http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_3965927 No. 1 pick a mystery as draft draws near NBA draft By Steve Luhm The Salt Lake Tribune Even those who usually have an inkling don't know what's going to happen in next week's NBA draft. "It is very unpredictable," said Ryan Blake of Marty Blake & Associates, a highly regarded Atlanta-based scouting service. "I have no clue what anybody's going to do. There are just so many scenarios out there right now. You look at the guys on the board, and everybody has a different opinion." Jazz vice president of basketball operations Kevin O'Connor agrees. "Sometimes," he said, "unpredictability comes when there are no clear-cut choices." Toronto owns the No. 1 pick, and the Raptors are leaning toward Italian forward Andrea Bargnani, even though he's a similar player to their emerging stars, Chris Bosh and Charlie Villanueva. "Will they take Bargnani?" Blake said. "Can you play Bosh and Villanueva and Bargnani together? In this day and age, maybe that's possible. With the running-jumping-shooting game we're seeing - without a lot of dominant centers - maybe that's where we're headed." Wednesday's top 10 will almost certainly include LaMarcus Aldridge, Tyrus Thomas, Adam Morrison, Brandon Roy, Rudy Gay, Sheldon Williams, Marcus Williams, Patrick O'Bryant, Randy Foye and Bargnani. But which player ends up with which team? Nobody knows. "Some teams will take the best player available," Blake said, "and some teams will draft on need." A power forward who played two years at Texas, Aldridge is the most probable No. 1 pick because of his can't-go-wrong qualities. But Toronto appears more than willing to move down - presumably to take Bargnani, who could still be available in the Nos. 5-8 range. "I would be surprised," an NBA source said, "If Toronto keeps the No. 1 pick - or keeps the player they take with the No. 1 pick." Charlotte (No. 3), Portland (No. 4), Minnesota (No. 6), Boston (No. 7), Houston (No. 8) are all interested in getting the top pick. Charlotte, Portland, Boston and Houston might have an eye on Morrison, the high-scoring forward from Gonzaga, or Roy, the NBA-ready guard from Washington. Minnesota could want Aldridge as a low-post presence to help appease Kevin Garnett, who is unhappy with the Timberwolves' inside players. Two legitimate 7-footers are projected to go in the first round: O'Bryant and Saer Sene of Senegal. Bradley's O'Bryant vaulted into the draft picture in March with a spectacular NCAA Tournament. He has gone from a late-first rounder to a middle first-rounder to a lottery pick to the top 10. O'Bryant had two years of collegiate eligibility remaining but declared for the draft when his NBA stock kept rising. "They like his potential, they like his length," Bradley coach and former Jazzman Jim Les said. "There's really not a lot of size in this draft." Sene could be available to the Jazz at No. 14, though his stock has risen rapidly after a series of outstanding workouts. Though inexperienced and unpolished offensively, Sene has the wingspan of a player who is 7-foot-8. "He could come into the NBA right now and block shots," a league source said. One NBA executive said that's what makes this draft so unpredictable: The big players who normally dominate the lottery are less proven. As a result, they are more of a gamble than usual. Sene worked out for the Jazz three weeks ago, when Karl Malone watched the session and was impressed. "The kid wants to play," Malone said, "and he's going to get bigger. It looks like he can carry another 25 or 30 pounds. . . . I like to see kids who want to play - guys that are hungry. That's what I'm looking for." Last year, the Jazz moved up from No. 6 to No. 3 in the draft and grabbed Williams. The Jazz's chance to move up in this draft probably hinges on their willingness to trade Carlos Boozer. Because of his injury problems over the past two years, it's possible Utah would consider trading Boozer and the final four years of his $68 million contract. On the other hand, the Jazz's young nucleus of Andrei Kirilenko, Memo Okur, Williams and Boozer played so well together at the end of last season that it's farfetched to think anything except a blockbuster offer would make Utah pull the trigger.
There are six players that you could all justify as being worthy and still have a chance to be the #1 overall pick. As the headline for this article put it, "No. 1 pick a mystery". That being said I would rather stand put than try to move up considering we don't even know what we would be trading up for in the first place. The whole point of a team trading up is they have their hearts set on a certain player yet no without a shadow of doubt the player is out of their range. This draft is simply way too wide open for any move like this to be made until draft day when its our turn to pick and we can see who is available and/or worth trading up for.
