2015 NBA mock draft

* – Acquired pick via trade

Pick             Team                              

1. Minnesota Timberwolves-    

  Karl-Anthony Towns  C     Kentucky Fr.  7-0 250 

2. Los Angeles Lakers-

Jahlil Okafor                   C              Duke Fr.               6-11 270 

3. Philadelphia 76ers-                

D’Angelo Russell         PG/SG      Ohio State Fr.         6-4 195

4. New York Knicks-  

Emmanuel Mudiay         PG             Congo Intl              6-5 200

5. Orlando Magic-  

Mario Hezonja               SG/SF        Croatia Intl.             6-8 215

6. Sacramento Kings-              

Kristaps Porzingis          PF              Latvia Intl.               7-1 230

7. Denver Nuggets-

Justise Winslow            SG/SF         Duke Fr.                 6-6 222

8.  Detroit Pistons-

Trey Lyles                       PF            Kentucky Fr.          6-10 240

9. Charlotte Bobcats-

Cameron Payne               PG            Murray St. So.       6-2 185

10.  Miami Heat-

Stanley Johnson              SF             Arizona Fr.            6-6 242

NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs Preview: Round 1

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Yes, I realize that it’s the middle of spring, and no, I’m not crazy. My reference the late, great Andy Williams has absolutely nothing to do Christmas or snow flakes and everything to do with the upcoming NBA playoffs. I’ve always loved NBA basketball. I simply can’t get enough of it. From the stars that headline each arena, to the pace of the game play, even down to the almost pointless dance teams that fill in the void during time outs and half time, everything about the NBA brand has always drawn me in as a fan of basketball. (I actually need to take back that last sentence. The dancers aren’t pointless and I can’t thank Danny Ainge enough for bringing the Celtics Dancers to Boston.) So with my expressed love for the Association , it goes without saying that when the playoffs tip off this Saturday, I’ll be as inseparable from my TV set as a girl during the latest episode of Scandal. During my time in college I had the opportunity to meet many people who transplanted over from the West Coast. Begrudgingly leaving behind family, friends, and the California sunshine for an education in the often blizzard stricken Northeast, many of them would unimaginatively refer to their new home as the “Least Coast”. And while this would almost certainly garner the response of an “eff you” from me when defending my region, I have to admit that the moniker fits perfectly for most of the teams making up the Eastern Conference this season. Save for Miami and Indiana, many of the teams hurt themselves by playing uninspiring basketball earlier in the year, having to playing catch up after All-Star break.  The bottom four teams of Brooklyn, Washington, Charlotte, and Atlanta wouldn’t even make the post season in the West. Atlanta epitomizes that sentiment by locking up the eighth seed with a record below .500. That actually kind of stinks for ATL, given the loaded draft class coming into the league this summer, one would think that tanking with the rest of the bottom dwellers would be much more beneficial to the franchise instead of being a four-game target practice in the first round. Never the less the show must go on and someone has to fill these slots, so without further ado here are the first round matchup previews for the Eastern Conference: