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2012 NBA Draft: Overanalysis Continues

Will Barton continues his climb up draft boards.
Will Barton continues his climb up draft boards.

Apparently I missed the boat this weekend, where Sports Illustrated went nutty creating a new pile of draft content and ESPN even had Chad Ford do another mock draft (version 9.0).

Of note in all that:

~Ford has Damian Lillard going to Portland with the 6th pick now (largely due to their high liking of him and the debatable odds that he'll still be on the board when they pick again at #11). He also lists Memphis' Will Barton as being selected 29th to the Bulls, with the qualifier that he "could go as high as #18 (to Minnesota) and definitely won't drop" beyond the Bulls' late first round pick.

~ SI's Sam Amick also has Barton mentioned, as one of his five biggest draft sleepers. It appears as though teams are using both a) the example of Kevin Durant and b) Barton's likely shift from small forward (at Memphis) to shooting guard as reasons to worry less about Barton's current/future size and more about his offensive production.

Amick also lists Norfolk State's Kyle O'Quinn, and adds that he would likely be higher if not for Saint Bonaventure's Andrew Nicholson. Iona's Scott Machado is another mentioned sleeper, though they continue to list him far below Lillard and UNC's Kendall Marshall for no reason other than "he played at Iona."

~Lastly, Sports Illustrated did their top 10 players at each position. Of note were Kyle O'Quinn as the 6th best center, Damian Lillard as the best point guard (followed by Machado and LBSU's Casper Ware at 6th and 10th respectively), Will Barton as the 6th best shooting guard, and Tennessee Tech's Kevin Murphy as the 8th best small forward.