Yesterday I speculated wildly about the NBA offseason. I enjoyed the exercise so much that I have decided to do it again! Below is how the NBA Draft could unfold based on news reports, common sense, and my below average creativity.
1st Pick – Cooper Flagg to the Mavericks
The second best Cooper you know goes first to the Mavericks. Even though Nico Harrison is in charge in Dallas, there is no way he can take a flame thrower to the still-twitching remains of his fanbase by trading the pick.
2nd Pick – TRADE – Giannis to the Spurs; Dylan Harper to the Bucks with a ton more picks
I don’t know if it will happen before the pick, after the pick but during the draft, or sometime this summer, but Dylan Harper is going to the Bucks for Giannis. The trade would be wild, but it makes too much sense for everyone. The Spurs are the only team that can offer both high end draft equity AND give Giannis a place to contend. If Milwaukee is willing to do good by Giannis, this is the only destination.
3rd Pick – TRADE – VJ Edgecombe to the Hornets; Sixers move to 4
This could very easily be VJ to the Sixers, but the combination of the pick burning a hole in Daryl’s pocket and the Hornets desperately needing a guy just like VJ make this deal too good not to happen. Every guard in this range is an offense first and only kind of player. The Hornets can’t afford NOT to get VJ. Sixers get #4, #33, and #34 for #3. This would give the Sixers 3 consecutive 2nd rounders.
4th Pick – Ace Bailey to the Sixers
Ace doesn’t want to be a Sixer, he made that pretty clear. I don’t think that stops him from getting picked though. He just fits so much better than the guards do in this lineup both in the present and the future. Maybe he gets traded from here, but Daryl will go for the guy he thinks can be the biggest star and he’s the only one with the 2-way upside to be that.
5th Pick – Kon Knueppel to the Jazz
Is it profiling to mock the whitest lottery pick to the Jazz? That doesn’t mean it won’t happen. Everyone is thinking the same thing.
6th Pick – Jeremiah Fears to the Wizards
This team is still a mess and Fears is the guy best positioned to fix that. There has not been a real alpha guard in Washington since John Wall and they need a guy who isn’t afraid to throw entry passes to Alex Sarr, get Coulibaly and Kispert the ball, and tell Jordan Poole to shut the hell up. This moves Bub Carrington to the 2. While that’s bad for defense, this helps the team in general tremendously.
7th Pick – TRADE – Tre Johnson to the Nets; Pelicans move to 8th
This is the best-case scenario for Brooklyn. After winning too many games this season and not winning the lottery, they still get a potential star without having to trade up too much for him. Johnson will be given free reign to run the show in Brooklyn. For the move, the New Orleans get #27 from Brooklyn.
8th Pick – Khaman Maluach to the Pelicans
The Pelicans get the guy they wanted while picking up an extra asset. The Pelicans are going to be resetting this off-season as best they can. This is the precursor to a much bigger move which we will get to. Maluach is going to be the defensive anchor this team has not had since Anthony Davis left for the Lakers.
9th Pick – Kasparus Jakucionis to the Raptors
Two things. First, KJ matches the Swiss Army Knife, do everything formula that the Raptors love. Second, the pick should absolutely be CMB, but I need him to stick around one more pick for something fun. So, while this is a defensible pick for Toronto, it isn’t really their best or most likely pick.
BIG TRADE – Zion Williamson and Trae Young to the Heat; Tyler Herro to the Pelicans; Nikola Jovic, #20, and a 2029 Heat 1st to Atlanta (plus Duncan Robinson and Terry Rozier for salary)
10th Pick – TRADE – Collin Murray-Boyles to the Hawks
The Hawks are sending the 13th and 20th picks to the Suns for #10 in order to take the versatile defensive big man with passing upside to sit in the middle of the Hawks’ offense and defense. They go from a selfish score first point guard who doesn’t play any defense to an offensive fulcrum who anchors an already swarming defense. All of a sudden the Hawks are FUN. Phoenix does this deal because they need a total reset and a lot of youth. They need all the picks they can get.
11th Pick – Derik Queen to the Trailblazers
Queen is so polarizing as an all-offense big man in the Julius Randle mold, but after trading for Jrue Holiday and drafting Donovan Clingan last year, they are one of the few teams who are positioned to take a chance on the Maryland guy.
14th Pick – Cedric Coward to the Spurs
With or without Giannis, this is still such a Spurs pick. The guy is athletic as anything and can actually shoot pretty well. He would be great running around with the rest of the versatile Spurs. But with Giannis and Wemby? Sweet Mercy.
20th Pick – TRADE – Rasheer Fleming to the Sixers!
Just some quick draft porn for everyone to end things. Fleming is the 6’10” local guy who learned how to shoot this season. He can rebound, he can play defense and put in about 40% of his 3s this season on solid volume. Getting Fleming would be a solid now and later hedge that could play with everyone. To get him, we are giving up those #33 and #34 picks we got earlier. The Suns would prefer not to add the salary that comes with the #20 pick and flip the high second picks for future assets that they desperately need.
That’s it for my prognosticating. I didn’t want this to be a mock draft but rather a sample of the crazy that could go down on draft night. The draft starts at 8pm on Wednesday for Round 1 and then Round 2 picks up Thursday at the same time.
days
hours minutes seconds
until
Round 1 of the NBA Draft
Thanks to FanSpo for their trade machine and Tankathon for being the draft resource everyone needs.
Philly Front Office 
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