KB21

NL: C -- Michael Barrett/Expos 1B -- Todd Helton/Rockies 2B -- Jose Vidro/Expos 3B -- Mike Lowell/Marlins SS -- Jose Hernandez/Brewers OF -- Barry Bonds/Giants OF -- Sammy Sosa/Cubs OF -- Andruw Jones/Braves AL: C -- AJ Pierzynski/Twins 1B -- Jim Thome/Indians 2B -- Alphonso Soriano/Yankees 3B -- Shea Hillenbrand/Red Sox SS -- Alex Rodriguez/Rangers OF -- Garrett Anderson/Angels OF -- Ichiro Suzuki/Mariners OF -- Mike Cameron/Mariners

01. Rockets -- Yao Ming C China 02. Bulls -- Jay Williams PG Duke 03. Warriors -- Mike Dunleavy Jr SF Duke 04. Grizzlies -- Drew Gooden PF Kansas 05. Nuggets -- Caron Butler SF Connecticut 06. Cavaleers -- Jared Jeffries SF Indiana 07. Knicks -- Chris Wilcox PF Maryland 08. Clippers -- Nikoloz Tskitishvili SF Benneton Treviso 09. Suns -- Maybiner Hilario PF Brazil 10. Heat -- Qyntel Woods SF Northeast Mississippi CC 11. Wizards -- Bostjan Nachbar SF Benneton Treviso 12. Clippers -- Amare Stoudamire PF Cypress Creek HS 13. Bucks -- Melvin Ely C Fresno State 14. Pacers -- DaJaun Wagner SG Memphis 15. Rockets -- Tayshaun Prince SF Kentucky 16. 76ers -- Marcus Haislip PF Tennessee 17. Hornets -- Jiri Welsch SG Czech 18. Magic -- Curtis Borchardt C Stanford 19. Jazz -- Carlos Boozer PF Duke 20. Raptors -- Dan Dickau PG Gonzaga 21. Trailblazers -- Frank Williams PG Illinois 22. Suns -- John Salmons SG Miami 23. Pistons -- Kareem Rush SG Missouri 24. Nets -- Juan Dixon PG Maryland 25. Nuggets -- Casey Jacobsen SG Stanford 26. Spurs -- David Anderson PF Austrailia 27. Lakers -- Ronald Murray PG Shaw 28. Kings -- Nenad Kristic C Slovenia 29. Warriors -- Tito Maddox PG Fresno State 30. Bulls -- Ryan Humphrey SF Notre Dame 31. Grizzlies -- Freddie Jones SG Oregon 32. Nuggets -- Lorinza Harrington PG Wingate 33. Bucks -- Smush Parker PG Fordham 34. Cavaleers -- Dan Gadzuric PF UCLA 35. Knicks -- Steve Logan PG Cincinnati 36. Hawks -- Vincent Yarbrough SG Tennessee

.....that is causing him to drop. He and Rod Grizzard are suffering the same thing. They are both injured, so they can't workout for teams. Both players are dropping like stones in the draft because of this. Grizzard isn't that great to begin with anyway.

The format will be PLAYER; HT w/o shoes; HT w/shoes; WING SPAN JR Bremer; 6'1 1/4"; 6'2 1/4"; 6'2 1/4 " Sylvera Bryan; 6'9"; 6'10"; 7'4 1/2" Corsley Edwards; 6'7 1/4"; 6'8 3/4"; 6'10 3/4" Udonis Haslem; 6'6 3/4"; 6'7 3/4"; 6'10" Sean Kennedy; 6'0 3/4"; 6'2"; 6'2 1/2" Tito Maddox; 6'3"; 6'4 1/4"; 6'5" Kei Madison; 6'7 3/4"; 6'9"; 7'0 1/2" Elvin Mims; 6'4 1/4"; 6'5 1/2"; 7'1 1/2" Jannero Pargo; 6'0 1/4"; 6'1 3/4"; 6'2 1/2" Smush Parker; 6'2 1/2"; 6'4"; 6'10" Rolan Roberts; 6'5 3/4"; 6'6 3/4"; 7'1" John Salmons; 6'5 1/2"; 6'7"; 6'10 1/4" Pedrag Savovic; 6'4 3/4"; 6'6"; 6'7" Vincent Yarbrough; 6'5 1/2"; 6'7"; 7'0 1/2" Elvin Mims wing span is impressive for a guy of his height. Yarbrough will probably be a guard in the NBA. It looks like the only guy with small forward size the Hawks have worked out is Kei Madison.

I think he's one of the more underrated players in this draft. He does everything well. He can slash to score, shoot from long range, handle the ball, pass, get steals and block shots. He's a little thin, but the guy is a player. While a lot seem to be high on Grizzard from Alabama, he can't hold Yarbrough's jock.

I figure Jacque may be able to get an entire MCE from some team. He's a guy that if he played 35 minutes a game, he'd average around 14 ppg and 7-8 apg.

Denver can't bank on that though. Do they really think that Jason Kidd will leave a team that just played for an NBA Championship to go to Denver? Right now, it looks more and more like Denver is going to lose both Howard and McDyess for nothing. There is a better chance of McDyess signing in New Jersey than Kidd signing in Denver.

The Denver Nuggets are a horrible team that needs players at almost every position. They have an expendable contract currently on their roster. Here's the deal: Denver gets: Toni Kukoc Alan Henderson Chris Crawford resigned Jacque Vaughn Atlanta gets: Juwan Howard Howard only has a year left on his deal, so the Hawks can get a one year rental out of him. He also plays the small forward position. Denver gets a future PG and some place holders till they can get some younger players ready to play, though the length of Henderson's contract could be a detriment.

Every team in the East is flawed in some way. New Jersey doesn't have much perimeter shooting nor an interior presence. Boston lacks a big bopper inside that can block shots and give them some inside offense. Orlando lacks an inside presence. Detroit just lacks scoring outside of Stackhouse. Philadelphia lacks chemistry, consistency, and athleticism overall. Charlotte is moving to New Orleans, and that may be a team without a direction. Are they going to keep Baron Davis? They haven't been known to give their star players big contracts. Indiana should be a good team in the East. Toronto is a team no one has to worry about because they are weak at the top (head coach). Atlanta has as good of a chance as anyone to get into the playoffs. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to see Atlanta do what New Jersey did this year. While they aren't there yet, Atlanta does have the potential currently on the roster to be a complete team: three, maybe four if you include Glover's potential, scorers (JT, SAR, DJ); a defensive stopper in the middle (TR); and good play from bench players (NM, TK, IN, JV or ED).

It would take some doing to make it work. Nazr is a base year player, so we would have to get a team involved that is under the cap either in a three way or a straight up deal. As far as I know, there are only 3 teams that are under the cap: Chicago, LA Clippers, and one other team that I'm not sure of. Even if the Hawks traded Nazr, they would have to get a back up center somehow. So far, they have only worked out 2 guys that can play center: Sylvere Brown from Tampa and Dan Gadzuric from UCLA (in on the 25th?).

Some interesting names there. Based on this, it looks like the Hawks are looking at every taller point guard in the draft (with the exception of Ronald Murray so far), so that could give us a hint at what position the Hawks will look to add. Lots of teams are enamoured with John Salmons as a point guard. Salmons 6-7 Parker 6-4 Maddox 6-4 Keep an eye on Lorinza Harrington as well. Lots of teams like him, and I've read that Denver may be considering him with the 32nd pick while Memphis may look at him with the 31st pick.

We have to get better defensively in the paint. Last year, the Hawks averaged 94 ppg which was middle of the pack. They gave up 98.3 ppg, which was bottom of the league stuff. The main reason the Hawks give up so many points is the lack of interior defense without Theo Ratliff in the line up. Players drive the lane at will against the Hawks. They don't have to settle for outside jumpers that are a lesser percentage shot. Teams can get in the lane and score on our big men. That changes with Theo Ratliff in the game. Players think twice about driving that lane with Theo hanging around. Just having him in the post is going to make people think twice about driving as well as causing more turnovers because perimeter defenders like Jason Terry and DerMarr Johnson will be able to take more chances at steals and playing on the ball more.

Through the Hawks pick: 01. Rockets -- Yao Ming C China 02. Bulls -- Jay Williams PG Duke 03. Warriors -- Mike Dunleavy Jr. SF Duke 04. Grizzlies -- Drew Gooden PF Kansas 05. Nuggets -- Caron Butler SF Connecticut 06. Cavaleers -- Jared Jeffries SF Indiana 07. Knicks -- Chris Wilcox PF Maryland 08. Clippers -- Nikoloz Tskitishvili SF Beneton Treviso 09. Suns -- Maybiner Hilario PF Brazil 10. Heat -- Qyntel Woods SF Northeast MS CC 11. Wizards -- Bostjan Nachbar SF Beneton Treviso 12. Clippers -- Amare Stoudamire PF Cypress Creek HS 13. Bucks -- Melvin Ely C Fresno State 14. Pacers -- DaJaun Wagner SG Memphis 15. Rockets -- Tayshaun Prince SF Kentucky 16. 76ers -- Curtis Borchardt C Stanford 17. Hornets -- Jiri Welsch SG Czech 18. Magic -- Frank Williams PG Illinois 19. Jazz -- Marcus Haislip PF Tennessee 20. Raptors -- Dan Dickau PG Gonzaga 21. Trailblazers -- Carlos Boozer PF Duke 22. Suns -- John Salmons SG Miami 23. Pistons -- Kareem Rush SG Missouri 24. Nets -- Chris Jefferies SF Fresno State 25. Nuggets -- Casey Jacobsen SG Stanford 26. Spurs -- David Anderson PF Australia 27. Lakers -- Smush Parker PG Fordham 28. Kings -- Nenad Kristic C Slovenia 29. Warriors -- Tito Maddux PG Fresno State 30. Bulls -- Mladen Sekurulac SF Slovenia 31. Grizzlies -- Freddie Jones SG Oregon 32. Nuggets -- Steve Logan PG Cincinnati 33. Bucks -- Jason Jennings C Arkansas State 34. Cavaleers -- Ryan Humphrey PF Notre Dame 35. Knicks -- Dan Gadzuric C UCLA 36. Hawks -- Marcus Taylor PG Michigan State Thoughts? Quibbles? Complaints?

Yeah. Haslem is a guy I've been thinking about as well. I looked at NBADraft.net, and they don't even have him being drafted. Haslem would give the Hawks a big, wide body that can back up SAR at the 4 position. He didn't hurt himself by averaging 15 ppg and 6.7 rpg at the Chicago camp. Pargo impressed at Portsmouth and at Chicago, apparently. He had 18 assists in one game at the Portsmouth tournament, and he averaged 5.7 apg at the Chicago tournament. I'm about to put together my mock through the Hawks just to see how everything may fall into place.

Which isn't much, because there is no real way to tell what the Hawks are thinking. I have heard that the Hawks may be leaning towards taking Jannero Pargo with the 37th pick. He isn't a big point guard, but he showed that he can play point guard at the Chicago camp. The guy I talked to says that he had an impressive workout with the Hawks, and that the Hawks see him as a three point specialist off the bench (the guy can flat out shoot!).

The great one, Jerry West, loves him and Drew Gooden according to Andy Katz at ESPN. The Grizzlies are apparently considering Jeffries and Gooden with that #4 pick, but they may favor Gooden. On ESPN's big board, Jeffries has risen to the #5 overall spot. The rumored lottery at this time: 01. Houston Rockets -- Yao Ming C China A big mistake if this happens, IMO. The 7-5 stick figure will never play a complete season in the NBA and won't be good enough to offset the trouble dealing with China will bring. Should trade the pick for Lamar Odom. 02. Chicago Bulls -- Jay Williams PG Duke The Bulls will get Williams and have themselves a point guard who is a better scorer than floor leader. A good player, but a little overrated. 03. Golden State Warriors -- Mike Dunleavy Jr. SF Duke Antawn Jamison is talking with Dunleavy in attempt to keep him in the draft and make him receptive to playing in Golden State. Would be a great pick for the Warriors! 04. Memphis Grizzlies -- Drew Gooden PF Kansas Has shown enough of a face the basket game to make teams think he can play SF. Still, will probably be a power forward in the league and force the imminent move of Pau Gasol to center. 05. Denver Nuggets -- Nikoloz Tskitishvili SF Beneton Treviso If he's so good, why couldn't he get any playing time in Europe? Doesn't have the experience Pau Gasol had. A long term project, IMO. 06. Cleveland Cavaleers -- Caron Butler SF Connecticut The best player in the draft, IMO. Gives the Cavs a much needed scorer and may help convince Andre Miller to stay. 07. New York Knicks -- Chris Wilcox PF Maryland Physically imposing player with great defensive ability and a lot of raw offensive talent. Extremely athletic. 08. LA Clippers -- Hilario Maybiner C Brazil The best of the foreign players in the draft, IMO. Tremendous athlete with dominant ability in the paint. Provides excellent insurance and a possible upgrade to Michael Olowokandi. Could be another Alonzo Mourning. 09. Phoenix Suns -- Jared Jeffries SF Indiana A complete steal at this point. One of the top 5 players in the draft, he combines a plethora of basketball skills and has the ability to play 5 positions. 10. Miami Heat -- DaJuan Wagner PG Memphis Lack of top athletic ability is hurting him, and he will have to learn the point guard position. How long will Pat Riley stick with him? Very overrated player. 11. Washington Wizards -- Qyntel Woods SG NEMCC Versatile shooting guard/small forward type of player that could facilitate a move of either Rip Hamilton or Courtney Alexander at some point. 12. LA Clippers -- Amare Stoudamire PF Cypress Creek HS The Clippers latch onto the idea of drafting big players and build a very strong bench behind Brand and Olowokandi. 13. Milwaukee Bucks -- Melvin Ely C Fresno State Second best center in the draft, behind Hilario Maybiner. Defensive stalwart who has a good low post offensive game. Only 6-10, but thick.

I just disagree. Jared Jeffries is a far better ball handler, defensive player, and shooter period. As far as the positions Pau can play, right now he's pretty much limited to the PF position because he doesn't shoot well enough from the outside to play SF. That's why he predominately plays PF and C this year for Memphis. I'm just not impressed with Gasol. The times I saw the Hawks play them, both Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Toni Kukoc abused him offensively and defensively. Gasol got some blocks when coming from the backside, but that's about all he did against Atlanta. On Gasol vs Battier, I'm just restating what I've heard from a lot of people over here. I live very close to Memphis, so I get a lot of Grizzlies news regardless if I want to or not. Battier is simply the better all around player. He's a better shooter, better defender, and a better passer.

Just an FYI. Kruger and Williams had some run ins and butted heads quite often while they were at Illinois. Williams thought Kruger was holding him back, and Kruger was trying to make Williams a better overall basketball player. One of the stigmas Frank has is that he doesn't play 100% all the time. That's something that really bugged Lon during Frank's freshman year, and Frank had a lot of bench time because of this. Frank Williams could go as high as Orlando at 18 or as low as Golden State with the 30th pick. I really don't see him slipping past Golden State.

I've got him slotted in between 21 and 28. I think he may go in the later part of the first round. As for the other SF's, Rod Grizzard is going to drop into the second round. Mark my words. For all his talent, he was hardly the dominant player he should have been. He's not a good shooter and doesn't play any defense. He's also paper thin, which is also something Prince is. Prince's basketball skills are a lot better than Grizzard's. Diaw-Riffiod has a promise that he will be taken in the first round. It is being speculated that Denver is the team that has told Riffiod that they will select him in the later part of the first round. The word on Riffiod is that he is a great athlete but very raw.

Well, it is true that neither Steve nor Cuttino want the Rockets to draft Yao Ming. Cuttino was openly campaigning for the Rockets to trade that #1 pick for Lamar Odom straight up. Personaly, I think the Rockets are fools if they take Ming. He's only going to play about 60 games because of his connection with China, and I just don't see him being a dominant player that deserves being selected with the #1 pick. He's all hype, IMO. If I'm the Rockets, I either deal the pick or take Caron Butler.

It is something that he regressed defensively from his 2nd year to his 3rd year. He actually played good defense late in the season during his second year. I don't know why he let up on the defensive intensity last year. One thing is for sure, Dion can score. I'll have to check for exact numbers, but I think he averaged around 9 ppg while playing around 15 mpg.

We learned last year that the Hawks won't draft anyone that they don't workout, so we will have to see if the Hawks bring in Tito Maddux, Smush Parker, and the Murry guy from Shaw University (all 6-4 or better PGs) for workouts. So far, they have set dates for Jannero Pargo, who is a tweener but an excellent long distance shooter (and I mean EXCELLENT!) and Sean Kennedy from Marist, who is a great ball handler and passer. He was 3rd in the nation in assits with 7.9 apg. Problem is, both Kennedy and Pargo are 6-2, and that just doesn't seem to fit unless they play a back up role. Also, the article that states the Hawks intentions to refund the season ticket holders $125 a piece if they don't make the playoffs seems to indicate that Dion Glover may still have a future in Atlanta since he was a player that was included.

The reason I like Jared Jeffries is because he is a player that can legitimately play 5 positions. He can run the point and be a point forward type of small forward. He can play in the post. The latest I've heard is that he is up to 233 lbs at his workouts. He's a very good jump shooter and has a plethora of post moves that allow him to score. He can handle the basketball like a point guard, and in the NCAA tournament when Coverdale was injured, Jeffries was the guy bringing the ball up the court and setting the offense for the Hoosiers. I thought the two best players in the entire NCAA tournament were Caron Butler and Jared Jeffries, and I feel both will make better pros than the guys that are more highly touted than they are. My top 3 players in the draft: 1. Caron Butler 2. Mike Dunleavy Jr. 3. Jared Jeffries

I just don't see Memphis dealing Shane Battier. That guy will be a more important player for that team than Pau Gasol, IMO. I know a lot of people from Memphis who felt Battier was the better rookie of the two despite not having Gasol's numbers. I feel in the long run, Gasol will be a player without a position....too slim to play in the post and not a quick enough athlete or good enough shooter to play on the perimeter. There is talk in Memphis that Gasol will play center if he can put on about 30 more lbs.

The Hawks have wanted Harpring in the past. It was widely speculated that Harpring was the player they wanted in the 1998 draft.