Nlds 2011

Thursday, July 16, 2015

2015 MLB All Star Game and Home Run Derby

On Monday, the Home Run Derby showcased some of the best sluggers in the MLB hitting homers out of the Reds hitter friendly ballpark.
Ken Griffey Jr threw out the first pitch, getting a nice reception from the fans as he returned to the Reds ballpark for the first time in a while.
Them, the competition began with the 8 competitors competing in the newly made bracket system. The competitors also competed with the five minute clock for the first time ever.
These 2 rule changes by new commish Manfred received outstanding reviews from critics and fans.
To start off the contest, Donaldson out homered Rizzo enabling him to move on to the semifinals.
In the next pairing, Frazier , who was helped out by the fans, beat 2 time derby champ Prince Fielder in an epic matchup. With the win, Frazier advanced to the semi- finals where he faced Donaldson in a matchup of powerful third basemen.
On the other side of the bracket , NL rookie phenom Pederson knocked out Machado to advance to the next round where he awaited the winner of Pujols vs. Bryant (another NL rookie sensation).
Albert Pujols in his return to the national stage defeated Kris Bryant to lock up the last semi-final spot.
In the semi- finals,the rookie Pederson knocked out the aging veteran Pujols to advance to the final in his first ever MlB Home Run Derby.
Then, the host team's favorite Todd Frazier out homered Josh Donaldson to advance to the final of this contest for the second straight year.
In the epic final, Todd Frazier needed 30 seconds of bonus time to upstage Pederson and take his first Home Run Derby title in front of his own team's fans and in his team's ballpark.
Now that's a pretty cool feat and now I hope that Frazier's swing won't be messed up because of all the homers that he hit.
With his enormous power, I am pretty sure that Pederson will be back in this competition in the upcoming years, looking for the win that just eluded him this year.
I loved watching the Derby and I love the new rules that made it way more exciting for both the players and the fans.
The All Star Game took place on Tuesday. In this game, the best players from the NL were matched up against the best players from the AL and the winning league gets home field advantage in the fall classic.
Before the game MLB honored the best four players from every MLB franchise. These super stars were selected by the fans online and I tjout that baseball fans everywhere made good choices with who they voted for.
Then, MLB honored the four greatest living pl. ayers. They are Wille Mays, Sandy Koufax, Johnny Bench, and Hank Aaron.  These four legends were the faces of baseball during their time on the diamond and all four elderly all time greats will be recognized when they eventually die.
Then the baseball game began with Dallas Keuchal staring for the ALand Zach Greinke starting for
the NL.
Throughout the game both squads used a ton of pitchers and position players as.it's an All Star Game so both Bochy and Yost wanted to get every player their All Star spotlight and reward them for the terrific first half they put together,
The AL struck first on a lead off home run by Mike Trout off Greinke who ran up the best ERA in the MLB in the first half.
Trout would help the AL strike in the 5th inning off Kershaw and then the AL would add on in the
later innings off 2 NL All Star relievers
The final score of the game ended up being 6-3 with the AL coming out victorious and securing home field advantage for its representative in the World Series.
Mike Trout made history by taking home All Star Game MVP for the second straight year. This feat just shows you how good this 23 year old is and how he is growing into the new face of the MLB
It was an exciting 2 days in the Queen City and now I'm looking forward to the regular season starting back up. I'm really curious to see which big name players will get moved at the trade deadline  and which clubs will survive the stretch run and make it into the playoffs especially the fates of Houston and Minnesota who are exceeding expectations so far this season.
See you next time



Thursday, July 9, 2015

MLB All Star game 2015

On Tuesday July 14, the 2015 MLB All Star game will be played at the home of the Cincianti Reds.
The best players from the National League will face off against the best players from the Al in what I think is going to be an exciting game based on the star power that both squads have and that Great American ballpark is really hitter friendly.
Since the Giants and Royals played in last year's fall classic, Ned Yost will manage the Al team and Bochy will be in charge of the NL squad.
The league that wins will get home field advantage for the World Series. This is a good idea because it gives the players something to play for and a reason to play their best.
Over the past couple of days, the players for the All Star game got announced. The starters were announced on Monday and then the pitchers and reserve hitters were announced the following day.
Here is who's starting the game position by position. The starters are decided by fan vote.
Catcher
NL:Buster Posey-SFGiants
AL- Salvador Perez-Royals
First Base
NL. Paul Goldschmidt- Diamondbacks
AL- Miggy but he's injured so Pujols is starting in place of him.

Second Base
NL Dee Gorden from the Marlins
AL- Jose Altuve from the surprising Astros.

Shortstop
NL Johnny Peralta from the Cards
Al Alcides Escobar from the Royals

Third Base
AL Josh Donaldson from the Jays
NL Todd Frazier from the Reds who happen to be hosting the festivities

Outfield
NLBryce Harper, Andrew Mccutchin in for Stanton, and Matt Holliday.
AL Mike Trout, Lorenzo Cain from KC and Alex Gorden from KC who unfortunately strained his groin yesterday and might be out for a while.
Nelson Cruz will DH for the AL squad

Sonny Gray made it for the A's as so far he's put up a 9-3 record with a 2.20 ERA. Those are excellent numbers and he's being looked at to start but he can't pitch in the game because as of now Grey 's supposed to pitch on the last day before the All Star Break.
A's Catcher Stephen Vogt also got selected as a reserve which means that he will be joining his battery mate in Cincinnati
The Giants double  play tandem of Crawford and Panik both made it as reserves. Madbum made it as well and he will be one of the best arms on a loaded NL pitching staff.
These are only the starters and the Bay Area reps and there are many more good all star reserves that I didn't bring up in this entry.
I will be watching on July 14 and seeing which players shine the brightest on the big stage.
I predict that the NL will win because their pitching staff is loaded, but I expect the game to be close for all 9 innings.



Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Women's World Cup final 2015

On July 5, the US Women's soccer national team faced off against Japan in the final of the Women's world cup at BC Place in Vancouver Canada.
This matchup was the third straight time that these two nations have met in the final game of a major tournament, following matchups in the 2011 World Cup final and the 2012 Summer Olympics final. Japan won the last world cup while the U.S took gold in London.
The Japanese squad came in to the final hoping to win their second straight World cup while the U.S squad wants to win their third World cup and bring home the trophy for the first time since 1999 when Mia Hamm and Brianna Scurry led that team to the title at the Rose Bowl in LA. The U.S players also wanted to avenge a loss to Japan in the last World Cup final.
Throughout the group rounds and first 2 knockout rounds, goalie Hope Solo and the defense in front of her played exceptional while the offense struggled to generate any consistent attack, leading to demands that Jill Ellis change the formation of her squad on the field.
Jill Ellis listened to her critics by changing the formation. She took Abby Wambach out of the starting lineup therefore leaving Alex Morgan as the only true forward. Then in her most genius move of the World Cup, she  moved Carli Lloyd up to attacking midfield. Jill also put Tobin Heath in as a wing midfielder and Morgan Brian as the holding midfielder.
This freed up Carli Lloyd to mainly focus on offense and she  came through in a big way. The 32 year old midfielder from Jersey scored the only goal of the match against China, then scored the game winning goal against Germany on a PK after Germany's best player Sasic completely missed her pk attempt.
Then in the final against the Japanese who are the queens of Asian women's soccer, captain Carli Lloyd put together a spectacular performance carrying her team to a 5-2 victory and the Women's world cup 2015 trophy.
She put together a hattrick by the 16th minute against an extremely talented and well coached Japanese squad. Her first two goals were off of set pieces. The first one was off a corner kick from Rapinoe and she scored by charging in late, beating her defender, and volleying the ball into the back of the net.
The second goal was off a free kick from Holliday. Holliday kicked it in to Johnson in the box and Johnsen back-kicked it to Carli who knocked it past the Japanese goalkeeper.
These two goals were good, but her third goal was epic. Lloyd had the ball at midfield and the Japanese goalie was really far out of the goal because people don't normally take shots from midfield.
Lloyd bucked that trend, taking an audacious powerful  shot from the center line. This booming kick sailed all the way to the goal and over the Japanese goalie's head. The poor Japanese Goalie got a hand on the ball, but unfortunately tapped it backwards and right into the open goal. The announcer called it one of the best goals she had ever seen in her life. (Kelly Smith)
Holliday and Heath added goals for the United States while the defense allowed two goals which isn't that good, but they did stifle a lot of Japanese scoring chances so that's good.
In the last ten minutes there were some touching moments as Wambach came on the turf and recieved the captain's band from Lloyd and then Rapinoe who somehow at 40 and still playing at a high level also came on the field.
Once the final whistle blew the U.S players exulted with joy knowing that they've just won the World Cup. It was especially sweet for Rampone who gets to start her career in 99 with a World Cup win and end it this year with a second World Cup title and Wambach, one of the greatest US women's soccer players ever, who finally gets her World Cup title in her last World Cup.
Carli Lloyd won the golden ball as the best player in the tournament and Hope Solo won the golden glove as the best goalie in the tournament. These awards were both well deserved as both of these women were phenomenal throughout the tournament.
I also applaud Jill Ellis and her assistant coaches for the job they did in their first World Cup.
This game got the highest rating ever and this World Cup raised Women's soccer in the U.S to a whole new level.
I am looking forward to seeing what happens with this roster before the olympics in Rio next year and I am looking forward to seeing if the U.S women's soccer team can continue their success at the summer Olympics next summer.


Image result for jill ellis

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Early Information from NBA free Agency

NBA free agency started yesterday. It was a hectic day full of players signing big contract extensions, resigning with the team they last played on, or signing with a different team.
Overall
Anthony Davis signed a max contract extension with the Pelicans at 5 years and 145 million. This is a really good move as the Pelicans are locking up their young superstar so that he can't leave anytime soon.
Trailblazers' point guard and best player Damien Lillard is close to signing a max 5 year, 130 million contract extension which will allow him to continue shining in rip city.
The Cavs sept big keeping their core team together from last year. They signed Kevin Love to a 5 year 110 million deal. They also signed Tristian Thompson to a 5 year 80 million deal. Thompson and Love play contrasting styles so it's good that they both resigned, but Lebron likes Thompson more so we'll see who plays more this upcoming year.
Cleveland also signed Iman Shumpert to a four year 40 million deal which keeps the more defensive minded guard in Northeast Ohio.
The Spurs signed Kawhi Leanord to a 5 year, 90 million deal, keeping the future face of the franchise as well as the reigning defensive player of the year in the Alamo.
Danny Green also is staying in San Antonio. The top 3 and d wing on the market signed a 4 year 45 million contract which could end up being a bargain deal for the Spurs.
The Warriors locked up Draymond Green for 5 years, 82 million, ensuring that the heart and soul of their team and their top defensive starter will stay in the Bay Area for a while.
Bulls stud guard Jimmy Butler is staying in Chicago on a max contract of 5 years and 95 million.
Paul Milsap is staying in Atlanta for 3 years and the contract adds up to 59 million dollars.
Some other notable re signees with their former club were Goran Dragic, Knight, Middleton, and Brook Lopez.
Tyson Chandler is going to play in the Desert, and Demare  Carroll is going to play in Toronto.

Paul Pierce is going to play for the Clippars where he will be reunited with his former coach Doc Rivers.
The Kings cleared cap space so that they can go after Rondo, Matthews, and Monta Ellis. These three players are really good guards and they will drastically improve the Kings if eh decide to come to Sacramento.
There are plenty of rumors about unsigned players and where they will go, but the offseason just started and there's still a long while until next season starts.
It will be interesting to see where the unsigned big name free agents end up and how the respective rosters look for next year.
I will keep track of who goes where as the summer continues.
Bleacherreport.com

Monday, June 29, 2015

Home Run Derby 2015

This year the All Star game festivities will be taking place in Cincinatti at Great American Ballpark (home of the Reds).
The Home Run Derby happens a day before the All Star game. In this event, the most powerful hitters in baseball step up to the plate and try to hit homeruns. The sluggers usually have a coach or someone related to them toss baseballs at them.
In the past years, the  slugger that hit the most homers over the course of the competition would take the trophy.
This year, the rules are changing a bit.
The participating hitters will be competing in a single elimination tournament and the number of participants are going down from 10 people to 8 people.
The players will be seeded based on their home run total accumulated by June 7.
Instead of 10 outs, competitors will see how many bombs they can hit in 5 minutes and any that they hit in the last minute will get them bonus time.
I like this time change because the Derby will take less time and be more exciting.
Plus, it's at the Reds park which is really hitter friendly.
I'm looking forward to wAtching the sluggers compete, but I'm upset that Stanton and
Harper can't participate because they're fun to watch.
Overall, it's going to be a fun and exciting night of homeruns. Now, I can't predict who will win since I don't know who's participating, but when I know, I will predict the winner.
Hope you all tune in to the Derby because it will be an exciting event filled with fun and long homers.

Bleacher report.com

Friday, June 26, 2015

NBA Draft 2015

Yesterday, the 2015 NBA draft took place at Barclays Center in New. York (home of the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Islanders).
The 30 NBA franchises went to work picking the new members of their franchises.
A few of these new players will become superstars in the Association, most will turn out to be league average starters or helpful players off the bench, and a few will be busts and never pan out like they hoped to.
The T Wolves had the 1st selection and they went with Karl Anthony Towns, the player whom many people thought would go 1st. Karl Anthony Towns is a pf/c out of Kentucky who has the upside to grow into a superstar on both ends of the court. He can grow into a.scoring machine on offense, and a rim protector on defense. Plus he has already played for the Dominican Republic national basketball team.
The Lakers had the 2nd pick which is really rare because they're usually in the postseason and last year was the 1st time in a while that they were really bad. With their selection,they picked Deangelo Russell, a combo guard out of Ohio State.  He has the passing ability, basketball IQ and leadership to be a point guard while he also has the shooting stroke to play shooting guard.
I love this pick because Russell can play alongside the black mamba in year 1 and get used to playing in the NBA.  Then in year 2 , he can take off and become the next star to play for the Lakers as Kobe Bryant is retiring after this upcoming season.
The Sixers had another pick in the top 5, this one was 3rd overall and they took Jahlil Okafor, cousin of Emeka Okafor, who went to college at Duke where he won a championship. Jahlil Okafor was the top high school player in his class, and he arrives in the NBA with the most polished offensive post game since Tim Duncan. The problem with him going to Philadelphia is that they also have Nerleans Noel and Joel Embid, but I can see how the pick makes sense since Embid has foot problems and might miss a second straight season.
The Knicks took 7-1 Latvian Kristaps Porzings at 4. He's the sweetest shooting big man in the draft, but he's only 19 and his body hasn't filled out all the way so he will probably need a few years of seasoning.
Croatian Mario Hezonja went to the Magic where he will give them much needed shooting
Wille Cualey Stein went to the Kings. In Sacramento he will give the Kings much needed rim defense
Emanuel Mudiay, a play making point guard, went to Denver. This likely marks the end of Ty Lawson playing in Denver.
The Warriors  picked Kevon Looney, a power forward out of UCLA. The dubs didn't have any needs going into the draft, but Looney does give them more size since Green is only 6-7 and now they can match up to bigs better
There were also a lot of draft day trades throughout the night which means that a lot of players will be moving teams.
Overall, the 2 round 60 pick draft was an exciting event and I can't wait to see how the players picked fare in the Association.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Church Massacre in South Carolina

Today I will be writing about something other then sports.
On June 17, 2015,  a 21 year old named Dylann Roof  opened fire at a historical black church in South Carolina.
He killed nine people, one of whom was the pastor of the church and a state senator of South Carolina.
This crime was a racial hate crime as the mentally ill shooter killed black people and wanted South Carolina to go back to being a Confederate State.
The shooter tried to kill himself after he committed the hate crime, but his gun that he somehow acquired, ran out of bullets.
So Dylann knowing that police would be on his tail took off in a car and sped away.
The police eventually found and caught Dylann and then they brought him in for interrogation.

I do not get why people with crazy thoughts keep getting guns and causing harm to innocent humans.
Someone needs to do something about gun control now!

Because of this, the South Carolina government decided to remove the Confederate flag from the capital building.
I think this is a good idea, but it should have happened earlier because the Confederacy folded over 100 years ago.

This horrible event has implications, not just in South Carolina, but in the whole nation as it's another act of racial terrorism and slaughtering of innocent people.

This follows up the white policemen killing black men in Ferguson Missouri, New York, and many other places around America. That was bad enough, but this South Carolina incident is worse.


Dylann actually had racial hatred as he wanted to reestablish the Confederacy and bring harm to the African Americans.
That is horrible and I am sure that he will be in jail for life after he goes through a trial.

I hope that America can get a hand on this racial terrorism issue soon before it escalates more then it has been. African Americans have  already started rioting after the Ferguson debacle and I don't want more racial terrorism to happen because it could eventually lead to a civil war or a different way of revolt/violence  from the black people of our nation.

This was a break from sports because I didn't have a good idea of what to write about.
When you hear from me next, I will be back to sports.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Oakland A's Horrible Season so far

Through 71 games this season,, the A's have played atrocious baseball causing their record to not be what they want.
Currently, the A's are 30-41 which is a horrible record.
They're in last place in their division, trailing the 1st place Astros by 11 games. That's a lot of ground to make up and they can do it, but it will be hard.
Their offense is as potent as last year. They can score runs by playing small ball or by hitting homeruns. The A's offensively are led by Stephen Vogt and Josh Reddick who are putting up all star caliber statistics. Stephen Vogt is in position to head to the festivities in Cincinnati while Reddick needs some more votes because as of now, he's not one of the top 3 outfield vote getters.
Image result for stephen vogt
The A's starting rotation is also doing extremely well. They're pitching deep into ballgames, keeping the A's in the game, and mostly having quality starts. They're led by Sonny Gray who's 8-3 with an  MLB leading 1.95 ERA and is probably under consideration to start the all star game for the AL. The A's five starters are also really young except for Scott Kazmir who's the veteran of the group. Young pitchers tend to have more upside, so that bodes well for the future.



The A's  have to get better production from their defense and bullpen if they want any shot of turning things around this summer.
They have committed the most errors in the majors as they've committed an error in most of their games this season. Semien has been really bad at shortstop with a league high 22 mistakes, but the A's hired Ron Washington to help out Semien and Marcus Semien says that Wash is being really helpful.

That's a good sign because Semien is only 24 and he looks capable of one day developing into a solid major league shortstop.
The A's bullpen has also let the team down as the bullpen has posted the worst ERA in the majors.
They have blown so many leads late in the game and I think that the only reliever Melvin trusts is their closer Tyler Clippard as he's been great lately.


I saw a bullpen explosion myself on friday when I was at the A's game. The A's had a 7-4 lead when Sonny Gray was removed and the bullpen gave up that lead. It was brutal and I think that the bullpen coach should be fired if the A's relievers continue to struggle.
The A's relievers have also had a lot of injuries to relievers who were doing well and faces coming and going in the group.
For instance Mujica and Venditte both were doing well when they first joined the bullpen and then they got injured. Mujica has since come back and in his first outing back, he got shelled. Venditte is still on the DL with a shoulder strain.

Because of the A's record and Billy Beane's love of trading free agents to be, every other GM expects Beane to trade Kazmir, Zobrist, and Clippard during or before the trade deadline because their contracts all expire after this season.
Other teams have already begun talking to the A's about these three veterans because all three of them will help a club down the stretch run and in the postseason.
Kazmir-will provide rotation depth. He has been linked to Boston, the Dodgers, the Astros, and other teams who need a proven left handed starter to strengthen their rotation and don't want to give up their best prospects for Cole Hamels who's a tier above Kazmir.
Clippard-will help shore up the back end of whoever's bullpen he gets traded to. He has been linked to Toronto, the Cubs, and other teams with bullpen problems.
Zobrist-will help provide versatility on defense, will be a leader in the clubhouse, and on offense provide a veteran bat who knows how to hit in the majors. He has been linked to the Cubs because he used to play for Joe Maddon with Tampa. He has also been linked to many other clubs.

I think that Beane will wait until the deadline to trade off these players and I hope if he trades, he doesn't trade anyone who won't be a free agent after this year.


If, the A's make a miraculous run to the top of the standings, then that will change  what Billy Beane does with this season's A's team.
I hope that the A's can pull off a miracle run like in 2012 and catapult back into contention in their division, but my more reasonable goal for the 2015 A's is to reach 500 and not finish the season with a losing record.
It should be an exciting rest of the season with the all star game and  trade deadline coming up in July, then the final 2 months stretch run, and then the postseason.
I'm excited for what will transpire over the rest of the long season and I can't wait for the end of September to see which teams come out on top of their respective divisions. I especially want to see if the Astros can keep first place for the rest of the season and if the Twins can stay in contention because both teams weren't expected to be this good so soon.


google images for pictures

Thursday, June 18, 2015

NBA Finals 2015

 The NBA Finals just concluded in Cleveland on Tuesday after 6 hard fought games.
The Warriors came into game 6 up 3 games to 2 after a convincing blowout win in game 5.
In game 5 they were led by Curry who put up 37 points in an mvp like performance, carrying his team down the stretch.
They also used the small ball lineup again and for the 2nd straight game, it payed dividends.
In this game, the Cavs stayed small throughout the game to match the Warriors, but it didn't result in victory.
The Warriors were able to take the lead in the series despite Lebron James posting a triple double and trying to will his team to victory.

In game 6, the Cavs were faced with a must win scenario as the Warriors needed only one more win to get the championship and the trophy.
Both teams are weary, but the Cavs didn't want to end their season with a loss in front of their home fans, while the Warriors wanted to extend the city of Cleveland's championship drought by finishing off the Cavs in their home arena.
The Warriors kept their same small ball starting lineup and didn't play Bogut at all while the Cavs played their bigs for most of the game in an attempt to outmuscle the Warriors and stay alive.
 The Warriors triumphantly prevailed 105-97 ending Cleveland's season and title hopes while bringing the gold and shiny Larry O Brien trophy back to the bay area for the first time since 1975 which is 40 years ago!
Curry and Iggy paced the Warriors with 25 points each and Iggy continued to play amazing shutdown defense on "the king". Draymond Green helped them out by posting a triple double and the Warriors got solid play off the bench from Livingston and Ezeli.
LBJ came really close to getting another triple double with 32 points. 18 boards, and 9 dimes. He also got solid help from his bigs, but his fellow guards weren't really helpful except for JR Smith who continued his streaky shooting.


Cleveland's last major sports championship was in 1964, so their fans long suffering continues.
The Warriors party is just getting started.
Immediately after the Warriors won, fans in Oakland started celebrating.
Back in Quicken Loans Arena, Lebron James and his fellow distraught teammates and coaches walked off the court after the final buzzer went off. Before Lebron left, he congratulated Curry, and Coach Kerr.
After the game. the Dubs stayed on the court to celebrate and receive the championship trophy. Iggy, Steph, Klay, Coach Kerr and both owners got interviewed by Doris Burke of ABC and they were all ecstatic when speaking to her.
Image result for warriors championshipImage result for warriors championship

Iggy also recieved the well deserved NBA Finals MVP trophy, with his son at his side.




Then, in the locker room, the Dubs did the traditional champagne celebration and Harrison Barnes even drank booze for the first time. This shows you how exciting a championship can be.
I think that this was a well deserved title because Curry had to face all of the other members of the NBA first team in the 2015 playoffs.
It would have been more deserving if Jure Holliday (NOLA), Mike Conley(MEM), Patrick Beverly (HOU). Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love (CAVS) were fully healthy and playing when Golden State faced their respective teams.

The parade will be friday morning in Oakland with a rally at the Kaiser Convention Center. There will be hordes of people along the route since the Warriors are the only NBA franchise in the bay area. This means that everyone who likes basketball likes the Dubs and they can't be divided like bay area baseball fans.
It has been an amazing run to the championship and the Warriors have all they need to repeat next year.

Awesome Year Warriors! Now remember to pay Draymond Green.

Image result for draymond green warriors

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

NBA Draft 2015 Preview

The 2015 NBA draft will be on June 25 and it will be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.The Barclays center is the home of the Brooklyn Nets as well as Concerts and other big events.


The NBA draft consists of 2 rounds with 30 picks in each round.
Normally every team would have one pick in the first and one in the second.
A lot of NBA teams trade draft picks for players, cash, or other draft picks, so some teams could end up with more then 2 picks (awesome), 1 pick, or even no picks which would be sad.
In 1985, the NBA established the draft lottery to determine the order of selection in the draft for the 14 teams that missed the playoffs.


14 ping pong balls are put in a lottery machine and then various combinations are given out to the 14 teams, the most to the team with the worst record, and the fewest to the team with the best record that got left out of the playoffs.
This year, Minnesota had the worst record, so they had the best chance of winning the lottery.
The Timber wolves ended up winning the lottery and securing the first overall pick in the upcoming NBA draft which is loaded with talented ballers from College and a few amazing basketball players from Europe and Asia.
Now with the one and done rule in full force, most of the best U.S prep basketball players go to their picked college for a year and then depart for the NBA even if they didn't achieve the success that they wanted to in college.
This upcoming draft features a lot of one and done college studs, some star college players who played more then one year,  2 major International prospects, and many more players who want a shot at being in the NBA.
The prospect whom most experts think the T Wolves will select number one is Karl Anthony Towns. He's a power-forward/center out of Kentucky who was part of the magical team that started 38-0 before falling in the Final 4. He has a ton of upside and is capable of turning into a big time threat on offense, and a rim protector on defense.
Image result for karl anthony towns

Mock drafts predict that Jahlil Okafor, a one and done center from Duke will go 2nd to the Lakers.  Coming out of high school, Okafor was the top rated recruit in his class. He certainly lived up to his ranking by dominating opponents with his advanced arsenal of offensive moves in the post and eventually leading Duke to a national title.
Image result for jahlil okafor


Deangelo Russell will probably go number 3 to Philadelphia because they traded away Michael Carter Williams last year and they need more explosiveness in the back court. Russell certainly provides that as he was the best guard in college basketball last year. He can put up the points and the assists so he profiles as a combo guard that can either play point guard or shooting guard.
The other guard expected to go early is Emanuel Mudiay. He's a former top recruit who originally was going to play for SMU, but then backed off and went overseas to play on a Chinese team. Mudiay has all the intagibles to be a star lead guard in the NBA, but I think that he needs to get more experience since he got injured in China and didn't finish the season.
2 more big men that will go early are Willie Cauley Stein who's a beast rim protector/defender from Kentucky.
BTW-7 Kentucky basketball players entered the draft early. Isn't that crazy!
The best international prospect is Kristaps Porzingis, a 7-1 power forward from Latvia who can shoot the three and protect the rim.

Image result for kristaps porzingis 2015

He plays like Frank Kaminsky of Wisconsin (another 1st round prospect), but Kristaps is better because he's younger and has more upside.
These players will go 1-6, but I'm not sure about which teams will pick which players and I won't know until the draft actually happens.
For people looking for wings there are plenty of options in this draft.
The two best American wings are Justice Winslow of Duke and Stanley Johnson of Arizona. These two are big black boys that can defend well and lead their team in scoring.
Mario Hezonjia is a Croatian wing that is a big time scorer.
These three will all go somewhere in the first 10 picks.

The Warriors who are going for their first NBA title in 40 years tonight, pick at 30.
They don't have a glaring need so they're probably going to draft another shooter or a fowerd in case Draymond Green leaves which I don't think will happen.

Overall this draft class has a ton of talented athletes that are waiting for the chance to get to the NBA and leave their imprint on the league.
  It will be an exciting night where we will witness the next generation of players entering the NBA.
http://www.nbadraft.net/2015mock_draft