Mock Drafts
That rebuild could’ve been jump-started with the first overall pick, but instead, as many Grizzlies fans know, the team got stuck with the fourth pick instead. The team was also without its second-round pick, which was traded in a deal two years earlier for Lawrence Roberts. The top-four players, for most teams, were pretty much set with Greg Oden and Kevin Durant almost a lock to go 1-2. Al Horford and Mike Conley were the next two with players like Jeff Green, Yi Jianlian, Corey Brewer, Brandan Wright, and Joakim Noah also in the mix.
Here are some mock drafts prior to the draft:
Bleacher Report
Bleacher Report had the Grizzlies taking Al Horford with the fourth pick. Mike Conley was taken one pick before in this mock by the Hawks and thus Horford fell into the Grizzlies lap. Bleacher reports asks the simple question of whether Horford would play alongside Pau Gasol or potentially be his replacement.
NBADraft.Net
NBA Draft Net only gives picks without an explanations. They nailed this one by saying that the Grizzlies would pick Mike Conley.
Draft Express
Draft Express, like NBADraft.Net, doesn’t give any reasoning for their picks, and they also have Conley to the Grizzlies.
Bill Simmons and Chad Ford Mock
This is a fun mock where Bill Simmons and Chad Ford take turns with picks and go into heavy discussion between each pick. Simmons actually took Kevin Durant with the first overall pick over Greg Oden, who was mostly a consensus
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pick there. Ford took Conley, and they both agreed on the pick. Ford cited the need for talent and leadership over the fit with Kyle Lowry already on the team. Simmons also mentioned the possibility of flipping the pick for Monta Ellis, the 18th pick and a few future picks.
NBA.com
This is one of the more fun mock drafts, if you want to call it that. NBA.com used fifteen mocks and averaged them out to find which players went where. Brandan Wright was all over the board, and many mocks used in this had Wright going third. This meant Horford would be selected by the Grizzlies. These mocks had Al Horford going to the Grizzlies seven times, Brandan Wright five times, Yi Jianlian one time and Corey Brewer two times.
Overall most mocks had the Grizzlies selecting whoever fell to them between Conley and Horford. Earlier in the process, Brandan Wright was a serious consideration, but poor workouts led to his fall and thus opened the door for a two-man race for the fourth pick.