TWTWTNBA: Draft Prediction (Northwest)

Minnesota Timberwolves

Draft Position: 4th, 16th, 23rd, 45th, 56th

Unrestricted Free Agents: Darko Milicic, Sasha Pavlovic, Oleksiy Pecherov, Damien Wilkins

Restricted Free Agents: Nathan Jawai

5 draft picks right now (Could change as there is a possibility with another dance with trade partner and comrade-in-ridicule Chris Wallace) for David Kahn to possibly draft more PG's or any other position he so desires. Remains to be seen if Al Jefferson and or Kevin Love will be sent packing. The 4th pick will be a good read as to what these Wolves will be doing. If they go big, that is a sure sign one will be traded. If they go wing, then there might not be one. There will be a renewed effort to coax Ricky Rubio to exit Barca, but they better figure out what to do with Jonny Flynn. They did decline an effort by the Pacers to dangle the 10th pick for him.

If I were the GM, 5 interesting not-so-obvious players I would go after: Tracy McGrady, John Salmons, Ronnie Brewer, Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton

Portland Trailblazers

Draft Position: 22nd, 34th

Unrestricted Free Agents: Travis Diener, Juwan Howard

Restricted Free Agents: Patrick Mills

After all the maneuverings we have been accustomed to from the Blazers, we might see the end of the Kevin Pritchard era. But of course, there will be parting shots, like the Rudy Fernandez and the 22nd pick to Toronto for the 13th pick. Team needs size insurance with the injury history of all of their 3 Centers (Oden, Pryzbilla, Camby). They don't really have much room (and they still have those players stashed overseas like Freeland and Kopponen). This team needs complementary pieces to go along with what they have: a solid back court in Andre Miller and Brandon Roy and their big man LaMarcus Aldridge.

If I were the GM, 5 interesting not-so-obvious players I would go after: Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem, Travis Outlaw, Matt Barnes, Jared Jeffries

Utah Jazz

Draft Position: 9th, 55th

Unrestricted Free Agents: Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver

Restricted Free Agents: Kyrylo Fesenko, Wes Matthews

The Jazz face an interesting dilemma with Carlos Boozer. Are they willing to let him go? Because they have a capable Paul Millsap waiting in the wings. At the same time, they can use their pick to get a big man. At the same time, their talent will also allow them to draft the best player available, like a Luke Babbitt or a Gordon Hayward. They also need a big that can spell Mehmet Okur. Their reserve bigs are relatively raw. Another wing would be of help.

If I were the GM, 5 interesting not-so-obvious players I would go after: Mike Miller, Drew Gooden, Brendan Haywood, Linas Kleiza, Josh Childress

Denver Nuggets

Draft Position: no draft picks

Unrestricted Free Agents: Malik Allen, Anthony Carter, Joey Graham, Johan Petro, Kenyon martin (ET 0ption)

Restricted Free Agents: Linas Kleiza

The Nuggets have one objective at this point, and that is not this year but the the next, where a guy named Melo will be a free agent. That's their priority. That's why they have no draft picks, but they are looking for a trade to net themselves one. They already have good pieces around. They just need to scrimmage around the free agent bin. One thing for sure, this team needs depth at the 4/5. Because you never know with Nene and K-Mart's injury history. You may also look at possible JR Smith alternatives that do not have his kind of baggage.

If I were the GM, 5 interesting not-so-obvious players I would go after: Udonis Haslem, Anthony Morrow, Nazr Mohammed, Roger Mason, Mike Miller

Oklahoma City Thunder

Draft Position: 18th, 21st, 26th, 51st

Unrestricted Free Agents: Kevin Ollie, Etan Thomas

Restricted Free Agents: Mustafa Shakur

Gotta love Same Presti. He just supplanted Kevin Pritchard as the most interesting man in the draft. And KP was still around. He hoodwinked the Heat (currently focused on resigning Wade) to give up their first rounder and Daequan Cook. New cover boy Kevin Durant became a scoring god last season, now he needs more sidekicks other than his Core 4 teammates and Ibaka. With the multiple picks they can be strategic partners, like the rumored 10th pick Indiana has. Now this offseason, this would determine how good a draw playing with KD really is.

If I were the GM, 5 interesting not-so-obvious players I would go after: Josh Childress, Mike Miller, Steve Blake, Brendan Haywood, Udonis Haslem.