Simulated Draft Under Way

Draft X is running a simulated draft and they are already through pick 24 with only Utah ahead of Houston's pick. I am picking for Houston. Here are the picks as of tonight...

1. Portland- Greg Oden by Cascadia
2. Seatle- Kevin Durant by Kirk
3. Atlanta- Mike Conley by Hitster
4. Memphis- Al Horford by Mullet
5. Boston- Brandan Wright by AWalker
6. Milwalkee- Jeff Green by Fatdan
7. Minnesota- Corey Brewer by Mr. Body
8. Charlotte- Nick Young by Wombat
9. Chicago- Yi Jianlian by Shakes
10. Sacramento- Joakim Noah by Gilles
11. Atlanta- Spencer Hawes by Hitster
12. Philly- Julian Wright by Bryce
13. New Orleans-Thaddeus Young by Prowler
14. LA Clippers- Al Thornton by CoachJon
15. Detroit - Acie Law IV
16. Washington - Jason Smith
17. New Jersey - Josh McRoberts by Ecuhus
18. Golden State Warriors- Derrick Byars by Pr0wler
19. Los Angeles Lakers- Rudy Fernandez by Coachjon
20. Miami Heat - Tiago Splitter by Hitster
21. Philadelphia Sixers - Javaris Crittendon by Bryce
22. Charlotte- Rodney Stuckey by Wombat
23. New York- Daquan Cook by Knicks2134
24. Phoenix- Marco Bellinelli by Sirfreshness
25. Utah on the Clock

Out of the remaining players the only 3 I am considering are Morris Almond, Jared Dudley and Sean Williams. The safe pick would be Almond but the Rockets have made too many safe picks that didn't pan out and I would like to roll the dice and take a shot on a high risk high reward player. Not to mention I just recently read this...

Sean Williams, the expelled BC forward who chose not to show up in Orlando, is also on today's list but is not expected to attend. His agent, Charles Grantham, and fitness guru John Lucas instead have scheduled workouts for teams on June 11 and 18 in Houston.

For Lucas and William's agent to hold him out of the Orlando predraft the must have alot of confidence in this kid or they are stupid. And perhaps they are justified considering Danny Ainge with a lottery pick is planning on making the trip along with many others. I know alot of people on this board would be against Sean Williams but I see him as far and away the most talented player remaining and if it weren't for his screwups he would be an early lottery pick. I don't even think he is going to be available by the 26th pick but if he is and he has shown some effort to work on himself than I say it is my pick. IMO he is the best player available at a position we really need help. So unless someone can convice me why I shouldn't pick Williams and who I should take instead he is my pick.

 

They had him on their list for the Orlando workouts but then he didn’t goto Orlando. The Rockets have a lot of workouts that we aren’t aware of. My guess is with Les having a relationship with Lucas that he is very much aware of Williams and the Rockets probably has already seen him if only informally.

With the film I watch on this kid and I admit it is limited but he looks more athletic than Horford. Horford has a better offensive game but not a lot as Williams this past season after working with Lucas has shown signs of improvement… Here’s what Draft express had to say earlier in the year

Williams had been billed as a shot blocker and only a shot blocker up to this point,.. he has added a wrinkle to his game over the summer… the junior showed off a much-improved back-to-the-basket offensive arsenal, displaying adequate footwork and surprisingly soft touch while using every bit of his impressive length to score over the defense. The issues we have seen with poor hands have seemingly disappeared, and Williams made very good decisions this week once he had the ball in his hands as far as when to look for his own offense and when to start looking for a teammate. If he wasn't scoring on the low block, he was looking for ways to contribute from the high post, finding fellow BC big men repeatedly on nifty high-low passes.

I know I am mostly going by highlight video and you can sometimes make a bad player look good with highlight film but I am also only looking at Horford’s highlight film and Sean looks more athletic and slightly more impressive on the defensive end and offensively Horford shows more around the basket but Sean may even be more explosive as far as dunks and putbacks go. They both seem to have they same build although Sean looks in better shape. And Horford is actually a few months older and better coached throughout his career which means Sean may have more upside.

Byars is already off the board in this mock and everyone has great things to say about Dudley and I would love to take him but he is a tweener and we already have a small PF. Still I think he is the type of player will contribute right away.

I agree Green is definitely worth a look. My only problem is he is on the small size and we already have to small points in Lucas and Rafer. I think Green can already shoot better may eventually be an all around improvement but is he enough of improvement totake him over the others. I do have to say I love the fact he is a winner which means he is clutch in the biggest of games.

Yeah we are definitely loaded at the 2 and 3 and Almond and Dudley do seem to be redundant so if we pick either 1, Houston would have to make some trades to balance the roster. But it’s my theory if you don’t have a clear choice of a player you want and need than go with the best available. As for as Almond I think he has the potential to be a Michael Redd type pick and Dudley just seems to do everything right.

I had Critendon and Stuckey on my list for PGs but after they were taken the only PG I would consider with the 26th pick is Green and I just don’t see him as a major improvement. I don’t care for Pruitt.. but if I had a second round pick I would consider Bobby Brown and that kid from Marist. Also the Rockets did workout Peter Koponen the 6’5” Finnish pg but I see him as a project.

As for Sean Williams, I agree he is definitely a risk, he wouldn’t be available if he wasn’t but I don’t see him similar to EG. EG clearly had emotional problems and depression. He still does. EG was not ready to play basketball mentally even though he was a great athlete. Sean doesn’t seem to have those same emotional problems but rather is just immature and wanting to party. The kid is only 20 and he is working with Lucas now and if JL can give his approval I would say he is the best available by far in the draft and at a position we definitely need help.