My Top 10 for this year’s NBA Draft
2/6/16
With only a couple months left in college basketball, players are being examined closer then ever by NBA scouts, GM’s and many other executives. But, although I am only a 14 year old, I have also been closely watching all of these prospects and have decided to put together my prediction for this year’s first 10 picks. The draft order is based off the the NBA standings as of 1/29/16 (when I first started writing this post).
1. Philadelphia, Ben Simmons
As soon as Simmons showed up on Montverde’s campus as a sophomore he has been slated as a number one overall pick and he has lived up to every word of hype anyone has ever said about him. As bad as Philadelphia is this year, you can’t help but imagine Simmons, Noel and Okafor leading one of the best teams in the NBA in a few years.
2. Los Angeles Lakers, Brandon Ingram
The 2nd pick is a tough one in this draft because Simmons is the clear cut number one. With rumors circling that the Laker’s are going to offer DeMar DeRozan a max deal, a guard doesn’t make sense here especially since they have other young guards in Jordan Clarkson and D’Angelo Russell. They have to get the best big man prospect. But, the problem is that no big men in this draft are worth the second pick, so they can either trade down a few spots and snag Jakob Poeltl or Ivan Rabb, or they can take KD’s younger twin, Brandon Ingram and play him at small forward as a big matchup problem.
3. Boston, Jaylen Brown
The next best prospect in this draft is Kris Dunn, but one of the small bright spots for the Beantown Ballers is All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas, so Dunn doesn’t make sense. The Celtics just need a solid player to go along with their young core of Marcus Smart and Thomas and Jaylen Brown fits the part. He is a crazy athlete and maybe the best slasher at the college level. Brown would be another solid piece of the Celtics rebuilding puzzle.
4. Minnesota, Ivan Rabb
Although I believe in a few years Kris Dunn will be one of the best point guards in the NBA, the Timberwolves cannot afford to use ANOTHER top five pick on ANOTHER point guard. Rabb’s game has really started to pick up for the Cal Bears, he is well-rounded and has very solid size and athleticism for a power forward. This pick makes the most sense for the Wolves, Rabb will play along side Karl Anthony-Towns down low. If the Wolves start Rabb at power forward they will have an under 25 starting lineup with everyone except Rubio under 21. Talk about a bright future.
5. Phoenix, Kris Dunn
Kris Dunn…at 5… This would be an absolute gift for the Suns. Although Eric Bledsoe is out for the season, he will be fully recovered for next year. As bad as the Suns have been ever since the Steve Nash era, they could have a real solid future behind Dunn and Bledsoe.
6. New Orleans, Buddy Hield
The Pelicans just need someone that will produce alongside their superstar Anthony Davis and Hield will give them exactly that. Hield is currently averaging about 26 points per game… Against top competition night in and night out. I also believe that Hield is the best shooter in this draft and the defenses will have to guard him even a couple feet behind the NBA line which will not allow defenses to collapse on Davis in the post like they are doing this year.
7. Denver, Dragan Bender
I am usually very against international picks in the top ten for good reason. Jan Vesely, Bismack Biyombo, Andrea Bargnani, this list goes on. So, as a die hard Knicks fan you can only imagine how I felt when they picked picked Kristaps Porzingis, but Porzingis is the sole reason I have Bender this high. Their styles of play are very similar with their ability to shoot NBA three’s and be athletic enough to drive to the basket while both being over seven feet. There is no guarantee that Bender will make an impact right away but, Denver needs to take a chance on some talent right here.
8. Milwaukee, Jakob Poeltl
This pick makes a lot of sense for the Bucks. Poeltl, in my opinion, is the most NBA ready big man in college right now. He has a very solid post up game and had proven that he can play defense and rebound against some of the best in the college game. Especially after the Bucks just recently put Greg Monroe on the trading block, if Poeltl is around when they are on the clock, I think it’s a no brainier.
9. Sacramento, Jamal Murray
With Ben Mclemore basically being a zero (7.7 ppg 2.1 rpg and 1.2 apg) for the Kings they need to look elsewhere at the shooting guard position. I thought it was completely dumb when the Kings picked Mclemore at seven over other guards such as Michael Carter-Williams, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and CJ McCollum due to the fact that Mclemore has no jumpshot and I cannot stress the fact enough that it is very hard to be a shooting guard that can’t shoot. But, the Kings get a real chance to redeem themselves here with Murray, a true scorer that can score at all three levels and he makes a team better. Without Murray, I think Kentucky would be flirting with the CBI, let alone the seven seed they are projected in Joe Lunardi’s latest edition of Bracketology.
10. Orlando, Henry Ellenson
Is this a little bit of a stretch for a guy that’s projected in the early twenties on almost every mock draft… Not at all. Ellenson is by leaps and bounds the most underrated prospect in this draft. He’s averaging a double double on an average team that plays ranked teams night in and night out in the Big East, not to mention he has led his team to victories over LSU, Butler and Providence. I think Ellenson will be one of the best NBA players to come out this draft because he won’t have to change anything about his game to make an impact.