Mr Matt's Sports Blog

My Final Mock Draft with the projected trade http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2011/news/story?id=6697545 First Round 1. CLV-Kyrie Irving-PG Duke-Fr. He's pretty much a lock as the top pick in the draft right now. A year or two learning under veteran baron Davis should be very good for his development. Now the question becomes, do the Cavs keep or trade the #4 pick? 2. MIN-Enes Kanter-C-Turkey-INT. Until a trade is made I'm going with Kanter here over Wiliams. 3. Utah- Derrick Williams-SF-Arizona-So I like Brandon Knight but it appears that if Williams is here he just might be too good to pass up. The fact that he's a combo forward will help him in Utah where he can back up both PF-Paul Millsap and SF-Gordon Hayward 4. CLV- Jonas Valanciunas-C-Lithuania-INT. The Cavs will wait and see with the project from Europe. Hey you can't teach size and he's a legit 7 footer. 5. TOR- Brandon Knight-PG-Kentucky- Fr. The Raptors get a pick and roll poi...

This year's crop of big men have a lot of solid role players. There's a lot of youth in this group as my top 4 guys are all under 20 years old (there is speculation that Bismack Biyombo is actually 22 years old). Kanter is the top player but several guys should have an impact at the next level. Here are my top big men rankings: 1. Enes Kanter-C-Turkey-INT. 6-11/259/9-2 NBA comparison: Marc Gasol/Al Horford Like Gasol and Horford, Kanter has the body to bang inside but can also hit the 15 footer. Big men with his size and skill level are very rare. Likely career role: starting center with star potential, possible 18 and 10 guy, a 2nd/3rd best player to compliment a superstar on a good team 2. Jonas Valanciunas-C-Lithuania-INT. 7-0/240 Last year's stats: 7.7ppg, 5.8rpg (Euroleague) NBA comparison: Joakim Noah A work in progress that can one day be the type of defender, rebounder and hustler that Noah is. He has the size to match Noah, if his heart can m...

This year's crop of combo forwards is particularly deep. Derrick Williams is the stud, but after that there are a ton of solid players. The difference between my number 2 prospect Kawhi Leonard and #7 prospect Jordan Hamilton is very minimal Here are my combo forward rankings: 1. Derrick Williams-SF-Arizona-So. 6-9/248/9-0 Last year's stats: 19.5ppg, 8.3rpg, 59%-FG% NBA comparison: Glenn Robinson Like the 'Big Dog', Williams is a bit short to play the 4 but has the body to bang inside. He can shoot lights up like Robinson. Most people remember Robinson for having some injury problems and baggage but he was a 20 per night scorer for a good 5 years. Williams may end being the same type of star. Not quite a superstar but a very nice player like the 'Big Dog' Likely career role: starting SF or PF with star potential, a possible 20 and 7 guy 2. Kawhi Leonard-SF-San Diego St-Jr. 6-7/227/8-3 Last year's stats: 15.5ppg, 10.6rpg NBA com...

It's amazing and almost scary how much this year's crop of guards resembles the group from the 2009 draft. I can almost make a very similar comparison between a guard taken in 2009 and a guard that will be taken early this year. In fact I will here it is: 2009 draft pick and number is listed first: 3. James Harden-Klay Thompson-both are incredible scorer who were the best player in the PAC 10 7. Stephen Curry-Jimmer Fredette-both are incredible shooters and were cult hero college players and both had questions on if they were big/athletic enough to make it in the NBA 10. Brandon Jennings-Kyrie Irving-both were high school stars with a ton of talent but have some mystery heading into the draft 12. Gerald Henderson-Alec Burks-both are great slashers and great athletes, but less than solid shooters 17. Jrue Holiday-Brandon Knight-both long point guards that are good shooters that spent only one year in college 18. Ty Lawson-Kemba Walker-both undersized but led their team to a ...

Jimmer and Jonas, Kemba and Kawhi. These four player will shape the entire NBA Draft on Thursday June 23rd. Jimmer Fredette has been rumored aas high as the Kings at 7 and as low as 15 to the Pacers. If the Knicks want to bring Jimmer to the big apple then they will need to trade up. Jonas Valanciunas has seen his stock rise as high as being rumored to be the number 4 pick but buyout issues may cause him to drop to Houston at 14. Kemba Walker has the talent to be picked 3 but may slip to Detroit at 8. Kawhi Leonard has been rising in many mock drafts and the Cavs may shock some people and take him at 4 if Enes Kanter and Derrick Williams are off the board. Kawhi could also slip out of the top 10 as teams may like similars players Jan Vesley and Chris Singletn more. It's taken a few weeks but here's my Mock Draft. I will have a Final Mock Draft on Thursday. 1. CLV-Kyrie Irving-PG Duke-Fr. He's pretty much a lock as the top pick in the draft right now. A year or two lea...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YzbhAQGPqk A few youtube videos including the Nike Hoop Summit where Enes Kanter dominated against top American talent is all I need to see to know that he already is and will be much better than Darko Milicic. What should the Minnesota Timberwolves do with the number 2 pick in the draft? Kyrie Irving looks to be a lock as the number one pick in Cleveland. The TWolves would love to trade the pick a get a star veteran. However if they are unable to make a big trade before draft day then what do they do? Combo forward Derrick Williams may be the best player on the board but center Enes Kanter should be the pick. Minnesota already has a ton of solid options at both forward spots so drafting another one would make very little sense. Let's look at the TWolves roster (I have the roster ranked from best player to the worst) PF: Kevin Love CF: Michael Beasley PG: Luke Ridnour SF: Wesley Johnson CF: Anthony Randolph SF: Martell Webster C: Darko Milicic SG: Wa...

Indiana Pacers Picks: 15, 42 Have: A solid starting 5-SF-Danny Granger, C-Roy Hibbert, PG-Darren Collison, PF-Tyler Hansborough, and SG-Paul George. Need: Depth everywhere, backup PG, Options: Best player available Synopsis: The Pacers have a good team led by a very good player in Granger. However they lack any star power in a star driven league. No team has got better value with their recent 1st round picks than the Pacers. Granger and Hibbert were both the 17th pick in the 05 and 08 drafts respectively. Hansborough was the 13th pick in 09 and George was the 10th pick last year. Expect the Pacers once again to get a solid player here at 15. Philadelphia 76ers Picks: 16, 50 Have: PF-Elton Brand, SF-Andre Iguodala (who happens to be on the trading block), PG-Jrue Holiday, Need: Size and length, center, Options: There will be plenty of solid forwards to pick from. Thaddeus Young is a restricted free agent so they might want a replacement for him. If they draft a wing, the ...