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The Dream Shake 2012 Mock Draft: Pick Twenty-Three

Presswire

Space. The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to correctly predict basketball draft picks in a pre-arranged order, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

1. New Orleans Hornets: Anthony Davis

2. Charlotte Bobcats: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

3. Washington Wizards: Andre Drummond

4. Cleveland Cavaliers: Harrison Barnes

5. Sacramento Kings: Thomas Robinson

6. Portland Trail Blazers: Bradley Beal

7. Golden State Warriors: Terrence Jones

8. Toronto Raptors: Perry Jones III

9. Detroit Pistons: John Henson

10. New Orleans Hornets: Damian Lillard

11. Portland Trail Blazers: Jared Sullinger

12. Milwaukee Bucks: Meyers Leonard

13. Phoenix Suns: Dion Waiters

14. Houston Rockets: Jeremy Lamb

15. Philadelphia 76ers: Tyler Zeller

16. Houston Rockets (Via New York): Kendall Marshall

17. Dallas Mavericks: Austin Rivers

18. Minnesota Timberwolves: Moe Harkless

19. Orlando Magic: Terrence Ross

20. Denver Nuggets: Quincy Miller

21. Boston Celtics: Fab Melo

22. Boston Celtics: Jeff Taylor

Here we are, gents (AND ladies, although something about the word "gents" just sounds better by itself). Pick twenty-three goes to the Atlanta Hawks, a team stuck along the same path as the Rockets, but about three floors up. So who will they take to bolster their roster? Find out after le jump.

With the twenty-third pick in the 2012 TDS Mock Draft, the Atlanta Hawks select Royce White, small power shooting point guard out of Iowa State.

The 6'8 White is as bruising as he is versatile. He doesn't have much of a jump shot and he can't block shots or defend the rim at his height... but that's it. He can literally do everything else and do it at a high level. Were it not for his anxiety disorder — a legitimate concern from what I've read — he'd be a top-ten pick.

At the same time, there's no telling how White will fit in with any team that drafts him. At Iowa State, he was asked to do everything (and then he went out and did everything, from dribbling up the court to starting an offense to posting up to finishing the play). In the NBA, he won't have to do those things, but if that's what makes him so good, you have to wonder what his value will be. That's something I simply can't predict: We'll see how the dream that drafts him chooses to utilize him.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are on the clock.