Team bloggers around the SB Nation network got together this weekend to stage a 2012 NBA mock draft, which meant that Alex Sonty of SB Nation's Chicago Bulls blog Blog a Bull got to imagine himself in the Bulls' front office. With Chicago's pick, Sonty gave the team UC Santa Barbara guard Orlando Johnson, who has been quietly moving up in mock drafts in recent days.
Here is Sonty on the pick:
The only bigs and point guards who can't be passed up are gone. It's easier to pass up on Jeff Taylor and John Jenkins than Will Barton. But if Johnson were Barton's age, he'd be just as high -- if not higher -- on boards around the web and in war rooms. Johnson actually has the NBA shot and body that Barton doesn't. He played against bums, but so does Memphis; and Johnson's elite shot puts him in the category of high-scoring Mid-major products who can always add length and threes to any NBA rotation on both ends. His work ethic and basketball IQ make that NBA size and shot coachable enough to not care about his age. He's endured struggles no young man should with great maturity and drive; his production and lifestyle is proof of that.
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