Each year in late June, college trained young men converge on the Theater of Madison Square Garden (and tune in on TV) to witness whether they will become millionaires. The realest game show I know of and reality TV at its finest, on draft day the League picks the best of the best (or at least we hope they do) to represent each of our cities around the US. In these days of globalization we soon will be rooting for teams in China and Europe but until then, we wait anxiously to see who will be the next young representatives of our home cities and states. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you the K.Summers 2008 NBA Mock Draft: Part 1 of 4. There is just one thing to take note of before you start reading Part 1 of the K.Summers 2008 NBA Mock Draft: Number 11 – Phoenix received Atlanta’s 2008 1st round pick from the Joe Johnson trade on Aug. 19, 2005
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1.Miami
Michael Beasley 6-9 235 SF K.St. Fr.
The consensus number one pick in the draft may not be able to solve the Heat’s loss of Shaq Diesel, but maybe he can make M.I. Yayo forget about the big man for 2008-2009. Beasley has a lot of Carmelo to his game and his offensive arsenal proves that point. There is a theory that Beasley is so much better than his competition that he gets bored. This might be true but trust the NBA will break that boredom.
2.Minnesota
Derrick Rose 6-3 195 PG Memphis Fr.
The most exciting guard in the draft. He may have been the best college point guard in the country his senior year of high school. Rose had some doubters after his disappointing game against USC (Memphis won by the way) where OJ Mayo looked like the more NBA ready out of the two. Rose has shaken the haters off and has led his Memphis squad to an undefeated season (so far, knock on hardwood. pause). Minnesota needs a dynamic point guard that can match up with the taller floor generals in the league.
3.Seattle
DeAndre Jordan 7-0 250 C TX A&M Fr.
Within 5 years DeAndre will be one of the best big men in the NBA. He is still raw offensively but with his high basketball IQ the NBA transition will be smoother than most think. Seattle needs this Dwight Howard clone more than DeAndre needs them.
4.Memphis
Brook Lopez 7-0 260 C Stanford So.
I really think he will be the Sam Bowie of this year’s draft. Why Memphis will take a chance? Because he is 7 feet tall and can join fellow Stanford alum Jason Collins on the bench.
5.New York
OJ Mayo 6-4 210 SG USC Fr
Do the Knicks ever make the right decision on draft day? The draft is held in Madison Square Garden, but I guess home court doesn’t help with decision making. Just ask Stephon and Isaiah. Get it? “Home” and “court.” Just playing, I Love New York! The most heralded guard since Lebron is well on his way to making the public forget about that other OJ. If you were his agent could you think of a bigger market for OJ to make a name in?
6.LA Clippers
Jerryd Bayless 6-3 182 PG Arizona Fr.
Speed, quickness, athleticism, intelligence, and composure. All ingredients the modern NBA point guard must possess in order to be successful. Jerryd is a special point guard that will help fill the void left by Shaun Livingston’s injury. Looks like either Brevin Knight or Dan Dickau is getting cut this off season.
7.Charlotte
Hasheem Thabeet 7-3 265 C UConn So.
Charlotte has all the wingmen they can tolerate and this 7 foot 3 player on the rise will create spacing issues for other teams and more opportunities for his potential teammates.
8.Milwaukee
Eric Gordon 6-4 220 SG Indiana Fr.
Eric is undersized at the two guard position but is an athlete without comparison in this draft. He really could use another year at Indiana to hone his craft but with his former AAU teammate, Greg Oden being injured last year (and having to play a season in recovery) Eric may realize that this year may be his best chance at superstardom.
9.Chicago
Donte Greene 6-10 226 SF Syr. Fr.
Who couldn’t use another Rashard Lewis? Donte can get easy buckets for a team in a hurry. He must improve his defense to make his greatest impact on the pro level. Donte should develop into a good sidekick for Luol Deng if he can keep up on the other side of the ball.
10.Indiana
Darren Collison 6-1 170 PG UCLA Jr.
The fastest guard in college basketball. His ability to change the pace of the game will make him a valuable asset to the Pacers. Darren will make for a good back up to Jamaal Tinsley. .
11.Phoenix
Danilo Gallinari 6-9 210 SF Italy 1988
Not exceptional in any one area but good at a lot of things. Phoenix is known to bring in foreign players and develop them within their system. PHX and their United Nations team should do very well with this young man. I am still waiting to see an NBA starting line up of all foreign players. Anyone want to place any bets for when this will happen?
12.Philadelphia
Darrell Arthur 6-9 230 PF Kansas So.
Darrell brings solid post moves and runs the floor similar to another Philadelphia player by the name of Samuel Dalembert. Philly will be able to quickly fit Arthur into the line up and get quality production out of the big man.
13.New Jersey
DJ Augustin 5-11 180 PG Texas So.
Depending on the trade that Devean George has opted to hold out on, New Jersey will be depleted of one of the best point guards in the NBA. DJ may not be the cure but he sure will be a dose of Dayquil in Kidd’s absence. New Jersey is hoping DJ can come in and adjust to the position with Darrel Armstrong’s guidance.
14.Sacramento
Kevin Love 6-9 260 PF UCLA Fr.
So what hasn’t Love done in his first year at UCLA? He has encountered hecklers, tough competition, and naysayers but has conquered them all. Love could use a couple more years at UCLA but when you are a lottery pick why would you stay? Sacramento and Love should benefit from having all-star center, Brad Miller showing the rookie the ropes.
15.Washington
Roy Hibbert 7-2 278 C Georgetown Sr.
Hibbert probably would have been a top 10 pick last year because of his post season play but because of the large number of quality big men in this year’s draft, his stock has slumped a little. At 7-2 278 Roy will make a name for himself probably as a valuable back up.
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14 replies on “The K.Summers 2008 NBA Mock Draft”
no love for kevin love?
i think oj is more of a 9th-12th pick, back end of the lottery.
A lot of people have Love going above Arthur; however, I also agree with Kenji that Arthur has more NBA potential than Love at the PF position. After Beasley, Arthur, and Love, the PFs taken should be Hansbrough (who I am still not convinced will be a solid NBA player) and then I think you could see a surprise with a player like Kentrell Gransberry (who has tons of talent) from USF being picked late 1st round.
Is this taking into account team needs?
Can’t see Chicago taking Greene, only because they have Deng and Nocioni. They need a scoring post player in a bad way.
Love, Hibbert and Arthur would all be considered.
I think Philly and New Jersey will go exactly the same way, and if these three last they won’t go past the last of these three teams.
Ogilvy could also be considered. Hard to judge when we don’t know what range teams will be drafting in yet (especially the eastern teams).
I’m not sure I agree with the Love pick. I agree that Arthur has more athleticism and may make a better NBA player down the road. But Love has proven stats and his averages right now are much better than Arthur’s (17.3 pts and 11.0 reb versus 13.8 and 6). As we all know, teams draft off of potential, but I just don’t see Love falling out of the top 10 if he decides to declare after the season. I also agree with Chris that OJ will be a late lottery pick. Good job overall though.
The word is potential. Arthur has the upside. Love will not last more than 2-3 years tops. He just will not be able to compete at that high of a level. Who knows I may be wrong, but I doubt it. Mayo is better than what people give him credit for. Over exposed? Yes. Over rated? Maybe. Lot of upside? Absolutely. There are some foreign players I left out of the lottery, because I feel like you still need to prove your game in the states before entering the draft.
Hansbrough had 32pts, 12 rbs, & 5 stls last night against a team with 3 good bigs. Maybe that will convince idiots like Darren from above. Hansbrough has clearly shown this year that he can hit the mid-range jumper. He also has shown that he can take his man off the dribble, which is crucial for success in the NBA. Darren either has not watched UNC play many, if any, games this year or he is blind.
This idiot is clearly blind. That said, I still take Arthur and Love above Hansbrough.
Hansbrough isn’t big enough to play power forward in the NBA, and likely isn’t athletic or quick enough to dominate like he does in college. He’ll be a nice NBA player, but not a great one.
Isn’t Hansbrough a slightly more skilled but shorter Josh McRoberts? Both guys were/are better than their college competition and will probably be medicore pros.
This argument is too good to pass up. I agree with the above order of bigmen Beasley,Arthur,Love then Hansbrough. But let me say this I think people underestimate Hansbrough, he may not be ideal in any area but at 6’9 250 he’s strong, and good around the basket. He won’t be a superstar but he’s a player and will do alot better than most think.
People really think Hansbrough will be a star in the league? The League? Not the D-League.
Hasheem Thabeet r u kiddin me he cant score whats so ever and why would charlotte take a center when they just drafted emeka okafor
Hansbrough will not be an early pick and should not be an early 1st round pick at all. He played great in college but so did Christian Leatner, and look at his NBA career. He got dominated by quicker faster smaller Duke players at least once or twice a year, no way he can keep with the size and speed of the nba right now, even nasty n8 robinson would break his ankles now. He is extremely scrappy and a hardworker and he will improve, so i’ll give him a couple years.
If O.J. Mayo drops from a lottery pick in this years drop i’ll be really surprised. Even at #5 the the Knicks would be lucky to see him on the board. I think the Cali boys, Love and Mayo will go high, maybe even both in the top 3-8.
This mock is really old and should not be looked at. Instead, check out Austin’s new one at: http://dynastyreps.com/newswire/?p=17
I disagree with many of the predictions, but at least it is up-to-date.