Draft Thoughts (1-15)

Towns to Wolves. Towns is gonna be a good scorer down low, good enough defender and rebounder, as a starter he slots Dieng back to the bench (and makes Pekovic eminently tradeable), which gives them a nice offensive tandem down low. The team is still very young, look for them to be back in the top ten next year, but this is an exciting core to build on.

Russell to Lakers. Okafor was the obvious pick, but Russell is the guy the Lakers wanted to take. They are sooooooo hoping he turns into a badass, Lakertown loves winners but they're extra gooey for the homegrown. Clarkson now becomes trade fodder, I expect the Lakers to be on the move tradewise (but I don't expect they'll end up with Cousins).

Okafor to Sixers. Sixers are value shoppers and obviously they had Okafor in their top 3 and they took him. Mudiay might've been a better fit for them but that said, I think Okafor and Nerlens can play together and if Embiid needs another year, well, they got his replacement ready to go. They'll have the Heat and Laker 1st rounders next year, expect them to comfortably suck again and roll deep again into next year's draft. (Also wouldn't be surprised to see them swap some of their five 2nd round picks for 2016 2nd rounders, just to keep the draft thing rolling)

Porzingis to Knicks. I thought they'd take Porzingis because he provides the best trade opportunity. The Hornets have been shuffling paper lately and they nabbed Kaminsky, a guy the Knicks talked about....think maybe Prozingis is headed to Charlotte? (Mutterings are that David West is headed to the Knicks and maybe Tobias Harris and/or Wesley Matthews)

Hezonja to Magic. Sounds like a bulldog, if he can shoot he could be a real badass. Gives them protection if Harris bolts and makes Fournier tradeable.

Cauley-Stein to Kings. I think WCS is gonna be a helluva defensive player (think outside linebacker more than wing forward) and fits pretty much any team anywhere. The Kings (with or without Cousins) will undoubtedly suck next year...and the next year after that. As much as I love WCS, the Kings probably would've been better served grabbing Mudiay but I guess they got tradin' on their minds.

Mudiay to Nuggets. (Ty Lawson is officially on the block) As the draft drew closer, Mudiay is the guy that strikes me as the most ready to play, most ready to shine out, show off and be a for real badass and dropping to #7 is probably gonna drive him all the more. I'll go ahead and name him my pre-pre-pre-season pick for ROY. That said, the Nuggets will probably be making a lot of moves this summer...and be terrible next year. But Mudiay and Nurkic will both be fun to watch, though they won't be bringing W's to Denver right away.

Johnson to Pistons. The Pistons could use a lot of things but building up scorers is probably the way to go right now. Johnson's upside is all-star, his downside is Michael Beasley. Pistons are a tough situation but hopefully Stan Van can guide Johnson to a solid productive season.

Kaminsky to Hornets. The Hornets take...a slow white guy that no one expected to go this high. The Hornets make no sense to me....unless Kaminsky gets moved to NYK. Stay tuned.

Winslow to Heat. smh...Heat shouldn't even be here and they're gonna steal Justice Winslow??!? I'm telling ya: I think Winslow has the highest upside in the whole draft. Wade won't leave Miami but he's on the Johnny Carson work schedule, plenty of time for Winslow to play the Joan Rivers role this team needs. I think the Heat will be pretty good next year already and I think Winslow can really give them something (....or the Heat implode and look horrible come April, also possible).

Turner to Pacers. I think Turner's gonna be a nice player down low, athletic, wants to be a scorer, will he be replacing Hibbert or playing alongside him? Not sure yet, either way I think he can be good for the Pacers.

Lyles to Jazz. Good pick! I don't think Lyles will be necessarily be a big star but I do think he'll be a good role player for a long time in this league, the kind of prductive reliable player that teams will want for years to come.. He's a smart kid, good hands, good scorer, gonna do what needs to be done on defense, he'll adapt to whatever comes his way. I definitely like his chances to get a third or even fourth NBA contract.

Booker to Suns. Along with Knight, Bledsoe and Goodwin, Booker fills out the Kentucky alumni volleyball team. Personally I think Booker is a little overrated, streaky scorer, great one night, non-existent the next. He can shoot, that's nice, but he'll need to fill out, get better on defense and work hard to be the player he's supposed to be. Honestly can't say I saw enough to notice.

Payne to Thunder. Thunder were the ones who first fell in love with Payne, rumors buzzed about him all through the top ten, in the end he goes to where it all began. This pick is all about Westbrook: if he plays then not much is needed from Payne but if he can't play Payne's gonna get a ton of minutes. Either way I think he's the kind of player who is what he is, can contribute right away.

Oubre to Hawks. Oubre has been up and down in this draft process not sure what  to say about him now. For the Hawks he can come off the bench and be an energy scorer, not exactly a replacement for Carroll but closer to the basket than Korver. The Hawks are in flux, not sure if Oubre is the best roll of the dice (I would've rolled with Portis).