Kotoch: Mock Draft 3.0: Noel to Cavaliers, Steven Adams on the rise

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With the NBA combine and draft lottery officially wrapped up, we can now update our Mock Draft to officially represent the 2013 NBA draft.

Cleveland won the lottery for the second time in three years and is primed to expedite its rebuilding effort with the first, 19th, 30th, and 33rd picks in the draft to go with tons of cap space and plenty of assets to pull off a big deal, including possibly trading center Anderson Varejao.

While in Chicago this past week, there was a lot of buzz on prospects such as Steven Adams, Reggie Bullock, Allen Crabbe, Cody Zeller and Rudy Gobert, among others. With the draft still over a month away, nothing is set in stone.

Players will continue to hone their skills as well as prepare for workouts and interviews with front offices in the hope of boosting – or in some cases, salvaging – their draft stock.

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Draft Lottery Day: Winners and Losers post-NBA Combine

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nbadraft13_300x250_3 (1)Woo-hoo! Draft lottery day has arrived, and there will be a whole new level of hope for some playoff outlier by the time the second half of the Spurs-Grizzlies game begins.

Do we know who is going to go No. 1?

No we don’t. As mentioned here, Orlando and New Orleans are likely to trade the No. 1 pick if they win.

But the way the ping-pong balls fly will change the landscape across the NBA, and could lead to a significant amount of wheeling and dealing by the time it is time to report to Brooklyn, where 30 players will be the last to have their names called by commissioner David Stern.

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The Wiggins Effect: Kentucky 5/1 Favorite to Win NCAA Title

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Andrew WigginsImagine if Andrew Wiggins had chosen Kentucky instead of Kansas?

The Wildcats would be bigger favorites to win the 2014 NCAA title than the Miami Heat are to win the 2013 NBA title.

But the player expected to be the first overall selection of the 2014 NBA draft went with the Jayhawks, who are losing all five starters from last year’s team. 

Mock Draft 2.0 by Joe Kotoch: We Have a New No. 1

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draftlogoThe deadline to enter the draft for college players has passed, and while there were some surprise returnees – namely Marcus Smart and Isaiah Austin – there were plenty of early entrants as well. To be exact: 77.

Which thereby allows us to present Mock Draft 2.0, which includes the pre-lottery positions of all 30 teams based upon their records, and tiebreakers that were drawn at the Board of Governors meeting in late April.

The big news here is this: Sources around the NBA have told SheridanHoops that if the Orlando Magic or New Orleans Hornets win the lottery, they both would be strongly inclined to trade the pick to whichever fellow lottery team wants to pay the most for the right to draft Nerlens Noel.

The caveat for Orlando is that it does not want to lose out on Ben McLemore of Kansas, whom it covets the most, or Trey Burke/Victor Oladipo as a fallback. And it’s not that the Magic don’t like Noel. Rather, they don’t need him, already in possession of a top-tier NBA center on a rookie contract in two-year veteran Nikola Vucevic. Same with the Hornets and Anthony Davis.

The 2013 NBA draft lacks elite prospects of years past such as Davis, Kyrie Irving or Blake Griffin, clear  top picks regardless of who won the lottery. This year, Noel is the player atop the majority of draft boards but not quite on the same level as those other sure things.

In looking at the 2013 NBA draft, one position looks deep, especially in the first round, as we might see as many as nine centers drafted.

On the flip side, the wings in this draft are extremely thin; the second highest-rated prospect behind Otto Porter might just be 6-10 Giannis Adetokunbo the Greek-born Nigerian who played last season in the Greek Second Division. NBA executives flocked to Athens last month to see him, and he did not disappoint.

In the backcourt, Michigan’s Trey Burke not only won Player of the Year honors for his spectacular season but also played himself into the top five.

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Kotoch: Withdrawals Strengthen 2014 NBA Draft

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draftlogoThe deadline to enter the 2013 NBA Draft was Sunday, and we now know this much — the 2013 draft will be OK at best.

The 2014 draft? It’ll be one for the ages.

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