NBA Mock Draft 2011

4. Cleveland Cavilers — Enes Kanter/C, Kentucky

The Cav’s (hey didn’t they just draft?) would really love to add a big man to their rebuilding scheme and Kanter wouldn’t be a bad option. Even though he didn’t play last year due to a suspension for violating the NCAA policy on receiving payments, he draft status remains high. Again, this isn’t football where a guy misses a year and he ends up being Mike Williams or Maurice Clarett. Kanter’s 6’11”, 260lbs frame could work well in Cleveland and even though he missed last year’s NCAA season, he’s coming from the Turkish league. Bulls fans can appreciate a big man center who comes from the Turkish league and the Cav’s may be hoping Kanter turns out to be another Omer Asik-esque player if only slightly better.

5. Toronto Raptors — Jan Vesely/SF, Czech Republic

This is where things start to get really interesting. The Raptors want Brandon Knight but the chances he falls all they way to the 5th pick is very unlikely. For this to happen, the Jazz would have to decide they do indeed want to stick with Harris at guard and draft Enes Kanter at three, which could realistically happen. The Cav’s would then draft backup plan Jonas Valanciunas at four leaving Toronto in their dream scenario. But going with the chance that doesn’t happen, Toronto will most likely be looking guard here. This then leads to three scenarios, one which has Toronto taking Kemba Walker and the other has them trading the fifth pick to San Antonio for Tony Parker. This ia an appealing idea, but I had a tough time justifying Toronto taking Walker here when they have Jerryd Bayless and two other guards on roster. Taking Walker makes the more sense as he’s young and has more upside than Bayless. Taking Parker would be fun but he’s 29 and Toronto is a young squad. If they don’t go with Walker, that means they’re going to stick with Bayless and develop him; trading for Parker would be pointless and wouldn’t help much at all. Some mocks have Toronto going with Jan Vesely, including ESPN’s Chad Ford, and don’t be overly surprised if that happens as James Johnson is not the answer at small forward or Toronto. Vesely is capable of playing the small forward spot and would fill the roll as Johnson is too raw, one of the reasons Chicago dumped him this year. Walker is still viewed as a reach at five, but I like him in Toronto. I just like Vesely there better and so will the Raptors.