About College Basketball Guide, Charlie Zegers and I teamed up to conduct a mock draft for 2008's NBA Draft coming up in June. The mock was conducted on May 1st using the final regular season standings as our draft order.
Switching up the order from our last mock draft, I picked all of the odd-numbered picks and Charlie chose all of the even-numbered slots. This time around, we knew which underclassmen are coming out and which ones are staying... at least until June 16, the last day to withdraw from the NBA Draft if a player hasn't hired an agent yet.
1. Miami Heat: Derrick Rose, PG, Memphis
It's either Rose or Michael Beasley in the top two spots and considering there has always been some noise about the inability at the PG position, partly because Jason Williams is always hurt, a sure thing like Rose is the choice. And, yes, I said a sure thing. Nothing against Chris Quinn and the way he played as a starter, but I'd take Rose every time as the lead guard for my team.
2. Seattle SuperSonics: Michael Beasley, SF/PF, Kansas State
Absolute no-brainer here. Team needs don't matter; if Rose goes first, Beasley will go second and vice-versa.
3. Minnesota Timberwolves: Brook Lopez, C, Stanford
So, who's Ralph Sampson and who's Hakeem Olajuwon? Actually, Lopez and Al Jefferson can only hope they make for a deadly frontcourt combo as Sampson and the Dream did from 1983-87. Still, it's going to be tough combo in Minny for years.
4. Memphis Grizzlies: O.J. Mayo, SG, USC
The Grizzlies are disappointed to miss out on Lopez, and the last thing they need is another point guard, so they'll grab one of the draft's best scorers and look for size later.
5. New York Knicks: Jerryd Bayless, PG/SG, Arizona
Bayless is an explosive athlete and will be a sure-fire crowd pleaser at MSG. He's still pretty raw as a point guard, which is unfortunate because the Knicks don't have a pure pass-first point guard to teach him the tricks of the trade. However, despite that, Bayless should do well at the next level on talent and physical skills alone.
6. Los Angeles Clippers: Eric Gordon
Call this pick a hedge against potentially losing Corey Maggette and for Gordon to the potential replacement for Cuttino Mobley, who isn't getting any younger.
7. Milwaukee Bucks: Danilo Gallinari, SF, Armani Milan As Charlie noted during our draft, yes we're going with another international player. However, you have a tall player with immense offensive ability, both in finding an open player and finding the basket.
8. Charlotte Bobcats: Kevin Love, PF, UCLA
It is hard to imagine a better match between coach and player than that of the fundamentally-sound Kevin Love and the "fundamentalist" Larry Brown.
9. Chicago Bulls: Anthony Randolph, SF/PF, LSU
There's some huge upside here with Randolph. He's 6'10" with wing abilities. Randolph is basically the opposite of the other tall young players on the bulls in that he is more offensively skilled than Joakim Noah or Tyrus Thomas.
10. New Jersey Nets: DeAndre Jordan, C, Texas A&M
The Nets weren't able to acquire Andrew Bynum for Jason Kidd, so they add a "project" center via the draft.
