The Sporting News (LA Times Mark Heisler) Mock Draft

it's hard to believe that Quentin Richardson and Terrance Morris would be the 21st and 22nd picks... i would expect them to go earlier

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1. Kenyon Martin, 6-8, 230, Sr., Cincinnati. This is going to be
even tougher than they thought -- the only player who
inspired much enthusiasm just broke his leg. Barring
complications, he's a high-bounding late bloomer, who, says a
general manager, "should be in the top three in blocks the next
10 years."

2. Chris Mihm, 7-0, 262, Jr., Texas. Now it's every scout for
himself. Mihm, once considered soft, has come a long way.
Skilled offensively but no dominator.

3. Loren Woods, 7-1, 230, Jr., Arizona. Shot blocker, good
athlete but a reedy one.

4. Courtney Alexander, 6-5, 200, Sr. Fresno State. Jerry
Tarkanian retread -- convicted of assault, transferred from
Virginia, refused to play two games as a junior, says he learned
his lesson. Teams will have private detectives talking to
everyone he ever met, but he's got the body and the game.

5. Eddie Griffen, 6-9, 200, Sr., Roman Catholic High School,
Philadelphia. Big small forward with a complete offensive
repertoire. Thought to be leaning toward keeping his
commitment to Seton Hall.

6. DerMarr Johnson, 6-9, 200, Fr., Cincinnati. Thin,
do-everything wing. Questions about his want-to as a prep, but
he's been in a protected situation with Martin and Pete
Mickeal carrying the load, so it's hard to tell. Shooting 39
percent on 3s, a nice start.

7. Morris Peterson, 6-6, 215, Sr., Michigan State. Some
thought he was the best in the Big Ten, coming off the bench as
a junior. Good athlete, shooting 41 percent on threes.

8. Stromile Swift, 6-9, 210, So., LSU. Terrific athlete, coming
fast after playing one semester as a freshman.

9. Marcus Fizer, 6-8, 250, Jr. Iowa State. Powerfully built,
coming fast with a string of 30-point games. Questionable
rebounder, may really be 6-7 or 6-6.

10. Carlos Boozer, 6-9, 260, Fr., Duke. Not Elton
Brand-dominating but a force.

11. Mike Miller, 6-8, 215, So., Florida. Our first repeater from
last year. Admirers see Tom Gugliotta, but better.

12. Darius Miles, 6-9, 190, Sr., East St. Louis (Ill.) Senior High
School. Big wing player, said to be considering making the
jump.

13. Gerald Wallace, 6-7, 205, Sr., Childersburg (Ala.) High
School. Major athlete, also said to be considering it.

14. Etan Thomas, 6-9, 247, Sr., Syracuse. Nice power forward
prospect.

15. Joel Pryzbilla, 7-0, 260, So., Minnesota. Appears to be
coming on since he was tossed off the team for not going to
school. Won't be a star but blocks shots and can do some things
on offense.

(About this point in the real draft, the pros will start slotting in
the other tall prospects: 7-0 Jason Collier of Georgia Tech,
6-11 Dan Langhi of Vanderbilt and 6-9 Jamaal Magloire of
Kentucky. But we're not going that way.)

16. Troy Murphy, 6-10, 230, So., Notre Dame. Smaller Raef
LaFrentz, right down to being lefthanded. Major producer in
his second year. Scouts like his fire.

17. Desmond Mason, 6-6, 207, Sr., Oklahoma State. Great
athlete with 38-inch vertical leap who made a big jump as a
shooter this year.

18. Hanno Mottola, 6-10, 240, Sr., Utah. Repeat selection.
Questions about toughness but Rick Majerus runs a hard-nosed
program and his players have surprised to the upside.

19. Shane Battier, 6-8, 230, Jr., Duke. Hard-nosed competitor
who defends.

20. Keyon Dooling, 6-3, 184, So., Missouri. Pros like this
athletic point guard and two freshmen, Duke's Jason Williams
and Cincy's Kenny Satterfield, more than the older (smaller)
Cleaves of Michigan State, Scoonie Penn of Ohio State, Erick
Barkley of St. John's and Matt Santangelo of Gonzaga.

21. Quentin Richardson, 6-6, 215, So., DePaul. He was in the
top 10 when the season started but is struggling with the
transition to the perimeter.

22. Terence Morris, 6-9, 205, Jr., Maryland. Last season we had
him at No. 6 when he was the second-best Terrapin to Steve
Francis. Now he's second-best to Juan Dixon, a 150-pound
sophomore point guard.

23. Casey Jacobsen, 6-6., 195, Fr., Stanford. The pride of
Glendora joined a veteran team that was atop the rankings
much of the way and led it in scoring, shooting 43 percent on
3s.

24. Jerome Moiso, 6-10, 230, So., UCLA. On size, athleticism
and skills, he's in the top 10. Young and has time -- but has to
make more progress than recent graduates of the program
have.

25. Eduardo Najera, 6-8, 235, Sr., Oklahoma. Tough guy with
big heart. Should be first Mexican-born No. 1 pick.

26. Gilbert Arenas, 6-4, 189, Fr., Arizona. With more range
-- he's at 28 percent on 3s -- the youngster from Grant High
can be the next Michael Dickerson.

27. Steven Hunter, 7-0, 215, Fr., DePaul. He's a long way away
but, says a general manager, "In 20 years, he might be the guy
on this team people remember."

28. Jason Kapono, 6-7, 210, Fr., UCLA. He'll be a marginal
athlete at the next level but with his feel for the game, he'll be
there. If he becomes a dead-eye shooter, he can be somebody.

29. Dan Gadzuric, 6-10, 245, So., UCLA. You can't ignore
someone his size with his ability, who plays as hard. But he'd
have gone in the teens if he'd turned pro out of high school and
has spent two years going backward.

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Morris hasn't taken over as projected. He will have dropped some. I doubt that far, but ten maybe.

I still have him at the second pick.

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