WRG 2012 Mock Draft - #1 New Orleans Hornets

Was it fixed? Some say it was. Some say it wasn't. We don't really care. We won and that's all that matters.

Drew Brees and the Saints did their part to revive the city of New Orleans. Now we do our part to pick up the city and it starts with a franchise player

One of the greatest things about having the first pick in this draft is that there IS a clear cut number 1 player. We don't need to think about it, and we won't entertain trade offers. We won the lottery, and now we sit back and relax until we are officially on the clock and can stroll up to the podium and announce our new cornerstone big man.

The Hornets select Anthony Davis, PF, Kentucky.

With a wingspan almost as big as his unibrow and a demeanor almost as nasty as his teeth, he's a once in a generation talent. Welcome aboard big man.

WRG 2011 Mock Draft - #1 Cleveland Cavaliers

The last time we were in this position, there was no decision to be made.

Whether that was a blessing or a curse will forever be debated by pundits, contemplated by historians and duked out over cold brews at every corner bar from Akron to Zanesville.

What's great about having this pick now is that the flotsam that remains from our last-ditch attempt to keep the last guy will be mostly cleared away by season's end.  There's been a year to heal, to go through the five stages of free-agency grief, and we have arrived at acceptance.

We are cleansed, and have emerged clean and new and ready to face the future.

And while we understand that this one will never be as good as the last one, that comes with a small, guilty feeling of relief.

We see a player here we like a whole lot, but we'll never love again.

Not really.

Cleveland selects Kyrie Irving - a beautiful girl, a wonderful mother and a hell of a life partner.  We just don't want to die alone.

A beautiful whaaa?  You best be calling me a bad mother. Hear me? I went to Duke.

WRG Mock Draft: #1, Los Angeles Clippers

ghoti and myself will be conducting a mock draft, taking turns picking for teams. To be clear, this is not how we predict the draft to go, but rather we will be taking the approach that we are the GM for that team, and if we were in that position, this is who we would draft, as if we are in charge.
Without further ado, I'll start it off with the Los Angeles Clippers and the first overall pick.

With the first overall pick, the Los Angeles Clippers select:



Blake Griffin, PF, Oklahoma

If you have the #1 pick, you take the best player, period. Blake Griffin is far and away the best prospect in this draft. With a stunning combination of power and athleticism, he looks like a perennial all-star for years to come. Easy choice.

The Memphis Grizzlies are on the clock.

Blake Griffin, Welcome to the Black Hole

And with the first pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Clippers select...Blake Griffin!

"Clearly, we're taking Blake Griffin," Clippers General Manager and Coach Mike Dunleavy said in a telephone interview from Barcelona, Spain.

"This guy is the No. 1 pick. We're extremely excited. He's the guy."

Could a worse situation have presented itself for Blake? The Clippers have a log jam in the front court, with Zach Randolph, Chris Kaman, and Marcus Camby as three of the Clippers four highest paid players. Zach Randolph, exclusively a PF, like Blake, is the highest paid player on the Clips roster. Obvious wisdom says trade Randolph, but with Randolph being owed over $33 million over the next 2 years, that's not an easy task. Add in Randolph's persistent run-in's with the law, a malcontent attitude, and lack of defensive prowess, and it's almost impossible to find a team that would be willing to take him at that cost.

The second problem for Blake...it's the Clippers. One of the most inept basketball franchises in the NBA. Mike Dunleavy, coach and GM, good at neither. Donald Sterling, notoriously thrifty owner. Second fiddle in their own city. One playoff series win since 1978. Is there a more depressing franchise?

Congratulations Mr. Griffin, you're going to be a Los Angeles Clipper!