The first 2019 Valley of the Suns Mock Draft

It is painful to watch the Pistons run every play through Blake.  That’s not a knock on Blake, it’s just that the whole offense can’t revolve around your injury-plagued power forward.  Romeo didn’t get a chance to really show what he could do this year due to an injury of his own.  If the Pistons can get another player who can initiate his own shot that should free the ball up to move around the way Dwyane Casey prefers and allow the Pistons to become legitimate contenders for a top four spot in the east.

What do you get a team brimming in talent and overloaded with picks?  You get them a player who has top 5 potential but is a year away from being ready.  That’s Doumbouya to a tee.  Sekou has shown a lot of offensive talent and versatility on the defensive end.  He’s raw though even by European standards and so it’ll be a bit before those skills can shine through.  Hiding behind Brown and Tatum would help and when those guys get flipped for Anthony Davis, Sekou can step up and be a nice backup behind Gordon Hayward.

The Heat have a ton of power forwards.  They don’t have any that you can really trust.  What Miami should do is find a way to trade away Whiteside, move Bam Bam to center where he belongs and bring in someone at power forward who can give them a big offensives upgrade.  You could see Sekou Doumbouya make a lot of sense here, but PJ seems more like a Pat Riley type of player.  Hard-nosed guy who doesn’t do anything at elite levels, but does a little bit of everything well just fits what they tend to do.  What they should do is gamble on someone with more raw talent, but i just don’t see that happening.