MOCK DRAFT
DET • Cade Cunningham (OK State)
HOU • Jalen Green (G League Ignite)
CLE • Evan Mobley (USC)
TOR • Jalen Suggs (Gonzaga)
ORL • Scottie Barnes (Florida State)
OKC • James Bouknight (UConn)
GSW (VIA MIN) • Jonathan Kuminga (G League Ignite)
ORL (VIA CHI) • Moses Moody (Arkansas)
SAC • Alperen Sengün (Turkey)
MEM (VIA NOP) • Josh Giddey (Australia)
CHA • Ziaire Williams (Stanford)
SAS • Franz Wagner (Michigan)
IND • Davion Mitchell (Baylor)
GSW • Chris Duarte (Oregon)
WAS • Corey Kispert (Gonzaga)
OKC (VIA BOS) • Kai Jones (Texas)
NOP (VIA MEM) • Keon Johnson (Tennessee)
OKC (VIA MIA) • Jalen Johnson (Duke)
NYK • Usman Garuba (Spain)
ATL • Cameron Thomas (LSU)
NYK (VIA DAL) • Sharife Cooper (Auburn)
LAL • Jared Butler (Baylor)
HOU (VIA POR) • Trey Murphy III (Virginia)
HOU (VIA MIL) • Quentin Grimes (Houston)
LAC • Isaiah Jackson (Kentucky)
DEN • Bones Hyland (DEN)
BKN • Day’Ron Sharpe (North Carolina)
PHI • Tre Mann (Florida)
BKN (VIA PHX) • Josh Christopher (Arizona State)
UTA • Ayo Dosunmu (Illinois)
DRAFT RESULTS
ROUND 1
DET • Cade Cunningham (OK State)
HOU • Jalen Green (G League Ignite)
CLE • Evan Mobley (USC)
TOR • Scottie Barnes (Florida State)
ORL • Jalen Suggs (Gonzaga)
OKC • Josh Giddey (Australia)
GSW (VIA MIN) • Jonathan Kuminga (G League Ignite)
ORL (VIA CHI) • Franz Wagner (Michigan)
SAC • Davion Mitchell (Baylor)
MEM (VIA NOP) • Ziaire Williams (Stanford)
CHA • James Bouknight (UConn)
SAS • Joshua Primo (Alabama)
IND • Chris Duarte (Oregon)
GSW • Moses Moody (Arkansas)
WAS • Corey Kispert (Gonzaga)
OKC (VIA BOS) • Alperen Sengün (Turkey) - traded to Rockets
NOP (VIA MEM) • Trey Murphy III (Virginia)
OKC (VIA MIA) • Tre Mann (Florida)
NYK • Kai Jones (Texas) - traded to Hornets
ATL • Jalen Johnson (Duke)
NYK (VIA DAL) • Keon Johnson (Tennessee) - traded to Clippers
LAL • Isaiah Jackson (Kentucky) - traded to Pacers
HOU (VIA POR) • Usman Garuba (Spain)
HOU (VIA MIL) • Josh Christopher (Arizona State)
LAC • Quentin Grimes (Houston) - traded to Knicks
DEN • Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland (VCU)
BKN • Cameron Thomas (LSU)
PHI • Jaden Springer (Tennessee)
BKN (VIA PHX) • Day’Ron Sharpe (North Carolina)
UTA • Santi Aldama (Loyola MD) - traded to Grizzlies
ROUND 2
MIL (VIA HOU) • Isaiah Todd (G League Ignite) - traded to Wizards
NYK (VIA DET) • Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (Villanova) - traded to Thunder
ORL • Jason Preston (Ohio) - traded to Clippers
OKC • Rokas Jokubaitis (Lithuania) - traded to Knicks
NOP (VIA CLE) • Herbert Jones (Alabama)
OKC (VIA MIN) • Miles McBride (West Virginia) - traded to Knicks
DET (VIA TOR) • JT Thor (Auburn) - traded to Hornets
CHI (VIA NOP) • Ayo Dosunmu (Illinois)
SAC • Neemias Queta (Utah State)
NOP (VIA CHI) • Jared Butler (Baylor) - traded to Jazz
SAS • Joe Wieskamp (Iowa)
DET (VIA CHA) • Isaiah Livers (Michigan)
NOP (VIA WAS) • Greg Brown III (Texas) - traded to Blazers
BKN (VIA IND) • Kessler Edwards (Pepperdine)
BOS • Juhann Begarin (France)
TOR (VIA MEM) • Dalano Banton (Nebraska)
TOR (VIA GSW) • David Johnson (Louisville)
ATL (VIA MIA) • Sharife Cooper (Auburn)
BKN (VIA ATL) • Marcus Zegarowski (Creighton)
PHI (VIA NYK) • Filip Petrusev (Serbia)
NOP (VIA POR) • BJ Boston (Kentucky) - traded to Clippers
DET (VIA LAL) • Luka Garza (Iowa)
NOP (VIA DAL) • Charles Bassey (Western Kentucky) - traded to 76ers
IND (VIA MIL) • Sandro Mamukelashvili (Seton Hall) - traded to Bucks
OKC (VIA DEN) • Aaron Wiggins (Maryland)
CHA (VIA LAC) • Scottie Lewis (Florida)
DET (VIA BKN) • Balsa Koprivica (Florida State) - traded to Pistons
NYK (VIA PHI) • Jericho Sims (Texas)
BKN (VIA PHX) • RaiQuan Gray (Florida State)
IND (VIA UTA) • Georgios Kalaitzakis (Greece) - traded to Bucks
DOG BAG
• LA’s New Big 3
Before the draft was underway, the Lakers struck a blockbuster deal to bring Russell Westbrook to his hometown squad in exchange for Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope & this year’s first rounder. It signifies another run at the title in 2022, as well as the need for someone to take tremendous pressure off LeBron as a primary playmaker.
LA still needs to upgrade perimeter shooting but I like the Russ trade if you can add a few more pieces (wing shooter, shot-blocker, backup hybrid forward) to the lineup.
• Rockets = Big Winner?
Houston acquired a LOT of talent in this year’s draft: Jalen Green (#2), Alperen Sengün (#16), Usman Garuba (#18) & Josh Christopher (#24) - that’s a major haul in terms of where all 4 could end up in a few years. The main question is, though, what approach will Houston take to develop them?
I really love the idea of Jalen Green & Kevin Porter Jr. as the starting backcourt next year and Christian Wood & Jae’Sean Tate maintaining their same positions from a year ago. But beyond that, do you add another vet or go w/ KJ Martin, Sengun, Garuba or another young player? Coach Stephen Silas will need to manage playing time & carefully develop while trying to improve upon last year’s win total (just 24): no easy task.
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Winners: Rockets, Pistons, Clippers, Jazz, Nets, Hawks
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• Picks I Love:
Evan Mobley (#3), Alperen Sengün (#16), Keon Johnson (#21), Cameron Thomas (#27), Jaden Springer (#28), Ayo Dosunmu (#38), Jared Butler (#40), Sharife Cooper (#48)
(obvious ones include Cade Cunningham to Detroit & Jalen Green to Houston)
• Picks I Really Like:
Jonathan Kuminga (#7), Ziaire Williams (#10), James Bouknight (#11), Moses Moody (#14), Jalen Johnson (#20), Jaden Springer (#28), Miles McBride (#36), Dalano Banton (#46), David Johnson (#47), BJ Boston (#51)
• Picks I’m Not Sure About:
Davion Mitchell (#9; very good player, strange fit)
Josh Primo (#12; could’ve/should’ve traded back)
Chris Duarte (#13, will play a nice role but IND needed to swing for upside)
Jalen Suggs (#5; A+ in terms of value & potential, C+ in terms of ORL’s current guard core)
Scottie Barnes (#4; solid fit next to some of Toronto’s young talent but Barnes-Suggs will be debated for years to come)