The Kevin Durant Mock Draft

We are now exactly one week to go until the NBA Draft Lottery on May 22nd. Just as all true Longhorn fans became interested in the Titans when Vince Young was drafted by the Titans, we expect that Horn fans will follow KD's team when he is drafted. The question we wanted to answer, therefore, was this: What team does the average Longhorn fan want to see draft Kevin Durant? In other words, which NBA team do Texas fans want to support for years to come? All too often we see mock drafts which decide which teams will want a certain player, but we wanted to find out which teams would be best for the NBA's next big thing.

To complete this project, we held the Kevin Durant NBA Team Mock Draft. 14 lottery teams meant 2 rounds of 7 drafters. We asked seven of the web's biggest Longhorn fans to serve as the drafters. Or, at least, seven of the web's biggest Longhorn fans that also fit the other key criteria: we have their email addresses.

The order was as follows:
1) Ben D. -- Of Manifest Destiny fame
2) Peter -- The king of UT blogs...Burnt Orange Nation
3) Ziggy -- Funniest person in Memphis
4) Micah -- If only the Hawks were as good as their blog.
5) Greg -- No blog, but he is on Facebook...
6) Jeff -- The looks and brains behind 40 Acre Sports
7) Abram -- The beard behind 40 Acre Sports

We, therefore, begin the Kevin Durant Mock Draft...And with the first pick in the Kevin Durant Mock Draft, Ben Dorfman selects NOOCH!

Wow, the first pick in the draft. I'd be more excited if I actually got to stand on stage with david stern wearing a 17 button suit and a NOOCH hat, but this is still pretty good. and for the record, i know that NOOCH is no longer, i just like saying NOOCH. who doesn't like saying NOOCH? NOOCH!

Anyway, being a longhorn fan is serious business. you have to be committed. i'm moving to atlanta in a few weeks, and my new apartment is on durant street. that's no lie, i'm really going to be living on durant street. the kid's got talent, there's no way around it, but is he really worthy of all this love and affection being being bestowed upon him? he had a phenomenal, unprecedented freshman season, he was the anchor of one of the three teams that really put Big 12 basketball on the map this year, and he won so many awards that he's renting space in lebron's house to store them all until he can build a mcmansion of his own. but as far as his longhorn status is concerned, in my opinion, he's no brad buckman. blame the system, though, not the kid. i'd have left school if somebody offered me $500 and a spicy chicken combo at wendy's.

So, i wasn't really sure how to play this one. i debated the "good luck in atlanta, we're all pulling for you!!" route, but it felt a little contrived, and i didn't want to steal micah's thunder. i also debated the "screw you, durant, enjoy your time in portland," but i'm not a vengeful person, and again, you can't blame the kid for taking his game somewhere he can make the money for himself and enjoy life to the fullest. it's that enjoying life to the fullest part that led me to NOOCH. nowhere in the league is there more fun to be had than in new orleans, and with kevin durant leading the way (now that the pain of the baron davis loss is sure to be felt city-wide), he can have fun and be the biggest star on the local hardwood. it could also be nothing but good for the city to have a genuine nice kid to focus on, now that we all know reggie bush is a punk.