After waiting for two months of NBA playoffs to come to a close, only the weeks long Finals between the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks stands between us and the draft on June 23rd. During this long waiting period, most mock drafts have swung and missed badly when it comes to the type of prospect the New Jersey Nets will be gunning for.
Owner Mikhail Porkhorov and GM Billy King's only task for next season is getting into the playoffs and that means bringing in players that can contribute, no matter if it's via the draft or free agency. Potential is for bottom dwellers and that's something New Jersey has no interest in right now.
One draftnik that has managed to hit the nail on the head so far is SB Nation's Tom Ziller. A week after projecting Washington's do-it-all leader Isaiah Thomas to the Nets, he follows it up with another battle tested college player from a big time conference.
27. New Jersey Nets: JaJuan Johnson, PF, Purdue
Best Purdue big man since Kyle Orton.
Bad joke aside, this is another perfect example of the type of player we should expect the Nets to target no matter where they end up selecting. I say that because as we've talked about, the Nets will spare no expense in picking up one or more extra picks if there is a player that King and head coach Avery Johnson feel can step in and help next season.
Johnson took a major step forward each of his four years at Purdue and now the 22-year-old will have a chance to do the same at the next level. He brings an ability to run the floor and jump through the roof, to musts for any big that plans to play with PG Deron Williams.
At worst, Johnson serves as what last year's first-round pick, Derrick Favors, would have been with a few more years of college experience. Not too shabby for the end of the first round.