Each year HOOPSWORLD puts together a team of writers to look at the NBA Draft. The idea here is to illustrate how differently (or similarly) writers from various NBA markets see the 2012 NBA Draft. So with that out of the way…

Here is the final installment of the 2012 NBA Mock Draft – Consensus Draft.

 
  Check out Ver 1.0 | Ver 2.0 | Ver 3.0 | Ver 4.0 | Ver 5.0 | Ver 6.0  | Ver 7.0 | Ver 8.0

Alex’s Notebook:  The Cleveland Cavaliers may not be able to land Florida shooting guard Bradley Beal—who is sure to go at No. 3 to the Washington Wizards—but they will be able to team Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving with former high school teammate Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

The pair won a New Jersey State Title while at St. Patrick High School, and if the Cavaliers do in fact pick Kidd-Gilchrist at No. 4, the pair could have a chance for similar success in the NBA.

In Irving, Kidd-Gilchrist would have a true point guard who can alleviate some of the scoring pressure with his long-range shooting. And in Kidd-Gilchrist, Irving would have an elite athlete, capable of defending the NBA’s premiere wing players and someone who could finish around the rim.

And by keeping the 24th overall pick, Cleveland would also have a chance at Syracuse center Fab Melo or a long-range shooting threat to replace the retired Anthony Parker, such as Kentucky’s Doron Lamb, Missouri’s Kim English, Vanderbilt’s John Jenkins or Memphis’ Will Barton.

That rotation would be a significant improvement from the Cavaliers’ 2011-2012 roster, which fell apart in the second half of the season.

Another team with a chance to do a complete makeover is the Houston Rockets, who now have three first-round picks. By moving up to the 12th pick and shedding center Samuel Dalembert in the process, Houston could have a chance at Illinois center Meyers Leonard or North Carolina big man Tyler Zeller.

Everyone knows that the purpose of landing all of these picks is to flip them for a franchise cornerstone (Connecticut center Andre Drummond or Dwight Howard), but even keeping what they have could garner the center (Leonard or Zeller), wing player (maybe Moe Harkless) and point guard (possibly Kendall Marshall) that the team needs going forward.

And with Kyle Lowry trade rumors hitting an all-time high in the last few hours, the Rockets may be wise to keep their smorgasbord of picks and take the pass-first Marshall.
 

Yannis’ Notebook: Draft day is finally upon us. All of the speculation, assumptions and rumors will finally be put to rest tonight. While it looks like there could be a lot of activity, I’m not expecting any big names like Pau Gasol or Dwight Howard to be dealt.

This has been one of the tougher years to do mock drafts. By the time the seventh selection is made by the Golden State Warriors, or whoever ends up drafting in that spot, most mocks will be worth as much as those NCAA Tournament brackets that had North Carolina winning it all this year.

I still haven’t heard anything that leads me to believe that Jared Sullinger or Perry Jones III will go anywhere near as high as they would have had they left after their freshman seasons. If I’m a stable playoff team, though, I trade for immediately if given the chance. The promise there is too great to pass on. They should only be viewed cautiously by teams who are outside of the playoff picture looking in that can’t afford to take the risk.

There are two small forwards who I’m really hoping find a way into the bottom of the first round in Draymond Green and Jae Crowder. In the right situation they definitely could be two of the most productive rookies next year. Golden State at 30 would be nice fits for either of them.

No matter what happens, the draft is always one of the most enjoyable events of the year. All of the uncertainty surrounding it this year makes it even more intriguing. So sit back and enjoy the show because it promises to be as compelling as any we’ve seen in recent years.

Joel’s Notebook: We’ve been overanalyzing the draft for weeks now, trying to decide who goes where and which teams might trade to move around, but over the course of the next several hours the over-analyzation is going to ramp up to a whole new level. In that time, let’s try to remember a few truths about what is going to happen later tonight.

Here’s what we know (for now):

Anthony Davis will be the #1 overall pick.

Thomas Robinson should end up in Charlotte with the #2 pick, as evidenced by the Bobcats’ Ben Gordon trade the other day (they no longer need to consider taking Brad Beal) and Washington’s earlier trade to bring in a couple of big men. That seems to be where he thinks he’ll go, too.

The Wizards want Brad Beal, and short of someone trading up to #2 to take him, that’s where he should end up.

At four, things get interesting, but a lot of GMs think Harrison Barnes will be a better all-around pro than Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Don’t be shocked if Barnes goes 4 and MKG drops to 5. Sacramento also has to consider Damien Lillard there, because they still do need a point guard they can build around, and Tyreke Evans isn’t it. Lillard has more star quality than many of the other prospects at that point, so that could be the first major shock of the night.

Beyond that, Andre Drummond could tumble as teams have issues with some of his question marks, and we also know that Houston will not be drafting and keeping three players in the top 18. They want to flip two of those for a higher pick, but if they get stuck with them expect them to sell one off to a team looking to get into the first round.

By the end of the night we’ll see how this falls into place, but the draft is almost here, and everybody’s ready to roll. It’s an exciting time for these kids who are so ready to realize their dreams. Many will go to bed tonight knowing their new employers, and fans and media are almost as ready to see how all that turns out as the players are.

Steve’s Notebook: Every year during the NBA Draft there is a "holy crap pick" when a guy is taken so far outside his perceived range you can not help be wonder. Last year the Cleveland Cavaliers plucked Tristian Thompson #4 overall about 8 picks higher than most had him and it seems that barring a trade, the Cleveland Cavaliers may do the same thing this year scooping up Syracuse guard Dion Waiters with the 4th overall pick.

The Cavaliers have been active, so its very possible they draft Waiters as part of a bigger trade or that they are trading down with a team like Golden State or Toronto.

Waiters had received the draft day "promise" just prior to the start of the Combine in Chicago, leading many to believe he had gotten assurances from the Toronto Raptors at #8. As the draft gets ever so closer, it seems Waiters could have gotten assurance from teams much higher on the board.

Its also looking like Arnett Moultrie has his spot at #17 to the Dallas Mavericks. It is possible a team ahead of Dallas scoops him up, but Moultrie to the Mavs seems highly likely unless there is a major player left on the board that was unexpected.

UNC’s Tyler Zeller is getting tremendous buzz from NBA teams. Tyler could be the 2nd center taken after UNCON’s Andre Drummond and word is New Orleans likes him a lot with the 10th pick, especially if Austin Rivers is gone.

St. John’s Moe Harkless is in New York and will attend the NBA Draft, he was not a Green Room invite, however he will be in the building to collect his handshake from David Stern. Harkless had his best workout of the process with the Portland Trail Blazers who are said to have Harkless in the mix at #11, especially if things change dramatically at the top of the draft board.

Harkless looks like he’ll be gone to either Portland, Milwaukee or Houston and be drafted well before the 20th pick.

There are as many as a dozen draft trade scenarios being kicked around according to sources, so expect a lot of pick movement and a few smaller player related trades to draft in the next 24 hours.
 

So who are these guys?… Alex Raskin has covered the NBA for four years and is based in New York with the Knicks and the Nets. Yannis Koutroupis is HOOPSWORLD’s college basketball editor. He has also covered the NBA for six years and covers the San Antonio Spurs. Joel Brigham has covered the NBA for seven years and covers the Central Division for HOOPSWORLD including the Bulls and the Pacers. Steve Kyler is the editor and publisher of HOOPSWORLD and has covered the NBA for 12 seasons.