2010 NBA Draft Lottery: A Super Early Look
By Jason McIntyre
7. Washington Wizards – Derrick Favors, PF, Georgia Tech. Using this assumption: Arenas stays, Foye goes to SG, Miller goes, Thornton SF, Young 6th man, then your needs are frontcourt stud to help Blatche/McGee, or best-on-board.
8. Detroit Pistons – Al-Farouq Aminu, SF, Wake Forest. Offensively-challenged Pistons (2nd-to-last in scoring, last in the league in shooting the three) would love it if an offensive talent of this caliber fell to them.
9. Philadelphia 76ers – James Anderson, SG, Oklahoma State. He’ll be coveted in this draft. Is he the best pure shooting guard? Henry’s still young, and Turner and Johnson might play SF. With Sam Dalembert a free agent in 2011, the backup plan could be Hassan Whiteside, a project at Marshall. He did nothing against UNC this year, but looked good vs. WVU (18 points).
10. LA Clippers – Damion James, SF, Texas. Both Outlaw and Butler are free agents. James is a great athlete and can be their lockdown defender while the scoring falls on Griffin, Kaman, and Gordon.
11. Milwaukee Bucks – Willie Warren, SG, Oklahoma. Yup, we’re aware of Warren’s problems in his sophomore campaign. The guess here is he wows in the workouts and executives will pin the blame on differences with Jeff Capel. This team needs scoring (2nd worst shooting team in the league).
12. Memphis Grizzlies – Devin Ebanks, SF, West Virginia. Great fit with Rudy Gay leaving. Very good defender and capable scorer, but there may be some concern pairing him with a chronic malcontent like Zach Randolph (who has, apparently, been a model citizen in Memphis). But with three 1st round picks, do they gamble on a project here (pick a foreign guy Chad Ford raves about)?
13. Houston Rockets – Cole Aldrich, C, Kansas. Yao might miss some time next season, and who knows how healthy he’ll be when he returns. Yao also turns 30 in September and his contract is up in the summer of 2011. No way anyone gives him a max deal, not with that recent injury history. Backup plan: Hassan Whiteside, Marshall.
14. New Orleans Hornets – DaSean Buter, F, West Virginia. Peja will be an expiring next season and get traded. Posey never quite panned out. Mo Pete’s more of a reserve. Butler fits.