2015 NBA Mock Draft - Version 2

Karl-Anthony Towns, tremendous photobombing potential

After last week’s original version of our NBA Mock Draft, Chris and I knew we had to switch things up a bit. The first detail to change was our draft order, with Chris now taking the even-numbered picks and me on the odds. The only directive we exchanged was to be different. What that meant exactly is still up for interpretation, and to which I battled with in my first selection. Instead of choosing the opposite of whoever Chris picked, I used it as a tiebreaker but went with my original thoughts and tried to evaluate the most recent rumors that have been circulating among NBA circles. Like I explained last week, our sources still aren’t returning our phone calls and I’m afraid Chris and I can’t offer any original insight into draft philosophies. But we tried to have fun with our second version of the Mock and talk about as many prospects as we could within the framework of the first round. 

I’m up.

1.) Minnesota Timberwolves

Karl-Anthony Towns  

Thus begins the very first issue of our second mock draft: to go different for the team or different for ourselves. I've already discussed Jahlil Okafor in relation to the Los Angeles Lakers in Version 1, and while he would present a departure from your pick of Karl-Anthony Towns to the Timberwolves, I'm doubtful that Minnesota lets Towns slide to #2. I suppose there's a chance that D'Angelo Russell is in play for the first overall selection, at least with the recent workout news; I'm just not ready to accept it as a realistic option, with Towns (or Okafor) ranking as the consensus top choice since the preseason. Wolves fans deserve to root for that super athletic core that you mentioned last week; we'll have to see if Flip Saunders can give the people what they want.

2015 NBA Mock Draft

Jahlil Okafor, Karl-Anthony Towns, D'Angelo Russell, Emmanuel Mudiay (Photo: Robert Willett, AP, Getty, Paul J. Bereswill)

The NBA Draft is officially 10 days away, and much like last summer, we’re participating in the festivities with our own Mock Draft project. Neither Chris nor I claim any reliable sources or inside information, and our picks are backed by personal preferences and what we deem to be common sense selections, given team context and incumbent rosters. Unlike last season, however, where we dove a bit deeper and explained our predictions with longer-form essays, this draft we’ll limit ourselves to just a few paragraphs per pick, in the hopes that maybe we can tack on another version before next Thursday, as the (dis)information evolves. 

We’ll be alternating picks, beginning with Chris and the Minnesota Timberwolves and ending with my take on the Golden State Warriors at #30. All statistics and measurement numbers are from the incredible team over at Draft Express, along with any rumors and innuendo we’ve absorbed from the various mock drafts by ESPN (by that I mean Chad Ford), CBS, SBNation, Fansided, etc.

So with the first pick of our 2015 NBA Mock Draft, Chris selects…

1. Minnesota Timberwolves

Karl-Anthony Towns  |  PF/C  |  7'0  |  250 lbs.  |  7'3.25" wingspan

The Timberwolves add this season’s first-overall pick to last season’s (and the season before that). Towns’s potential on both sides of the ball and ability to play PF and/or C make him ideal for a Timberwolves team still finding their way.

His projected ability to space the floor makes room for Wiggins to operate in the post. A LaVine-Shabazz-Wiggins-Payne-Dieng-Towns young core, plus maybe another lottery pick is quite promising. And I left off Rubio!

You're on the clock.