ESPN’s TrueHoop Network is conducting a mock draft using the member bloggers. Here’s a recap of the activity leading up to my projection of the Pacers’ pick at #10:
1. Washington – John Wall (Kyle Weidie of Truth About It.net)
2. Philadelphia – Evan Turner (Carey Smith of Philadunkia)
3. New Jersey – Derrick Favors (Sebastian Pruiti of NetsAreScorching)
4. Minnesota – Wesley Johnson (Zach Harper of A Wolf Among Wolves)
5. Sacramento – DeMarcus Cousins (Zach Harper of Cowbell Kingdom)
6. Golden State – Greg Monroe (Rasheed Malek of WarriorsWorld.net)
7. Detroit – Ekpe Udoh (Dan Feldman of PistonPowered)
8. L.A. Clippers – Al-Farouq Aminu (D.J. Foster of ClipperBlog)
9. Utah – Xavier Henry (Spencer Hall of Salt City Hoops)
With the 10th pick in the first annual TrueHoop Network Mock Draft, the Indiana Pacers select…
Paul George of Fresno State University
Rationale: The bigs that the Pacers were really interested in — Monroe, Aminu and Udoh — are all off the board. I don’t think that they would draft Ed Davis to keep him, as he’s maybe three or four years away from being a contributor and doesn’t look to have huge upside. And the only other big to really consider here, Cole Aldrich, is too redundant to Roy Hibbert.
Other rumbles have the Pacers targeting Avery Bradley here, who makes sense as a perimeter defender, but is a bit of a stretch at pick #10. Also, he’s more of a 2 than a 1. In fact, I told Jared that’s who I was going to draft but then went back and re-read some notes and scouting reports and changed my mind. It’s possible that they go that direction, but I think they’ll end up liking Paul George as a more versatile, more NBA-ready player. He could potentially take Rush’s job at the 2. Or, if Murphy is traded away, he could even end up playing some “stretch” 4 in the system. Overall, he looks like a very strong defender for the 3, a good defender at 4 and a passable-to-solid defender at the 2.
More than anything, however, the choices left in this mock draft underscore how much the Pacers really are — and probably should be — looking to trade down or out of this draft. Indiana, most of all, needs guard help and there isn’t a lot they can get at pick #10 that’s better than what they can get even after the lottery. Thus, I would be very surprised if the Pacers have this pick come draft night.
The New Orleans Hornets are now on the clock…
Here’s how the rest of ESPN’s True Hoop Network is projecting the draft (click on link to see each team’s write up).
11. New Orleans – Cole Aldrich (Joe Gerrity of Hornets247)
12. Memphis – Ed Davis (Chip Crain of 3 Shades of Blue)
13. Toronto – Avery Bradley (Zarar Siddiqi of Raptors Republic)
14. Houston – Patrick Patterson (Matt Moore of Hardwood Paroxysm)
15. Milwaukee – Gordon Hayward (Jeremy Schmidt of Bucksketball.com)
16. Minnesota – Hassan Whiteside (Zach Harper of A Wolf Among Wolves)
17. Chicago – Luke Babbitt (Matt Moore of Hardwood Paroxysm)
18. Miami – Eric Bledsoe (Surya Fernandez of Hot Hot Hoops)
19. Boston – James Anderson (Matt Moore of Hardwood Paroxysm)
20. San Antonio – Damion James (Tim Varner of 48 Minutes of Hell)
21. Oklahoma City – Daniel Orton (Royce Young of DailyThunder.com)
22. Portland – Solomon Alabi (Ezra Ace Caraeff of The Portland Roundball Society)
23. Minnesota – Kevin Seraphin (Zach Harper of A Wolf Among Wolves)
24. Atlanta – Larry Sanders (Bret LaGree of Hoopinion)
25. Memphis – Dominique Jones (Chip Crain of 3 Shades of Blue)
26. Oklahoma City – Tibor Pleiss (Royce Young of DailyThunder.com)
27. New Jersey – Jordan Crawford (Sebastian Pruiti of NetsAreScorching)
28. Memphi – Elliot Williams (Chip Crain of 3 Shades of Blue)
29. Orlando – Quincy Pondexter (Eddy Rivera of Magic Basketball)
30. Washington – Craig Brackins (Kyle Weidie of Truth About It.net)