/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49783253/usa-today-9205103.0.jpg)
Check out the previous picks in the 2016 Grizzly Bear Blues Community NBA Mock Draft here.
Another pick is up, and we have our second trade of the Mock Draft! It involves the New Orleans Pelicans and Denver Nuggets-
Denver Receives- #6 overall pick, Quincy Pondexter
New Orleans Receives- #15 overall pick, #19 overall pick, Will Barton
A bold move for both squads. Why do they do it? The mock GM's weigh in, starting with New Orleans and GBB Contributor Wes George.
"The Pelicans need to avoid the pitfalls of LeBron's first go-round in Cleveland. They already tried the short-sighted "win now" approach in taking on big, dumb deals for fringe guys like Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday and Ryan Anderson. Hopefully they've learned their lesson and are willing to build around Anthony Davis a bit more incrementally.
This trade essentially turns the 6th pick in this draft, widely considered to be kind of a crapshoot after Simmons and Ingram, into two mid-first rounders and a cheap, valuable piece in Will Barton. With the cap rising, young players on small, long-term contracts will become more and more valuable over time. Plus with this deal you get multiple bites at the apple, hoping to hit big on one of either the 15th or 19th picks to add another piece to the Anthony Davis puzzle. New Orleans would've loved to grab certified-grown-ass-man-Buddy Hield at this spot, but he's off the board, so this might be their best option."
Denver's mock GM, GBB reader mopizzle11, talks about the Nuggets' reasoning for the trade.
With Chriss going 3rd overall, the likelihood of either Jamal Murray or Buddy Hield slipping back to 6 was almost a sure thing. Swapping Barton for QPon was ok as we needed extra shooting and a little more than extra athleticism through Q-Pon and the 6th overall pick.
So the Denver Nuggets are on the clock at both pick 6 and pick 7! With the sixth overall pick in the 2016 GBB Community NBA Mock Draft, the Nuggets select...
Jamal Murray, Guard, University of Kentucky
Another guard, and great shooter to boot, is off the board. Here is Denver mock GM mopizzle11's pick rationale.
The reason for this pick was pretty straightforward. Denver has two young guys in the backcourt right now. While I'm fine with the process of developing guys, there is a real chance that Mudiay never becomes the shooter he needs to be. Gary Harris also has the look of a 6th man at this stage, which is ok.
With Murray coming in, we are looking at someone who may be good enough to start at SG from day 1, but will also be able to get some decent minutes at PG. He looks equally comfortable finishing in traffic as he does coming off of screens from 25 feet.
Mudiay has shown flashes of what he can become, but his shot is still not what it needs to be and that allows defenses to clog up the paint. in order to properly develop our guards and bigs, we need to spread it out. Shooting from the back court has been the key to the best offenses in the NBA in recent years, and we look forward to seeing our young and exciting back court flourish in the coming seasons.
So, six picks down, 24 to go! Tomorrow we've got Denver again and Sacramento making their selections. Will there be more trades on the horizon?
Date | Pick/Team | Selection | Mock GM |
June 2nd | 1/Philadelphia | Brandon Ingram, Forward, Duke University | Joe Mullinax |
June 2nd | 2/LA Lakers | Ben Simmons, Forward, LSU | Corban Ford |
June 3rd | 3/Boston | Marquese Chriss, Power Forward, Washington | Chip Williams |
June 3rd | 4/Phoenix | Dragan Bender, Power Forward, Maccabi Tel Aviv | Kyle Whittington |
June 6th | 5/Minnesota | Buddy Hield, Guard, Oklahoma | Aimee S |
June 6th | 6/Denver | Jamal Murray, Guard, Kentucky | Mopizzle11 |
June 7th | 7/Denver | Mopizzle11 | |
June 7th | 8/Sacramento | Brandon C | |
June 8th | 9/Toronto | Tabitha | |
June 8th | 10/Milwaukee | Kevin Yeung | |
June 9th | 11/Orlando | colapsedLung | |
June 9th | 12/Utah | BealeStreetKen | |
June 10th | 13/Phoenix | Brandon C | |
June 10th | 14/Memphis | Joe Mullinax | |
June 13th | 15/New Orleans | Wes George | |
June 13th | 16/Boston | Chip Williams | |
June 14th | 17/Chicago | Brandon C | |
June 14th | 18/Detroit | volislife | |
June 15th | 19/New Orleans | Wes George | |
June 15th | 20/Indiana | Aimee S | |
June 16th | 21/Atlanta | Jama17 | |
June 16th | 22/Charlotte | Justin Sims | |
June 17th | 23/Boston | Chip Williams | |
June 17th | 24/Philadelphia | Joe Mullinax | |
June 20th | 25/LA Clippers | Kevin Lipe | |
June 20th | 26/Philadelphia | Joe Mullinax | |
June 21st | 27/Toronto | Tabitha | |
June 21st | 28/Phoenix | Kyle Whittington | |
June 22nd | 29/San Antonio | Jill Kong | |
June 22nd | 30/Golden State | rhinoh23 |