The 2010 SB Nation NBA Mock Draft is still(!) underway, with each SB Nation blogger making selections for their respective teams. Our very own Fran Fraschilla (TAFKAMikeBourn) is on the clock for the Oklahoma City Thunder (in lieu of a blogger from Welcome To Loud City) to make the twenty-first overall selection in this year's mock draft.

With the twenty-first overall pick in the 2010 SB Nation NBA Mock Draft, the Oklahoma City Thunder select Kevin Seraphin, power forward, France.

TAFKAMB explains:  As someone with absolutely no affiliation with the Thunder or the city of Oklahoma (Do I have to say city here? sounds redundant), I take great pride in selecting Kevin Seraphin for the millions and millions of Thunder fans reading this. My first instinct was to go Hassan Whiteside here, but since the Spurs grabbed him, Seraphin is the guy. For these reasons that I'm about to lay out in Jon L bullet-point fashion:

• He's foreign
• He's high character
• He's got worlds of development left in him
• Serge Ibaka is from France
  
• He's probably better than Byron Mullens.

At 6'10 and a chiseled 258, Seraphin is definitely a project. But the Thunder probably aren't drafting anyone to step in right away, so it's all good. I think they pay the Frenchies their buyout, get the kid to learn some post moves, and make him a stud along the lines of a stronger David West. His defense is already top-notch for a 20-year-old and his willingness to learn and improve in only his 5th year of basketball is something Thunder fans (myself included) will be able to see very quickly.

Great value for the Thunder at 21 -- it's gonna be really fun watching him get better. He also represents the only international prospect projected to go round 1. No pressure to succeed for the rest of the world, Kev.

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The 2010 SB Nation NBA Mock Draft is still(!) underway, with each SB Nation blogger making selections for their respective teams. BlaseE from Pounding the Rock, the San Antonio Spurs blog for SB Nation, checks in to make the twentieth overall selection in this year's mock draft.

With the twentieth overall pick in the 2010 SB Nation NBA Mock Draft, the San Antonio Spurs select Hassan Whiteside, power forward-center, Marshall Thundering Herd.

BlaseE explains:  I'm likely picking against what many Spurs fans want, but I don't care - I think I might have that in common with the Spurs front office.

So the first major criticism against my pick is that we need a Small forward to backup Richard Jefferson - or replace him.  I don't have enough confidence in any small forwards remaining to impact the roster during the Duncan window while simultaneously helping our transition away from Duncan to warrant the selection.  I don't see any of the small forwards helping us more than Malik Hairston, Alonzo Gee, Marcus Williams  (Scott's Note: D-League Represent!) or a possible veteran pickup could unless Paul George or Luke Babbitt drop by some miracle like no ACL's.  I believe in those guys we have invested time into.  Remember Hairston was injured for the playoffs and Gee was the D-L RotY and a huge blunder by Washington (in that they let him go).  Bogans could also always be back for another year of the veteran minimum.

Our other position of need is at the 5.  I believe Tiago Splitter will come, but even with Splitter, we need depth.  I recently looked at who our Summer League roster might be in Vegas, and my only thoughts on center were Ian Mahinmi (FA) and Luke Bonner (Mike Gansey's favorite 7-foot white rapper. Ever).  We need some youth at the 5.  If we get both Splitter and Whiteside, I'd like to see Whiteside balance his time in Austin for minutes and in SA for experience.

Whiteside is arguably the 'Best Player Available'.  He is a shot blocker, leading the NCAA last year in blocks per game, per 40 possessions, and per 40 minutes.  All Spurs fans agree that a shot-blocking big is something we want.  He's a good rebounder and efficient scorer as well.  His defense isn't great, but this draft pick is for depth, potential, athleticism, and the future.  I guess the other two serious contenders for C are Daniel Orton and Larry Sanders.  Most of our bigs are currently on the shorter side of 6'10" so I'd prefer 7'0" Whiteside to 6'9" Sanders.  I'm picking Whiteside over Orton for his shot blocking.  By the way, I would have taken Alabi over Whiteside.

I wrote some more and deleted it, but I'm more than happy to debate, discuss and explain some more in the comments.  As sort of a disclaimer, I'm not a scout and am basing my BPA decision on what I've read about these players.  I haven't seen much of any of them first hand.  Hopefully, that is something I do not have in common with the Spurs front office.

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The 2010 SB Nation NBA Mock Draft is still(!) underway, with each SB Nation blogger making selections for their respective teams. Jeff Clark from CelticsBlog, the appropriately named Boston Celtics blog for SB Nation, checks in to make the nineteenth overall selection in this year's mock draft.

With the nineteenth overall pick in the 2010 SB Nation NBA Mock Draft, the Boston Celtics select Gordon Hayward, small forward, Butler.

Clark explains:  I'm not sure how he dropped this far but he's too good to pass up.

Hayward's basketball IQ is the stuff that coaches dream of and I think he fits a need backing up Pierce on the wing. If someone like this doesn't drop, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Celtics go big with someone like Solomon Alabi, Daniel Orton or Larry Sanders.

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The 2010 SB Nation NBA Mock Draft is still(!) underway, with each SB Nation blogger making selections for their respective teams. David Dwork from Peninsula is Mightier, SB Nation's Miami Heat blog, checks in to make the eighteenth overall selection in this year's mock.

With the eighteenth overall pick in the 2010 SB Nation NBA Mock Draft, the Miami Heat select Solomon Alabi, center, Florida State Seminoles.

Dwork explains:  Solomon Alabi is the kind of player that the Miami Heat brass love - a physical, hard worker who thrives on the defensive end and the progress he made during his time in college is a big part of why I'd like to see him in a Heat uniform next season.

Alabi had a great first year as a redshirt freshman and never took his foot off the gas, gradually improving during his three seasons at FSU.

He can be a major post presence which is another thing the Heat have lacked, something that will help Dwyane Wade get more room to maneuver.  Alabi is an athletic 7-footer with a great wingspan and a big upside, and I think he'll be great addition to the Miami Heat.

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The 2010 SB Nation NBA Mock Draft is still(!) underway, with each SB Nation blogger making selections for their respective teams. your friendly BullsBlogger from Blog a Bull, SB Nation's Chicago Bulls blog, checks in to make the seventeenth overall selection in this year's mock.

With the seventeenth overall pick in the 2010 SB Nation NBA Mock Draft, the Chicago Bulls select Luke Babbitt, forward, Nevada Wolf Pack.

yfBB explains:  Clearly the Bulls have bigger prizes in mind this offseason than the #17 pick in the draft, and even the six players under contract for this coming season shouldn't feel safe in their chances of returning (outside of Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah).

But that actually could make this draft ironically significant. Whether the Bulls sign LeBron James, or Chris Bosh, move others to somehow get both...or, more depressingly, sign Joe Johnson to the max: they're going to need bodies to fill out the roster. Ones that preferably can play immediately.

In Luke Babbitt could be invaluable in such readiness, coming from a big-minute (and high-possession) situation in college. And more importantly he comes in with a defined skill: shooting. The Bulls were amongst the league's worst offenses, not only specializing in attempting the least efficient shot on the court (the long two-pointer) but not even being that successful at it. Babbitt also tested out fairly well athletically, so here's hoping between that and new coach Tom Thibodeau, he'll become passable defensively to the point where he can remain on the court to stand and be open on the offensive side of the ball, while opponents figure out how to stop Derrick Rose and the future big-time free-agent to be.

While Babbitt may not be at the most needed position for the Bulls (Luol Deng and last year's draftee James Johnson already at SF, and a certain LeBron James possibly there in the future), the roster needs shooters in the worst way, anywhere. And nothing in this roster is set, so any apparent logjam at any position may not be the case heading into next season.

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The 2010 SB Nation NBA Mock Draft is still(!) underway, with each SB Nation blogger making selections for their respective teams.  Stop-N-Pop from Canis Hoopus, SB Nation's Minnesota Timberwolves blog, checks in to make the sixteenth overall selection (and second for his team) in this year's mock.

With the sixteenth overall pick in the 2010 SB Nation NBA Mock Draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves will rush to the podium to select James Anderson, shooting guard, Oklahoma State Cowboys.

SnP explains: The Wolves have eyes for Paul George, but baring a trade to move up and nab him, they'll have to settle for the Big 12 Player of the Year and the best shooter in this year's draft, James Anderson.

How a scorer of Anderson's caliber fall so far down most mock drafts is beyond baffling to me. The guy had the highest oRtg on OSU with a usage rate above 30%. He had a TS% of 60%. He doesn't turn the ball over and he gets to the line. He has legitimate size for 2 positions in the NBA. He has a mountain of experience with the pick-and-roll.

I get that he's not the best defender and not a workout marvel, but there's no reason why someone with his amount of skill shouldn't get a look at this point in the draft.

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The 2010 SB Nation NBA Mock Draft is still(!) underway, with each SB Nation blogger making selections for their respective teams.  Frank Madden from Brew Hoop, SB Nation's Milwaukee Bucks blog, checks in to make the fifteenth overall selection in this year's mock.

With the fifteenth overall pick in the 2010 SB Nation NBA Mock Draft, the Milwaukee Bucks have selected Ekpe Udoh, forward-center, Baylor Bears.

Madden explains:  After stealing Brandon Jennings 10th overall in 2009, the Bucks will understandably be hard-pressed to provide an encore on Thursday, particularly from their position in the middle of the first round. But the good news is that the draft does seem reasonably deep, particularly among scoring wings and athletic big men, which also happen to be the Bucks' two most obvious positions of need. Having worked out a slew of prospects both big and small, the Bucks could go either direction at this point and there's a good chance one of the supposed lottery locks falls into their laps. With Paul George and Patrick Patterson off the board, the guy who falls in this mock draft is Udoh, who along with Wesley Johnson ranks as the elder statesmen of lottery hopefuls.

Udoh is admittedly a safe and fairly uninspiring pick, the kind of guy far more likely to become the workman-like fan favorite than the jersey-selling cornerstone. On paper he's about the least sexy pick you could imagine: 23 years old, doesn't score much, was garbage at Michigan before transferring to Baylor. And we haven't even mentioned his downright alarming physical resemblance to the inimitable Calvin Booth (red flag!). But he also feels like a reliable, solid value at #15, especially given most mock drafts have been pegging him in the 8-13 range for some time. Those mock drafts could also be horribly overrating him, and it's not lost on me that old players tend to be draft land mines. Still, I'll give the "professionals" the benefit of the doubt, especially considering a) how well Udoh fits the Bucks' roster and b) the front office's predisposition for players who can contribute immediately (Exhibits A and B: Joe Alexander and Jodie Meeks).

Overall, Udoh should provide much-needed depth at both big positions while bringing the sort of complementary skills that can help a veteran team looking to win now. Though his scoring efficiency was notably poor for a man of his size, Udoh also relied more on post and isolation chances than the draft's other bigs, showing off a solid face-up game and a surprising ability to create for teammates as well. Add in his potential as a defender and you have an excellent foil for Andrew Bogut and a nice complement to the Bucks' smallish power forward platoon of Luc Mbah a Moute and Ersan Ilyasova.

That said, Udoh's fairly low ceiling means he's hardly a no-brainer. Among wings, Gordon Hayward has long been rumored to be on the Bucks' short list, while Luke Babbitt is the only target to have made two visits to Milwaukee. Though clearly skilled, Hayward's lack of strength and explosiveness continues to worry me, while Babbitt's incredible scoring skills come with the unanswered question of whether he can defend small forwards after playing mostly as a finesse PF at Nevada. James Anderson's scoring prowess could also provide an immediate boost, but if his scoring doesn't translate then he doesn't really do anything else of value. The Bucks should know all about that problem after watching Meeks struggle to find his rhythm last year. As for the big men, Larry Sanders, Kevin Seraphin and Hassan Whiteside could all eventually develop into much better pros than Udoh, but it will probably take time and the Bucks claimed last week that they would only consider Sanders if they traded down.

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The 2010 SB Nation NBA Mock Draft is still(!) underway, with each SB Nation blogger making selections for their respective teams.  Tom Martin from The Dream Shake, SB Nation's Houston Rockets blog (as well as SB Nation Houston), checks in to make the fourteenth overall selection in this year's mock.

With the fourteenth overall pick in the 2010 SB Nation NBA Mock Draft, the Houston Rockets have selected Eric Bledsoe, guard, Kentucky Wildcats.

Martin explains: Sometimes, if you sit in one spot for too long - suppose it's in English class - your knee might start to fidget and twitch up and down with incredible persistence, as if you're drumming for Spoon or something. And in most cases, you get so used to it that it becomes commonplace and you might as well accept that it's going to happen whether you like it or not.

Dean Vernon Wormer of Faber College fame once said that, "The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me." Channeling the same markedly bad grammar, your obnoxious knee is Rockets general manager Daryl Morey. He won't stay put, and hasn't stayed put, ever. Take a look at the last time the Rockets finished a draft without making a single transaction: 2005. A year later, Morey came on board as assistant GM, lured Dawson into acquiring statistical golden boy Shane Battier, and from there continued to make draft-day moves ranging from the Carl Landry trade in 2007 to his purchase of three picks in 2009.

Daryl Morey will not sit still, and you should expect this year to be no different.  The Rockets will be trading their pick. Pinky swear, cross my heart, and yada yada yada.

The Rockets are scrambling to try to move into the top ten, and if they come away unsuccessful, they'll likely end up trading down to the late first round. They want to add a player in free agency, but they also want to draft a young player or at least come away with a new roster addition by the time June 24th has come to an end. But there are only so many roster spots available, leading me to believe that something much greater is at stake here than simply drafting at fourteen and using the MLE.

But, hey, in the name of mock drafts, let's take a look at who I think the Rockets would select if they were to somehow stay at fourteen.

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