All major sports have some form of a draft but unlike all the others only in the NBA and NFL can you see the fortunes of franchises change so dramatically when the selections made are done correctly. Picks like Tim Duncan and Shaq brought teams to prominence immediately and made superstars out of the General Managers that made the pick, conversely picks like Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan and Greg Oden over Kevin Durant have ended some. The 2015 NBA draft takes place on June 25th and rest assured all GMs on the clock are well familiar with the afore mentioned stories which now are NBA folklore, or a “how to” depending on where you stand.
Karl-Anthony Towns doing what he does best, defending the paint
One sure thing about this draft that separates from others is the fact that it is a “big man” dominated draft. Not since the 1992 have two centers been taken with the first two picks, actually in 92’ the first three were (Shaq, Alonzo Morning, and Christian Laettner). 23 years later there is small doubt that the first two picks will be also be centers although the order may be up for discussion as the TWolves pick first and are slated in most mock drafts to pick up Karl-Anthony Towns, a well-spoken, big, and accomplished center out of Kentucky, forcing the LA Lakers who pick second to take Jahlil Okafor, the center from Duke who’s resume and pedigree is equally as impressive and hardly seems like a booby-prize. Quite the contrary as some really respected analyst have the order inverted but one thing is certain, these are the first two names on 98% of all hypothetical drafts. The only compunction comes from fear of the ‘Jordan and Durant Syndrome’ where a guard that changed the franchise was passed up for a center that never delivered.
As Thursday quickly approaches NBA executives are working round the clock to uncover anything they can on whom ever sits on top of their list on the dryboard, ironically none of the information has anything to do about what they do on the court but everything they do off of it. Additionally and perhaps more importantly are the real injury reports. In defense of Greg Oden, his knees were in poor condition before he even entered the draft, as were Bowie’s and further investigation into both of them perhaps prevented the future problems, but both of our top two get a clean bill of health. So that leaves us with nothing else but the succinct on the court resume, and based on that here is our 2015 mock draft, with the obvious distinction being that 7 of the top 10 are Big Men (3 centers).
1. Minnesota Timberwolves: Karl-Anthony Towns, PF, Kentucky
2. Los Angeles Lakers: Jahlil Okafor, C, Duke
3. Philadelphia 76ers: D’Angelo Russell, G, Ohio State
This is a rare year where all of the top three teams picking first should be well rewarded for tanking the season.