2009 NBA Mock Draft

Last year's #1 pick was a toss up between Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley, with Chicago grabbing Rose and making him their franchise player while the Miami Heat took Beasley. For 2009, it appears it may be a toss up between two monstrous players, Oklahoma's Blake Griffin and the human eraser, UCONN's Hasheem Thabeet. Both players have plenty of skills to offer teams in desperate need. Griffin may have a slight edge as he's the better offensive player, but teams can't go wrong by choosing a 7'3 guy who fills the lane, intimidates opposing players and sends shots into the stands.

Here's a look at just one NBA Mock draft for the projected draft picks #1 through 14. These team positions will most likely change, as of right now they are determined by worst to best ranking in the NBA amongst teams that may not qualify for the playoffs.

1 Sacramento Blake Griffin So.
2 Washington Hasheem Thabeet Jr.
3 LA Clippers James Harden So.
4 Memphis Jordan Hill Jr.
5 Oklahoma Cty Brandon Jennings Intl.
6 *Minnesota Gerald Henderson Jr.
7 Golden St. Earl Clark Jr.
8 Toronto Chase Budinger Jr.
9 Indiana Al-Farouq Aminu Fr.
10 Charlotte Demar DeRozan Fr.
11 New Jersey Craig Brackins So.
12 *New York Jeff Teague So.
13 Chicago DeJuan Blair So.
14 Phoenix Eric Maynor Sr

Currently opinions vary on where Connecticut Junior Hasheem Thabeet might be drafted. Mock draft sites currently speculate him anywhere from 1-5. MyNBaDraft.com has Thabeet going 5th to Oklahoma City, while draftexpress.com has Thabeet being drafted 4th by the Memphis Grizzlies. Of course, players' stock can rise and fall with the NCAA tournament as well as their performances in team workouts and pre-draft activities.

Also, for the 2009 draft, Minnesota receives the Miami Heat's first round pick, a top 10 selection due to the Ricky Davis trade several years ago.

2009 NBA All-Star Vote Leaders...

The NBA All-Star game arrives in just a month, illustrating how fast time keeps flying by this 200809 NBA season! This year's All-Star game will be held in Phoenix, Arizona on February 15th. That's just a day after Valentine's day, and many NBA players are hoping fans (or the coaches) show them the love. Here's a look at the current vote totals for the Eastern and Western Conferences....

2008-09 NBA All-Star Top Vote-Getters: (1/1/09)

EASTERN CONFERENCE:

GUARDS: Dwyane Wade, Miami, 1,473,225; Allen Iverson, Detroit, 1,027,153;

FORWARDS: LeBron James, Cleveland, 1,521,272; Kevin Garnett, Boston, 1,101,541

CENTERS: Dwight Howard, Orlando, 1,709,088

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WESTERN CONFERENCE:

GUARDS: Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers, 1,534,020; Tracy McGrady, Houston, 961,852;

FORWARDS: Tim Duncan, San Antonio, 1,132,095; Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix, 743,639;

CENTERS: Yao Ming, Houston, 1,396,126;

As you can see from the above totals released January 1, 2009, Dwight Howard leads all vote-getters with 1,709,088. In case you're wondering where Portland's rookie center ranks, Greg Oden is 5th amongst Western Conference centers behind Yao, Shaq, Bynum and Mehmet Okur. That should change within a few seasons. As for this past season's top 2 draft picks, Michaels Beasley is 2nd to last for East forwards, while Chicago Bull Derrick Rose is 8th. Two of the guards that Rose has received more votes than are Jose Calderon (TOR) and Jameer Nelson (ORL), who just might find spots on the reserve section for their first appearance.

Also of note, but not shown above is that New Jersey's new addition, Yi Jianlian, is third in votes for Eastern Conference forwards with 959,324 votes. Overall, he's not too far behind Boston's KG, and has a good shot of capturing a spot. Yi is ahead of previous all-stars Chris Bosh and Paul Pierce with the votes, but if he isn't voted in, don't expect him to edge out either of those guys for a reserve spot. Chalk up the Yi vote to the Yao vote as the Chinese have embraced the NBA greatly since Yao's arrival to Houston.

You can see the rest of the 2008-09 NBA All-Star votes here at azcentral.com. Balloting for the 2009 NBA All-Star Game officially ends on January 19th, 2009.

Bulls Make Rose #1 Pick

With their first draft pick since taking Elton Brand at #1, the Chicago Bulls drafted phenom Derrick Rose. Now the Bulls add another piece to their puzzle as they attempt to regain playoff glory. The Bulls of course failed to make the playoffs last season, one of the more enigmatic teams, besides Miami. The general consensus now seems to be the Bulls will be trading either Hinrich, Gordon or Larry Hughes, or more than 1 of them. Smart money may be on Hinrich, who was running the show there, but don't rule anything out yet.

Forward Michael Beasley went at the 2 spot to Miami, giving them another frontcourt player along with Marion. There had been rumors of a trade by Pat Riley, but nothing materialized. In other news, the Knicks once again gave their fans something to jeer about as they selected an Italian player whom Jay Bilas claims "won't be a star, but will be a solid player". Always great to appease the hometown fans on national TV.

There were a couple trades too. The Nets dealt away longtime star Richard Jefferson to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for last year's #7 pick, Yi, and Bobby Simmons. The Pacers traded away their All-star, Jermaine O'Neal in exchange for TJ Ford, Nesterovic, and a draft pick. It's puzzling why Toronto would add O'Neal in with Bosh up front, as they are identical type players. TJ Ford has been touted as one of the quicker guys in the league and maybe now can jumpstart the Pacers again.

There's sure to be more moves made in the coming weeks, but for now the draft has ended and benefited several teams.

Bulls' Choice: Beasley or Rose?

The Chicago Bulls had just a 1.7% chancce of winning the NBA's version of the lottery on Tuesday night, and now they face the big choice: Beasley or Rose?

The consensus seems to say that Rose is the lock for #1 pick in the draft, however he is a PG and the Bulls have Hinrich. Hinrich could always slide into the shooting guard role. Beasley would give the Bulls even more size upfront, but some say he may have some red flag issues. As a longtime Bulls fan, I'd say the Bulls should do what they should have for several years now: make a trade for veteran talent to help them in the playoffs.

The Bulls already have a very talented young team which has achieved playoff status over the past several years. Hinrich, Duhon, Gordon, Noccioni, Tyrus Thomas, Joakim Noah..the list goes on. While they are one of the youngest and most talented teams around, they failed to make the playoffs this season. In the past, they tried to add Ben Wallace to the mix, but he never quite gave them the boost they were expecting. They made the new trade with Cleveland and Seattle to acquire guys like Larry Hughes, but that really won't solve much. The Bulls could package their pick along with some of their other talent and acquire a guy who's been in the league 5 years, to give them that extra talent they need. A friend of mine even suggested they make a trade involving Kirk Hinrich and some other players to get Yao Ming. They could draft Rose and have a nice inside-outside combo along with all their other talent.

There's definitely other teams in the draft who are eyeing that top pick, so we may see a trade between spots, and some guys shift teams. New York is one team that desperately wanted to win the lottery. At the 6 spot, they have a good shot to acquire OJ Mayo and get rid of Marbury, who's been a problem child. Come June we may see a wild draft with several teams jockeying for those higher picks. Quite possibly the Bulls will be this year's Boston Celtics in the draft and make a smart, big move to acquire the star power they need.

See a Mock NBA Draft list for speculation on who's going where.

2008 NBA Draft Lottery

Tonight the NBA held its annually-televised Draft Lottery selection special from New Jersey. During the live event on ESPN, 14 lottery teams were represented by various personnel as the ping pong balls were drawn. Larry Bird was there for the Pacers, D-Wade for the Heat and a lucky season ticket holder represented for the Sacramento Kings. Rapper and business mogul Jay-Z was even on hand to represent the New Jersey Nets, the team he is a part owner of. Following the show, we now have the team selection order determined for the 2008 NBA Draft.

Selection order for the 2008 NBA Draft:

1. Chicago Bulls
2. Miami Heat
3. Minnesota Timberwolves
4. Seattle Supersonics
5. Memphis Grizzlies
6. New York Knicks
7. LA Clippers
8. Milwaukee Bucks
9. Charlotte Bobcats
10. New Jersey Nets
11. Indiana Pacers
12. Sacramento Kings
13. Portland Trailblazers
14. Golden State Warriors

Congratulations to Chicago Bulls for winning the lottery to get #1 pick. They should be able to add yet another talented player into the mix. As we all know trades can and do happen before or during the draft, so teams may swap spots. We also know the best players might not always be at the #1 spot either. Just look at guys like Chris Paul who emerged as 2nd best in this past year's MVP voting.

There's been ongoing speculation about which players will go to what teams and at which spots. Point guard Derrick Rose and forward Michael Beasley are being touted as the top 2 picks this year. At the time of these mock drafts, the order of NBA teams for the draft hadn't been selected. See info about the 2008 NBA Mock Drafts for a look at which players could be headed where in terms of team or selection spot.

2008 NBA Mock Drafts

On June 26th 2008, all those NBA teams who didn't get themselves into the playoffs are officially lottery-bound. Their hopes for successful team building and playoff opportunities rest on the way the ping pong balls bounce. One team will get the honor of pick #1, which could become a franchise player. Several websites offer NBA Mock Draft speculation. The Miami Heat, Seattle (or Oklahoma City) Sonics, and Minnesota Timberwolves are amongst one of the teams vying for the top pick, as they suffered a disappointing 2007-08 season.

NBA Mock Draft

1) Chicago Bulls: Michael Beasley (PF 6-9 235 Kansas State)

2) Miami Heat: Derrick Rose (PG 6-4 195 Memphis)

3) Minnesota Timberwolves: Jerryd Bayless (PG 6-3 190 Arizona)

4) Seattle Supersonics: Brook Lopez (C 7-0 245 Stanford)

5) Memphis Grizzlies: O.J. Mayo (G 6-4 195 USC)

6) New York Knicks: Eric Gordon (SG 6-5 205 Indiana)

7) LA Clippers: Danilo Gallinari (SF 6-9 210 Italy)

8) Milwaukee Bucks: Kevin Love (PF/C 6-9 260 UCLA)

9) Charlotte Bobcats: DeAndre Jordan (C 7-0 240 Texas A&M)

10) New Jersey Nets: D.J. Augustin (PG 5-11 180 Texas)

11) Indiana Pacers: Russell Westbrook (PG 6-3 190 UCLA)

12) Sacramento Kings: Darrell Arthur (F 6-10 215 Kansas)

13) Portland Trail Blazers: Kosta Koufos (C 7-0 Ohio State)

14) Golden State Warriors: Donte Green (F 6-11 Syracuse)

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Of course this speculation can change as the weeks go by before the pro basketball draft. The Bulls get top pick and it will be either Rose or Beasley. Chicago may decide to make some trades as well, so stay tuned. Some sites speculate the Heat will take Derrick Rose at #2, point guard from Memphis. Point guards are definitely in demand in the NBA after seeing the performances of Derron Williams in Utah and Chris Paul in New Orleans. It's hard to understand why a point guard would be the top choice of Miami, as size may really be what they need most. Shaq's gone, Mourning is not playing and they already have the very capable Dwyane Wade to really run the show. They may want to move D-Wade to shooting guard exclusively, so Rose could work. Various sites also differ on whether standout guard OJ Mayo of USC will land in the top 5, so it's really going to be interesting this June 2008 at the NBA Draft.

Also of note, the 2008-09 Rookie of the year may not even be drafted in the 2008 draft, as Portland Trailblazer Greg Oden is expected to play his first full season. Interestingly enough, Portland had a decent season in 2007-08 without him in their lineup and now have a shot at another top pick to add to what could be the team to beat for years to come.

More NBA Mock Drafts for 2008:

ESPN.com's 2008 Mock Draft

insidehoops.com's 2008 Mock Draft

MyNBADraft.com's 2008 Mock Draft

Hoopshype.com's 2008 Mock Draft

DraftExpress.com's 2008 Mock Draft

The 2008 NBA Draft will be held June 26th 2008, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

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