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Big mocks all say same thing: Brooklyn Nets to take Chris McCullough

By Net Income
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Is there no mystery to who the Nets will take at No. 29 Thursday?

A round-up of the big mock drafts shows that draftniks mostly think Chris McCullough, the 6'10" Syracuse product with the torn ACL, will be a Net on Thursday night.  McCollough, who turned 20 a few months ago, is seen as having lottery-level talent, but his knee is giving GMs pause, particularly because it's taking time to heal (as do most torn ACL's).

So far, Jonathan Givony of Draft Express; Chad Ford of ESPN; Kevin O'Connor of SB Nation and Aran Smith of NBADraft.net all have the Nets taking McCullough, just as other draftniks did earlier in the pre-draft speculation. In fact, no name has been penciled in more next to the Nets than McCullough's. Moreover, we're told the Nets do have interest in him.  McCollough, a Bronx native, has embraced the idea of playing in New York.

"If I get drafted to the Brooklyn Nets, I want to bring home a NBA championship to my hometown," the Bronx native told Nets Daily News earlier this month. McCullough also told Ravi Shah, "The Nets felt like home to me," saying he loved the questions the Nets asked him, presumably at the Draft Combine, last month.

There remains concerns about his knee and about his motor.  As Givony wrote last month,

While only 20 years old, Chris McCullough's career has been somewhat of a rollercoaster so far. Considered a top-10 recruit in his class early on in high school, his stock dramatically dropped among scouting services when his production failed to live up to his lofty potential, and concerns lingered about his lack of intensity and internal motivation

In an interview with the New York Post, published Monday, McCullough doesn't talk about the Nets, but does talk about his readiness, admitting he might not play this season.  His agent said that some of the 18 teams he's spoken with would have him sit out the entire year to make sure he’s healthy, while others wouldn’t hesitate getting him back on the court when cleared. He has begun running, which is progress.

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