RealGM Wiretap
Following the official release of the early entry list, we have a clearer idea of who will stay in the 2009 NBA Draft.
If you were a big and you were an underclassman, this was definitely the year to declare because there is very clearly a dearth of them. Patrick Patterson and James Johnson are two examples of players that will surely be selected higher than they typically would, due to the lack of positional competition.
Greg Monroe will be a top pick regardless of when he enters the draft and though he clearly wasn't ready for the NBA, he still would have been a top-10 selection based on undeniable potential and that dearth of bigs. But Craig Brackins' stock couldn't have climbed anymore than it did leading up to the announcement to stay at Iowa State and he may potentially regret the decision, though you always hope not in those types of situations.
On the other hand, there is a flood of point guards, which might have led Willie Warren to remain in Norman for one more season. I believe he was better than many of the other guard prospects and would have remained in the top-10 and would have been a particularly good fit for New York at the eight spot.
This mock assumes that everybody who is in will stay in, even though several of these prospects are obviously not diving in with both feet.
As far as teams, positional need and the type of player they normally covet is taken into consideration, but how they rank amongst all prospects is weighed more heavily.
