Before I get started, this mock draft makes me giddy.
I have a confession to make, I didn't watch the lottery broadcast. My softball team had a game at 8:00 and it takes a commute to get to the fields, so I found out about all the excitement when my cell phone started blowing up with text messages. Unfortunately, none of them actually gave me the results, just coy remarks like, "are you dying with excitement?" and "could it be?" Luckily, one of my teammates had an iPhone so I did know what happened before we took the field.
They weren't results I was pleased with. I spent the whole game, in which we got crushed--so thinking about softball was out of the question, bemoaning how #3 was just as bad as #6. In fact, maybe even worse. With a handful of rejects to choose from after Griffin/Rubio, at #6 you take whoever is left over and hope for the best. At #3, Sam Presti would actually have to make a choice and then if anyone of the other players turned out better, there would be buyers remorse.
Just a few hours later, my outlook had brightened considerably.
ESPN's Chad Ford is one of my favorite writers and probably the most well connected of any draft prognosticators you'll find anywhere. When he unveiled his first mock draft within hours of the lottery results, he had this to say about Memphis picking at #2: