My Dad's Mock Draft

[Redz]

Ever since I can remember my father has been doing these things.  He updates them over the course of the year.  I'm by no means a draft guru, but it's a passion of my father's.  He has me load up his mock draft off a spreadsheet onto my web site so it can be viewed by those on his email list.  I just thought I'd share it with you all and see what you think of his prognostications. 

I tried to doll up the "look" of it a bit, but I was working off his spreadsheet, so it ain't the prettiest looking thing, but the material's all there.

My Dad's a CB member "hardlyyardley" and posts on here from time to time, but he doesn't know I'm doing this.  Thought I'd give him a little Father's Day publicity! 

Here's the link: http://www.thecapedcod.com/2008DRAFT.htm

If you want to get on his mailing list, let me know.  This is all for fun...

[cordobes]

Very solid stuff, thanks for sharing. Impressive how the stock of most of the players hasn't changed that much during a year. Your father is clearly a good talent evaluator. Fortunately he missed his pre-season predictions

I don't have the chance to watch many NCAA games during the season, so I'm really far from being a draft expert. I watch the Tournament, from times to times I manage to get some streams for games where top draft prospects are playing and I usually follow international tournaments though. And I read a lot about the draft. I guess it has become an habit to almost every Celtics fan. Some random thoughts:

I think Kevin Love deserves to go higher. I've really liked to watch him playing, he's clearly skilled and displayed good athleticism in the pre-draft camp. I'd never draft guys like Jordan or McGee as long as Love was still on the board (though I know some GMs probably will). He would be very useful to Phoenix if he falls that far.

Augustin is a very short man and he would be a reach with the 6th. But NY needs a pg and there won't be a better one left. I guess they'll try to trade down.

Word is that Ty Lawson got a 1st round promise. Yesterday he was charged with DUI. This one's a given: he's joining the Nuggets. Also makes sense need-wise.

Bill Walker in San Antonio will be funny. I'm not a big fan of him: I appreciate his defense but every time I watched Kansas he was playing completely out of control in the offensive side (the kind of thing that makes any european cringe ). Pop is surely the coach he needs.

I can see Larry Brown picking a more solid and ready player than Randolph.

Toronto would do a mistake to draft Batum. They need a defensive post presence. Robin Lopez makes a lot of sense to them.

If NJ keep all their picks, they'll draft an european prospect to store overseas with one of them. There's already plenty of youth in that roster.

About those I know better (well, about some of them):

Gallinari - Milwakee would be a great fit for him. He'd connect very well with Skiles. He has that winning, hard-nose mentality the Bucks are sorely missing. 

Batum - A solid pick outside the top-20, as he's not anymore about upside and potential than anything else. But he's very inconsistent from game to game and he struggled when he faced stronger opposition in the Euroleague (e.g. Gallinari), otherwise he would go higher. But the tools are there. 

Ibaka - I've never seen him playing, to be honest. He's put some intriguing numbers this season playing in a so-so league, but his team was very weak (they didn't avoid relegation). Some spanish fans I've talked to like him, others not so much. In the end, he's a very young african big man, with great athleticism but raw skills... history is not on his side.

Tomic - A solid season overall. He's shown some improvement, but he's still the typical soft euro 7ft. Next season he should be joining Partizan or some other Euroleague team with a tradition of giving minutes to youngsters, not the NBA.

Omri Casspi - Another solid pick in the 2nd round, but he must be talked to stay in Europe for one more season. He's not ready to get meaninful minutes in the NBA and his parents would start whining.

Ajinca - It will depend on how well he'll do in the workouts, but I can see him going in the 1st round. He's the kind of player GMs usually like to draft early. Not sure if he deserves it.

Asik - I'd rather draft his teammate Edren ahead of him, but Asik has been a productive player against top-tier frontcourts in Europe in limited minutes. But he's another prospect who'll need time to develop (and add lots of bulk to his body). 

Pekovic - Well, he's being severely underestimated by most draft analysts (but I understand why he's falling to the 2nd round; that exactly what he wants). At this moment, he's the best center in this draft - leaps and bounds ahead of Brook Lopez, Koufos, Love or that guy who played along Jeff Green, to refer those I've seen playing. It's not even fair to compare him with the other Europeans (except Gallinari); a comparison with someone like Scola would make more sense (but Pekovic is 7 years younger). Potential matters, but this much? Anyway, I'm sure that the first team that won't mind to spend a pick in someone who says "Sorry, but I just don't like the NBA" will draft him.

Never seen any of our picks playing. I don't like what I've read about Thompson though (would like to know what your father thinks about him). I believe that if we keep the pick, we'll draft a winger, not a big man prospect. CDR would be great.