UK's Wall, Cousins top NBA mock drafts as Wizards look to pick Wall with No. 1 pick

Now that the NBA Lottery is set and ready to go, we finally have an ‘official’ lineup as to what teams will be picking within the lottery and beyond. Five Kentucky players will look to bring their games to the next level, with point guard John Wall leading the way as the consensus No. 1 overall pick. Let’s take a look at a revamped mock draft based off of fact—in terms of where teams pick—rather than speculation:

1st – Washington Wizards: John Wall
The Wizards—not the Nets—received the first overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft and will likely change the look of the team’s backcourt with the selection of Wall and No. 1. Washington does have Gilbert Arenas, but we all know how tumultuous his time has been recently with the Wizards and head coach Flip Saunders is probably praying for ownership and management will want Wall as their new leader.

Wall will wind up being a pure point guard unlike Arenas who is a ‘me first’ type player looking to score more than getting teammates involved and then focus on scoring second. It will definitely be a crowded backcourt with the likes of Arenas and Randy Foye, who has flipped between point guard and shooting guard during his tenure in the NBA.

Look for Wall to be the new face of the Wizards come June 24th, where he’ll most likely make an impact in the NBA right away because of his situation within Washington’s organization.

5th – Sacramento Kings: DeMarcus Cousins
Most of the chatter regarding Cousins is that he has ‘character issues’ and will cause problems for any team that picks him in June’s draft. I personally don’t think there is too much to worry about regarding his ‘character’ simply because he has taken the necessary steps during his one year in college to overcome his past problems.

Cousins should be considered by any team at this point outside the one that picks former teammate John Wall. The Sixers have the second overall selection and have Samuel Dalembert and Marreese Speights, but I’d contend that he’d be more effective on the offensive end than Dalembert and would be too much for Speights to handle when everything is said and done.

Regardless, mock drafts don’t have Cousins going that high, rather slipping a bit to the No. 5 selection and the Sacramento Kings. The Kings lack a bona fide center with Cousins fitting in perfectly with a young team that includes Tyreke Evans and Carl Landry. It will be a process for Cousins in getting used to a higher level of competition, but he should be an All-Star in several years if his production and talents from this past year are any indication.

8th – Los Angeles Clippers: Patrick Patterson
Unfortunately for Patterson, he’ll be playing for the other team in Los Angeles according to NBADraft.net and we all know how that usually works out for players. Patterson would bring plenty of credibility to a team that lost its first pick last year to a season-ending injury.

ESPN’s Chad Ford is one of the only ‘experts’ who have Patterson falling out of the lottery and into the laps of Portland with the 22nd overall pick. The former ‘Cat won’t fall that far simply because he’s gotten it done every since he entered college and is a well-rounded individual who won’t create any turmoil upon entering the NBA.

Despite being a rookie, Patterson could very well change the landscape and mindset of the Clippers organization with his never-say-die attitude and great work ethic. For a team like the Clippers, who have struggled for years and years, Patterson may just be a god-send with the 8th overall pick.

18th – Miami Heat: Daniel Orton
Orton is tough to project for anyone, but plenty of ‘experts’ have him being selected in the lottery despite not making a huge impact on college basketball last season. Orton has plenty of upside, mainly on the defensive side of the ball and will eventually develop an offensive game.

The Heat are getting older and management will look to bring in a brass of young players to try and create a winning environment to convince Dwyane Wade that the team is serious about moving forward in a positive direction. Current starter Jermaine O’Neal is on the down-and-outs and getting older by the day. Reserves Joel Anthony and Jamaal Magloire are nothing to write home about, so Orton could very well become the incumbent reserve behind O’Neal until he decides to call it quits.

As said earlier, Orton’s value as a prospect is based purely off of potential rather than what he did during the 2009-2010 seasons. It will be interesting to see if he does indeed drop to the 18th pick or if he’s picked with the 11th overall selection and goes to the Hornets as ESPN’s Ford believes.

36th – Detroit Pistons: Eric Bledsoe
Like Orton, it’s tough to project where Bledsoe will end up come draft day. Bledsoe showed spurts of greatness in his only season in college, but it certainly wasn’t enough to get a gauge on how good he could be at the next level.

The consensus seems to be that Bledsoe will drop towards the later portion of the first round, but NBADraft.net has the former starting guard from Kentucky going in the second round. This looks to be like a projection based of his productivity under Kentucky head coach John Calipari, rather than his upside or potential in the NBA.

The Pistons have a plethora of back-court players with Rodney Stuckey and Richard Hamilton leading the way. With reserves like Ben Gordon, Will Bynum, and Chucky Atkins behind the starters, it could be tough for Bledsoe to find time in Detroit’s rotation. Bledsoe is essentially the same type of player as Bynum, but at this stage in their careers, Bynum gets the nod in terms of playing time. It will be interesting to see how high, or low Bledsoe could go come June 24th.

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