Mock First Round: Team Trova

Did you hear the news? The geniuses at the Bullets Blog have created a contest that lets you win a free t-shirt, and bragging rights, for knowing more about the NBA draft than your peers.

Anyway, I just submitted my first round picks, and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to write a blog explaining some of them in more detail.

Here are my picks, 1-30:

1. New Orleans - Anthony Davis, Kentucky
*2. Charlotte - Thomas Robinson, Kansas
3. Washington - Harrison Barnes, North Carolina
*4. Cleveland - Bradley Beal, Florida 
5. Sacramento - Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky 
*6. Portland - Andre Drummond, Connecticut
7. Golden State - John Henson, UNC
8. Toronto - Perry Jones 3, Baylor
9. Detroit - Tyler Zeller, North Carolina
10. New Orleans - Kendall Marshall, North Carolina
11. Portland - Austin Rivers, Duke
12. Milwaukee - Meyers Leonard, Illinois
*13. Phoenix - Jared Sullinger, Ohio State 
14. Houston - Damian Lillard, Weber State
*15. Philadelphia - Dion Waiters, 'Cuse 
*16. Houston - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
*17. Dallas - Jeremy Lamb, Connecticut 
18. Minnesota - John Jenkins, Vanderbilt
19. Orlando - Arnett Moultrie, Mississippi State
20. Denver - Terrence Ross, Washington
21. Boston - Festus Ezeli, Vanderbilt
22. Boston - Moe Harkless, St. John's
*23. Atlanta - Royce White, Iowa State 
24. Cleveland - Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure
*25. Memphis - Jae Crowder, Marquette 
26. Indiana - Marquis Teague, Kentucky
27. Miami - Evan Fournier, France
*28. Oklahoma City - Draymond Green, Michigan State
29. Chicago - Will Barton, Memphis
30. Golden State - J'Covan Brown, Texas


I placed a star next to the players I wanted to talk about:


2.) Thomas Robinson, Power Forward from Kansas, to the Bobcats --- this is the smartest pick with number 2 in my opinion. Robinson has an NBA ready game, and dominated in the Big 12 last year (over 17 points and about 12 boards per game). He can produce immediately, and is the safest pick for a historically bad team to make.
4.) Bradley Beal, Shooting Guard from Florida, to the Cavs --- he is the best shooter in this year's draft class, hands down. He has superior athleticism to boot. If he can be teamed with the Cavaliers and Kyrie Irving, watch out for this team in 2 years. They will have the best back court in the NBA.
6.) Andre Drummond, Center from UConn, to Portland --- this is a tough pick. Portland needs athleticism and strength up front after officially dumping Greg Oden. LaMarcus Aldridge is a stud, and putting a gifted center next to him could spell disaster for all opposing NBA front courts. It can backfire though. Remember the last big man, who was a project, to come out of UConn in the first round? It was Hasheem Thabeet. Oof.
13.) Jared Sullinger, Center, from OSU, to Phoenix --- Phoenix will be in rebuilding mode next season, with the likelihood of Steve Nash departing. Drafting an NBA ready center is the perfect way to rebuild a franchise. I believe Sully will be one of the best 7 players from this draft class.
15.) Dion Waiters, Shooting Guard, from 'Cuse, to Philly --- Jason is crapping his pants as he reads this. Waiters is the classic high risk/high reward player. Incredible athleticism, beautiful jumper, solid defensively. BUT, after watching him play about 30 times last year at Syracuse, I can honestly say I think he's a bust waiting to happen. For whatever reason, he takes plays, minutes, and games off. Cheers, Philly.
16.) Terrence Jones, Power Forward from Kentucky, to Houston --- quick, if I asked you who's body type Terrence Jones best matches with in the NBA, who would you say? The answer is LeBron James. Jones is 6'9'' and 252, LeBron is 6'8'' and 250. The biggest difference? Jones is an exceptional three-point shooter. Watch out for Mr. Jones, ladies and gentlemen. 
17.) Jeremy Lamb, Shooting Guard from UConn, to Dallas --- I am very high on Jeremy Lamb. He will fall to the middle of the first round, where he will be taken as a STEAL of a pick. He has an awesome jump shot, is supremely athletic and can take over games. I think he is a top 5 prospect in this draft class, but apparently I'm the only one.
23.) Royce White, Power Forward from Iowa State, to Atlanta --- Royce White is a 6'8", 270 pound machine. He was consistently double teamed all of last season and still managed 14 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists per game. Atlanta would love to put him alongside Al Horford in the post, and free Josh Smith to be his athletic and monstrous self on the perimeter.
25.) Jae Crowder, Power Forward from Marquette, to Memphis --- Crowder reminds me a lot of Kenneth Faried, a.k.a the Manimal, due to his high energy and freakish athleticism. He has a better jump shot than Faried though, and because of this, will become one of most productive bench players in the league next season, spelling Rudy Gay when he needs to, or going into the post to give quality rest to Z-Bo or Marc Gasol.
28.) Draymond Green, Power Forward from Michigan State, to OKC --- Draymond Green is a winner, plain and simple. Tom Izzo is probably my favorite coach in any sport, at any level, and when you have a player as versatile as Green coached by someone as detail-oriented as Izzo, the result can be incredible. His game is similar to LeBron, albeit less productive in every area.

Absorb, digest and use this information at your own risk. I play for keeps in T-shirt contests!