The 2012 NBA Draft is a week away (June 28 at 4 p.m. PST on ESPN/3) and the latest mock draft from DraftExpress has the Golden State Warriors selecting Weber State guard and Oakland native Damian Lillard with the 7th pick overall, who the GSoM community coincidentally chose as seventh on its community draft board just yesterday.
DraftExpress linked Lillard to the Warriors after dropping Ohio State post Jared Sullinger to the Phoenix Suns at the 13th pick in light of news about being medically red flagged due to back issues. Sullinger had been the DraftExpress pick for the Warriors for a number of weeks.
While DraftExpress compares Lillard to George Hill, Lillard recently compared himself to current Warriors guard Stephen Curry on KNBR. However, John Hollinger's draft rater doesn't seem to like Lillard all that much.
One player that Draft Rater isn't crazy about is Damian Lillard of Weber State, who compiled strong numbers but did so against a weak schedule and is much older than most of the prospects at his position. He not only failed to outrank the top point guards above but also rates behind the less-heralded Tyshawn Taylor of Kansas. No. 6 clearly seems a stretch for Lillard, who looks more like a mid-to-late first-rounder in this analysis.
The question of how well Lillard is able to play point guard clearly has some bearing on how wise this pick would be for the Warriors - Matt Steinmetz of CSN Bay Area has described the Warriors' need for a point guard as a "must" this off-season, especially given the uncertainty surrounding Curry's ankle.
In a draft that seems to only reveal more uncertainty by the day, going for a point guard at #7 isn't unreasonable, particularly if the Warriors find themselves less than enthused about the alternatives.
For more on Lillard, check out SB Nation Denver's storystream with updates and analysis about him leading up to draft day.