Where's Russ Granik? Here's one answer.

As we all know, he's not where he belongs anymore - at the NBA Draft, announcing second round picks - but now we do know one place where Russ Granik can be found forever.

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame!

So congratulations to Mr. Granik and let's all hope that little weasel Adam Silver never even sniffs that place  his enshrinement goes smoothly and whoever introduces him does it with half the grace and class that he used to introduce the world to so many fringe players, busts, surprise stars and eurostashes over the years.

Great job, Russ!

Kid Chocolate's top 5

 5 best available
Evan Fournier
Will Barton
Darius Johnson-Odom
Orlando Johnson
Tyshawn Taylor

5 who will be taken too high
Austin Rivers
Andrew Nicholson
Fab Melo
Tony Wroten
Brad Beal

5 who will be taken too low
Terrence Jones
Quincy Acy
Will Barton
Darius Johnson-Odom
Arnett Moultrie

Where's Russ Granik?

OK, we realize Adam Silver is coming out to read the second round picks.  We can no longer pretend we don't know this.

However, since this little weasel fine fellow will likely be the NBA commissioner soon, we will instead use this space to plead with this jackass fair and reasonable leader to bring back the great Russ Granik to do what he was put on this Earth to do.

So if you know Adam Silver and he hasn't yet violently murdered your family pet  please pass this message to him.

Thanks for your time.

WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #30 Golden State Warriors

We were forced to play Jeremy Tyler major minutes at the end of last season.  To be kind, he may be a 10th man for us.  We need somebody on this team who can score and rebound, and miraculously a player who can do both has plummeted all the way to the end of this round.

He is a great shooter with legit size who can block shots and run the court.  He fits our style and is ready to contribute right away.  We really lucked out here.

The Warriors select Andrew Nicholson, PF, St. Bonaventure.

He tried to explain he was a "Bonnie", but nobody was intimidated.

WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #29 Chicago Bulls

One way or another we need to address our need for a point guard, since Derrick Rose will miss significant time after tearing his ACL. We aren't thrilled with our options of finding someone to handle one of the Eastern Conference's best teams with the 29th pick, and Coach Thibodeau is known to bring rookies along slowly.

Another need is someone who can create scoring off the wing, but we think that last year's first round pick, Jimmy Butler, will fill that role in his second year.

Instead of going the point guard route, we see a guy who can handle the ball, is a veteran, and will fit into a competitive role on our team.

With the 29th pick, the Chicago Bulls select Draymond Green, F, Michigan State

This is what a mature player looks like.

Draymond Green is a do-it-all forward who can play point forward, helping to alleviate our need for a point guard. He's a heady, mature player who we feel can give us significant minutes immediately, instead of us drafting someone with flaws who will never play under Coach Thibodeau.

WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #28 Oklahoma City Thunder

One thing we learned in our playoff run is you can never have enough shooting.  You can carefully build your team and come up with a finished product that you are satisfied with, but then in the Finals you have James Harden flailing around trying to guard a monsterous LeBron.  That kind of stuff happens in mid-June.  We couldn't avoid it, but we know the answer is more depth and firepower off the bench.

This year we get back Eric Maynor, who we needed and will certainly help, but we also want to upgrade our perimeter shooting further so even if we have to live with matchup problems on defense, we can at least keep up on the scoreboard.  We couldn't do that with our tired stars and it really cost us.

Here we have what we believe is a top-notch specialist who will almost certainly be able to shoot over 40% from long range and open things up for our many offensive weapons.  We also think he's a better athlete than most players in his role and can be coached to fit in with what we do on both ends.  He's got some room to grow while he's knocking down all those threes.

The Thunder selects John Jenkins, SG, Vanderbilt

It's not an NBA draft unless Vanderbilt has three players go in the first round.

WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #27 Miami Heat

Who cares about the draft? We just won the NBA championship.

We have the best player in the NBA, and the best 1-2 combo. We don't need stars, we've reached our quota on that. We want solid role players who can assist our big 3 and help do positive things to win games. We don't need scoring at all. We want versatility or guys who are very good at one skill set. These are the types of players we want to surround LBJ, DWade, and Chris Bosh with.

With the 27th pick, the Miami Heat select Fab Melo, C, Syracuse

FABulous!

When you have such a prominent big 3, getting a rim protector like Melo is a great fit. We don't need him to score. We want him to stand inside and swat shots all day.We know he can do that, since he was the Big East's defensive player of the year. On offense he just has to be able to dunk once in a while, and we're confident he can do that. This will improve our defense and make us even scarier as we go for the repeat.

WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #26 Indiana Pacers

We have built our team by targeting players we think fit well in our system and in our locker room and acquiring those players.  That sounds obvious and easy, but it's a challenge.  We have built around older, more established college stars who really love and understand basketball but don't always come with a flashy game.

It's hard to watch us play sometimes and not think of bringing in some more explosive athletes or younger, less developed players.

However, we had a terrific season last year and we are good right now and it's time to bring in someone safe who we think can help us and give us a little insurance against not faring well in free agency.

Our backcourt needs help and we see a young man available who we think can be a regular rotation player for us, back up both positions and be a live sparkplug off the bench.  He's a cool-headed winner who played several roles on essentially a pro team, and he can really shoot.

The Pacers select Doron Lamb, SG, Kentucky

"This draft never saw anyone from Kentucky get pick- What? Really? Damn. Well at least I'm the only one named Lamb that got drafted, right?"

WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #25 Memphis Grizzlies

If we were drafting strictly by need, we'd be looking for a backup PG at this pick, but we aren't drafting by need and aren't going to reach for a player just to fill a slot.

We could use perimeter shooting, but we don't want to just take a one dimensional player who can't do anything but shoot. Like we said, we aren't going to reach in order just to fill a need.

Instead, we see a player whose hard nosed attitude and tough defense fits into our team philosophy. A player who can defend multiple positions, but is still very competent as a spot up shooter and might even be able to help us with that problem.

With the 25th pick, the Memphis Grizzlies select Jeff Taylor, SF, Vanderbilt

Ride em cowboy!

Jeff Taylor's style of play fits in perfectly with how our team plays. He's a physical player who is very strong and willing to get dirty on the defensive end. He's made strides as a shooter and we hope he can help us by stretching the defense at times and draining some long range daggers.  His potential is very high, and we are very high on his chance to thrive in our system.

WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #24 Cleveland Cavaliers

As we mentioned before, we are a few years away from contending and are much more interested in players with potential than finished products more suited to be immediate contributors.

With our earlier pick, we grabbed an ELITE prospect who needs development time.  We are going the same route here.

The way we look at it is we are getting a player at #24 who we think would be a mid-to-high lottery pick next year.  We're not positive he'll pan out, but we cannot pass up that kind of value.  We feel a small risk here could give us a HUGE reward.  That's one way good teams become great.


This player comes with some health concerns, is young and underdeveloped and was inconsistent in his brief college career.  However, 6'10 SFs who can create offense for themselves and have a 7'4" wingspan are - um - tough to find.  We like having the opportunity to put one in our pocket.


The Cavaliers select Quincy Miller, SF, Baylor

This dazzling talent has a bright future.

WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #23 Atlanta Hawks

Simply put, we need help in the back court.

Jeff Teague is up and down at the point, but behind him we don't have any guards under contract, save Joe Johnson, who we can always move to the SF. Josh Smith and Al Horford give us a very nice front line going forward, but we need some guys who can light it up from the perimeter to keep the pressure off from them.

What do you know? A projected lottery pick slid all the way down to us.  A guy who is a great young shooter, has ideal size for a two guard and can finish at the rim athletically.

With the 23rd pick, the Atlanta Hawks select Terrence Ross, SG, Washington.

Stroke it.

Terrence Ross fills an immediate need at SG for us, and he dropped in this draft. We acquired a lottery talent at a need position with the 23rd pick. It doesn't get much better than that.

With his size (6-6) and sweet shooting stroke, we are absolutely thrilled. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine this pick to pan out like this. 

WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #22 Boston Celtics

We don't have many players signed, so we want to draft players who will fit our style no matter which players we pick up to round out our roster.  We also need guys who can give us key minutes in their roles right away.  We are the definition of a "win now" team no matter which players we bring back this season.

We suffered by not having a physical big man to replace Kendrick Perkins, and we feel we addressed that with Festus Ezeli.

To compliment him, we see a guy here who is unique and very much in the tradition of all-around forwards we have had success with in the past.  We are intrigued by his combination of passing, rebounding, ball-handling and mid-range shooting from the PF position.  This is a modern type of player who we feel every team needs to create mismatches and dictate who the opponent can put on the court.

This player has challenges (or we wouldn't be able to sniff him at #22).  He has some problems with anxiety, but we feel we have a strong organization that can support someone with that kind of issue.  He's also a bit of a tweener at only 6'8", but we view that as almost a positive because of his extraordinary skill.  We think he will be a nightmare to defend.  His questionable conditioning and poor free throw shooting are things he has to work hard on, however.

While this seems like a risky pick, we don't think so at all.  We just don't see a way a basketball player like this won't succeed in the NBA at some level.  He is a big, skilled man and he can really play.

The Celtics select Royce White, PF/SF, Iowa State

Thanks for nothing, Google Image Search.

WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #21 Boston Celtics

Everyone has known our team is on the older side of the league for the past few years. We've been trying to infuse younger talent into our lineup, and we like the future of our backcourt. Rondo is an all-NBA caliber point guard, and Avery Bradley looks like a promising young talent to pair with Rondo.

What we really need is some young big men and depth on the interior. We're not sure that Kevin Garnett is coming back, but we don't see a player with his passion calling it quits. We want him around to give us 200%, inspire our team and mentor the young big man that we want to bring in.

With the 21st pick, the Boston Celtics select Festus Ezeli, C, Vanderbilt.

  We love his chiseled frame.

We wanted a center with legitimate size and a defensive presence. We don't need anymore undersized forwards who play below the rim. We want a big bodied difference maker on the inside. Ezeli, even though he's a 4 year player, still oozes potential. He moves remarkably well for his size (6-10) and has only been playing basketball for about 5 years. He also gives us a rim protector, which we desperately need, as shown by his ability to block shots. We debated between Ezeli and Fab Melo, but a couple of red flags made us shy away from Melo, such as his academic issues and lack of offensive game.

WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #20 Denver Nuggets

Since our roster is pretty much set for next year, we figure we can either add depth with one of the several versatile forwards available that fit our "interchangable parts" style and deep rotation, or we can bring in a backup PG to develop that can flourish in our up-tempo offense.

While we like some of these big men a lot, we are almost positive we can get one with one of our second round picks.

Here, we can't pass up the opportunity to bring in a PG who was able to flawlessly orchestrate the fast break on what was essentially a pro team.  He plays with the speed and effort that our teams are known for - and, frankly, we think he was BORN to play for us.  Sure, we would love for him to be a better outside shooter, but we can work on that.  Honestly, this pick was a no-brainer.  We love this guy.

The Nuggets select Marquis Teague, PG, Kentucky

The future Metta World Spiece

WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #19 Orlando Magic

New coach. New GM. Our star wants out. Our PG is a free agent. We don't have much young talent outside of Ryan Anderson. We just need good basketball players. It doesn't matter what position, we need young talent and a new start.

We are gonna go for a prospect who we think is a top 10 player based on potential in this draft.

With the 19th pick, the Orlando Magic select Moe Harkless, F, St. John's.

I'm in the NBA?!?!

We love Moe Harkless's potential. He averaged 15 ppg and 8 rpg as a freshman in the Big East. He has great size for a SF, but a little bit of a PF's game. That suits us well, as our only young talent, Ryan Anderson is a PF who likes to shoot from 3. He compliments him well, but we just need the best player available (it's not a myth!), and Harkless is at the top of our boards. If he develops like we hope, we just got a steal.

WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #18 Minnesota Timberwolves

Our team has two cornerstone players.  One is an undersized, below-the-rim, unathletic PF who is the best rebounder in the NBA and the best shooter with the most range at his position.  Defensively, he needs a LOT of help.  The other is a flashy, young, pass-first PG with incredible skill who is very weak physically and a spotty scorer at best.  HE needs a lot of help, too.

We have a good center combination that provides scoring, size and shot blocking - but neither player has shown durability and that really hurt us last season.  If our starter goes down, we don't have enough depth to overcome it.  There is a player at this pick who could help with that, but we actually have a bigger need we can fill with a much better player here.  We are burning up the phones trying to trade for another first rounder.

Here, though, we need scoring.  We didn't have enough last season and we are poised to have even less this year.  You can't play in the NBA with unproductive wing players and win.  Luckily for us, not only is that a strength of this draft, but we feel SEVERAL lottery level wings have fallen to us.

We have some good perimeter shooters, so we really need an all-around scorer who has the potential to grow with our young team.  Incredibly, the one we like the most has fallen to us.

We feel he fell because of his and his team's performance last season.  He was on a team with inconsistent coaching that had a very poor year.  That isn't a factor for us - since we have a much more refined role for him and his development is a huge priority.  How well his skinny body can withstand the rough treatment it will get driving NBA lanes is also a concern around the league.  We aren't worried about that, either.  He'll grow.

Thank goodness he has these flaws, because we have the 18th pick and it's rare to find an athletic SG with a 6'11" wingspan who can score inside and out, handle the ball, create his own shot and defend available this late!

The Timberwolves select Jeremy Lamb, SG, Connecticut.

Minnesota??  Can I still play for the USA?

WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #17 Dallas Mavericks

Huge offseason for us.

We basically threw in the towel this season for a chance to land Deron Williams and/or Dwight Howard this offseason. If we get one or both...success. If not...we'll have about a million angry Dallasites that need some explaining.

Jason Kidd is a free agent. If he leaves and we don't get Deron we don't have a point guard. Kendall Marshall was a perfect pick for us, but our Lone Star neighbors just snatched him right in front of us. We can't say we're happy about this. 

We desperately need an infusion of some young talent. Dirk, JET (who we expect to resign), Vince Carter and Shawn Marion are all 34 or older.

We have no big man depth. We might have no point guard. Our players are old. Things can spiral out of control VERY quickly unless we land a top free agent and nail this pick.

Good thing there is a top 5 talent on the board for us.

With the 17th pick, the Mavericks select Perry Jones III.

 A blinding talent.

We're confident that our veteran laden team can bring the best out of Perry, who fell due to an unimpressive sophomore season at Baylor. Not only will he learn from true professionals, but he grew up in Dallas County, and we believe that this scenario is the best possibility for him to succeed and grow into a star.

WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #16 Houston Rockets

Our last pick tells you where our head is in terms of the risk/reward aspect of this draft.  We think there are players who might turn out to be home runs, but we are more interested in adding precisely what we need to our team.

We feel we did that with the previous pick, and we see a player here who we really think can win us games, whether he replaces a player who leaves or simply joins our rotation and does what he does.

And what he does is pass the ball.

If you go back through recent drafts, almost all the PGs drafted are scorers first and have to learn to run NBA offenses.  We like those players.  We have one in Kyle Lowry who many people said was a career backup, but now has some eye-popping assist totals to go with his natural scoring ability.  We paired him last year with an amazing scorer in Goran Dragic.  The two of them made our PG position one of the strongest overall in the league.

But now Dragic is a free agent, and he is going to command a huge contract which we may not be able to afford.  If he leaves, we feel plugging in a polished, pass-first, good-sized game manager to go along with the explosiveness of the smaller Lowry is the best use of this pick.  Even if Dragic stays, we still consider him a valuable addition considering the questionable durability of our entire backcourt.

The Rockets select Kendall Marshall, PG, North Carolina.  (And we are going to lock him in a gym until he can drill open 15 ft. jumpers from anywhere.)

He already has a hat deal.

WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #15 Philadelphia 76ers

We have a long offseason ahead of us, and have many potential holes to fill.

Lou Williams officially opted out of his contract recently, so our top bench scorer is more than likely gone.

Our starting center, Spencer Hawes, is a free agent, and we'll probably let some other team overpay for him. After all our first round pick last year, Nikola Vucevic should slip right into his role, but we could still use some big man depth, especially if we amnesty Elton Brand, as many expect us to do.

We aren't really thrilled with any big man at this point in the draft, but there are a number of wing scorers left, and we certainly can use one.

Lou Williams, a high scoring combo guard off the bench leaves? How about we just bring in a high scoring combo guard who is accustomed to coming off the bench? AND he's a hometown kid to boot? Sign us up.

With the 15th pick, the 76ers select Dion Waiters.

Get your hand outta there!

WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #14 Houston Rockets

We have been trying to acquire Pau Gasol for years.  Once we even got him - until we were cruelly disappointed by GM David Stern of the Hornets.

Well, we'll keep trying, but in the meantime we still need an offensive presence in our frontcourt with the size and shooting we need to run our offense.

We also need somebody who can play well for us in that role right away.  We've got a lot invested in our roster and tons of decisions to make based on this season.  We want to make our team as complete as possible so we can evaluate it properly.  A project isn't what we are interested in right now.

Lucky for us, a player just like that is available here and has the maturity we think will help us win right away.  He's a great athlete for a 7-footer and has lots of experience in big games.  He's not physical, but he can block shots and has the quickness to close out and help.  Add that to some solid post skills and a nice shooting touch and he sounds just like the guy we've been coveting!

The Rockets select Tyler Zeller, C, North Carolina

I sure hope I don't have a little brother who will come into the league and steal my thunder.