Monday, June 21st, 2010 at 8:00 am  |  13 responses

SLAMonline Mock Draft: Greivis Vasquez, No. 29

Bringing us back on point.

by Dennis Tarwood / @tuffyr

At this point in the 2010 SLAMonline Mock Draft, the Orlando Magic would settle for trading this pick to the hinterlands for a warm soda and a cold date.

Most of the athletic wings (Quincy Pondexter, Jordan Crawford, Devin Ebanks) are off the board. The point guards remaining are an amorphous blob of weak-limbed non-shooters or non-passers with the exception of a Russian (Alexey Shved) who won’t be joining the NBA for years unless Mikhail Prokhorov asks his old friends nicely.

Seeing as their greatest need (backup PG, not a one-way ticket for Vince Carter to Saskatchewan) can be filled more expensively but not better in the free agent market, they’re stuck. Assuming they don’t beat another team to Shved and bail on this pick entirely, they’re drafting a point guard to mark time between Jameer Nelson appearances.

Armon Johnson and Mikhail Torrance, while athletic, cannot hit the broad side of a theme park with their stroke. Perhaps they can be taught to splash the ball in to Splash Mountain in a year or two, but the Magic don’t have a tremendous window with their current squad.

And Darrington Hobson, the swingman from New Mexico who can play three positions and disappear from games at all three of them? That’s “win some time, perhaps”, not “win now”.

So Orlando GM Otis Smith rolls up his sleeve, reaches way down the draft board, and…

With the 29th pick in the 2010 SLAMonline Mock Draft, the Orlando Magic select…

Greivis Vasquez from the University of Maryland.

(Sorry, Wiz fans at No. 30. Where was he going to play with Wall and Arenas filling the backcourt?)

(Sorry for mentioning Arenas again. Now stop crying. It’s unsettling.)

Vasquez is the most ready to play on a big stage, having been the star of the top team of tGreivis Vasquezhe ACC and shown an ability to hit shots close-and-late. He creates his own shots and can hit from the new three-point stripe at Amway Center. He can drive and dish in a pick-and-roll offense.

At 6-5, he can stand up to point guards and tangle with shooting guards. Unfortunately, this means he can easily give up shots to both groups equally well, but this is the 2010 NBA Draft. If you’re that caught up on defense from your backup from Maryland, DJ Strawberry’s available to a good home. (Which would be a first for him, sadly.)

Reports suggest Vasquez may enjoy the limelight a bit too much and think a bit more highly of himself than others do. There’s nothing wrong with personal pride, though. Instead, consider Vasquez the level-headed Nate Robinson addition to the Magic, bringing scoring bursts with a wingspan longer than Venus de Milo’s.

Vasquez is rumored to be one of the players working out for the Magic Monday. His four years of polish and outsized confidence should carry him well in game situations during the workout and leave a similarly outsized impression on Smith and the scouting staff.

If the Magic find the best of a mediocre bunch off the board, they might go with the relative experience and track record of Vasquez. Maybe they’ll even play that record for their cold date to warm her up. “Hey, baby; did you know I once went blow-for-blow with Jon Scheyer? Aw, yeah… care for a soda?”

2010 SLAMonline Mock Draft
Pick Team Player Pick Team Player
1 Washington John Wall 16 Minnesota Damion James
2 Philadelphia Evan Turner 17 Chicago James Anderson
3 New Jersey Derrick Favors 18 Miami Avery Bradley
4 Minnesota DeMarcus Cousins 19 Boston Jordan Crawford
5 Sacramento Greg Monroe 20 San Antonio Hassan Whiteside
6 Golden State Wesley Johnson 21 OKC Daniel Orton
7 Detroit Ed Davis 22 Portland Eric Bledsoe
8 L.A. Clippers Al-Farouq Aminu 23 Minnesota Quincy Pondexter
9 Utah Cole Aldrich 24 Atlanta Lance Stephenson
10 Indiana Ekpe Udoh 25 Memphis Elliot Williams
11 New Orleans Gordon Hayward 26 OKC Solomon Alabi
12 Memphis Luke Babbitt 27 New Jersey Devin Ebanks
13 Toronto Patrick Patterson 28 Memphis Forfeited *
14 Houston Xavier Henry 29 Orlando Greivis Vasquez
15 Milwaukee Paul George 30 Washington
* SLAMonline GM forfeited selection by not selecting player before designated time.
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  • riggs Posted: Jun.21 at 9:11 am
    i think (and hope) that greivis becomes a breakout star, because he’s been one of my fav players since he was a rookie.

  • Lucas Shapiro Posted: Jun.21 at 9:42 am
    Memphis should have stashed Ryan Richards in the D-League…

  • Groves Posted: Jun.21 at 9:45 am
    why was pick 28 forfeited? ripped off :(

  • jason Posted: Jun.21 at 12:02 pm
    You’d be surprised to hear how many Wiz fans don’t want Terp alums. It seems to gimmicky, since that’s what the Redskins do.

  • Enigmatic Posted: Jun.21 at 1:40 pm
    Damn, I think Rodger Bohn was partying too much this weekend, or maybe he was busy scoping out high-school players? Hopefully the latter. Anyways, I’m sorry, but I don’t like this pick. I’d take a PF. Even with all the PF’s already taken, there are still a good two or three left that will make a bigger impact in the NBA than I think Vasquez will. Guys like Lawal, Brackins, Varnado or Sanders. Brandon Bass was a bit of a dissapointment, but I’m sure they could trade him for another backup PG if they really need it.

  • deano Posted: Jun.21 at 1:48 pm
    Vasquez, slow, unathletic, poor shooter….His game just doesn’t seem fit for the NBA….maybe he proves me wrong

  • D12FSU Posted: Jun.21 at 2:45 pm
    Orlando has had bad luck with draft picks named Vasquez….

  • SLAM ONLINE | » Hot Topics Posted: Jun.21 at 4:15 pm
    [...] Mock Draft: Greivis Vasquez [...]

  • LB Posted: Jun.21 at 4:55 pm
    Hell yeah! This is the first time I’ve seen somebody predicting Vasquez to go in the 1st round. I know he’s not that athletic and makes some boneheaded decisions sometimes. But I respect his heart, moxie and confidence. He’s just a really ballsy type of player who really embraces the moment, without being afraid of whether he’ll make or miss a shot. And Orlando would be a good fit for him. He’ll have another former ACC superstar known for his ego mentoring him on how to survive as a role player in the League.

  • Exiled Zebra Posted: Jun.21 at 8:19 pm
    Need a backup pg who can score, pass, and push the tempo? Sherron seems ideal here

  • Don Posted: Jun.22 at 9:24 am
    Mikhail Torrance will end up being the steal of this draft. He reminds me a lot of Chauncey Billups. He really only got significant minutes last season and played John Wall very tough. Watch the SEC tourney game vs. UK. He controlled tempo, scored when he wanted and contained Wall – basically played him even and Alabama almost pulled the upset. 2nd round steal but would love for the Magic to grab him here.

  • Groves Posted: Jun.22 at 10:01 am
    Rodger Bohn… Your pretty damn frustrating

  • paolo Posted: Jun.22 at 10:50 am
    At last they gonna have their Vasquez. Too bad is not that big talented Spanish, 11th pick of 2005

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