Mocking the draft... NBA style

Welcome to part two of my mock the draft series. Right now football is dominating sports columns with all the talk of labor discussions. Baseball fans are salivating at the thought of pitchers and catchers reporting and spring training which will soon follow. One thing that is lost in sports right now is the fact that the NBA is actually playing games. Sure hockey is going on too, but does anyone really care? Even the coverage of the NBA recently has been predominately trade talks rather than talk of the actual play. While this won't really analyze or breakdown any player performance, it will take a look at how some of today's players NBA game could translate to the NFL. That's right; we're mocking the draft, NBA style.

I played basketball, in case you
didn't know

Whenever football and basketball are brought up in the same sentence you get a million, "he would make great tight end or wide out with his size,” “point guard x would make a great quarterback or quarterback x would make a great point guard because the positions are almost one and the same,” and someone will be sure to remind you that Tony Gonzales played basketball in college. All joking aside, some of the same skill sets do apply to both sports. With the exception of the obvious extra contact, point guards and quarterbacks are pretty similar, every NFL team is looking for a tall wide out with soft hands, which most NBA players have, running a route involves a lot of the same cuts as running set offenses do. A lot of football players played basketball as kids and vise versa. A mock draft of NBA players isn’t all that far fetched. Baseball and Football works for a potential dual threat professional, ala Dion or Bo, because of the schedules, however, if the schedules permitted it, we might see more NBA/NFL stars.

Could he do this is pads?

1-     Carolina Panthers- Lebron James

You could do a mock draft for any sport with NBA players and Lebron James is going to be the number one overall pick in every sport. Baseball, Football, Hockey, he probably wouldn’t be awful at curling. He is by far one of the best athletes in any sport, all time. The fact that he excelled in football in high school is another added bonus. I’m not the first, nor will I be the last to mention Lebron as a football player, however, where everyone gets it wrong is when they say he’d be a great tight end. No. Do you really want Lebron responsible for opening holes for your running back on some plays? Your running back doesn’t. He is obviously going to be money in the redzone because of his leaping ability, his speed will stretch the field and while dunking with Channing Frye hanging on you isn’t exactly coming across the middle against Ray Lewis, he is strong enough to take a hit.

2-     Denver Broncos- Eddie Curry

Eddie Curry? Yes, Eddie Curry, and not just his expiring contract. Real mock drafts have the Broncos taking Auburn’s Nick Fairley. Eddie Curry is probably one of the few NBA players that can be mentioned at any position outside of quarterback, wide receiver or tight end. He is almost the same size as Fairley. If anything, teams might game plan double teams for Curry before actually facing him causing other d linemen to run free. Curry’s work ethic has never been great and getting hit play after play probably won’t help that. Who knows, the NBA is having problems of its own and could be headed for a lock out, maybe Curry saw the writing on the wall and started gaining weight for a potential NFL career. Best case scenario he could be a Darnell Docket type. Worst case scenario he’s Albert Haynesworth; he already makes around the same amount of money.

3-     Buffalo Bills- Kevin Love

Kevin Love plays for Minnesota so he obviously isn’t seen on many nationally televised games much. It’s a shame because people are missing his subtle greatness. Sure you see his double double stat lines on ESPN every night, but you have to see him to appreciate him. I’ll admit, this past weekend’s All Star game is the first time I’ve actually gotten to see him play, but it was well worth it. Not since Bill Walton has a player thrown better outlet passes. He is an obvious selection at quarterback for the small market Bills. He would certainly be a Big Ben type quarterback with his size. Off the field, he could definitely reach Peyton Manning status as dorky cerebral quarterback who makes hilarious commercials. If all else fails he could probably two handed chest pass a football better than JaMarcus Russell could regularly throw a ball and he was a real number one overall pick. Love at 3 could be the steal of the draft.

4-     Cincinnati Bengals- Ron Artest

Outside of Al Davis and the Raiders, the Bengals are the only team that would take a chance drafting Ron Ron. To be honest with you, it probably isn’t a horrible pick. Artest has expressed interest in playing in the NFL. He is pretty tough. He is crazy; always a plus in the NFL. Not to mention he makes this draft more fun because he adds depth. Like Curry, Artest could break the stereotypical position restrictions for NBA players. He is now an aged veteran so he doesn’t quite have the speed to play safety, but he could totally play line backer. As crazy as he appears, he has been able to comprehend the complexities of the Triangle Offense, so he might be smart enough to play middle line backer. Worst case scenario he is an outside backer. Good news about Artest in the NFL is he is actually allowed to and encouraged to hit people and the fans aren’t easily accessible.

Football not Futbol, Steve

    5-     Arizona Cardinals- Steve Nash

This isn’t a long term pick. The Cardinals are just 2 seasons removed from the Super Bowl and the lack of talent at the quarterback position this year was the biggest reason they have the fifth pick. This pick works on multiple levels. Obviously Nash would be a Drew Brees type quarterback. He knows how to put up points and last time the Cards were worth anything, they had an aging quarterback slinging the ball all over the field. This pick would be huge with the fans. Warner was loved in Arizona during his short time there, however, the only person more popular in Arizona would be a toss up between Luis Gonzales and Nash. This is an NBA mock draft not a MLB one, so for the purpose of this column, Nash is the most popular. For Nash much wouldn’t change. He gets to stay in Phoenix. He gets to run a face paced offense. He actually gets an Amar’e type stud back in Fitzgerald. As stated before, Nash to the Cards works on so many levels, except a long term solution at the position.

Bonus Picks

16- Jacksonville Jaguars- Stephen Jackson

For obvious PR reasons. Can you already see the Stephen Jacksonville portion of the stadium?

28- New England Patriots- Ray Allen

Not sure what position he’d play but doesn’t it just feel right? He’s in Boston already. He is all business. He just seems like he has been playing for Belichick for years.