NBA Mock Draft Preview

The NBA draft is upcoming at the end of June and it is time to find out who your favorite NBA team will draft. Here are possible players who will be drafted early and make big money. Since the NCAA championship several stocks of college players have risen greatly. This year the shape of the NBA draft will change enormously as new age requirements are in place which prevent NBA teams from drafting High School players straight our of high school. Basketball players must attend at least one year of college before they are drafted. This will place a greater emphasis on college basketball an scouting.

Before the start of the college basketball season this past year, UCONN player Rudy Gay was supposed to be a #1 NBA draft pick. Rudy Gay plays the small forward position and scouts loved him for his large size, great ball handling ability, court vision, and overall ability. Rudy Gay was supposed to have no weakness in his game with the ability to score, rebound, and pass. He was supposed to dominate college basketball. However that never happened. Rudy Gay never developed his game. Gay's draft stock has dropped and scouts and NBA teams say that Rudy Gay might not even be a top 3 pick.

The player whose stock is really rising is LaMarcus Aldridge. Aldridge played for the Texas Longhorns and really showed how talented he was as he dominated the NCAA playoffs. At the power forward position he has great size at 6'10 and has shown an ability to score at will. He is expected to be drafted second by the Chicago Bulls who own the pick after giving Eddie Curry to the NY Knicks in a trade last year. Aldridge also has great wingspan, can rebound very well and block shots. He also has a great jump shot. Aldridge is being compared to as the next Chris Bosh and he is definitely a top 5 pick.

The man who is expected to be the #1 pick of the NBA draft whom scouts are loving whose stock has risen tremendously from the NCAA basketball playoffs is Tyrus Thomas. Thomas is 6'9 230 pounds. His age as a freshman basketball player makes him even more attractive to NBA teams because of his potential to grow and get better. Thomas has great speed on the floor and his ball handling skills allows him to easily move from one end of the court to another. He is also being compared to a young Stromile Swift. He is expected to be drafted first by the Portland Trailblazers.

Rounding out the top 3 possible picks is a suprise pick. This European player most people have not heard of but because of his size at 7'0 Adrea Bargnani is expected to be picked by the Charlotte Bobcats. Bargnani is from Italy and is being called the next Dirk Nowitzki. Bargnani is getting rave reviews from foreign scouts because of his ball handling ability, seet jump shot and rebounding ability. He isn't much of a shot blocker and like Dirk, his game is from the outside of the perimeter. Some scouts are worried about his potential to be a bust like former European players have been. However the Bobcats desperately need size and Bargnani might just be their man.