NBA Mock Draft 2015: More Q’s than A’s

If you’re a team like the Timberwolves who are still in the embryonic stages of a bona fide rebuild then in a sense you can’t really go wrong when the goal is to accumulate promising young assets for the future.

That said, it’ll be hard to pass on a player like Towns. At 7-ft, 250 pounds, Towns has the body of a traditional centre with the skill-set of a new-age hybrid big. He’s athletic, mobile, a natural rim protector, and has shooting range that extends past the three-point line. Towns has really opened eyes during his workouts and his place atop the board seems to be one of the few sure things in this draft.

You get the feeling the Lakers would love to explore the possibilities of taking one of the two stellar hybrid guards available— DeAngelo Russell and Emmanual Mudiay— because both have skill-sets that should translate nicely to today’s NBA. But the emergence of Jordan Clarkson late last season, the return of Kobe Bryant, and oodles of cap space to spend one of many free agent guards available could leave Los Angeles looking for help somewhere other than the backcourt.

Enter: Okafor, who could conceivably be the Lakers source of reliable low-post scoring for the better part of the next decade. He’s that good offensively, and the pairing of he and Julius Randle makes for a promising and intriguing front court. However, the knock on Okafor throughout the pre-draft process has been his defense, which has been described as somewhere between ‘terrible’ and ’embarrassing’. Kind of like most of the Lakers front office moves lately.

Don’t tell these GMs that the NBA is going small.

Porzingis, a rail-thin 7-footer from Latvia, has been the fastest rising player on draft boards and an increasingly safe bet to become the first big man drafted out of Europe in the top 5 since Jonas Valanciunas. But that’s where the comparisons end; Porzingis is a human pogo stick who runs the floor extremely well and who, like Towns, has legitimate range on his jumper.

The Sixers are clearly in no rush to get better in the immediate future, and the recent news that their top pick last year, centre Joel Embiid, could miss the entire 2015-16 season due to the same foot injury that cost him all of last season could leave them targeting another big for insurance.

Besides, who doesn’t want this guy around?

While falling two spots in the draft lottery to No.4 may have cost Phil Jackson and the Knicks their coveted big-man-of-the-future, New York should have a good shot at addressing their torrid point guard situation with their first pick (though expect them to be extremely active in trade talks to move down and accumulate as many picks as possible).

While I think PG Emmanuel Mudiay has more superstar potential—always a point of consideration in the heavy exposure of the Big Apple—Russell’s talent will be too enticing to pass up. Both all-around scorers and playmakers, Russell’s silky, reliable jump shot may be enough to give him the edge.

Though the Sixers have been linked to Russell, he reportedly turned down the opportunity to visit and workout with Philadelphia. To give you an indication of the divisiveness surrounding Russell, A recent study found that he was the most likely to be both this draft’s biggest steal and it’s biggest bust. Seems somehow fitting for this Knicks club.

This would be a bit of a stretch given that “Trill” is the most certainly the rawest prospect of the bunch thus far, but the 7’1” 242 pound athletic forward showed enough over his two seasons at Kentucky to have GMs convinced he can be a true defensive force in the NBA. Maybe not today, but this team isn’t ready to contend yet anyways. What’s more, he’d make a perfect compliment to Magic future all-star centre Nikola Vucevic and fits nicely into Orlando’s uber-athletic DNA.

Cauley-Stein is extremely limited offensively, but he can do this, which is pretty great:

The Sacramento Kings need a point guard. And while Mudiay isn’t the most polished option at the position, he’s probably the most talented.

At one point not so long ago Mudiay was considered something of a lock for the No.1 pick, but after forgoing his freshman year at SMU, where he had committed to playing for Larry Brown, in favour of playing pro in China, he’s become more of a mystery in the eyes of North American scouts in the process. It remains to be seen if the Kings and owner/puppeteer Vivek Randieve will be patient enough to let Mudiay develop (as opposed to taking one of the less talented but more NBA-ready players available), but the Mudiay-Cousins-Gay trifecta could mark the team’s first real step toward building a contender since the days when pseudo GM Vlade Divac donned the purple and black.

Winslow proved his potential as an effective two-way wing player en route to a championship in his lone year at Duke. And for a team like the Nuggets, who are prepping to blow it up and start over again, a piece like Winslow, who may not quite have the ceiling of some others in the draft, is certainly enticing.

Probably the best shooter in the draft, Hezonja has been linked to the Pistons for quite some time. Which makes sense, given that Detroit could desperately use an offensive spark plug and deadly shooter like the 6’8” shooting guard from Croatia. who spent last season playing for Barcelona in the Spanish ACB league, considered the most competitive basketball league outside of the NBA.

The Hornets can go in any number of directions here. Though Cody Zeller showed improvement in his sophomore year last season, he isn’t exactly seizing a starting position alongside Al Jefferson. So a big man, like 7-footer Myles Turner, makes sense. However, after trading Lance Stephenson to the Los Angeles Clippers earlier this week, the Hornets could use a mulligan on the Stephenson signing and look to address the perimeter scoring they had hoped he would have provided them last season.

That’s where Booker comes in. Unheralded in comparison to many of his fellow Kentucky Wildcats, Booker is a terrific shooter who’s ability to create his own shot and score off of catch-and-shoots should translate well at the next level. The 6’6” shooting guard shot 52% on 2-pt field goals last season and more than 40% from deep.

With the return of Goran Dragic still uncertain, I’m sure plenty of Heat fans would supporting the team drafting fast-rising point guard Cameron Payne, but it’ll be awfully hard for Pat Riley and the Heat brass to pass up on Lyles, the best—and most promising—player available.

A versatile big man ideal for today’s NBA, the 6’10” 240-pound Lyles struggled to see the floor early in his freshman season last year, but played his way into a meaningful role in John Calipari’s rotation by the time the NCAA tournament came around, where he impressed scouts and fans alike with his athletic game.

Though he grew up in Indiana, Lyles was born in Saskatchewan, meaning he is Canada’s great hope at a third consecutive year in which a Canadian is drafted in the lottery.

Though centre Myles Turner is ranked higher on most draft boards, Kaminsky is a better immediate fit on the Pacers, who would benefit by his ability to stretch the floor alongside Roy Hibbert. Kaminsky, the NCAA’s reigning Player of the Year, surprised many at the scouting combine and both he and the Pacers reportedly have a mutual interest in one another.

Payne is reminding many of Elfrid Payton in the sense that he’s an extremely talented point guard rising fast on draft boards who’s only knock appears to be that he went to a relatively small school (Murray State). But Payne has translatable skills and would fit in nicely with Utah’s young and promising core. Drafting Payne would be an admission of error re: the Trey Burke pick from two years ago, but Burke would make for decent trade bait, while Utah’s top pick last year, Dante Exum, still have time to grow, and could very well be a shooting guard by the time he’s ready to contribute consistently.

With potential to become an elite wing defender, Johnson would address a critical need for a Suns team that seems to be searching for an identity after its infamous three-point-guard experiment failed spectacularly last season. Johnson may never be a star, but he’ll be a solid piece of a contending team one day.

Last year’s injury-plagued campaign proved to the Thunder just how important depth can be, and Notre Dame’s Grant could fill Reggie Jackson’s old role nicely as a hybrid guard who can fill the box score in a hurry. Though Myles Turner may be the best available, the trade for Enes Kanter, emergence of Steven Adams, and return of Serge Ibaka make the low-post less of an area of need.

Dekker showed he has lottery-level talent throughout his tenure at Wisconsin, and with the potential loss of DeMarre Carroll to free agency, the Hawks will be looking for insurance at the wing. With the ability to both take the ball to the hole and shoot efficiently from deep, Dekker should fit in nicely in Mike Budenholzer’s system.

There are always a couple of players who inexplicably plummet down boards on draft day, and Turner is certainly a candidate. But at a bona fide 7-feet with solid low-post skills, Turner has the potential to be a rotation player in the NBA, even though had he returned to Texas for a second season we’d be talking about him as a top-5 pick this time next year.

With last year’s No.2 overall pick Jabari Parker returning from injury, and given Milwaukee’s surprising 2014-15 campaign, few teams are better positioned for the future than the Bucks, who will be looking to add potential rotation players. And Portis, a serviceable, aggressive forward with a nose for the boards, is as good a candidate as any.

Oubre was a dissapointment last season at Kansas. He was supposed to pick up where Andrew Wiggins left off, and, well, didn’t. Still, he has the size and skill to translate to the NBA and should benefit from being drafted to a team like Houston that can afford to be patient with him.

With a deep front court already, the Wizards would be smart to seek guard depth, especially given how much they suffered in the playoffs when John Wall was hurt. Jones impressed all season at Duke, culminating in being named MVP after helping lead the Blue Devils to an NCAA title in March.

There will be promising options at virtually every position for Masai Ujiri and the Raptors next week, it’s just a matter of which area of need the Toronto brass chooses to address. Those who want the Raptors to add to their fledgling fleet of big men may point to Louisville’s Montrezl Harrell, who impressed in his workouts for the Raps, while others seeking backcourt support and envisioning a Lou Williams-less world are likely hoping one of Jones or Grant is still around at No. 20.

But depth and defense on the wing has long-been a glaring area of weakness for the Raptors, and remains so given the stagnant—or regressing—abilities of Terrence Ross. That’s where Hollis-Jefferson, the athletic and versatile defender out of Arizona comes in. Though less gifted offensively, he’s also far less of a project than Bruno Caboclo (which makes it defensible to draft a player of the same position in consecutive drafts), and at a rangy 6’7” may even be able to defend fours in a small ball lineup.

Drafting at No.20 the goal should be to both add promising assets and address needs. Hollis-Jefferson does both.

If Toronto passess on Harrell he won’t stay on draft boards for very long. A well-suited power forward in today’s NBA, Harrell attacks the glass like few others and has the size (6’9”, 255 pounds) to defend opposing bigs. Plus he’s got plenty of moxie. And who doesn’t love ’em some moxie?

As a freshman at UNLV, Vaughn proved he could score in bunches, averaging nearly 20 points per game, and Chicago’s new coach Fred Holberg could certainly use some more scoring options on his depth chart.

In now way can Kevin Looney replace LaMarcus Aldridge. But with the all-star power forward all but a lock to bolt Portland in free agency this summer, the Trail-Blazers will be looking to find solutions to replace him—both now and in the future. Looney, a big man with guard skills who was inconsistent throughout his lone year at UCLA, could certainly address the latter.

No offense to Matthew Dellavedova, but the Cavs could really use another option at point guard should Kyrie Irving go down again.

Anderson, a promising small forward, was one of the more impressive players the Raptors brought in for their pre-draft workouts and should prove to be a smart value pick for whomever takes a flier on him.

Spurs GM RC Buford has a successful history in drafting international players late in the first-round, so let’s keep the tradition going. Could Hernangomez (from here on out referred to as Guillermo Double Last Name) be another Thiago Splitter?

Expect the Lakers to almost certainly take a guard should they go big with the No.2 pick.

Okay, this almost certainly isn’t happening. I just wanted another Canadian on the board—especially one who actually grew up here.

Whatever, Brooklyn. You’re screwed regardless of what happens Thursday.

A versatile, 6’5” guard who could provide help on both ends of the floor. Not that the Warriors exactly need it…