Down To The Wire

With only a few more days till the draft here are a few thoughts and expectations:

As I've written about before, this draft appears to have a lot of depth and the pre draft workouts have done nothing to change that assessment.  The top of the draft looks to have a few superstar type prospects and the talent goes well into the second round.  It's a great year to have multiple first rounders and look for teams to try to trade into the late first and early second round.

The DeMarcus Cousins debate is in full chorus and it will be one of the fascinating stories of Thursday night to see where he ends up going.  Greg Monroe seems to be rising up draft boards and could end up going before Cousins.  Will Cousins fall to Detroit at 7?

How will teams grade Avery Bradley?  I see him as a high level prospect with a ton of upside like a Russell Westbrook but he is young and unproven.  Could he end up falling like Jrue Holiday did last year or will a lottery team nab him?

Who goes first, Hassan Whiteside, Ed Davis, Ekpe Udoh or Daniel Orton?   They are all over the place on different draft sites and NBA draft boards and it will be interesting to see how it shakes out.  The defensive ability of Whiteside is very intriguing and could give him a lift on draft day while Orton is very unproven but has a ton of strength and seems to have the right mentality to continue to work hard and improve.

Or does Cole Aldrich surprise and end up going ahead of those four?  Either way, there is a wealth of big men in this draft and teams will be loading up on front court players.

I expect it to be a very active draft in terms of trades.  Look for teams trading down to be compensated not only with draft picks and/or players but by dumping big salary players as well.  Salary Cap is the name of the game in the NBA these days and some teams value cap space just as much as young prospects.

With only a few more days to go things are getting very exciting.   Stay tuned for the final mock draft.