So the NBA season is done and the Draft is a little over a week away. It’s Mock Draft Time.

1. Chicago Bulls- Michael Beasley, PF – Kansas State

It’s not the sexy pick, what with Rose being from Chicago and all, but it’s the right pick. The Bulls have a good set of guards with Gordon, Deng and Heinrich, but the lack a legitimate low-post scorer. At 6′10″ Beasley is a guy that can take over a game down-low. He is the perfect fit for CHI.

2. Miami Heat- Derrick Rose, PG- Memphis

Miami wins here. In a big way. A backcourt with Rose and Wade is sick. Just absurdly sick. They still won’t have a big man, which will prevent them from contending, but they’ll be set in the backcourt for almost a decade.

3. Minnesota Timberwolves- O.J. Mayo, SG- USC

Mayo doesn’t fill a big need for Minnesota, but they are a young team that needs playmakers and I think he will be too good to pass up at this point. They could very likely trade down as well.

4. Seattle Supersonics- Jerryd Bayless, PG – Arizona

To me this pick is a lock. Seattle needs a PG and Rose will surely be gone. Bayless is hands down the next best in the draft. Him, Durant and Green give the Sonics a good future; wherever they will be playing.

5. Memphis Grizzlies- Anthony Randolph, PF- LSU

I know a lot of people think Kevin Love will be drafted here, but the Grizzlies aren’t going to win next year and Randolph has much more upside than Love. I think he is the pick here.

6. NY Knicks- DJ Augustin, PG- Texas

The Knicks are brutal. They need help everywhere, but PG is their biggest need. They pretty much have a team full of SGs and they have way too much money wrapped up in Curry and Randolph to think that they are going to draft a big man to replace them. Augustin is a brilliant passer, but who knows if he can feed all the egos on that team.

7. LA Clippers- Danilo Gallinari, PF- Italy

MIke Dunleavy likes to use point forwards, which is exactly what Gallinari is. A lot of the NBA has moved away from taking European prospects high, but the Clippers have never really drafted according to general NBA consensus. I think they go for the risky pick here.

8.  Milwaukee Bucks- Eric Gordon, SG- Indiana

The Bucks really need a SF, but I think Joe Alexander (the best rated one) is too much of a reach and a work in progress. I think the Bucks go with with most talented player and take Gordon, hoping that with him and Redd they can make due at the 2 and 3 positions.

9. Charlotte Bobcats- Brook Lopez, C- Stanford

Lopez could go as high as #3, but I think he is perfect for Charlotte here. They want a Center, so they can slide Okeafor to his natural position at the 4. Lopez is one of the only true centers in the draft and would be an immediate starter for Charlotte and make Okeafor that much better next year.

10. NJ Nets- Kevin Love, PF, UCLA

Love could also go higher, but I think the Nets are happy with him here. They have a solid backcourt with Carter and Devin Harris (and Markus Williams, who I like) but they could use some help in the frontcourt with only Boone and Kristic really helping down low. Love will never be pretty, but he will always get the job done. Especially in the East.

11. Indiana Pacers- Russell Westbrook, PG- UCLA

This one is pretty simple. The Pacers need a PG and Westbrook is full of upside. His defense is ahead of his offense right now, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The kid is going to be special.

12. Sacramento Kings- Joe Alexander, SF- West Virginia

There are rumblings that he could go higher, but if Alexander falls here I think the Kings grab him up. Artest is as good as gone and the Kings rely on Martin a lot for points. Alexander could grow into a great compliment.

13. Portland Trailblazers- Donte Green, SF- Syracuse

Portland is going in the right direction. They have lots of young talent and lots of draft picks this year. Green would fit great into a young rotation that includes Roy at SG and Oden at C.

14.    Golden State Warriors- Marreesse Speights, C- Fla.

Speights has a lot of talent, but his motivation has been questioned. I don’t think that’s a big concern for the Warriors who need a serious low post threat. At 6’11”, 250 pounds, Speights is just that.

15.    Phoenix Suns- Brandon Rush, SG- Kansas

This is the ideal pick for the Suns. They are a veteran team that needs somebody that can help immediately. Rush is a sleeper pick here and I think he becomes an instant contributor.

16.    Philadelphia 76ers- Kosta Koufas, C- Ohio State

I think Kosta should have stayed in school, but…too late. The 76ers need a low post option and they get one here. He is a few years away from being as good as he can be, but he fills a major need.

17.    Toronto Raptors- Alexis Ajinca, C- France

His workouts have him flying up boards and I think he is a great fit here. At 7’1” 240, he slides in at Center, allowing Bosh to play the more natural 4 spot. He adds toughness in the middle to a team in desparate need.

18.    Washington Wizards- Roy Hibbert, C- Georgetown

Brandan Haywood is not the answer. It’s as simple as that. The Wizards might undergo a lot of changes this offseason and having a big man to build around is always a good thing.

19.    Cleveland Cavs- Mario Chalmers, PG- Kansas

I know this is high for Chalmers, but I think it is the right pick. Cleveland needs a true PG who can get Lebron and his teammates the ball and create an offense. Plus, the kid is a proven winner. Something Bron Bron wants to do badly.

20.    Denver Nuggets- Robin Lopez, C- Stanford

Rumors are circling that the Nuggets are looking to trade Camby. If so, they get a replica of him here in Lopez. He’s going to fill up the cylinder, but he will shut down other Centers on D. Something that is crucial in the West.

21.    NJ Nets- DeAndre Jordan, C- Texas A&M

After having just picked Love earlier, the Nets can solidify their interior game with Jordan here. At 7’0” 260, he is a legitimate Center, which allows them to have Love play PF primarily. Kristic is serviceable, but Jordan could be great. With Harris and Carter, they would have the makings of a great core.

22.    Orlando Magic- Courtney Lee, SG- Western Kentucky

The Magic need a 2-guard that can score. I think they should grab CDR here, but rumors say they really like Lee because of his shooting ability. Bottom line is Dwight needs help.

23.    Utah Jazz- Darrell Arthur, PF- Kansas

The Jazz are in need of an inside threat to team with Williams. Arthur was a force at Kansas, both on offense and defense and would work well with Okur, who is more of a face the basket-type of big man

24.    Seattle Supersonics- JaVale McGee, PF- Nevada

After getting Bayless, they turn inside. McGee is 7’0” 240 and a strong interior presence. He teams up with Bayless, Green and Durant to create a very scary team of young talent.

25.    Houston Rockets- Chris Douglas-Roberts, SG- Memphis

McGrady needs help on offense and he gets it here. CDR can step in immediately and push the Rockets even further. He does the little things that help put a team together. He can be the glue for Houston.

26.    San Antonio Spurs- Nicolas Batum, SF- France

The Spurs need guards off the bench, but I think they can’t pass on Batum here. They love international players and they lack a true threat at SF. Batum becomes a great 4^th option for that team.

27.    NO Hornets- Bill Walker, SG- Kansas St.

A risky pick here because of the knee injuries, but Walker has tremendous upside. There are a lot of quality big men here, but the Hornets are set with Chandler and West. They could use another scorer and Walker can be just that.

28.    Memphis Grizzlies- Ante Tomic, C- Croatia

After that Gasol trade, its clear the Grizz aren’t thinking about the “right now.” Tomic will take a few years to come over, but he’ll be a huge force in the middle to team with Randolph. We all know Kwame Brown is not in the plans.

29.         Detroit Pistons- Serge Ibaka, PF- Congo

Ibaka is a few years away, but the Pistons have a good enough core to hold out on him for a year or two. When he steps in, he’ll be a force in the middle.

30.         Boston Celtics- Jamont Gordon, SG- Miss. St.

This is a tough pick for me. I really think the Celtics need another option at PG, but there just isn’t one here. Tomic would have been a great pick for them, but the only other potential option at C is Asik. What’s left is a bunch of PFs, a position that the Celtics are set at with Davis and Powe. I think they take Gordon to take Allen’s place when he retires in a few years. He gives them another option off the bench.

I’ve kept quiet on the subject for a while now, but recently I heard a series of comments that have just caused me to lose my proverbial fecal matter (my s$%& for those of you that didn’t follow).

I recently just moved back to NYC after living in San Antonio for five years and its sad to say, but one of the things that made me so happy to move back was getting away from Spurs fans. I understand that you love your team. You should. What’s the point of cheering for a team if you aren’t actually devoted to their winning? But there is a line that needs to be drawn.

Spurs fans have always been passionate beyond logic. They think the Spurs are the best team to ever play the game, even if they know nothing else about basketball. That I can forgive, it’s just blind admiration, but two things stood out recently that I can’t forgive. Both from popular radio DJs (I will refrain from being more specific than that).

The first came after the latest NBA scandal in which Tim Donaghy claimed that refs were told to make sure the 2002 Lakers-Kings series went the distance. After hearing this report, a San Antonio radio station Dj started claiming that this scandal proves how good the Spurs really are. He claimed that the NBA tried to fix playoff games in 2003 because the Spurs draw low viewership, but the Spurs are so good they beat an NBA fix. The disturbing part was not that he took these claims of games fixed against the Spurs from thin air, it’s that callers called in voicing their support. Callers supported this DJs claims by saying that the Spurs are better than the NBA, that they are clearly the best team because they are too good to be beat, even when a game is fixed. The gloating is annoying to begin with, but almost unbearable when you realize that they were gloating about overcoming an obstacle that was probably never in front of them to begin with.

The last comment that set me over the top was made by a DJ right after the Lakers were eliminated by the Celtics. My friend happened to have this on tape, so I was able to verify the truth of the statement. A local DJ actually said the finals proved “the Lakers were really the 3rd or 4th best team in the West and it showed.”

Wait, excuse me? The same Lakers team that demolished the Spurs was the 4th best team in the West? Well, hell, the Spurs must have been like the 8th then. It’s one thing to cheer for your team. It’s a completely different thing to be so blind that you start making statements that make no sense. (The same Dj actually said he has happy the Spurs don’t have as many European players as the Lakers because its what hurt them. Parker? Ginobili? Oberto? Ok. Whatever.)

This wouldn’t be as big a deal if it wasn’t a blindness that was shared by the majority of a city. In San Antonio, the Spurs can do no wrong. But it is also a city where nobody else can do anything right. The Lakers aren’t that good. But, the Spurs didn’t play badly, they never do. So how did the Lakers win that series? In San Antonio, questions like that are too logical to be answered.

My mom always told me that you can’t be a good person if you don’t admit when you’re wrong. So because my mother is always right, I am going to admit that prior to Game #1, I thought the Lakers would dominate the Celtics. They ran through the Western Conference, which I still believe to be the stronger conference, like a buzzsaw and the Celts were having trouble beating mediocre teams on the road. (The Hawks were really that tough?) I think it was inevitable that the Lakers would leave another team in their wake on the way to another ring. All things aside, I am more than glad to admit I was wrong.

However, looking forward, I think the Lakers franchise is in a much better position. Granted, you’re supposed to give it at least a day before you start thinking about the future, but fans of the losing team know that is never true. (The second the Nets were done I started thinking about the draft.) When you let your mind wander, it becomes obvious that while the Celtics are clearly the better team now, more rings lie in the future of the Lakers than the Celtics.

Age might be the biggest reason for this. The Big Three might only have three more years left, if that. Ray Allen will be 33 next year and has already shown this playoffs that its becoming tougher for him to make his own looks. (But when he is even close to open there is still nobody that can shoot it better). Garnett will also be 33, but his body has taken a pounding playing Center in the West for years. Pierce is the youngest, as he’ll be 31 next season and as a few good years left in him. When you look at the bench, the age doesn’t get much better P.J. Brown and Sam Cassell, who both played their share of minutes these playoffs, will be 39 next year and other role players like Eddie House, 31, and James Posey, 32 are getting up their in age.

Then you have the Lakers. Kobe’s been in the league forever, but he’ll only be 30 next year, which in terms of basketball years, makes him a lot younger than Allen and KG. Gasol may be soft, but he’ll only be 28 and is still a solid player, while Odom will be turning 29. They have a few young guns on the team as well, with Andrew Bynum only turning 21, Sasha Vujacic turning 25 and Jordan Farmar turning 22. The Lakers core of players will be around for a few years longer than the Celts will.

Another reason the Lakers are better built for the future is the make-up of their starting line-up. The Celtics played an incredible series, but what people keep forgetting is that the Lakers played the entire postseason without Bynum. Before the injury, Bynum was averaging 13 and 10 and was turning into a legitimate Center. If you slide him back into the 5 and pair him up with Gasol, who can then move to the 4, you have a special front court. Clearly, we saw that Gasol is not at his best when he has to bang down low, but with Bynum back, he can face up to the basket more and use his 7-foot size to take advantage of smaller power forwards. The Lakers then round out their starting line-up with Odom at the 3, Bryant at the 2 and an ever-improving Farmar at the point. it’s a scary starting 5 that leaves Walton, Vujacic, Radmanovic and Turiaf coming off the bench. Add one more capable guard to that set and you’ve got one of the most well-rounded teams that I’ve seen assembled.

The Celts on the other hand, have under-sized forwards in Glen Davis and Leon Powe (who’s game I love, by the way) and no true back-up PG with Cassell likely retiring (and firing up more shots per minute than any other player in the NBA). Perkins continues to get better, but the Celts would feel a lot better with a legitimate center to back-up him up just in case, not 6′9″ Davis. Doc Rivers also learned this post-season that Rondo’s passing skills can sometimes be a detriment. He looks to pass so often that teams would slack off him, forcing him to take shots that he never would, effectively taking himself out of the game. He needs to improve his shooting enough to be taken seriously as a scoring threat. Until then, the Celts need another PG who can both dish and score.

So enjoy it Boston. It was a great season and a dominating final game. I am glad that you proved me wrong and that you made my father very happy. But when the dust settles and smoke clears, there is some work to do for next year. Of course, I could be wrong again.