NBA Draft is Thursday 6pm CT... Pelicans have the #6 overall pick as ESPN says, it's going to be "an interesting one." some Pelican fans have already gone into full-blown meltdown mode and have completely lost it. others have curled up into a ball, just repeating "i just want it to be over, i just want it to be over" but as one Pelican fan put it: "Out of the 6 top prospects who will be there when we pick? Will it be McLemore, Porter, Oladipo, Noel, Len, or Bennett? Actually we may be in the best position of this whole draft. Most think any of those six players can be the best in this draft, so we will get a shot at one of them and pay him the least. Then if we don't feel the one that falls fits our team, we may have one of the best picks to trade considering what I said above. I'm so ready to see what happens!" here's who the following Big Boards ranked as their Top 10 prospects. As you can see, they pretty much agree on who the Top 10 are: GM & Scout Board, ESPN, Chad Ford (6/24/13) nbadraft.net (6/24/13) drafttek.com (6/20/2013) The SportsXchange (6/19/2013) Chad Ford's Big Board 5.0 (6/18/13) draftexpress.com (06/17/2013) nbadraftinsider.com (06/17/2013) Sports Illustrated, Chris Mannix (06/15/2013) CBSSports, Gary Parrish (06/3/2013) PF/C Nerlens Noel 1/1/1/1/2/2/3/4/5 SG Ben McLemore 1/2/2/3/3/4/4/5/6 C Alex Len 1/1/2/2/5/6/6/9/10 SG/SF Victor Oladipo 1/2/2/3/3/5/6/6/6 SF Otto Porter 1/3/3/4/4/5/7/7/7 PF/SF Anthony Bennett 3/3/4/4/5/5/6/6/9 PG Trey Burke 2/4/5/5/6/7/8/9/10 PF/C Cody Zeller 4/7/7/8/9/9/10/10/10 PG/SG CJ McCollum 7/8/8/8/8/9/NR/NR/NR PG Michael Carter-Williams 7/8/8/9/10/10/10/NR/NR C Rudy Gobert 7/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR SF Shabazz Muhammad 8/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 9/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR SF Giannis Adetokunbo 9/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR C Kelly Olynyk 10/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR SF Dario Saric 10/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR/NR those Top Ten are also the same ten invited to the "green room" for the 2013 NBA Draft: Nerlens Noel (Kentucky) Alex Len (Maryland) Ben McLemore (Kansas) Victor Oladipo (Indiana) Otto Porter (Georgetown) Anthony Bennett (UNLV) Trey Burke (Michigan) Cody Zeller (Indiana) C.J. McCollum (Lehigh) Michael Carter-Williams (Syracuse) Barclays Center Brooklyn, New York
here are your 2013 NCAA All-Americans that have declared for the 2013 Draft: PG Trey Burke, Michigan (All-American: 1st Team AP, 1st Team USBWA, 1st Team NABC, 1st Team TSN), National Player of the Year (AP, NABC, Naismith, Robertson, SI, Wooden), Big Ten Basketball Player of the Year SG Victor Oladipo, Indiana (All-American: 1st Team AP, 1st Team USBWA, 1st Team NABC, 1st Team TSN), National Player of the Year (TSN), NABC Co-Defensive Player of the Year F Otto Porter, Georgetown (All-American: 1st Team AP, 1st Team USBWA, 1st Team NABC, 1st Team TSN), Big East Basketball Player of the Year C Kelly Olynyk, Gonzaga (All-American: 1st Team AP, 1st Team USBWA, 1st Team NABC, 1st Team TSN) SG Ben McLemore, Kansas (All-American: 2nd Team AP, 2nd Team USBWA, 2nd Team NABC, 3rd Team TSN) C/F Cody Zeller, Indiana (All-American: 2nd Team AP, 2nd Team USBWA, 2nd Team NABC, 3rd Team TSN) F Mason Plumlee, Duke (All-American: 2nd Team AP, 2nd Team USBWA, 2nd Team NABC), Pete Newell Big Man Award C Jeff Withey, Kansas (All-American: 2nd Team USBWA, 2nd Team TSN, 3rd Team AP, 3rd Team NABC), NABC Co-Defensive Player of the Year PG Shane Larkin, Miami (All-American: 2nd Team AP, 2nd Team NABC, 3rd Team TSN) F Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State (All-American: 2nd Team TSN, 3rd Team AP, 3rd Team NABC) SG Allen Crabbe, Cal (All-American: 3rd Team NABC, 3rd Team TSN), Pac 12 Basketball Player of the Year SG Seth Curry, Duke (All-American: 2nd Team TSN) SF Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA (All-American: 2nd Team TSN) PG Nate Wolters, South Dakota State (All-American: 3rd Team NABC, 3rd Team AP) G Erick Green, Virginia Tech (All-American: 3rd Team AP), NCAA scoring leader, ACC Basketball Player of the Year ......................... compare to: SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia -- SEC Basketball Player of the Year C/F Nerlens Noel, Kentucky -- SEC Defensive Player of the Year, SEC Freshman of the Year C Alex Len, Maryland -- All-ACC defensive team, honorable mention All-ACC, led the ACC with 78 total blocks and with 2.1 blocks per game F Anthony Bennett, UNLV -- Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, Mountain West Freshman of the Year G C.J. McCollum, Lehigh -- NCAA scoring leader at the time of his injury, all-time Patriot League leader in career points, 2012 Patriot League Player of the Year G Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse -- second team All-Big East, 2013 NCAAT East Regional's MVP
above is the Big Boards, here are some actual mocks where they predict how the draft will play out factoring in team needs: Sporting News, Sean Deveney (6/24) My NBA Draft (6/24) NBA Draft Room (6/22) Rotoworld, Ed Isaacson (6/22) Draft Tek (6/21) NBA.com: Howard-Cooper (6/20) CBS Sports, Matt Moore (6/19) draftexpress.com (6/19) NBADraft.net (6/19) Sports Illustrated: Chris Mannix (6/19) the guys that they had going in the top ten... Nerlens Noel 1/1/1/1/2/3/3/4/4/4 Alex Len 1/1/1/1/1/4/4/4/4/9 Ben McLemore 2/2/2/2/2/3/5/5/5/6 Otto Porter 1/3/3/3/3/3/3/3/6/7 Victor Oladipo 2/2/2/2/5/5/6/6/6/7 Anthony Bennett 4/4/4/5/5/5/5/5/7/8 Trey Burke 6/6/6/6/6/7/7/7/8/8 Michael Carter-Williams 7/7/8/8 C.J. McCollum 8/8/8/9/9/9 Cody Zeller 8/9/10/10/10/10 Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 9/9/9/9/10/10/10 Shabazz Muhammad 8/9 Steven Adams 7/10 Rudy Gobert 7 Sergey Karasev 10 Dario Saric 10
I know right? Too add to that, here are some other points made by a Pels fan: Pairing AD with his pal Noel could keep both happy and comfortable in NOLA. Having another likeable big man with quirky traits will certainly be embraced by Pels fans, ... Seems like having "twin towers" from the same school, one with the brow and one with the flatop, would be great ... Surely it would result in a few ESPN games and constant highlights on Sportcenter.
Chad Ford released his newest mock: his NBA Mock Draft 6.0 1. Cleveland - Nerlens Noels 2. Orlando - Victor Oladipo 3. Washington - Otto Porter 4. Charlotte - Alex Len 5. Phoenix - Ben McLemore 6. New Orleans - Trey Burke 7. Sacramento - C.J. McCollum 8. Detoit - Anthony Bennett 9. Minnesota - Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 10. Portland - Michael Carter-Williams His analysis for what New Orleans will do: Here's where things really get tricky. If Porter or Len still are here at No. 6, I believe the Pelicans will draft either one of them. If both players are off the board, the team has to move onto Plan B. While Bennett might be tempting, the Pelicans do need depth at the point guard position and will struggle to let (PG) Burke slide. (PG) Michael Carter-Williams also could be in the mix here.
draft guru Joe Kotoch's latest mock: 1. Cleveland - Alex Len 2. Orlando - Nerlens Noel 3. Washington - Anthony Bennett 4. Charlotte - Otto Porter 5. Phoenix - Ben McLemore 6. New Orleans - Trey Burke 7. Sacramento - Victor Oladipo 8. Detoit - C.J. McCollum 9. Minnesota - Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 10. Portland - Michael Carter-Williams his analysis for the Pels: (with Len, Noel, Bennett and Porter gone,) no chance New Orleans passes on Burke. Austin Rivers showed he is not a point guard, and if given the chance to take Burke – who once had an outside shot at being the top pick – the Pelicans will rush the stage on draft night. With Rivers and Eric Gordon, the Pelicans are deep at shooting guard and can even entertain trade offers for Gordon, who is signed to a massive extension ... The Pelicans took their centerpiece last year in Anthony Davis. Now New Orleans must surround him with talent. Burke is one of the quickest guards in the draft and can get by most defenders. With as much success as rookie point men have had the last few seasons (see Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving), the Pelicans will look to get theirs.
Fox 8 New Orleans: The Pelicans, who have no second-round pick, have hosted only one workout, which featured only two guards: Michigan's Trey Burke and Syracuse's Michael Carter-Williams. Demps said New Orleans was limited in terms of players it could work out because many agents now believe it does not benefit their clients to attend workouts with teams holding certain draft picks, or to perform drills against certain players. The general manager was able to meet and interview several other prospects, however. Those included 7-foot-1 Maryland center Alex Len, Indiana guard Victor Oladipo, UNLV forward Anthony Bennett and Kansas guard Ben McLemore. ... "It's a young team that the Pelicans have, and I think that I could come in and make an impact right away and help this team win," Burke said after his recent workout with New Orleans. Burke also would relish a chance to play with an athletic big man like Davis. "He blocks shots and he can go get it when you throw it up to him," Burke said. "It's a point guard's dream to play with a guy like that."
with all the talk of Alex "The Eastern Block" Len of Ukraine going in the top 6, here are the only 6 white people that have been taken in the Top 6 of the NBA draft over the last seven drafts (2006-2012), and their current career NBA stats per 36 minutes played: 2006 -- #1 overall -- F Andrea Bargnani of Italy (18.0 pt, 5.7 rb, 1.5 ast, 1.0 blk, 0.5 stl) 2008 -- #5 overall -- F Kevin Love of UCLA (19.6 pt, 13.8 rb, 2.2 ast, 0.7 stl, 0.5 blk) 2009 -- #5 overall -- G Ricky Rubio of Spain (12.1 pt, 8.8 ast, 4.7 rb, 2.7 stl, 0.2 blk) 2011 -- #5 overall -- C Jonas Valanciunas of Lithuania (13.5 pt, 9.0 rb, 1.9 blk, 1.1 ast, 0.4 stl) 2011 -- #6 overall -- PF Jan Vesely of Czech Republic (8.4 pt, 8.0 rb, 1.6 ast, 1.2 stl. 1.1 blk) 2008 -- #6 overall -- SF Danilo Gallinari of Italy (16.7 pt, 5.4 rb, 2.2 ast, 1.0 stl, 0.6 blk) it's funny because they just had some guy call in on the radio saying "Alex Len??? I've never heard of him. Did he play against Duke or something???" here's how Len did in some of the big games this year: vs Kentucky -- 23 pts, 12 rbnds, 4 blks in 32 minutes vs UNC -- 20 pts, 7 rbnds in 31 minutes vs Duke -- 19 pts, 9 rbnds, 3 blks in 28 minutes
