Mock, Stock, and Peril

With a little over two weeks until the draft, speculation abounds regarding who is taking who. With no clear cut #1 pick (that phrase has probably been used around 1.4 million times the past month) the field is wide open. I can't decide who I think the Blazers should pick. I've softened my stance on Adam Morrison, become a little skeptical about Brandon Roy, am all but positive that we're not going to pick Tyrus Thomas, would love to get LaMarcus Aldridge if by some miracle he's still available, but I'm almost positive I'll change my mind about all of this before June 28th rolls around. To get some perspective, I've compiled a mini-list of mock drafts from various internet outlets. The go as such:

NBADraft.net

• Toronto -- Adam Morrison
• Chicago -- Tyrus Thomas
• Charlotte -- Rudy Gay
• Portland -- Andrea Bargnani
• 
  HoopsHype
• Toronto -- Andrea Bargnani
• Chicago -- LaMarcus Aldridge
• Charlotte -- Adam Morrison
• Portland -- Brandon Roy
• 
  Inside Hoops
• Toronto -- LaMarcus Aldridge
• Chicago -- Tyrus Thomas
• Charlotte -- Adam Morrison
• Portland -- Brandon Roy
• 
  Brendan McGovern, ProBasketball.About.com
• Toronto -- Andrea Bargnani
• Chicago -- LaMarcus Aldridge
• Charlotte -- Adam Morrison
• Portland -- Brandon Roy
• 
  Tony Mejia, CBS Sportline
• Toronto -- LaMarcus Aldridge
• Chicago -- Tyrus Thomas
• Charlotte -- Adam Morrison
• Portland -- Brandon Roy
• 
  Gregg Doyel, CBS Sportline
• Toronto -- LaMarcus Aldridge
• Chicago -- Tyrus Thomas
• Charlotte -- Adam Morrison
• Portland -- Brandon Roy
• 
  CollegeHoops.net
• Toronto -- Andrea Bargnani
• Chicago -- Tyrus Thomas
• Charlotte -- Adam Morrison
• Portland -- Brandon Roy
• 
  FoxSports/Dime Magazine
• Toronto -- Andrea Bargnani
• Chicago -- LaMarcus Aldridge
• Charlotte -- Adam Morrison
• Portland -- Brandon Roy
• 
  

Morrison and Roy going three, four certainly looks to be the consensus, at least from this small sample. Then again, many of these mocks are well over a week old, which might as well be 3 years ago the way the NBA off-season plays out.

Jason Quick, who, like it or not, probably knows more about the Blazers than anyone outside of the organization, has stated that he's almost positive move will be made on draft day. He also spent the last few days at the Orlando Pre-Draft camp, and came away impressed with both Morrison and Roy.

Any thoughts out there? My biggest concerns for next season are defense and rebounding, and I don't see either Morrison or Roy helping out on either of those fronts. Joel Przybilla's situation doesn't factor in much to the first pick the Blazer make, but I figure that the 30th and 31st picks have to get traded along with Darius or one of the point guards (eek!) to get someone with some size, because going into next season with, an oft broke-down Theo Ratliff, Brian Skinner, and Ha is going to make for some very ugly winter nights.

I've resigned myself to the fact that we're not going to have a shooting guard until Martell matures, but no center on top of that? Say it ain't so. There are two things that drive me nuts when watching the Blazers; losing because of turnovers, and losing because the opposing team is dominating the boards. With a young backcourt, little to no rebounding from the forward positions, and no center who would start on any other team in the NBA, it's going to be hard to stay sober for four consecutive quarters next season, unless some decent draft picks and a trade or ten can make a difference.