NBA Mock Draft 2011
The 2011 NBA Trade Deadline become even more fascinating and historical as two picks that were acquired in trades moved up from eight to first and sixth to third.
When the Cavaliers absorbed the contract of Baron Davis along with an unprotected lottery pick from the Clippers, we applauded the bold move while at the same time estimating that it would be a high cost to acquire the eighth or ninth pick in a weak draft. While the trade made sense at the time for the Clippers, this is the inherent gamble of such a move and instead of adding another first overall pick to Blake Griffin, they must convince an outside part to join him and their owner.
But the Jazz have now become the big winners of the Trade Deadline, turning the less than 100 remaining games on the contract of Deron Williams into Derrick Favors, Devin Harris, whomever they pick at number three and the first rounder from Golden State.
While it has become fashionable to discredit the quality of this draft, the dearth of quality is at the high-end where there is no true franchise star. But every team in the Lottery should pick a player that becomes a valuable starter and a solid rotation player at worst. There is a lot of capable players that will facilitate the true stars and as we are seeing in the Playoffs with the elimination of the Chris Pauls and Dwight Howards, those complementary players are utterly critical.
- Bismack Biyombo.
If the Pistons end up losing Tayshaun Prince and/or Richard Hamilton, Leonard, a tremendously productive – 15 points/10 rebounds – college forward, could well be the perfect replacement.
Though Leonard wasn’t tested all that often playing in a suspect league where he was simply more athletic than his opposition, his workouts have him progressively moving up the draft board, and he’ll fit in well with the physical Detroit system.
Athletic enough to contribute on the defensive and rebounding ends of the table, he’ll have to prove he can shoot enough to make a difference. A poor man’s Gerald Wallace, coming in as a slasher, and hoping to develop his game into something more.
Joe Dumars and company could also opt for Lithuanian power forward Donatas Motiejunas, seen by some as the highest-ceilinged European player in this year’s draft. He’s neither super quick nor a fantastic athlete just yet, but it could be worth the risk and the potential wait for him to bring his game to the States.
Another player in a somewhat similar situation is Bismack Biyombo from the Congo. He lit it up at the Nike Hoop Summit, and, as ESPN’s Chad Ford suggests: “it’s hard to find his combination of length, athleticism and motor at this point in the draft. He should be a perfect complement to the more offensive-oriented Greg Monroe on the Pistons’ front line.”
If he’s still on the board, Kemba Walker would be a great get for the Pistons’ front office as well, but don’t count on the UConn star still being available.
Once the NBA Draft order is set by the lottery, the heart-stopping fun that is Draft Season really begins in earnest. While it’s disappointing that the ping pong balls despise the great people of Sacramento, the bad luck in falling to Number 7 is no excuse not to catch Draft Fever.
That begins, for me, with DraftExpress’ first post-lottery mock draft. Jonathan Givony, writing for Yahoo!, has the Sacramento Kings taking Bismack Biyombo, 18-year-old power forward from the Congo.
Pairing the long, tough and super athletic Biyombo alongside DeMarcus Cousins makes perfect sense for the Kings. He does all the things Cousins doesn’t want to do, and competes with a motor that the team could have used this season.
Not-so-subtle knock on Cousins aside, the Biyombo is both inspired and exciting … to me, at least. Some may fear his lack of institutional notoriety and lack of domestic experience. I can already hear the Hasheem Thabeet and Mouhamed Sene catcalls. But I also hear the Serge Ibaka retorts, and I understand that Biyombo has been a defensive stud in the Spanish league (Number 2 in the world behind the NBA), and I agree that in a long-term Cousins partner, the Kings need a defender, not another scorer.
There will also be myriad questions about Biyombo’s true age, but DraftExpress already killed that rumor a while ago. He’s not 26. He’s 18 or 19.
And they called him Bismack.