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2011 NBA Mock Draft: Which Team Will Take UNC's Harrison Barnes? | Bleacher Report
The NBA Playoffs are starting up this Saturday, and it won't be long until the final game is played and the NBA draft is looming right around the corner.
With less, albeit still a large amount, of fanfare surrounding the NBA draft when compared to the NFL draft, the NBA draft always tends to sneak up on you, and it comes and goes much quicker than its NFL counterpart.
This year's draft has been said to be a weak draft, and in some cases it is.
This draft isn't deep at all, there are going to be quite a few freshmen staying in college that would otherwise declare for the draft, like Perry Jones, and it is heavily reliant on numerous foreign prospects declaring, and they are usually hit or miss.
One of the interesting pieces in this year's draft is North Carolina Harrison Barnes.
Right now, rumors are swirling around and it seems the decision of whether to enter the draft is still up in the air for the time being.
But if I were a gambling man, and at times I am, I wouldn't be surprised to see him at least test the waters.
Barnes is a big small forward with a good jump shot and above average athleticism, but he is still a bit of a raw talent.
There are some facets of his game that he needs work on. His ball-handling skills are still evolving, and his ability to drive is pretty much limited to his right hand at this point.
Otherwise he is a hard-working kid who always seemed to be in a good mood on the court and make the right decisions over the course of a game.
Currently, the draft order (if the lottery were to come up in order of the worst records, which is unlikely, but still) has Minnesota with the first pick, followed by Cleveland, Toronto, Sacramento, Washington and Cleveland again (via Los Angeles Clippers).
The decision over who will be the No. 1 pick is still up in the air, but as of right now it seems like it will be Duke's Kyrie Irving, and if not Irving, then Derrick Williams of Arizona.
So, as of right now in my current mental mock draft, Kyrie Irving seems to be the good choice at number one for the Minnesota Timberwolves. With Johnny Flynn not panning out well and the Ricky Rubio case no closer to being solved today compared to last offseason, Irving here makes sense for the Timberwolves.
He could step in immediately and start to run that offense, probably doing a better job than Luke Ridnour did all season long.
I think Cleveland would then take the next best player available, as they have a weakness at just about every position. Here I would expect them to take Derrick Williams.
Williams is perhaps the most NBA-ready prospect in this draft, and could step in in Cleveland and compete for the starting small forward spot immediately, as they filled that position by committee last season.
That would leave four more teams, as I expect to see a team take Barnes in the top six in this draft.
Of the next three teams, all had average small forwards last year, with Nick Young of the Wizards having the best year, followed by Francisco Garcia from Sacramento and around four or five different guys from Toronto.
Toronto has a wealth of small forwards, but not one of those guys is sticking out from the pack.
James Johnson was their best option, as he was steadily improving as the year went along, but he didn't show anything spectacular.
Other than Johnson, they had Sonny Weems, Julian Wright, Peja Stojakovic and Linas Kleiza all start games at the three spot at some point throughout the year.
The guys in this group ether are no longer with the team, or don't show enough potential to help the team rebuild.
Meanwhile, the next best position to pick up in this draft would be a point guard, unless they want to take a chance on a foreign big man, and it seems to me they are happy with Andrea Barngani and Amir Johnson for the time being.
Upgrading at the point guard spot would be upgrading over Jose Calderon, a very skilled guard. Calderon could still be in the future plans of this team, whether it be over just the following season, or farther into the future.
Because of that, I see the Raptors selecting Harrison Barnes with the third pick in the draft at the end of June.
And now that I have written a whole article about the man, I'm sure that he is going to announce tomorrow that he is returning to college.
You're welcome, North Carolina.
The NBA Playoffs are starting up this Saturday, and it won't be long until the final game is played and the NBA draft is looming right around the corner.
With less, albeit still a large amount, of fanfare surrounding the NBA draft when compared to the NFL draft, the NBA draft always tends to sneak up on you, and it comes and goes much quicker than its NFL counterpart.
This year's draft has been said to be a weak draft, and in some cases it is.
This draft isn't deep at all, there are going to be quite a few freshmen staying in college that would otherwise declare for the draft, like Perry Jones, and it is heavily reliant on numerous foreign prospects declaring, and they are usually hit or miss.
One of the interesting pieces in this year's draft is North Carolina Harrison Barnes.
Right now, rumors are swirling around and it seems the decision of whether to enter the draft is still up in the air for the time being.
But if I were a gambling man, and at times I am, I wouldn't be surprised to see him at least test the waters.
Barnes is a big small forward with a good jump shot and above average athleticism, but he is still a bit of a raw talent.
There are some facets of his game that he needs work on. His ball-handling skills are still evolving, and his ability to drive is pretty much limited to his right hand at this point.
Otherwise he is a hard-working kid who always seemed to be in a good mood on the court and make the right decisions over the course of a game.
Currently, the draft order (if the lottery were to come up in order of the worst records, which is unlikely, but still) has Minnesota with the first pick, followed by Cleveland, Toronto, Sacramento, Washington and Cleveland again (via Los Angeles Clippers).
The decision over who will be the No. 1 pick is still up in the air, but as of right now it seems like it will be Duke's Kyrie Irving, and if not Irving, then Derrick Williams of Arizona.
So, as of right now in my current mental mock draft, Kyrie Irving seems to be the good choice at number one for the Minnesota Timberwolves. With Johnny Flynn not panning out well and the Ricky Rubio case no closer to being solved today compared to last offseason, Irving here makes sense for the Timberwolves.
He could step in immediately and start to run that offense, probably doing a better job than Luke Ridnour did all season long.
I think Cleveland would then take the next best player available, as they have a weakness at just about every position. Here I would expect them to take Derrick Williams.
Williams is perhaps the most NBA-ready prospect in this draft, and could step in in Cleveland and compete for the starting small forward spot immediately, as they filled that position by committee last season.
That would leave four more teams, as I expect to see a team take Barnes in the top six in this draft.
Of the next three teams, all had average small forwards last year, with Nick Young of the Wizards having the best year, followed by Francisco Garcia from Sacramento and around four or five different guys from Toronto.
Toronto has a wealth of small forwards, but not one of those guys is sticking out from the pack.
James Johnson was their best option, as he was steadily improving as the year went along, but he didn't show anything spectacular.
Other than Johnson, they had Sonny Weems, Julian Wright, Peja Stojakovic and Linas Kleiza all start games at the three spot at some point throughout the year.
The guys in this group ether are no longer with the team, or don't show enough potential to help the team rebuild.
Meanwhile, the next best position to pick up in this draft would be a point guard, unless they want to take a chance on a foreign big man, and it seems to me they are happy with Andrea Barngani and Amir Johnson for the time being.
Upgrading at the point guard spot would be upgrading over Jose Calderon, a very skilled guard. Calderon could still be in the future plans of this team, whether it be over just the following season, or farther into the future.
Because of that, I see the Raptors selecting Harrison Barnes with the third pick in the draft at the end of June.
And now that I have written a whole article about the man, I'm sure that he is going to announce tomorrow that he is returning to college.
You're welcome, North Carolina.
