It's the start of a new week which means we're even closer to this month's NBA Draft. And while the majority of current pro basketball focus naturally trends toward the NBA Finals matchup between the Miami Heat and the Dalas Mavericks, there's still some speculation going on as to who will go where and when on June 23, at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
The good folks over at Draft Express did their latest mocking of draft possibilities last Thursday and threw a bit of a curveball at those following the Celtics potential plans. They have the C's choosing Providence senior shooting guard Marshon Brooks at No. 25. Brooks, a 6'5, 195-pounder, averaged 24.6 points and seven rebounds per game for the Friars this past season, and could be seen as an offensive bridge to the future with Father Time creeping up on Ray Allen and Paul Pierce.
Elsewhere, NBADraft.net signals the C's going a bit bigger, naming 6'10, junior power forward Trey Thompkins out of Georgia as the likeliest candidate to be wearing green next season. And Bleacher Report, sensing both Brooks and Thompkins will be gone by the time the 25th pick rolls around, takes things in a completely different direction, surmising that Duke guard Nolan Smith will be the C's choice.
"Nolan Smith was a great player for Duke this season and a leader there for four years," writes the Report's Nicholas Goss. "He would be an exceptional backup to All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo in Boston."