2015 NBA Mock Draft: Post-lottery edition

It’s a nice problem to have, but in this year’s draft winning the lottery means facing an incredibly tough decision. Minnesota is ready to move on from Nik Pekovic and Gorgui Dieng is better suited off the bench, meaning there is a need at centre.

Karl Towns and Jahlil Okafor, the consensus 1st and 2nd-ranked prospects, are both great choices and should make an impact at the next level. Okafor may be more polished, but the Timberwolves have the luxury of patience to allow Towns- a raw player with a better outside shot who defends space well- develop in concert with Minny’s young core.

The Lakers were the luckiest team at the lottery, jumping up one spot, and it just may have landed them a future fixture in the low post. Okafor projects to be a traditional dump-it-down big man, a genuine scoring threat in the paint who fills a critical need for Los Angeles. A front court of Julius Randle and Jahlil Okafor? I’m listening.

Shooting guard DeAngelo Russell is probably the safer pick and would certainly be a nice piece going forward for the win-eventually-or-not-whatever Sixers. But Philadelphia is getting Tony Wroten-who was averaging 17 points before going down 15 games into this past season- back in the lineup and desperately need a point guard after dealing Michael Carter-Williams and replacing him with Isaiah Canaan (no offence).

Mudiay-who spent the last year playing professionally in China in lieu of one year at an American college- was considered the #1 2015 prospect this time last year and, at 6’5′, is a potential force at the position.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

A little higher than most anticipate, but Cauley-Stein’s physical gifts and potential as a complete defensive anchor will be too much for a GM too pass up. The Magic roster boasts young players who project to be either ‘very good’ or ‘great’ at each position- except at power forward, where Cauley-Stein would be a force slotted next to Nikola Vucevic.

And yes, Orlando drafted a power forward last year. But this is the NBA. Teams do dumb stuff all the time.

Latvian sensation Kristaps Porzingis would make sense here, but the Kings aggressive (if almost-always wrong) owner- and therefore front office- want to see their picks on an NBA floor as soon as possible.

Rudy Gay’s surprisingly-good performance last season may dissuade Sacramento from going with Stanley Johnson, who may make a better pro. But Winslow should give Ben McLemore a run for his money from day one (though, in the long-term, he should probably set the bar a little higher).

The Nuggets can’t go wrong with anyone here. A directionless team just waiting to blow it up and start over, they’ll be rolling the dice on a potential star. And with some seasoning and the benefit of time, Porzingis has the size and skill to live up to the hype.

An incredibly athletic prospect to add to an incredibly athletic core, led by Andre Drummond. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope showed enough for the Pistons and Stan Van Gundy to go forward with him at shooting guard, and the prospects of a defensive stopper like Johnson alongside him is scary.

Last summer the Hornets went out looking for perimeter scoring and came back with a dysfunctional mess in the form of Lance Stephenson. Herzonja could fill that need and offensively may be the most gifted shooting guard in the draft, more NBA-ready than he’s getting credit for. It’s a win-win: if Stephenson has a bounce-back year Charlotte will have the luxury to sit Herzonja or even keep him overseas as his game continues to develop.

It would certainly make for one of the fastest-rising draft board leaps in recent memory, but Dekker- a borderline 2nd rounder heading into the season- is still carrying momentum off his remarkable tournament run and countless late-game heroics. Of course, Shabazz Napier proved that alone can’t get you in the top-10, but to Dekker’s credit he tested incredibly well at the combine and should benefit from private workouts, too.

If it weren’t for questions surrounding a history of leg injuries, Turner would be in the top 6 of this draft. A bona fide centre, if he can stay healthy he’ll be a great depth piece with a high upside.

In retrospect I feel like Dekker’s destiny is as a future Utah Jazz fan-favourite, but Lyles may have the higher potential. Like fellow Canadian Andrew Wiggins, his game is better suited to the pro game than to college, where he managed to turn heads as a freshman for Kentucky and earned a bigger role as the NCAA tournament progressed.

A crafty post player and ferocious rebounder, Portis would be a nice addition for a Phoenix team moving further and further away from the Run-and-Gun Suns identity

This isn’t even speculation. We all know this is going to happen. Book it.