WRG 2011 Mock Draft - #22 Denver Nuggets

JR Smith, Wilson Chandler, and Aaron Afflalo are all free agents. This will lead to a big decision about where we're going at shooting guard. We're set at PG with Ty Lawson, but we aren't sure who his backcourt mate will be. After this pick, we know who it will be, and we cannot be more thrilled.

Alec Burks was widely regarded as a lottery talent, so to snag him with the 22nd pick is nothing short of a miracle. We love the fact that he's so adept at driving to the hole and getting to the line, complimenting the sweet outside stroke of Danilo Gallinari. This makes our offseason even easier, as we don't have to worry about our SG problem. On top of all this, Burks went to the University of Colorado! Our fans already love him!

We'll take the tall one.

WRG Mock Draft #17: Philadelphia 76ers

With Andre Miller an unrestricted free agent, we aren't really sure what he's going to do. If he leaves, our starting point guard would have to be Lou Williams. We don't even really view Lou Williams as a point guard, so that puts us in a quandry. Point Guard is an obvious need. The frontcourt is also a need after trading Reggie Evans, but we've drafted big men in the past 2 drafts (Jason Smith, Marreese Speights).

We finally figured out last year that we can have a lot of success as an uptempo team. Even though we are stuck with Elton Brand's enormous contract, we know how we can win games: by playing at a very fast pace. We primarily want a point guard who can come in and team with our new coach (Eddie Jordan) to take the reigns. We want a winner and someone who can play in an up-tempo system. Our choice here is simple.

How many cheese steaks could he fit in there?

Ty Lawson, PG, UNC

If Andre Miller decides Philly isn't the place for him, we are confident that Ty can come in and have an immediate impact. With Andre Iguodola, Lou Williams, and Thaddeus Young, he'll have some running mates and won't be counted on as a primary scoring option, just as he wasn't at UNC. He's shown that he can run a successful uptempo team and is a winner, and we love that.

Even if Andre Miller stays, we love the potential of Ty Lawson to eventually take over as our point guard of the future. His value is too good to pass here.

Minnesota is on the clock.

WRG Mock Draft, #13: Indiana Pacers

Many people look at us and say "The Pacers need a point guard". Jarret Jack is hitting free agency, TJ Ford is injury prone, and we've banished Jamaal Tinsley to Elba. Travis Diener is nothing more than a backup at best. In a point guard heavy draft, we obviously are going to take a point guard, right? WRONG.

We would have happily snatched up Jrue, Brandon, Jonny, Ricky, Tyreke, or Stephen if they somehow fell to us...but they didn't. After these guys, we feel there is a dropoff on our draft board in point guards. TJ Ford is small and has injury problems, and Ty Lawson is shorter than him (he also has a couple injury concerns of his own). Eric Maynor only weighs 2 pounds heavier than TJ Ford. We don't want to take a chance with that. None of these available point guards tickle our fancy enough to "reach" for them right here.

We would like get some toughness and height inside, and while we like DeJuan Blair, we are frightened by his knee issues more than we let on. Mike Dunleavy has knee issues. Danny Granger reportedly had knee issues. Marquis Daniels had knee issues. If we take Blair, we will take a huge cap hit and have to sign on Dr. James Andrews as our trainer.

With the 13th pick, the Indiana Pacers select:

I'm gonna take advantage of the mismashes.

Earl Clark, F, Louisville

While we weren't thrilled with Earl Clark's interviews (who was?), we do like his versatility and athleticism. He can come in and play the 3 and 4, as well as be a player who can orchestrate offense. With Mike Dunleavy, Earl Clark, and Roy Hibbert, we can put a lineup out there with 3 outstanding passers who aren't point guards, and get the ball to Danny Granger, an elite scorer. Clark also has shown he can run the floor, and we want to make sure our pick can run, as we play at one of the fastest paces in the league.

Height, Length, Width

The annual list of pre-draft measurements were released this week, and of course there were numbers that came out that weren't expected. Some of the surprises were positive, and some were negative. Many prospects' stocks rose and dipped because of these measurements, which leads me to think, how much do these measurements really matter, and how much should they matter.

Power Forward DeJuan Blair measured just over 6-5 without shoes. This was a guy who we saw have a great year at Pittsburgh, but now that the news that he's only 6-5 come out, many people want to discount him. Others want to say, it's ok, because he has a wingspan of a player who is a few inches taller, or his standing reach is better than average.
This is the same 6 foot 5 inch DeJuan Blair who outmuscled and dominated the 7 foot 1 inch Hasheem Thabeet during a meeting between Pitt and UConn this year. Apparently his lack of height didn't hurt him in that game, but now that the news is out, I guess we should all expect DeJuan Blair to have no shot to compete in the NBA, since he's, you know, only 6 foot 5.

Blake Griffin is the conensus best player in the draft, and expected to go #1 overall, but he only has an average wingspan for his height. Surely that makes the Clippers feel less confident about selecting him with the #1 pick. Forget that he won 4 different national player of the year awards, he has average sized arms.

We also found out that Ty Lawson has alligator arms. While Lawson and Jonny Flynn are the same exact height, surely Flynn is the better prospect since he has a wingspan of over 3 inches more. Forget that Ty Lawson ran the best team in college basketball last year, and improved across the board from his sophomore to junior year. His tiny arms definitely are a hinderance to his pro career.

Speaking of wingspan, DeJuan Blair has a huge wingspan. So he's short, but has a wingspan of a player a half foot taller. Does his wingspan cancel out his lack of ideal height for the power forward spot? His wingspan is a positive, but his height is a negative, so I guess we're back to square one. Blair's wingspan is a half an inch bigger than Jordan Hill's wingspan, and Hill is 4 inches taller. What do you make of that? I don't know what to make of it, I'll tell you that much, but what I can make of all of this is that this list sends the masses of draftniks and fans into a frenzy about how players are rising and falling, based on black and white numbers, while their skill-sets and accomplishments throughout the season are momentarily forgotten.

Just ask Saer Sene. >>