2024 NBA Mock Draft 2nd Round

31. Toronto Raptors-Daron Holmes/C/PF Big man who is going in the first round in a lot of mock drafts. Raps get front court depth here 32. Utah Jazz-Baylor Schiermann/2G/SF Could be the best on the board at this point 33. Milwaukee Bucks-Antonio Reeves/2G Bucks not sure if Beasley will be back so Reeves provides insurance 34. Portland Trail Blazers-Ryan Dunn/SF/PF Blazers seem to be deep at the guard spots so Dunn's frontcourt versatility make for a good match here 35. San Antonio Spurs-Bobi Klintman/SF/PF Another versatile frontcourt player, this time going to the Spurs 36. Indiana Pacers-Terrance Shannon Jr./2G/SF Pacers are pretty deep. Shannon looks to be the best available after clearing his name of legal issues 37. Minnesota Timberwolves-Jonathon Mogbo/SF/PF Another versatile frontcourt player. Wolves roster is getting expensive and they may have to let some valuable players go. Taking a versatile frontcourt player makes sense here plus seeing another USF player on the NBA draft radar always makes me happy 38. New York Knicks-Adem Bona/C/PF The Knicks can use insurance in case Hartenstein bolts via free agency 39. Memphis Grizzlies-Nikola Djurisic/2G/SF I have them taking Clingan in the first round but he's rising up the charts so it's possible that they go with a wing but if they don't, they get their wing player here 40. Portland TrailBlazers-Juan Nunez/PG At some point, the Blazers will trade Malcolm Brogdon so Nunez could make sense here. Brings back memories of Spanish Chocolate and Rudy Fernandez playing for the Blazers 41. Philadelphia 76ers-Pacome Dadiet/SF If Sixers spend a ton of money in free agency on 1 or 2 players, it will rob them of depth so they need to hit here to create some semblance of depth. Dadiet appears to be the best available 42. Charlotte Hornets-Cam Christie/2G Another team that needs to pick the best available and figure the rest out later 43. Miami Heat-Trey Alexander/PG I know that I had them taking a lead....

The Knicks are going to cry if Hartenstein bolts via free agency.

Rudy Fernandez had a great dunk in the Olympics on Team USA.

It was billed as a dunk on Dwight Howard.

It was really a dunk on Kobe Bryant, because Bryant's defense is what let it happen.

Why do you think Orlando is deep with lead guards?

Why does Dallas have the 60th pick and not Boston?

I am completely speculating here. But I'd say the Bucks aren't even sure if Lillard will be back.

There were rumors about him being unhappy last year. If that's true, it's possible he puts in a trade request.

However, I'd prefer Milwaukee give it one more year with him.

Have you seen their decision making the past several years? Since when have they done the obvious thing?

I think they only have his early bird rights. They will pay the full amount allowed under the early bird provision but if someone with cap space offers more, they could be in trouble. OKC and Orlando are options. Maybe even San Antonio if they want to fiddle around with a big lineup with twin towers although I'm not wild about that in this day and age

Great find. I remember Rudy being all the rage at those Olympics. Nate McMillan was an assistant with Team USA and the announcers kept talking about how giddy he must have been as he watched Rudy. Sad that it didn't work out the way it could've. Rudy hated being in the NBA and if you read between the lines, he didn't like how Nate used him

I've often said that it disappoints me when the US or countries like Canada, France or Australia don't fare well in international competition because it makes you wonder if the league really has the best possible foreign players. Spain regularly wins the Euro cup or comes close to beating the US in Olympic competition but we don't see many Spaniards anymore or even more than 6 or 7 at any given time during their hey day. Outside of the Gasol brothers, the Hernangomez brothers, Ricky Rubio and Jose Calderon, they pretty much just do a drive by or just avoid the league altogether

Who can forget Orlando selecting Fran Vasquez in the lottery in 2005 and then him never coming over at all?

Or Sergio Llull being taken with the 34th pick in 2009 but never coming over. The Knicks acquired his rights in 2020 but dude is in his late 30's at this polnt and probably never comes over

Jorge Garbajosa had a great year with the Raptors, got hurt in year 2 then went back to Spain

Sergio Rodriguez seemed to always be at odds with Nate McMillan as well but surprisingly actually came back to the US and played for Philly for a year or two later down the road

JC Navarro played on a minimum contract to pacify his good friend Pau Gasol towards the end of his tenure in Memphis. It seemed like a dry run just to prove he could play in the league then returned to Spain a year later

Great question. Looking back on it, I really don't see why they took Anthony Black last year when they already had Fultz, Anthony and Suggs. Makes no sense. I guess they just take the best available and figure it out later but they haven't really figured much out. Black is a 3rd stringer while Fultz most likely walks for nothing. They didn't maximize those picks

Has to do with some trade the Celtics did with the Hornets where the Hornets originally had the pick then it wound up with Dallas. My best guess is that it was traded from Charlotte to Dallas in the Grant Williams/PJ Washington deal but as for why it went from Boston to Charlotte, I'm not sure. Maybe the Kemba/Rozier sign and trade?

I'm thinking he won't be. Phoenix is loaded with scorers but no lead guard while Milwaukee has an unhappy Lillard. Knowing that Beasley could be gone, could we see something like Beal for Lillard?

And I'm perfectly good with that:)

That is an interesting one.

Beal's contract sucks though. He looks on par with Klay Thompson's performance, not an All-Star.

I wonder if Lillard for Booker works for both sides?

Yes, there haven't really been Spanish players in the NBA. Not a lot of long term ones.

I liked Calderon, especially the year when he only missed 4 FTs all year.

I even drafted him in the first round in a fantasy league one year. That league also had an A/T category, so I thought I could get a leg up on that one with Calderon.

Rudy Fernandez also did well in the NBA dunk contest. People barely remember it though because he didn't win.

That probably was another factor with him not liking the NBA experience. The dunk contest was stacked against him because he was Spanish.

Also, the voters seemed to ignore Calderon when voting for rookie of the year.

They did not make that mistake years later with Brogdon, thankfully.

I think so. From Milwaukee's point of view though, only do it if you think Lillard would cause problems in the Bucks locker room.

I remember that. He wore a Fernando Martin jersey during one of his dunks. For those unfamiliar with Martin, there's a '84 Olympics angle to him given the Olympics conversation we have on the other thread. Martin played for the silver medal winning Spain team that lost to Jordan, Ewing and Mullin but died a few years later in a car accident

I don't think he would become a locker room cancer although I could be wrong. My biggest concern is what would the Bucks do about getting a decent point guard. I have them drafting Kolek but he's a ways from being a top line contributor. They're capped out so they'd have to get creative