Nets Are Scorching

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Just spoke with 2 sources & looks like Turner is lock at 2, & Wes Johnson now has lead at 3 in NJ.

Via Chad Ford

Wesley Johnson is moving up to 3, New Jersey, on our next mock coming shortly. Told New Jersey will take him and go for a PF in free agency. …
Wes is the most ready guy and New Jersey wants to be competitive next year.

via DraftExpress

All I can think is that this has to be a red herring. Forgive me for saying this, but Wesley Johnson should absolutely not be the #3 pick in this draft. He is a fine player and will continue to be at the next level, but he doesn’t 10% of Favors’s upside and is about as NBA-ready (if not less so) at 22 as Cousins is at 19. This entire year, I’ve said that I was content with having a guaranteed top-4 pick in this draft because it had a sure set of four top prospects: John Wall, Evan Turner, DeMarcus Cousins, and Derrick Favors. I was of course upset that we lost out on the John Wall sweepstakes, but we at least would have a decent consolation prize between the other three. Wesley Johnson was the consensus 5th best player – better than everyone else (except maybe Monroe, who has been climbing) but not as good as the top four. The fact that the Timberwolves were considering him at #4 even was surprising to me, although their logjam at the 4/5 spots made it more plausible.

Now, two days before the draft, Nets sources are reporting that they’re skipping out on that top four entirely. This has to be a smokescreen. I’m hoping this is a smokescreen. As I said earlier, Wesley Johnson is a good player, and will be a good player at the next level. But I don’t just want “good” with the third overall pick. If Wesley Johnson gets his name called third, I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ll sure be praying that it’s for another team.