detroit- Rodney Stuckey, Gabe Pruitt, Stanko Barac
Grade: C+, Everyone is picking Stuckey to stay in his College state, but I'm not sold. Pruitt was a solid 2nd rounder.
Washington- Thadeus Young, Aaron Brooks
Grade: B+, If you're trading Jamison the Young pick is perfect. I would have also like Young or Williams at this point, but I'm happy. Brooks in the 2nd is a steal.
New Jersey- Glen Davis
Grade: C+, This could go either way...it's a gamble that could pay off though. They need someone who plays hard down low, and with all the weight Big Baby's lost he could do some serious banging (pun intended)
Golden State- Al Thornton, Daequan Cook, DJ Strawberry
Grade: A, The most athletic team in the league just doubled up. They don't need a slow bulky big man. Just crank up the O again next year.
LA Lakers- Jason Smith, Marc Gasol, Demetris Nichols
Grade: D+, Kobe is not going to be happy with 2 white stiffs and an NBDL bench player.
Miami- Tiago Splitter, Petteri Koponen
Grade: B-, I'm high on Koponen from what I've seen of him. The international route has been working for defensive teams lately.
New York- Alando Tucker
Grade: D+, I love Tucker, but you just drafted Mardy Collins Version 2.0
Phoenix- Derrick Byars, Marco Belinelli, Stephane Lasme
Grade: C+, The Belinelli pick was my fault....two SGs was not the way to go. They need a good Forward here...perhaps Marcus Williams???
Utah- Nick Fazekas, Chris Richard
Grade: B-, Not much they can do in this spot, but I love the late Richard pick...good value.
Houston- Josh McRoberts
Grade: F, enough said.
San Antonio- Jared Dudley, Wilson Chandler, Joao Gomes
Grade: A-, Just like in real life the Fake Spurs did an amazing job loading up. Dudley could probably contribute on over half of the teams in the NBA right now. He'll be the steal of the draft.
Dallas- Zabian Dowdell, Renaldas Seibutis, Russell Carter
Grade: C+, Dowdell went early, but he's not a bad backup for Terry. I know nothing about Seibutis and Carter was Mister Irrelevant.
Orlando- Kyle Visser, Kyrylo Fesenko
Grade: C+, I'm not sold at all on Visser (unlike Hollinger). He was an average ACC player in a year that big men domintated. I have no idea who Fesenko is.
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So that's what I've got. Tell me where I messed up in the comments.
9 Comments:
How did Al Thorton fall to the Warriors? Incredulous. Dudley on the other hand is actually dropping to the Spurs in real life (somehow) and he's going to fit in better than perfectly with their squad.
I'll take the C+. The gritty players I wanted (Dudley, for example) didn't fall the way I thought they would. I like Byars, but Belinelli will probably never make it out of Europe, while Lasme is a one-trick pony that will probably be an NBDL lifer. What I was hoping for was Byars, Dudley, and then Demetris Nichols. Oh well.
I realize that drafting McRoberts is akin to nominating Chris Benoit as Father of the Year, but at 26, that's a pretty solid selection. He's picked as one of the top 20ish picks and fits a need. Set your personal feelings aside, AA!!!!
And Houston needs an identity, now they're the team that everyone hates!!! I think it's a C, just on value alone.
GMoney, your a D at best in Houston. McRoberts is destined to suck.
It's a C- really G. Just joshin'.
I don't like how my Herbert Hill pick that I wouldn't have made sank my grade. Damn you Alternate Universe Kevin McHale! You're no different at all!
B-? Yeah. I'd go with that. I passed on the proven for the potential in round one, and got good value round two.
But I demand partial credit for the Spurs good grade.
Joao Gomes FTW!
C+ for two second-round draft picks? Man, you grade harder than my econ professor...no degree of difficulty for picking at 44 and 54?
And no retroactive reassessment for Fesenko at 54? Especially given that Chad Ford et al were pretty high on his actual selection at 38.
Visser getting passed on isn't a total surprise--he moved up our board thanks largely to Hollinger. But can anyone say Brad Miller?
(I admit to really fighting here. But you'll see why when Kelly Dwyer comes out with his rankings of the best/worst Fake GMs.)
Look at me picking up the only A+ out there. Gotta love that. Thanks for stroking my NBA ego AA. It's greatly appreciated. Now to convince everyone Aaron Brooks will be the next Gilbert Arenas... (on the court only of course).