Top 10 2018 PBSL Mock Draft

[NOLa.]

Playoffs start in just a couple of days, but for now the lotto teams are patiently waiting for the Finals to be over with so we can start everyone's favorite time of the season: offseason. The offseason is anything but taking time off. Everyone knows this time period is when teams are most impacted for the upcoming seasons, and the draft is by far the most important phase of this period. The college draft system recently put in place has received its fair share of criticism and praise, but after the recent import of the new draft class a little more than a week ago, there was a collective sigh of relief that this class actually has talent, and lots of it.

I will use the draft position of the teams based on the draft preview and go from there for the top 10 picks.

#1: Toronto Raptors - James Galarza - SG/SF - Arizona State

Never before has the league seen an O/P player. Kobe Bryant is the closest player I can think of who was Y/P for the draft, who immediately turned G/P after his first training camp. Galarza has all the skills, talent, and measurables you can ask for a SG. He can score inside and outside, will be a lockdown defender, good (but not great) athleticism, average ball handler, and comes with a bonus of having B potential in offensive rebounding. The Raptors roster looks like a summer league team, with only an aging Dragic and soon-to-be RFA Zach Lavine being the only talent on the roster. Grabbing the most talented player would give them two 6'5 guards to build around, and two very good ones at it.

The catch here, and why I'm not jealous of whoever gets the #1 pick, is that in the NCAA game, Galarza has a personal foul rating of 8: http://pbsl.ijbl.net/NCAA/players/player4179.htm

Will this limit Galarza? We all know about Ben Simmons (24mpg, 3.7fpg) on the Philadelphia 76ers, who has a foul rating of 7. According to the lists.php page, other notable players such as Greg Oden (19.8mpg; 3.1fpg) and Derrick Favors (14.3mpg; 2.3fpg) have an even lower foul rating. These are all big men, though. Surprise player Paul George (33.1mpg; 3.5fpg) has a 13 foul rating. Are wings/guards not as prone to fouls even with low ratings? Rodney Hood has a foul rating of 0 but last season played 32.0mpg and averaged 3.1fpg. Galarza may foul, but the game seems to really limit big men with foul tendencies, unlike guards and wings.

#2: Utah Jazz - Darren Tabor - SF/SG - North Carolina State

With back-to-back #2 picks in the draft, the Utah Jazz really got the unlucky end of the stick here. Last season, they traded Paul George for a couple of picks and ended up with 3 picks in the lotto. They ended up drafting Hawkins, Kight, and Neely, a solid 3 players but no true difference maker to build a team around in my opinion. Tabor is more talented than these guys, but the Jazz really needed some big men like a Karl Anthony Towns, Ben Simmons, Vernon Desantis and Damion McNary. In the draft, it's all about talent, and Tabor is that guy for the Utah Jazz. The two biggest areas that jump out is his Inside scoring potential and his explosive athleticism. At 6'6 with his quickness, strength and jump, he can play either the SG or SF position and will be a big time scorer. He also is pretty well developed in his offense, meaning the Jazz can have back-to-back Rookie of the Year players, something I'm not sure has happened ever in the league. Grabbing Tabor may also allow the Jazz to shop around Hawkins and/or Kight for a younger big man to balance out the team, but right now Tabor has that Ben Simmons type of athleticism for a wing.

#3: Boston Celtics - Jan Allred - PG - Alabama

Here goes my hot take for the article: 10 seasons from now we will say Jan Allred was the best player in this draft class. His name may be Allred, but I see All NBA Team. Allred has potential everywhere that you need a PG to have. There's two small areas that can be addressed with paid trainings quite easily: get his perimeter defense to B potential and start training his stamina right away, don't wait. Besides the stamina, Allred has okay height at 6'1, is very quick at 99, and decent jump and strength above the 50 mark to not be a push over. I like the fit for Boston here as well. Allred is the only prospect to have an A in passing, and is one of two prospects to have an A in handles (John Twigg is the other player). After drafting karl Anthony Towns last season, who has an A in passing as well, they could potentially have a PG/C combo who can distribute the ball while also having the potential to be an All Star scorer. How does a team defend that, exactly? I'm not sure. The Celtics do have Payton, who is about to hit RFA. Grabbing Allred gives them the added comfort of security if a team goes all in on Payton, but if they can get Payton back at a reasonably good deal, they have their PG of the future waiting. A core of Allred, KAT, and Russell will be a dominant force that I am giddy about if it happens. Philadelphia vs Boston will be a joy to watch as their young guys grow.

#4: Portland Trailblazers - James Gebhart - SG - Boise State

The Portland Trailblazers are quietly putting together a young, talented group of players that are starting to come together. With players like Ronald Small, CJ McCollum, Jeremy Lamb and Aubrey Broomfield, the pieces are there. A center would be almost to perfect if there was one available to select, but unfortunately there is none that wouldn’t be a reach, such as Jamey Brown. Adding a prospect like Jame Gebhart would add another defensive player next to Ronald Small and Aubrey Broomfield. With B’s in both perimeter and post defense (just like Broomfield) and a 3 point shot, Gebhart has the makings of that glue player you need to put together a strong playoff squad. He most likely won’t be an All Star, unless he receives a great boost from TC, but his contribution to the team won’t go unnoticed by anyone who selects him. Having 5 young players would give the Blazers either the flexibility to trade for a bigger piece, or the ability to play it slow and allow the players to grow.

#5: Detroit Pistons - John Twigg - PG - Cincinnati

The rich get richer with this pick. The infamous trade in which former Detroit GM xbhitter sent out Bradley Beal for just a couple of picks that were regarded as mid-round picks at best. Fast forward two to now and the Pistons, with Anthony Davis, are about to land their PG of the future. Davis just needs someone to get him the ball, and who better than the NCAA leader in assists per game than John Twigg? Twigg is the next best pure PG who can be an average scorer and even better passer. The Pistons can boost his defense on the perimeter, which may be their best bet to make sure they don’t have a liability there. I feel Twigg fits the Pistons best here. He won’t take up shots that would be going to Davis, he can pass the ball to Davis, great athleticism, and with one training he will be a good defender. Also, adding Twigg will allow the Pistons to move on from aging Pos Aaron Brooks and Ramon Sessions who are taking up more than $21M in cap space. This would be a huge win for the Pistons and would give them almost max money to spend in free agency.

#6 : Washington Wizards - Jamison Robertson - PG/SG - Duke

Probably the hardest pick to make, as there are no 7’0 players here in this range to make a selection. Maybe the Wizards will just skip this selection.

On a serious note, the Wizards are in need of talent and will need to select the best player available. Jamison Robertson was born in Virginia and grew up a Duke fan, and he may very well be on his way to becoming the Wizards next face of the franchise. The sophomore guard stayed in college for one more season to hone his game and the dividends seem to have paid off. He fits the mold of a Kemba Walker type of PG by being the score-first, attacking type of player. While somewhat lacking in quickness at 74 with his 6’1 height, he makes up for with his 100 jump and 64 strength. With almost all A’s in each of the scoring attributes, he also boasts an A in perimeter defense, so he is not just a one-way type of player. With just a few areas of perceived weaknesses, the Wizards are afforded the luxury of improving both his passing and getting his quickness up to 80. Getting this caliber type of player at the 6th spot will be one of the best 6th picks in the history of the league, which attests to how deep this draft is.

#7: Golden State Warriors - Stephen Keitt - PG - Air Force

The Warriors are in a weird spot. Fresh off a season ago when they went all in, only for GM bow to not have as much time as he had hoped to run his team, the Warriors still have Kyle Lowry, Bazemore, Henson, Beverly, and Gobert under contract next season. They already have $117M committed in salary next season, but they do have some young assets to build around. Brian Stark, despite being inefficient, is still a scorer, and Peacock/Gobert are solid front court pieces to build around. I think when you have an opportunity at #7 to grab a PG of the future, you have to take it, and Keitt has the scoring, defense, athleticism , and handles the Warriors need to start a youth overhaul. He could use a training in passing, but that’s about it as far as skills go. The fun attribute he has is his B potentials in both perimeter and post defense. The question mark around Keitt will be his personal fouls ratings, which according to the game was set at 18. Again, in such a deep class, it’s hard to go wrong picking from the litter, and Keitt may be one of the better PGs to come out of this class.

#8: Miami Heat - Don Houghton - SF - Notre Dame

Don Houghton is one of the most intriguing prospects in this class. The SF from Notre Dame has an A in inside scoring, an A in 3P shot, B in handles (although a D in passing), and a B in post defense. What makes him drop down this far? He has an F in passing, 6 in perimeter defense currently. He has good athleticism, but not enough to make you overlook that atrocious defense on the perimeter. If he was another inch or two taller, he may be better off at PF. However, even then he only has D’s in both rebounding ratings. Can you overlook his lack of defense at the 3 point line when the draft class is getting smaller and more perimeter oriented? That’s a question for the lottery teams to answer themselves, but I think the Heat could feel that his scoring will more than make up for it. Decent quickness, strength and 71 jump goes a long way with that kind of scoring potentials. He may not be a franchise type of player to build around, but he’s a good #2 to have.

#9: Los Angeles Lakers - Jamey Brown - PF/C

This is where things get interesting. The Lakers will have all their bigs drop off from their last years under contract, with Embiid going into RFA after recently getting hit in training camp, an aging Perkins another year older, and Cousins’ max contract falling off. Brown is raw, but the Lakers haven’t been competitive in years, so they can afford to wait another couple of seasons. With A’s in inside scoring, defensive rebounding, and post defense, he has the skills you need from a front court player. The draw back is his height. At 6’8, he’s listed as a center, but his long-term position is going to be at PF. A huge question mark is that in the NCAA index, Brown has a personal foul rating of 28. To put that in perspective, DeMarcus Cousins has a personal foul rating of 29. Uncanny, and not exactly a great thing to hear if you’re the Lakers who basically took on Cousins from the 76ers for… something? I can’t even remember what they got for taking on that contract. The other prospect they could have gone after is Agustin, but with Jennings under contract and some minor deficiencies of his own, I think grabbing a front court piece to start over would be a solid bet.

#10: Chicago Bulls - Beau Agustin - PG - Utah State

The Bulls, at #10, get a great player to fall into their lap at this spot. Agustin has the potential in scoring, great athleticism, and has an added bonus of having an A in defensive rebounding, which is a huge advantage when you look at players like Russell Westbrook who clean up the boards against weaker PGs. The big drawback is the amount of points you would have to invest in his defense and possibly passings, especially his currents if you want him to play during his rookie contract. If the Bulls are patient, they an develop Agustin into the PG of the future to pair up with Oladipo and Desantis. Desantis and Agustin will need time while Oladipo has already played one year of his 2nd contract, so the Bulls may have some decisions to make. There is no true ready-now player that I think makes sense for the Bulls to select over Agustin, who can be a great scorer in the future.

[digiskunk]

Great article, you made a lot of great points — especially about Allred. This is gonna be a great draft! 10/10

[TheSyndicate]

Congratulations for both the article and the fact that you get to play me in the first round. Take your 5 points. Ya scallywag.