2005 Mock Draft (WSN)

NBA Mock Draft 2005

This mock draft is brought to you by Westeros Sports Network in accordance with the Indiana Pacers organization, specifically Owner/GM Paul Jorge Pinheiro (PaulyP), all opinions belong to the writer of this piece, Mr. Jon Snow, and do not reflect the opinions of the teams involved nor the Hornets Report Sim League

1. Seattle SuperSonics: PG Chris Paul; Wake Forest
-Hands down the best player in this draft, posses a craftiness and leadership well beyond his years. Should the Sonics stand pat and keep this pick they will be getting a big piece of their puzzle.

2. Dallas Mavericks: PG Deron Williams; Illinois
-If Chris Paul is 1A then D-Will is 1B in terms of elite prospects. Not as quick or crafty as Paul but he's bigger and possesses a better feel on the offensive end. He will be going back home to Texas should Dallas select him 2nd overall, jumpstarting their rebuild.

3. Miami Heat: C Andrew Bynum; High School
-The first of two elite Center prospects, big boy Bynum is coming straight out of his senior year of high school classes. He's very raw but the potential is their for the next great big man since Kazaam. I'd also like to point out he's an avid bowler.

4. Dallas Mavericks: C Andrew Bogut; Utah
-This tall Australian is the other elite center prospect. Has a knack for scoring the ball down low and uses his big wide body to secure rebounds and box out opponents. Getting a dominant PG-C combo would be HUGE for Dallas.

5. Toronto Raptors: G Louis Williams; High School
-Scoring. Thats what Toronto needs and thats what Louis Williams provides. He is a pure combo guard coming straight outta high school. He is a bit undersized for the two slot so his primary position would be as a sparkplug off the bench.

6. Detroit Pistons: PG Raymond Felton; North Carolina
-The Pistons biggest weakness is at point guard and with solid pieces in Wilcox and Jackson they need someone to faciliate. Enter Ray Felton fresh off a championship run at UNC. He can develop into an above average point guard, provided his weight doesnt fluctate to gargantuan proportions.

7. San Antonio Spurs: PF David Lee; Florida
-An underrated white guy from Florida, David Lee is the best rebounder in this draft. The Spurs are in desperate need of some sort of low post presence and David Lee will bring a toughness to the Alamo

8. Cleveland Cavaliers: SF Danny Granger; New Mexico
-The Cavs need some talent to go with Pau and going with that motif I think they'll go BPA here. Danny Granger is that man. A very capable scorer coming out of a great season in New Mexico, Granger is a lights out shooter with good defensive abilities.

9. Phoenix Suns: C Ian Mahinmi; France
-The Suns need some athleticism in their frontcourt to balance with the hard nosed rebounder Danny Fortson. Enter Ian Mahinmi, a young french center with a great deal of athletic ability. If he can put together his natural abilities and funnell them into productive basketball skill he should be a good center in the league.

10. Minnesota Timberwolves: Martell Webster; High School
-With a bunch of T-Wolves wing players about to be out of contract they need some talent there to go with frontcourt phenom Carlos Boozer. Martell Webster has a sweet stroke and a lot of defensive potential. He's only a High School senior so he has plenty of room and time to grow should the Wolves pursue this route.

11. Chicago Bulls: G Monta Ellis; High School
-The Bulls are a talented young team that underachieved last season due to their low scoring guards. In this mock draft I'm going to give them young raw combo guard Monta Ellis, he probably wont provide much at first but his potential is high. In a few years and some free training camps he can become a pure scorer at the NBA level.

12. Detroit Pistons: PF Channing Frye; Arizona
-Okay first time around Detroit picked a PG and I know they just acquired Chris Kaman so I'm going to assign them Arizona big man Channing Frye. He's going to come into the league an established inside scorer off the bench for this team presumably behind Wilcox.

13. New Jersey Nets: PG Jarrett Jack; Georgia Tech
-We all know the Nets have a plethora of big men. So shockingly enough we give them a point guard. J-Jack is a leader. Young Dwight Howard has incredible talent but he isnt a vocal leader. Jack will be the voice of this team and run the show and by the show I mean throw lobs to Howard every time down the floor.

14. Portland Trail Blazers: C Marcin Gortat; Poland
- Rumor has it that this team is being ran by Darth Vader so I've allocated a nice young innocent Polish boy to help lighten the mood over in Portland. I doubt Matt Nelson is their future at center and Gortat, although raw now, in a few years Gortat should be a steady presence in the middle of the Galactic Empire..errr Portland Trail Blazers

15. Orlando Magic: PF Charlie Villanueva; Connecticut
-On to one of the trendy picks from last season to make a push for a playoff bid, its the Orlando Magic. An early injury to Shareef really put a damper on their season as their young squad never seemingly put it together and deliver quality performances. With Eddy Curry's future uncertain I think the Magic should take Charlie Villanueva. He is an all around forward who can carry their bench.

16. Orlando Magic: PG Jose Calderon; Spain
-Jose Calderon is an excellent game manager and has a high basketball IQ. He'll bring a bit of flair from the Spanish league. With the Magic selecting a Forward its time to shore up the backup PG slot. Luke Ridnour may be better now but I expect Calderon to be running the show alongside Diaw in a few seasons.

17. Minnesota Timberwolves: F Ersan Ilyasova; Turkey
-This selection may seem a bit odd since both of the Wolves forward slots are seemingly filled now that the Wolves selected Webster earlier. But this team needs some talent overall and Turkish sensation Ersan Ilyasova is the best player left on the board. He can spread you out with the jumper or take you inside. His defensive game still isnt the best but in a 6th man role thats not that important.

18. Cleveland Cavaliers: PF Amir Johnson; High School
The Cavaliers are an enigma. Its like their GM lives in another country in like Europe or somtehing. Who knows what their plan is regarding players, but I'm going to take a stab in the dark and give them banger and tough rebounder Amir Johnson out of high school. This will allow Gasol to move to Center and take advantage of those matchups.

19. Denver Nuggets: PG Nate Robinson; Washington
Nate Robinson is an elite athlete with a penchant for scoring. He may be only 5'9 but he has elite burst and quickness. The Nuggets were last years sweetheart as they defied the odds and made the playoffs at .500. Even with the resigning of Bibby I give them Nate as a competent backup and if need be as insurance if Penny Hardaway goes down and they go small ball. Really small ball..

20. New York Knicks: PF Brandon Bass; Louisiana State
-The Knicks are pretty set in the frontcourt but they're about to enter contract years. Im having them take NBA ready Brandon Bass out of LSU to strengthen up their PF slot in the future to lessen the cap burden of having to resign Varejao. He's a bit undersized but he makes up for it with determination and ruggedness on the block, something Evan Eschmeyer did not provide last year.

21. Boston Celtics: PF Jason Maxiell; Cincinnati
-Jason Maxiell has "A" potential and could develop into a very serviceable big man should his traning sessions used properly. With the future of Chris Webber a tad uncertain a future backup plan in Maxiell isnt a horrible idea.

22. Houston Rockets: G Salim Stoudamire; Arizona
-Salim also has "A" potential and is decently well rounded in all skills of a combo guard. The Rockets have no glaring weaknesses so a little future depth at guard wouldnt be a bad idea should his training help him improve grandly.

23. Dallas Mavericks: SF Joey Graham; Oklahoma State
-Joey Graham is a raw wing player with some decent potential. Dallas has done well thus far so getting a wing for the bench seems like a well calculated plan for them to cap off a great draft.

24. Seattle SuperSonics: F Ryan Gomes; Providence
-A combo forward with "B" potential in the latter stage of the first round. Low risk decent reward.

25. Dallas Mavericks: SG Julius Hodge; North Carolina State
He has "A" potential so why not give it a shot.

26. Golden State Warriors: SG CJ Miles; High School
27. Houston Rockets: PF/C Rony Turiaf; Gonzaga
28. New Orleans Hornets: PF/C Andray Blatche; High School
29. Toronto Raptors: SF Francisco Garcia; Louisville

*Please note that it is still very early in the offseason and many trades will go down between now and the draft. Tune in for changes and variations as these trades go down

*Also note that this is a mock draft. Its not going to be 100% correct and a majority arent going to agree with it. To that I say get over it. Its my article, go read Bleacher Report if you like.

*Feel free to debate as well.

Stay Cool,

Jon Snow

Nice write up, I think it will be interesting to see if people go by ratings or real life production because this draft has a lot of discrepancies in that area.

Awesome mock...I remember being surprised by a lot of picks last year, but you laid out an excellent reason for each pick. I know I personally wouldn't be upset with Maxiell.

Great work! Also, I must restate what I said in the Timmy Duncan trade thread a.k.a Screamapalooza. Look at the first 21 picks. Those are some solid players. This isn't a weak draft class by any means.

Thanks dudes!

I agree on the depth of this draft, maybe not a lot of All Stars, but a lot of the mid/upper-tier teams can get a lot of solid options and increase their talent.

awesome write up

Good stuff man. Love it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The JNR

Great work! Also, I must restate what I said in the Timmy Duncan trade thread a.k.a Screamapalooza. Look at the first 21 picks. Those are some solid players. This isn't a weak draft class by any means.

It's top-heavy. I see 4 maybe 5 all-stars the rest are bench players fringe starters, but I see none being major contributors.

I think it will be more production based, Granger, Ellis and Gortat will likely go much higher.

For anyone who doesn't like the draft, I am buying higher first rounders :D

I have the Hawks pick, just so you know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by coltsguy510

I have the Hawks pick, just so you know.

Thanks Coltsguy.

Picks 16, 19, and 20 have been updated.

I don't like Salim Stoudamire's attitude. He's a 2nd rounder on my board soley for that reason.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pelicans78

I don't like Salim Stoudamire's attitude. He's a 2nd rounder on my board soley for that reason.

Does the fact that hes Damon's cousin help his draft stock?

@JeezyF.Baby: Wait, you mean someone else got to it first? I'm off the hook? YIPPEE! Now to somehow get the hell out of Arizona......

Great job man, really nice. :)

I could see the draft going like this, but I'm sure named players will go higher than they should based off in game ratings.