Hoops League Season 4 Mock Draft 1.0

Round One

1. Miami Tides – Austin Bridges, G

The Tides are in need of most everything, true, but they already have solid building blocks in young star SF Lamarr Chambers, rising star PF Francisco Gerbi and C Timothy Garcia Jr. Drafting Bridges, an HLA-ready player with sky-high potential and an incredible shooting touch for a 19-year-old, would address Miami’s need at the SG position while allowing them to move on from Kacey Cunningham. A lineup of Sage Jackson – Bridges – Chambers – Gerbi – Garcia Jr. would provide the Tides with a lot of hope for the future.

2. St. Louis Archers – BJ Vandeventer, G

The Archers are in bad need of a franchise PG (sorry Kyle Mason), and Vandeventer fits the bill. He’s a pass-first point guard with a raw shot, good at creating offense for others but not for himself. Such a build is perfect for St. Louis, who have a talented shooter in Jason Garcia, a rising star in Xavier Sevenade and a dominant frontcourt rotation of Sakuragi, McGeetus and Jiggs. He is also decently well-equipped to step in and start from day one, a must for a team looking to capitalize on the weakness of the East that won’t last forever. He’d be a good fit in his hometown.

3. Vancouver Summit – Westbrook Darius, F

The Summit are in need of just about everything; they’re a team in shambles after the sudden departure of their incumbent superstar, Aaron Fiedelak. That said, they look likely to retain center Tyrone Jackson while losing forward Kwanzy Iceberg, so drafting a forward makes sense, particularly drafting the draft class’ best scorer considering how anemic the Vancouver offense was last season (8th in the league in PPG, 10th in 3PFG%). Darius could play at the three or the four, and would be a solid complement to their existing infrastructure.

4. San Francisco Quakes – Aaron Ford, G

With a lottery pick for the third straight year, the Quakes have a true embarrassment of riches, particularly considering their already-existent hoard of 2 5 stars, 2 4 stars and a 4.5 in the starting lineup. That said, the Quakes were definitely lacking at the backup PG position last season, as Benji Phillips proved to be too much of a shoot-first guard, and Harry Mason simply isn’t getting it done. Picking Ford, a relatively raw but offensively talented PG who can create his own shot as well as create for others, would solve their problem quite nicely. This assumes the Quakes don’t trade this pick, something that it may make sense for them to do, particularly if it jumps in the lottery, given that they already have so many talented young guys.

5. New York Empire – Jake Robinson, G

During last season’s draft, the Empire made the move to acquire Scottie Thompson and the pick that became Malcolm Banks in exchange for Mandawuy Aurallo and Captain Price, hoping they’d be able to return him to the fringe All-Star form he exhibited in his first stay there. Instead, Thompson put up pedestrian numbers and largely failed to produce on the glass for them the way he had in the past. The Empire can pick up his successor here in Jake Robinson, the draft’s best passer and one of its most ready-to-play players. He’ll allow Cacio Way, Malcolm Banks and whoever is playing PF/C to get the touches they need, and will help a streaky NYE offense find some consistency with his passing wizardry.

6. Atlanta Activists – Dan Glisack, C

The Activists may not take the first center off the board, as they’ve already got Zach Vega in tow and have major needs elsewhere. But backup center was a huge liability for the Activists through the regular season, as Rhys Kaneko and Leon Jameson simply did not get it done. Glisack projects to be better than most backups right off the bat, and may even take some first-team reps instead of Adobo Flakes or Tone Show. He’s a dominant inside force, and will shore up the league’s 5th- worst rebounding and 2nd-worst blocking team right off the bat.

7. Portland Roses – Zane Cruz, G

The Roses could go a number of directions here: They could trade down and pick for depth, trying to fill the SG hole in FA; they could pick another center, looking to give Jamon Alexander a twin tower in the vein of the Surf’s Ta-Dale duo; or they could pick Cruz, arguably the draft’s best shooter and a guy ready to plug in from day one. He won’t do much besides shoot, nor will he come even close to replacing the truly irreplaceable Koality Game, but he will score in bunches when needed. I tend to think they’ll take Cruz because a lineup of Brunson-Cruz-Frazier-Taylor-Alexander looks ready to contend, but they may decide to go full rebuild and go another direction. Time will tell, but this is a pick to watch closely.

8. San Diego Surf – The Kryptonite, F

The Surf are in bad need of forward depth behind Thomas Shoffner, as Captain Price and Mandawuy Aurallo are simply too raw to be effective in the frontcourt off the bench on a contending team. Kryptonite profiles as a guy who can really help the Surf right away, as he’s one of the draft’s best shooters and defenders. Players like Kryptonite have proved integral to contending teams in the past—think young Tone Show and Jordan Frazier. He can’t create his own shot, but he’ll hit it if you give it to him and provide quality defense on that side of the ball.

9. New York Empire (via LA) – Melo Hayes, C

Hayes certainly has the skillset to go higher, but very few teams are in need of a center right now. New York may trade this pick considering they have 2 more after it and are relatively filled out without it, but assuming they don’t, they may as well pick Hayes. Pierre Brodeur has been rumored to be testing the market, and it’s unknown what Jesus James’ intentions are, so Hayes would make sense as a real dominant force in the paint on both sides of the ball.

10. St. Louis Archers (via HOU) – Lukasz Morawski, G

Even after having drafted BJ Vandeventer as their PG of the future, the Archers are incredibly thin at the guard position, and are in need of pass-first guards. Enter Morawski, who is raw but has arguably the draft’s highest ceiling and is one of its best passers and defenders. He’d make a perfect 3rd or 4th guard in the rotation for STL, whether or not they keep Kyle Mason around. He’ll likely spend time in the D-League given his horrendous shooting and inside game, but he has serious potential down the line.

11. Chicago Blues – Joshua Owens, F

The Blues are in pretty desperate need of a starting forward, and given their position in the draft, it looks like they are not going to get one. Considering that, why not pick Owens? He is the draft’s worst player by a wide margin, yet simultaneously has its highest ceiling. Picking Owens would give them a potential superstar in the pipeline while not disturbing the balance of the team as it is. They can simply stash him in the D-League and wait till he’s ready for the league to call him up.

12. Boston Charms – Pippy Big Pippy, C The Charms have been rumored for a while now to be looking to move on from former 6MOTY Tyler Moore, as they reportedly believe him to be incompatible with their new brand of offense. Given that Cedric Hardwicke has begun to pull midrange Js regularly with decent success, Pippy would make a ton of sense here. He’s the draft’s best shooter, most league-ready player and perhaps its best rebounder, and would provide great bench support and occasionally play as a spot starter at the four on a team that is the class of the league.