Kraig Harlow's 2017 Annual Draft

[.s31t]

It's that time of year again where I come back to SI and post my traditional mock draft: 
 

 
Unfortunately, Rodions Kurucs wasnt in the player pool for the Brooklyn Nets. I'd have him selected at NBADraft.net player search was down. I'll have a second round present by next weekend.  

 

[Paulius]

Nice job

Couple things

Have a hard time seeing the Heat or any team in the top 15 taking a chance on Harry Giles and his two torn ACLs, imo hes gonna go in the late 20s, best case around 20ish if someone really gambles on him. He would have gone top 5 if not for the injuries. Potential thru the roof

Hard for me to see Lauri go top 7, even though i see what youre thinking there, and i kind of like it. Would be a nice complement to Towns and would really fit but i think Thibs being Thibs, he will go for Issac and his defensive potential

Do think Frank could end up in Dallas. Recent talks that they like him, but if the knicks take him before i think they might go with Lauri

Love the Donovan Mitchell pick for my bulls. One of the guys im hoping we get

Luke Kennard imo is a bit too high

Love that u got fox third, would like to see him go there, but who runs the offense then? Simmons? Fox? Feel like both need the ball in their hands and sixers will trade down and get a guy like Monk or pick Josh/Taytum for team fit, not sure tho what they really going to do with that roster so who knows

Overall , nice list


Edit: also lets not sleep on Ainge picking Lonzo [emoji102][emoji102]

 

[bosoxlover12]

Don't see OG falling that far. He'll be a lotto guy
 
and paulius there is literally no chance we take ball

 

[Paulius]

Oh thats right OGs insane, a bit too low, bosox right

And hey now, u never never really know what ainge is thinking

Remember that all the trades and big moves in the nba happen without us knowing or hearing about it. I will not be shocked if ainge pulled this move out his hat


#FultzToChi

 

[bosoxlover12]

I mean I was pretty spot on with Jaylen last year, as well as signing Horford.
 
Ball is probably the #6 guy Boston would probably draft tbh. If we pick #1 its going to be Fultz, 100%. He's the best player in this draft, by a considerable margin. We could always take Fultz and trade him to someone like Sacto for #5, #10, and WCS, and there pick Isaac. Or we could trade down to #3 and get Jackson or Tatum or DSJ
 
I seriously believe Ball is not in Boston's Top 5 right now. And the fact that he refused to work out with us should enough take him off our board

 

[Paulius]

Youre looking at it for a team fit perspective. Im talking about taking the best player available, how it always should be and then figuring out the rest later

Im not sold on Lonzo, but apparently some believe he can be a transcendent type player, and you just cant pass that up if thats the case, and who knows maybe Ainge thinks the same

From a team fit view, sure fultz your best bet then taytum josh etc or whatever, but im speaking from BPA and what some are saying and thinking.

Im still team fultz, but like i said, we never really know what teams are thinking and wouldnt be shocked if celtics did that. Either to trade him to La and get more assets or simply take him because Ainge believes hes the next big thing

Fultz also said he was only going to work out for the Celtics and now hes working out for the Kings too. We all know what they bring to the table, workouts are close to meaningless


#FultzToChi

 

[Paulius]

Its a very small chance i agree, but just saying dont be shocked on draft night if celtics take Ball


#FultzToChi

 

[.s31t]

Nice job

Couple things

Have a hard time seeing the Heat or any team in the top 15 taking a chance on Harry Giles and his two torn ACLs, imo hes gonna go in the late 20s, best case around 20ish if someone really gambles on him. He would have gone top 5 if not for the injuries. Potential thru the roof

Hard for me to see Lauri go top 7, even though i see what youre thinking there, and i kind of like it. Would be a nice complement to Towns and would really fit but i think Thibs being Thibs, he will go for Issac and his defensive potential

Do think Frank could end up in Dallas. Recent talks that they like him, but if the knicks take him before i think they might go with Lauri

Love the Donovan Mitchell pick for my bulls. One of the guys im hoping we get

Luke Kennard imo is a bit too high

Love that u got fox third, would like to see him go there, but who runs the offense then? Simmons? Fox? Feel like both need the ball in their hands and sixers will trade down and get a guy like Monk or pick Josh/Taytum for team fit, not sure tho what they really going to do with that roster so who knows

Overall , nice list


Edit: also lets not sleep on Ainge picking Lonzo [emoji102][emoji102]

I'm working on locating trades. Obviously Fox is a player the Sixers are interested in but I could see them trading down with Sacramento. Monk is a reach at 3 but Jayson Tatum could be the right fit off the ball if they believe Simmons is a PG (I love Simmons).

Lauri is the player I think compliments KAT the most and the rest of the roster. Both LaVine and Wiggins are slashers. I think adding Lauri as a stretch 4 opens the floor a lot better than a Jonathan Issac. To be real honest the wolves flibbed the draft taking Dunn last year.

The Giles pick comes with swinging to the fences. Last year I had Maker at 15-20 and went 10. I love Giles if his legs are healthy. He has huge huge upside at the PF position. It's honestly finding a team who knows how to play a player with ACL injuries. Miami is the best fit for medical reasonings... don't forget Embiid bounced back after 3 knee surgerys.

Kennard has been moving up boards. I think Detroit needs to find a jump shooter to help their atrocious three point shooting problem. Kennard is a quality fit for that and is SVG type of SG. Detroits pick is up in the air but Kennard has had workouts with Min, NY, Sac & Charlotte

 

[.s31t]

Don't see OG falling that far. He'll be a lotto guy
 
and paulius there is literally no chance we take ball

OG is such a hard to figure out. One report claims he's out for the season... others say he's moving up the board. I've read anywhere from Sac at 10 to second round. I'll obviously move him up. I think Milwaukee could use him since he can play defense at 5 positions but he's a year from playing.

 

[.s31t]

I mean I was pretty spot on with Jaylen last year, as well as signing Horford.
 
Ball is probably the #6 guy Boston would probably draft tbh. If we pick #1 its going to be Fultz, 100%. He's the best player in this draft, by a considerable margin. We could always take Fultz and trade him to someone like Sacto for #5, #10, and WCS, and there pick Isaac. Or we could trade down to #3 and get Jackson or Tatum or DSJ
 
I seriously believe Ball is not in Boston's Top 5 right now. And the fact that he refused to work out with us should enough take him off our board

I'm with you about Ball not going to Boston. I think Boston cards are looking at Tatum, Jackson, Fultz, Fox, Monk... that's why Sac is taking a look at Fultz on a possible move up.

I had Jaylen last year even though experts kept thinking Dunn. The other deal I've been following is the Sixers #3 and Okafor for 1... they've coveted Okafor for two years now and his stock is low

 

[Paulius]

I mean 95% its Fulz to Boston so its not some genius pick, just saying theres a slim chance ainge does the unpredictable


#FultzToChi

 

[.s31t]

I mean 95% its Fulz to Boston so its not some genius pick, just saying theres a slim chance ainge does the unpredictable


#FultzToChi

I live in Boston so i know Fultz is the guy but like you said he's blown things up on draft night almost 10 years ago with the same assets. 98% sure he's staying put especially he has a chance to add Ayton next year.

C - Ayton
PF - Olynyk
SF - Brown
SG - Fultz
PG - Smart

^ projections in 3-5 years

 

[CameronCrazy06]

Olynyk and smart starting.... lol

 

[bosoxlover12]

I'm like 30-40% sure Olynyk and Smart aren't even going to be on the 2017-18 roster, let alone the 2020 roster

 

[Paulius]

If thats your future, id be worried


#FultzToChi

 

[.s31t]

I'm like 30-40% sure Olynyk and Smart aren't even going to be on the 2017-18 roster, let alone the 2020 roster

Someone's on the move eventually. IT will be traded before 30. He'll be in the same guard category of all stars who fall off. Olynyk is next in line to start if they don't bring back Johnson. Johnson started in just 9 playoff games this year.
Johnson will head back to Toronto.

Smart has been impressive and depending on what Bradley will make in the open market and what they have they could let him go via trade. Boston has a ton of options tho. Just depending on how young they'd like to get.

 

[Paulius]

Yup, IT needs to go. Been saying that all year. Wont age well and paying 200M for him would be crazy in my eyes. Better off getting ready for the era after Lebron / Warriors


#FultzToChi

 

[bosoxlover12]

Yup, IT needs to go. Been saying that all year. Wont age well and paying 200M for him would be crazy in my eyes. Better off getting ready for the era after Lebron / Warriors


#FultzToChi

I know this is the "meme" that goes around, but can you please tell me why Isaiah won't age well and isn't worth $200M? He's younger than Westbrook with less wear-and-tear on his body, and any reason to say Isaiah won't perform well once his legs slow down can also be attributed to Russ as well. But nobody is saying Westbrook isn't deserving of a long term max
 
It's like all you see is someone who is 5'9", and not someone who just averaged 29ppg. He's going to be absolutely fine for the next 3 years, and I'd be surprised if many players over the next 2 offseasons didn't take the 2+1 deals to get another max contract in. You look at Tristan Thompson, who signed a 5 year max for $82M after his rookie deal ended two years back. He's making $16.4M per year on average, but if he signed a 2+1 he could be making $20M+ per year. So Isaiah signs a $98.1M/3yr deal with the Celtics with an opt-out in the third year... that's not a bad contract at all

 

[Paulius]

Just cant find myself to pay 200M for a guy like IT who gets abused on defense and is literally a liability on the floor when cavs for example run at him every possesion. Lets not forget how well you guys played without him and his ball dominant self. Comparing IT and Westbrook is laughable tho when u compare how much they do for their own teams, but whatever. IT is a great scorer, sure but dont think he should be in your guys' future plans and yall should take advantage and sell high on him. Yall are clearly not contenders with Cavs and Warriors in the way for the next 3 or so years, so might as well focus on the era after those two powerhouses and build a team with young studs instead of trying to go at it with a 32 year old IT and young guys. Sell high on him while u can, dont even get why youre so in love with him anyway


#FultzToChi

 

[CameronCrazy06]

Someone's on the move eventually. IT will be traded before 30. He'll be in the same guard category of all stars who fall off. Olynyk is next in line to start if they don't bring back Johnson. Johnson started in just 9 playoff games this year.
Johnson will head back to Toronto.

Smart has been impressive and depending on what Bradley will make in the open market and what they have they could let him go via trade. Boston has a ton of options tho. Just depending on how young they'd like to get.

Who's been impressed by smart? He sucks