Can Danny?

Of course, I again have to start by saying this is a take on what I think teams SHOULD do and not what will happen. Because of this reason, there are an inordinate amount of trades in my mock. This year is strange as there are a number of team in the high lottery (Toronto, Minnesota, Boston, Houston, Chicago) that are looking for a veteran rather than a prospect.

That being said, let's start with a predraft trade, shall we? Chicago, Seattle, and Toronto start the party off with a seven player, three pick deal. Toronto gets Luol Deng and Luke Ridnour, Chicago gets Ray Allen, Charlie Villenueva. and the #10 pick in the draft. Seattle gets Ben Gordon, Joey Graham, #2, and #16 draft pick. (Note: All three teams are under the cap so the salaries don't have to match exactly. Also tweaks could be made: Nocioni for Deng, Seattle dumps Fortson, etc.) Chicago adds a superstar, a low post offensive threat and hold onto a pick, Seattle rebuilds with youth with two young players and two picks, the Raptors add players that fit Colangelo's system.

And now onto the draft

1: Toronto: There are a lot of deals that Toronto could make with this pick as the Blazers, Hawks, and Golden St. could all make intriguing offers. Now on of those team might make an offer that is too good to refuse, but realistically I think the Raptors might be best suited by just grabbing Chris Bosh's friend LaMarcus Aldridge. Because Bosh and Aldridge as so athletic, the Raptors could essentially play small ball style but with two legitimate big men running alongside Deng, Mo P., and Ridnour.

2: Seattle: With Rashard Lewis likely on the block (and if not on the block, likely on the free agent market when he opts out of his contract after next season), the Sonics bring in a local prospect, Adam Morrison to help draw the fans. The Sonics build with youth with: Gordon, Graham, Mickael Gelabale, Damien Wilkins, Chris Wilcox, Johan Petro, and Robert Swift.

3: Charlotte: While Bernie Bickerstaff has recently supported Rudy Gay, saying the young UConn prospect is getting a bad rap, I think Brandon Roy fits in better with the pieces that the 'Cats currently have in place. If Bernie believes Okafor and May's injury problems will continue, he might opt for another big man but I think the best choice would be the senior guard from Washington, a player who fits right in to the Bobcats starting lineup and is a nice complement to both Ray Felton and Gerald Wallace.

4. Portland: Try as they might, the Blazers just can't move up in the draft. As it turns out, they don't have to. Reports might say that John Nash is interested in Andrea Bargnani but I think it would be better to look to just dump dingbat Darius Miles and add Rudy Gay as a running mate to Telfair, Webster, and Randolph. If things go well, the Blazers will be improved yet terrible again next season, giving them a shot at a premier big man in the 2007 draft.

5. Atlanta: Another team that tried to move up and didn't need to, the Hawks add another versatile big man in Andrea Bargnani who looks to be a perfect complement to the ever-improving Josh Smith. A Johnson/Smith/Bargnani trio could be a load to deal with in a few years. As for their needs at PG, Bargnani is too good of a prospect to pass up in favor of any of the questionable lead guards in this draft. If the pick isn't Bargnani, it would likely be defensive-minded Ty Thomas. The Hawks may part with the pick is a blockbuster for a big name superstar but for now, I think the Hawks are better off adding to their arsenal of young players. They can go after a PG (Claxton, Banks, James) in the free agent market.

6. Minnesota: The ideal move for the Wolves would be to deal the pick along with two of their big contracts in hopes of opening up cap space. If they could dump Blount and Hassell for expiring deals, it opens up ten million in cap space. That combined with Ricky Davis would open up the chance at a max contract in a sign-and-trade. The one issue, of course, is who in their right mind would want any of Kevin McHale's bad decisions? No team under the cap is interested in a long term mediocre player and the Wolves are over the cap so they can't make a player for pick deal. Would they be willing to make deals for Mo Williams/Jamaal Magloire or Zydrunas Ilgauskas? They'd probably have to add McCants to make either deal work, which would be giving up too much. Making things even harder is the fact that most of the players that are on the block are PF's which is KG's best position. One four who could work with KG is Antawn Jamison, but would Washington be willing to take Blount and Griffin if it meant getting Ty Thomas? There's always the Knicks but would Isiah be willing to deal Francis for some smaller names and Thomas? I'm not sure what deal will happen but odds are the Wolves will take the best bargaining chip available and take Tyrus Thomas and hope to figure out a deal.

7. Boston: The Celtics will take the best player available. That's the easy part. Who the best player available is exactly is the difficult part. Do we go big to backup their young, fragile big men or do we fill the PG role with Randy Foye or Marcus Williams. There's been talk amongst fans of a Telfair, Ratliff for Lafrentz, #7 deal but I'm not a big fan of Bassy's. Right now, and this is certain to change, I say go for the best pure PG in the draft, and that's Marcus Williams. He's got red flags galore but I see him being, at the very least, a healthy Jamaal Tinsley type player.

8. Houston: While point guard is a concern, I think the absolute hole at the small forward spot is a more pressing concern. While Randy Foye and Ronnie Brewer could get some looks, I think the obvious choice here is Rodney Carney who should serve nicely as an perimeter outlet on offense making people pay for doubling T-Mac or Yao.

9. Golden St.: The Warriors need to make a trade because they have too much at every position besides center to be as bad as they are. Very few teams can start a lineup of top ten picks (Davis, Richardson, Dunleavy, Diogu, Foyle) and still be bad enough to get a top ten pick. But since they seem to have a need at center, they might as well take the big man du jour and grab Patrick O'Bryant.

10. Chicago: The Bulls moved up from 16 in their deal with Toronto/Seattle to add another big man to back up Tyson Chandler. With O'Bryant gone, their choice is between Tiago Splitter and Cedric Simmons. It's a tough decision but for now I see them taking the defensive center from NC State Cedric Simmons.

11. Orlando: The one thing this team could really use is a dead-eye shooter at the two guard. Sounds like a job for J.J. Redick. One of the unknown foreigners like Thabo Sefolosha or Marcus Vinicius could work their way up the charts but right now I think this is the perfect situation for Redick and the Magic.

12. LA Clippers: Come on, we couldn't have THAT many picks go by without a deal. The Clippers have been looking to deal Corey Maggette for a draft pick in order to clear up cap space so they can resign Sam Cassell and Vlad Rad. Maggs fits the Hornets well and his athleticism would work very well with Chris Paul running the point. The Clippers, not looking to add salary right now, take Tiago Splitter who'll likely stay overseas this season.

13. Philadelphia: The Sixers have to figure out whether they are building for the future with this pick or if they are looking for the best complement to A.I. Shelden Williams could signal life after Webber but I think the more likely pick is the Aaron McKie replacement Mardy Collins who would work as a nice complement to the A.I.'s. If Collins' workouts don't improve, however, he could find himself slipping in the draft.

14. Utah: They have a hole at the shooting guard spot but they are also looking to move Carlos Boozer. While Ronnie Brewer is an intriguing option, they can replace their hard working Duke PF with another by getting Shelden Williams

15. New Orleans: There are a number of interesting prospect available at this pick for the Hornets but since they were able to get a known commodity with their first pick, they can afford to gamble on a project with great upside with the second. Shawne Williams is an option, but they are better off reaching for a potential defensive monster in the middle, Saer Sene

16. Seattle: Well they traded for a PG with a ton of SG skills so it makes sense to grab a SG with a ton of PG skills. The all-around abilities of Ronnie Brewer makes him a good fit for the young Sonics. 17. Indiana: The Pacers are a tough team to peg. Can they depend on Jamaal Tinsley, Anthony Johnson and Sarunas Jasikevicius at the point? Can they afford not to with all the money those guys make? Will they resign Fred Jones and trade Stephen Jackson? Who backs up Jermaine O'Neal if Pollard leaves? Are they looking for an upgrade at center? I think a skilled big man is going to be the shot and I'm thinking Larry Bird might not be so bad off reaching for Paul Davis at this spot.

18. Washington: Since they have Arenas, they don't need Foye. They could use a big man but is Hilton Armstrong really the answer? Maurice Ager could fit but he also could be another Jarvis Hayes. When it comes down to it, the Wizards need a big man the most so they go with Hilton Armstrong

19. Sacramento: They could use a backup PG but the decision is between a change of pace pass-first guy like Rajon Rondo or a scoring guard like Foye. I think the Kings will go for the best player to help them next season, and that would be Randy Foye.

20. New York: The Knicks were excited to see Foye drop but he didn't make it to them. I can only imagine how happy Isiah would have been to pick up another scoring PG. Most of his other time will probably be spent trying to deal Mo Taylor and Quentin Richardson or Jalen Rose for guys like Kenyon Martin or Carlos Boozer. Regardless, Isiah will take the best man available and that's Maurice Ager

21. Phoenix: Small ball is fun and all but the Suns need some big men. They go after Josh Boone

22/23. New Jersey: None of the big men around are going to help the Nets all that much so they go with the foreign route that netted them Nenad Krstic a few years back. They grab Thabo Sefalosha and Sergio Rodriguez

24. Memphis: The Grizz probably hoped to grab the Spanish Jason Williams in Rodriguez but they missed out leaving them to find their future PG. Word out of the Grizz camp is that they are looking for combo guards so the best option is likely Sergio's fellow Spaniard: Rudy Fernandez.

25. Cleveland: If the Cavs resign Flip Murray, they may opt to go for a big man here. But the thing they could use the most is a point guard who can knock down the trey, the closest thing to that still around is Quincy Douby.

26. LA Lakers: One thing Mitch Kupchak is not afraid to do is roll the dice on the future, even if it means passing up on people who could help in the present. He should repeat his project to promise performance of last year (taking Andrew Bynum) and take Shawne Williams.

27. Phoenix: But no, small ball really is fun though and so are foreign players. The Suns grab Marcus Vinicius in the second round. They could go with Oleksiy Pecherov or someone else who sounds like an assassin hired to kill Jack Bauer but for now we'll go with Marcus.

28. Dallas: If they don't think they can keep Jason Terry they might go for Jordan Farmar or Kyle Lowry here but what I think this team could use is more toughness so they grab local guy PJ Tucker from UT.

29. New York: They could always use a big man so they'll take whomever impresses them more: Paul Milsap or Alexander Johnson

30: Blazers: They'll probably trade this to a team that is looking to grab one of the remaining PG's (Lowry, Rondo, and Farmar) but if they keep it, they'll probably grab a Euro to keep overseas, be it Rudy Fernandez or Oleksiy Pecherov