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 2011 Mock Draft - #26 Dallas Mavericks

Weeeeee aaaaaaaare the Championnnnnnnnnnnssssssssssss!

Oh wait, we gotta draft someone, too!

Riding the high of being crowned world champions, we have the luxury of being able to draft the best player available, someone who may not contribute for a year or two, but someone we think is a steal at this point in the draft. Someone who down the road can play multiple positions, and be a match up nightmare due to his versatility. Someone who can develop on our veteran laden team and learn how to be a professional. That someone is Tobias Harris.

Now all we gotta do is get that dumb look off his face

WRG 2010 Mock Draft - #26 Oklahoma City Thunder

 
The Boston Celtics set the blueprint for winning an NBA Championship.  Gather some young assets and high picks, trade them for veteran stars and those hungry players will get everyone to buy into defense and team play.  Being an instant contender is where it's at.  Only suckers wait patiently for their own players to develop into a contending unit.  Teams like the Trailblazers that try this route never get there.  You need the established stars to win.

Well, the Thunder is here to flip that blueprint - and we want to start this year.

We think we have as good a player as anyone, and we chose very carefully who to bring in to play with him.  They fit together.  They have similar personalities.  They know each others' games.  They are a unit.

This is the first year we made the playoffs, and we took the eventual champions to seven games.  Eventually, they beat us, but we made them work as hard or harder than anyone.  We think what eventually did us in was our failure to match their size.  Our team is talented and cohesive, but a team with a blatant physical advantage over us is tough to beat in a long series, and we don't want to be at that disadvantage again.

So the Thunder select Solomon Alabi, who is a legitimately sized center who fits with our team's demeanor and gives us a developing player who is specifically targeted at teams who try to wear us down with sheer size.  He has a terrific defensive presence right away, and some surprising little skills on the other end we think he can build on.  This is notice.  We are serious and we are not just going to draft a Eurostash here.  We are ready now.  We are the new blueprint.

 "You want me to stop the Lakers?!"

WRG Mock Draft #26: Chicago Bulls

With our last pick, we bolstered our frontcourt by adding some toughness and bulk. We love how active we are up front.

Now we have to face a hard reality. We have been dancing with Ben Gordon for years. We offered him a huge contract that he (unwisely, it turns out) rejected, and ever since our relationship has been a bit - um - uncomfortable.

We have a pretty nice roster, and, frankly there are some players we would like to draft and stash in Europe for a while.

But what has happened here is that a player we were prepared to draft at #16 has fallen to us here, and he is such a nice fit for us that we think he could equal a few wins this season - with lots of room for future development. We think it would be positively irresponsible to let this opportunity go. We would love to save some bucks in the short term, but passing up an inexpensive player we can control for several years who we feel will be starter quality is something we think is just bad business.

So we hedge our bets and take our gift - a sweet-shooting, big-time combo guard that could either compliment or be a natural replacement for Ben Gordon.

The Chicago Bulls select Jeff Teague. We know it would cost us if we didn't.

Is the zero for gravity - or players with him in the green room?

The Memphis Grizzlies are on the clock.