As a starving man salivates at a free all you can eat BBQ, so too am I in anticipation of the Draft. As Brian has mentioned here, we're all a bunch of Draft junkies here at SC.com. The impending drafting of Kevin Durant (or Greg Oden!) is only the frosting on the cake for me. I look forward to watching the Lakers (Kobe to the Bulls?) and Twolves (KG to Boston?) to see what kind of moves are made. Will there be a big name switching conferences? Can we find a way to package second round picks and/or players to fill out our roster with some experience? Who is going to make that big draft day deal that nobody saw coming? Will Memphis find anybody to make things happen with? Will Isaiah Thomas find a new level of mismanagement (I'll suggest trading for Telfair)? Will the Spurs draft some guy I never heard of from the other side of the planet who will yet again fit perfectly into their mechanical system? Is this the year Atlanta actually adds the pieces they need to be dangerous for the next 5 years? The 76ers have 3 picks in the top 30 and a lot of needs - will they stay young or can they package the picks and make some moves?
The Draft is just over a week away, and I can hardly wait. I'll be watching the Sonics first and foremost, but will be keeping my eye on the Wolves, Celtics, 76ers, Hawks, and Griz to see what exciting things might happen.
There is a Consensus Mock Draft over on NBA.com for those who might be interested.
My thought on the above Mock Draft are that I think there are some places things don't make sense to me (and that's the result of it being a compilation). Atlanta really needs a point guard, and unless they address that outside the draft, the projections are off. The Hornets don't seem to be a logical place for Acie Law because they already have their PG of the future, plus Desmond Mason is likely to leave them, so they need a replacement there.
For speculation junkies (and I think AK1984 has included nearly all these guys in a trade at some point... :-) )
Players who might be moved or moving:
Rashard Lewis
Jamaal Magloire
Pau Gasol
Mike Miller
Paul Pierce
Maurice Williams
Kevin Garnett
Marko Jaric
Mike Bibby
Desmond Mason
Drew Gooden
Jerry Stackhouse
DeSagana Diop
Steve Blake
Kenyon Martin
Chauncey Billups
Bonzi Wells
Jermaine O'Neal
Mike Bibby
Darko
Grant Hill
DeShawn Stevenson
Kobe
Luke Walton
Chris Mihm
Vince Carter