Another Interesting Mock NBA Draft

As things continue to sort out, we’re going to see more and more refined mock drafts.

This one from Gary Parrish has some interesting ideas so let’s take a look.

Standard caveat: this is pre-lottery so things will change.

Duke guys first:

• Zion Williamson #1 to the Knicks
• RJ Barrett #3 to the Suns
• Cam Reddish #10 to the Timberwolves

ACC picks:

• De’Andre Hunter #5 to the Hawks
• Coby White #7 to the Pelicans
• Nassir Little #9 to the Hawks
• Nickel Alexander-Walker #16 to the Magic
• Ty Jerome #20 to the Celtics

The obvious change here is that Barrett falls to #3 as Cleveland opts for another point guard. There’s almost no question that Ja Morant would be an upgrade over Colin Sexton, but he wouldn’t do much to help with the rest of Cleveland’s problems.

The most important thing to us, as we’ve said before, is to be with a well-run franchise. It’s even more important than having a winning record.

From that point of view, Williamson would be in for a rough few years since the Knicks are a very poorly run franchise.

The Suns were well run for a very long time but now? We’re honestly not sure. The new GM started as an interim and isn’t really tested so we’ll see.

It’d be interesting if Cleveland, knowing that Phoenix would love to pair Morant with Devin Booker, picked him to trade. They could still get Barrett and whatever else they could pry out of the Suns.

For Reddish, he’d be competing for time with fellow former Devil Luol Deng, if he’s still with the club next fall, Keita Bates-Diop, Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Tolliver.

He’d also join Tyus Jones, former Duke point guard extraordinaire.

In this scenario, the guy who would come out the best, the guy who would be a perfect fit with a highly stable franchise, is Ty Jerome.

Brad Stevens would absolutely love his game and he’d be ideal in his system.

Of course he, like Williams, has not yet formally declared, and it’s all just fun speculation until draft night. Still, it’s fun to consider.

Update - he has now.