Chad Ford's Mock Draft 6.0

Blair or Mullens @ 16
Hansbrough or Terrence Williams @ 26

If nothing else, Mullens has good hands and can score in the post, which is the main thing this team has been missing…at worst he’s a taller thinner whiter eddie curry…

I’ve liked all along the idea of Blair but bemoaned his lack of versatility. He’s a PF and he’ll never be anything else. He might, however, never be good enough to start. That sucks, even for a 16th pick. Hansbrough could probably man the C position for 5 mpg but really, what’s the point? They’ll have Noah and Asik long-term (supposedly, of course).

I’ve always thought (and have said so) that the best thing you can hope for drafting in these spots is a 7th or 8th man in the rotation that can play multiple positions. If the Bulls got a SG/SF like Williams or Budinger then having a guy who can only play PF isn’t that big of a deal. But getting a SF/PF and then a PG/SG is probably about the best one can expect from this draft.

Johnson fits the first bill.

I like Toney Douglas’s ability to create his own shot, but I like Nick Calathes’s ability to create for others better. Both shoot from outside similarly well, but go about it in different ways. I like Toney Douglas’s ability to defender better PG’s, but at 6’2" I wonder how he’d do against SG’s. I like Calathes’s size in that regard. And, of course, Gar Paxdorf would love Calathes’s decision to go overseas so they can avoid paying the luxury tax.

It certainly wouldn’t be the most exciting thing after all the trade talk, but getting James Johnson and Toney Douglas/Nick Calathes would be a satisfactory draft for me.

Wholeheartedly.

but Johnson is a classic tweener and Clark is an enigma. Hansbrough is, other than Griffin, the player with whom you already know what your gonna get. He’s also the only other Wooden award winner. Who is the best low post scorer availalbe at 16? Either Hansbrough (highest floor) or Mullens (highest ceiling).

as to why we think we NEED a low-post scorer to succeed in this league. The two guys mentioned most in rumors surrounding the Bulls (Stoudamire and Bosh) aren’t really low post scorers. They’re face-up PFs.

Did the last few championship teams (outside of the Spurs) have any real low-post scorers? I guess Pau Gasol’s kind of that guy, but he’s more along the lines of a Bosh or Stoudamire than a Duncan or Shaq.

The Celts have KG, but again, he’s a face-up PF who likes to shoot 15 footers. The only teams that won with post scoring had straight-up DOMINANT guys down there. I don’t see Hansbrough or Mullens as dominant.

the assertion that Hansbrough was a low-post scorer. I was just pointing out that the perception of us NEEDING one might be overblown. I didn’t say we don’t need a scorer at the PF or C position, I was just saying the traditional definition of a “low-post” scorer (i.e. on the block) is a little 1990s.

The original post I commented on was inquiring about the best "low-post’ scorer available at 16. I’m not sure Hansbrough is that.

Hansbrough is not a real low post scorer, certainly not at teh next level. Is Johnson really a PF though? He’s like an undersized PF (if you can say that 6’8" 257 lbs is undersized) who plays like an off guard. He’s got a quick first step and can handle the ball well. Most of the scoring I’ve seen him do is off the dribble drive. In the liga he’ll be facing longer bigs tht are just as quick, and he won’t be able to fill the lane like he did in college.

This all means that Chad still has the Bulls taking Toney Douglas at 26 (congrats, smash) as a Ben Gordon “insurance policy” and future running-mate of “Jalene” Rose.

I’m glad to see Chad Ford is taking my death threats seriously… ;)