2009 NBA Draft

We are now down to less then 24 hours until the NBA Draft takes place and besides the #1 pick the Top 5 seems to be a game of musical chairs.

The Clippers will be taking PF Blake Griffin, which is a given, but then there are no certainties over the next four picks. Most draft boards have those picks down to C Hasheem Thabeet, PG Ricky Rubio, SG James Harden, SG Tyreke Evans, PG Stephan Curry and PF Jordan Hill.

At #2- Memphis: Memphis could actually use a Power Forward, which could be filled by drafting Jordan Hill but another option and possibly even a better option would be to take C Hasheem Thabeet and use Marc Gasol as a Power Forward.

At #3- OKC Pirates- The Thunder are set at Point Guard, Small Forward and Power Forward so logically they could use a Center or Shooting Guard. Since there are not many quality Centers in the draft after Thabeet I would think that they would be better off going with a Shooting Guard. There are a couple of options here, but the best choices are either Harden or Evans. James Harden seems to be more polished between the two options so I would say that they should draft SG James Harden with the #3 pick.

At #4- Sacramento: The Kings could use upgrades at almost every position. They do seem to have solid performers at Shooting Guard and Center, so it would be best to focus on a quality Point Guard. There really is no waffling about this pick; the Kings should go with the best player still available and probably the best Point Guard in the draft, PG Ricky Rubio. The only concern may be the buyout from his team in Spain.

At #5 & 6- Minnesota: The Timberwolves just traded away their backcourt and now have 4 picks in the First Round. So obvious needs will be at Point Guard and Shooting Guard but they also need a Small Forward. The obvious choice here would be at Point Guard because you want to pick up a quality player to run the team, so one pick should be used to select PG Stephen Curry. The second pick would best be used on SG Tyreke Evans and select one of the numerous remaining Small Forwards with the #18 or #28 picks.