Final NBA Draft Preview

The NBA Draft is in a little over an hour and every NBA fan in America is drooling over where Jimmer Fredette, Kemba Walker, Derrick Williams, and Kyrie Irving will go in the draft. It's basically a forgone conclusion that the Cavs will draft Kyrie Irving of Duke University, and Arizona's Derrick Williams will go #2 to Minnesota, or whoever Minnesota deals the pick to. As far as players who I think are the most intriguing, I think Jimmer Fredette and Kemba Walker are your most obvious choices. Sacramento seems to be the first team to likely go for one of the two players as some sort of sidekick to the 6 foot 6 Tyreke Evans. I think the odds of the Kings picking one of these two guys is a possibility, but I also think that the Kings have other needs as well that they may fill such as a small forward or even a good true Center.

The Jazz seem to be leaning towards Turkish big man Enes Kanter at #3, who is a 6 foot 11 inch scoring threat down low. The only real concern about Kanter are his knees, and so I am very leery of the Jazz picking him for that reason. Utah picking at #12 later on seems to have a good shot at either Jimmer or Kemba. I personally think that they should take Jimmer only if they feel like he's a better player or better suited for their team. Shouldn't take him because he's a hometown product. I don't think that will be too much of a factor, but it could be. If Kemba and Jimmer are both available, I think Utah should go with Kemba because he's a better defender, a good shooter, and more versatile. However, Jimmer's shooting ability is so ridiculous, that Utah may want him just for that alone. I think if it comes down to it, Utah takes Jimmer only because it's a coin-toss situation. Either one could outdo the other, and Jimmer would boost sales. So I guess that the homegrown element will be more of a factor than I previously stated. Another factor for Utah is the development of Ante Tomic in Spain. If he comes over soon, then Kanter won't go to the Jazz. But, if Tomic isn't coming over soon, or they are unsure about him, then Kanter would make sense, since Utah does need a good center really bad. I'm still all for Kawhi Leonard though he's had some injury problems. He's a raw athlete and seems to be able to replace Andrei Kirilenko maybe. Also, Kenneth Faried of Morehead State is a player the Jazz should consider. He's a 6 foot 7 inch Freakshow with similar attributes to Paul Millsap. A hard working kid that can grab boards and add size to the front court. Not an immediate need for the Jazz as they have Derrick Favors, but hey, they could use more size nonetheless.
I think another interesting player who's name is starting to bubble up is Marshon Brooks of Providence. Dynamic scorer at 6 foot 5. He dropped 53 on Notre Dame and has had multiple games over 30 points during his senior season. He's a great scoring threat and will be an asset wherever he lands. He was second in the nation in scoring behind Jimmer Fredette and has shown that he can put the ball in the hole.
There's a lot that's going to happen in the draft and a lot of proposed trades. Most of which sound ridiculous. Minnesota dealing Kevin Love to the Lakers for Pau Gasol, and giving up the #2 pick, etc. All crazy deals of which make no sense to me. Monta Ellis and Andre Iguodala are major trade bait like they've done something horribly wrong. Both are great players, and I don't get why their respective teams want them to go. Especially Ellis. Golden State needs other players around Monta Ellis. Trading him is not the answer. The deal of trading Lamar Odom and Ron Artest to Philly for Andre Iguodala is absurd and shouldn't be considered by Philly. The Wolves are also looking at deals, but I think they should draft Enes Kanter at #2. They need a Center and with Rubio coming in, they don't need to draft another PG. However, Rubio has sucked recently, and so they still might need a PG, but not through the draft. Rubio has been treated like Manna from Heaven, and that to me is a joke. He hasn't proven enough to be viewed as such a hot commodity. Wolves should also dump Darko Milicic like a bag of bricks. He's going nowhere in the NBA.
Overall, draft day should be exciting. I'm very curious to see what trades are made, what picks are made, etc. Especially since this is such a weak/wide open draft.