1. Cleveland  Kyrie Irving   6-3 191  Freshman  Point Guard
   In my humble opinion, Irving isn’t the best player in the draft. He should be a good point guard in the NBA, but will have the pressure of making Cleveland fans forget LeBron James. Irving may never make it to the same level as Chris Paul or Derrick Rose, but he could be a notch below that.
2. Minnesota  Derrick Williams  6-9  248   Sophomore  Forward
   Williams  may be the best player in the draft, he has the versatility to play both forward position and the skills to score inside and out. He also can impact the floor on both sides of the ball. However, not sure if the Timberwolves are the best fit for him. They have a plethora of versatile forwards (Kevin Love, Michael Beasley, Anthony Randolph and Wesley Johnson), but Williams is better than them all except for Love.
3. Utah  Brandon Knight  6-3  177  Freshman  Point Guard
   This is an example of how bad the draft is, in a normal draft Knight may be a flex-top-15 pick, but in this draft he is projected to go in the top five. It is a tough pick for the Jazz, because their biggest needs are on the wings but it is too early to draft a wing with the third pick, unless they fall in love with Kawhi Leonard. Knight could have a great career, one that mirrors a player like Jrue Holliday but it is a pretty big drop off from Irving.
4. Cleveland  Enes Kanter  6-11 259  Freshman  Center/Power Forward
   Kanter has wowed some teams in recent workouts. He has great size and athleticism to go with his basketball IQ. Kanter did lose a year after sitting out his freshman season due to suspension. He is an intriguing prospect and has potential to be another Love with some coaching and years. If he falls to the Cavaliers at four, it would be a great draft for Cleveland.
5. Toronto  Jan Vesely  6-11 230 21 years old  Forward
   Vesely may be the most ready foreign prospect in the draft. At 21, he doesn’t have the potential as other foreign prospects, but is one of the more ready players in the draft. He hustles and is very competitive and is very athletic. He could potentially be another Andrei Kirilenko. (more…)

Nuggets trading Melo just makes sense.

There is a lot in the world that doesn’t make sense. For instance LeBron James to Miami makes little sense due to him and Dwayne Wade being more productive and useful with the ball in their hands. Or bailing out banks when they aren’t willing to lend money. But a three-way trade between the Denver Nuggets, New Jersey Nets and Philadelphia 76ers that is built around Carmelo Anthony, Derrick Favors and Andre Iguodala just makes sense.

However, Ken Berger’s version of the trade makes little sense for a couple of reasons:

1. Devin Harris – While he may be the Nets most valuable asset on paper, they are not likely to move him. With Harris off the team it would leave only Lakers-castoff Jordan Farmar at point guard and it wouldn’t make sense for Carmelo Anthony to sign an extension with the Nets. Also why would the Sixers want Harris, especially while having young studs Jrue Holliday and Lou Williams manning the point.
2. Favors to the Sixers – Considering that Favors is probably more valuable than Iguodala and that the Sixers are stuck in lottery land it is doubtful the Nets would be willing to deal their young star to help Philadelphia – without them giving up more. The Nuggets on the other hand are giving up their star player and they would be more interested in getting Favors in return. They at least would want more than Andre Iguodala and a few draft picks (especially considering that they aren’t going to be lottery picks).

While the teams seem right, just the assets going to the wrong team. This trade works for everybody involved:

DENVER: The Nuggets trade Carmelo Anthony, Renaldo Balkman and J.R. Smith and in return receive Iguodala, Favors, Jason Kapono and a draft pick (or two)

NEW JERSEY: Nets give up Troy Murphy, Favors, Terrence Williams and a draft pick (or two) for Anthony and Balkman

PHILADELPHIA: Sixers unload Iguodala and Kapono and in return get Murphy, Smith and Williams

Why it works for Anthony

Anthony seems to have three wishes: going back East, playing in the limelight and winning.

• EAST: The Nets will be moving to Brooklyn in 2012, which places Anthony back home where him and his wife LaLa can be happy. They can be close to family and friends, and Anthony can happily play in front of his relatives and occasionally in Madison Square Gardens.
• POPULARITY: Anthony’s popularity has skyrocketed this summer, first with his wedding that was the talk of the summer.  Dozen of celebrities attended, everyone from LeBron James, Venus Williams to a Kardishian sister. He also made an appearance on the ever annoying George Lopez Show with his wife. Lets just say he is living the dream and playing for a Jay-Z run team wouldn’t hurt.
• CHAMPIONSHIP: The Nets are one of two teams, the Chicago Bulls are the other team, that give Anthony a better chance of winning. New Jersey, as weird as it sounds, doesn’t have a bad squad. They have a coach in Avery Johnson, who is four years removed of leading his team to the championship game. They have one of the top young bigs (Brook Lopez) and point guard (Devin Harris) in the League and a shooting guard (Anthony Morrow) who is one of the most underrated players in the NBA. All they are missing is a star.

Why It Works For the Nuggets

• FAVORS: You can bet this 19-year-old rookie is among the top assets the Nuggets want in return for Anthony. He could be the next Dwight Howard, but at the same time he could be a Kwame Brown-type. But with his athletic ability, size and work ethic, he could be another Antonio McDyess. Combine Favors with Ty Lawson and Denver could strike gold if this deal does go down.
• IGUODALA: Iggy is not at the same level as Anthony, but he is probably one of better second-tier players in the NBA. We highlighted Iguodala in yesterday’s article, so to try not to repeat his strength and weaknesses. Compared to Anthony, he is better athletically but smaller. Not as good of scorer or rebounder, but is a better defender and ballhandler. His biggest strength is his lock-down defense, but he isn’t a bad scorer and could be a Scottie Pippen-like player on the right team.
• ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION: Dealing Smith with Anthony and the Nuggets locker room is already better, and so is George Karl’s stress, well despite losing Anthony. Denver may lose a scoring punch of the bench, but Al Harrington can replace that and Lawson could make up Smith’s minute

WHY IT WORKS FOR NEW JERSEY

• ANTHONY: As stated above the only thing the Nets are missing is a star. With Anthony this is a top four team in the East and could compete with the top teams in the League.
• NOT GIVING UP TOO MUCH: Unless for the few that think Favors is a star, the Nets really aren’t losing anything. They have players (Travis Outlaw, Johan Petro, Balkman, Joe Smith and Kris Humphries) that can fill in at power forward. Murphy is a solid player, but he isn’t at the level of Anthony and Williams would compete with Damion James for minutes at small forward.

WHY IT WORKS FOR PHILADELPHIA

• EXPIRING CONTRACTS: Murphy and Smith would give the Sixers, a perennial lottery team, two expiring contracts. It would free up a little room on Philadelphia’s salaries so they can add a player to help break out of their slump.
• ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION: With the similarities with Iguodala’s and Evan Turner’s game it would be tough for the two to play well together. Turner needs a skilled shooter to play next to and considering that the Sixers aren’t playing for anything they may be willing to give Turner’s the key to the team.
• YOUTH MOVEMENTS: This may go along the ways of Addition by Subtraction, but considering that Philadelphia has to find minutes for Thaddeus Young, Jodie Meeks, Marreese Speights, Jrue Holliday, Louis Williams and for Terrance Williams dealing Iguodala would be the smart thing to do. And Smith and Murphy wouldn’t demand as many minutes as Iggy.