Mock draft 2003... Rockets not missing much

A Very "Rough" Draft
http://probasketball.about.com/library/weekly/aa070402a.htm

Concessions between David Stern and the NBA Players Union come few and far. So it was a bit of history for us Draft Dorks when Stern agreed to let Darko Milicic and Sofoklis Schortsianitis into the 2003 NBA Draft, despite the fact that they won't mee the NBA's current age limit restriction for foreign players. So why did he back off the stance? Well, the Union agreed to extend the first round of the NBA Playoffs from a best-of-five format to a best-of-seven. That will mean more revenue for the League and its owners, and as a thank you, Stern welcomed Milicic and Schortsianitis to the NBA a little earlier than he wanted.

And Milicic just may challenge LeBron James for the top spot in the Draft. As much as the "King James" PR machine has run amok, common basketball sense dictates that a franchise center is much more valuable than a franchise swingman. If Milicic proves to be that kind of talent before the Draft, then don't be shocked if James falls to No. 2.

As for Sofoklis Schortsianitis (just trying to get the spelling "down"), he's a little too raw to be going as high as some Draftniks have him. In comparison, I think Nene Hilario was a better prospect than Schortsianitis, who appears smaller and a bit chuncky. But the idea that he may still be growing, is tantalizing and from that clip floating around NBADraft.net you can see he's very agile.

If you've got any info on players (college, high school or foreign) or what team owns what pick according to prior deals, drop me an email at probasketball.guide@about.com. And if you want to get updated every time there's an updated version of the mock draft, then sign up for About.com's Spectator Sports weekly newsletter. Let's get started!

Updated 2/11/03 -- Order based upon current NBA standings.

1. Cleveland Cavaliers -- Lebron James, SG, High School

2. Denver Nuggets -- Darko Milicic, C, Yugoslavia

3. Detroit Pistons (From Memphis) -- Carmelo Anthony, SF, Syracuse

4. Toronto Raptors -- Chris Bosh, PF, Georgia Tech

5. L.A. Clippers -- Jarvis Hayes, SG/SF, Georgia

6. Chicago Bulls -- Emeka Okafor, PF/C, Connecticut

7. Miami Heat -- T.J. Ford, PG, Texas

8. Milwaukee Bucks (From Atlanta) -- Rick Rickert, PF, Minnesota

9. Golden State Warriors -- Luke Ridnour, PG, Oregon

10. New York Knicks -- Anderson Varejao, PF, Brazil

11. Seattle Sonics -- Zarko Cabarkapa, PF, Yugoslavia

12. Orlando Magic -- Sofoklis Schortsianitis, PF, Greece

13. L.A. Lakers -- Kirk Hinrich, PF, Kansas

14. Washington Wizards -- David West, PF, Xavier

15. Boston Celtics (From Philadelphia) -- Michael Sweetney, PF, Georgetown

16. New Orleans Hornets -- Reece Gaines, PG/SG, Louisville

17. Milwaukee Bucks -- Carlos Delfino, SF, Argentina

18. Memphis Grizzlies (From Houston) -- Dwyane Wade, SG, Marquette

19. Boston Celtics -- Chris Thomas, PG, Notre Dame

20. Phoenix Suns -- Brian Cook, PF/C, Illinois

21. Minnesota Timberwolves -- Rickey Paulding, SG, Missouri

22. Utah Jazz -- David Harrison, C, Colorado

23. Portland Trailblazers -- Kendrick Perkins, C, High School

24. Orlando Magic (Orl From Sacramento) -- Chris Duhon, PG, Duke

25. San Antonio Spurs -- Darius Rice, SF, Miami

26. Detroit Pistons -- Mickaël Pietrus , SG/SF, France

27. Atlanta Hawks (From Indiana) -- Viktor Khyrapa, SF, Russia

28. New Jersey Nets -- Nick Collison, PF, Kansas

29. Dallas Mavericks -- Uche Nsonwu-Amadi, PF, Wyoming

30. Cleveland Cavaliers -- Mario Austin, PF, Mississippi St.

31. New York Knicks (From Denver) -- Pape Sow, PF, CS-Fullerton

32. Memphis Grizzlies -- Slavko Vranes, C, Yugoslavia

33. Toronto Raptors -- Hollis Price, PG/SG, Oklahoma

34. L.A. Clippers -- James Lang, C, High School

35. Chicago Bulls -- Blagota Sekulic, SF, Yugoslavia

36. Detroit Pistons (From Miami) -- Marvin Stone, PF, Louisville

37. Atlanta Hawks -- Romain Sato, SG, Xavier

38. Golden State Warriors -- Martin Iti, C, High School

39. New York Knicks -- Zoran Planinic, SG, Croatia

40. Seattle Sonics -- Ron Slay, PF, Tennessee

41. Atlanta Hawks (From Orlando) -- Raitis Grafs, C, Valparaiso

42. L.A. Lakers -- Erwin Dudley, PF, Alabama

43. Washington Wizards -- Luke Walton, SF, Arizona

44. Atlanta Hawks (From Philadelphia) -- Troy Bell, SG, Boston College

45. New Orleans Hornets -- Matt Bonner, PF, Florida

46. Milwaukee Bucks -- Jason Gardner, PG, Arizona

47. Houston Rockets -- Chris Massie, PF, Memphis

48. Boston Celtics -- Boris Diaw-Riffiod, SF, France

49. Chicago Bulls (From Phoenix) -- Ebi Ere, SG, Oklahoma

50. Minnesota Timberwolves -- Chris Marcus, C, Western Kentucky

51. Utah Jazz -- Kyle Korver, SF, Creighton

52. Detroit Pistons (From San Antonio via Portland) -- Brandin Knight, PG, Pittsburgh

53. Sacramento Kings -- Zaur Pachulia, C, Georgia (Nation)

54. Portland Trailblazers (From San Antonio)-- Doug Wrenn, SF, Washington

55. Detroit Pistons -- Shelden Williams, PF, Duke

56. Indiana Pacers -- Dahntay Jones, SG, Duke

57. New Jersey Nets -- Derrick Zimmerman, PG, Mississippi St.

58. Dallas Mavericks -- Marquis Daniels, SG/SF, Auburn


Unless the Rockets had the first or second pick, what they give up to the Grizzlies is garbage compared to what we got in Steve Francis. BTW anyone know much about the Darko kid? I've only heard rumors that he's as good as Le Bron except he's a 7 footer.

 

The writer quotes that this mock draft is based on current position as of 2/11/03.

 

This is one source that I gathered on the Darko kid through web search.

Pronounced (MILL-eh-check)
Darko Milicic
Birthdate: 6/20/85
NBA Position: SF/PF
Ht: 7-0
Wt: 245
Int Team: KK Hemofarm Vrsac
Hometown: Novi Sad, Yugoslavia
Telebasket Profile

Strengths: Solid athlete who can run the floor and jump like few others his size ... Creative scorer who understands how to set-up his defender off the dribble ... Excellent finisher when receiving the ball on the break or out on the perimeter as he can cut to the lane and even dunk in traffic ... On defense he is an excellent help defender who shows promise of being an adequate shot-blocker ... Does a very good job of using his long arms to grab most rebounds around his area despite usually being physically out-matched by his opponents ... Can be a nightmare for opposing players to defend due to his versatility as he is too quick for most power forwards and too tall for most small forwards to defend in the post ... Excellent ball handler for his size ... Plays extremely aggressive and wont back down from a challenge ... Competitive, he'll do whatever it takes to win ... Shows court awareness beyond his years as he will adjust his game according to how the defense plays him ... Can shoot the ball from 20 feet with consistency and even has the ability to extend out to the three point line ... Has a very high basketball IQ and sees plays before they occur ... Good passer who is blessed with solid court vision. Double teams rarely bother him ... Shows soft touch around the basket ... Owns a solid hesitation dribble move he uses to bait his defender out of the paint. As soon as his defender plays his shot, Milicic will dribble into the lane for the quick lay-up ...

Weaknesses: Has problems at times holding his position on the low blocks due to his lack of body strength ... Offensively his back to the basket skills are still in the developmental stages as he prefers to face the basket ... Needs to continue to improve his upper body strength although this should be no surprise when you consider his age ... Unlike most young players defensively he shows above average skills but it's the basic stuff he'll need to improve on ... Perimeter defensive skills such as anticipation and playing the passing lanes ... As far as working on his low post defense, strength and experience are the main detracting factors ... Tends to put the ball on the floor a little too much after getting an offensive rebound ... Ball protection is a area of concern as he can get careless at times ... Needs to work on getting rebounds out of position ... When posting up Milicic should improve on getting wider so he can give guards a bigger target when they pass into the post ...

Matthew Maurer
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Milicic is aggressive, he has an all around game. He’s strong on the boards. He has good ball-handling skills. He is quick, with a great understanding of the game (he is smart as a fox). He can kill you from the perimeter but he’s never gonna be a center. It would be such a waste for such a talent to be battling against 280 pounders. No Nowitzki, no Gasol should ever be playing in the paint. Only when playing against a zone defense of 2-3 or 2-1-2 is it logical to have an all-around tall guy causing troubles in the weak side of the opponents’ defense. 2-4 is for him. He's tough as nails against tall men of 210-220 pounds. I don’t see many PFs’ of 210 in the NBA. He will never play center in the NBA because it would be a waste of his talents.

-Dimitris Armadoros

He is one of the biggest hopes of Yugoslavian basketball in his generation and that alone is something, considering the strength of Yugoslavian basketball. Very tall, agile, mobile player with tons of upside. Just has to continue to develop and he's a future NBA player. His outlook is very good considering the Yugoslavian basketball system is very good at developing players. He was thrown into the Seniors level this year and did a very impressive job for 16 year old.

-Uros Velkavrh

Possibly the top NBA prospect at any age in Europe. He plays in Hemofarm. He dunks in traffic, dribbles and goes 1 on 1 like a guard, scores on the pull-up jumper, passes well and blocks shots. I've never seen a player like him at 16! NEVER!

-Cristian Biagini

Everything they say is true, multidimensional left-hander, can hit the three and has a jump hook with the same ability, runs the floor very well with a great wingspan and athletism.