Just taking a quick glance at ESPN's homepage gives us a plethora of Texas sports news. I imagine I could make a few fanshots, but I figured this was easier.

- First off, everyone's favorite ex-NFL running back Cedric Benson was ordered to install an ignition lock breathalyzer in his car. In response, Cedric Benson said, "let's get some fucking french toast."

- Reports have surfaced that the Raptors are involved in talks to send TJ Ford to the Pacers. It seems like everyone and their mom favors Jose Calderon over TJ, but Ford ain't too bad either. I'd certainly take him over the Rafer Alston/Bobby Jackson bucket of crap we've got on the Rockets right now.

- That would also throw a twist in Chad Ford's latest mock (it seems like he puts a new one out every other day...this one is 7.0). This one has DJ going to the Pacers at 11.

The Pacers have been eyeing two point guards -- D.J. Augustin and Russell Westbrook -- for a while.

Westbrook looks like he'll be long gone. He canceled his workout with the Pacers last week and hasn't rescheduled. That leaves Augustin, who's an excellent fallback option for the Pacers. Augustin is a better floor leader than Westbrook and a better perimeter shooter, and he's more ready to step in and play right away. He should be an excellent fit for Indiana.

- Ford's mock also moves the Sonics off the Jerryd Bayless train (I think all 6 previous incarnations had Bayless at 4), and has them picking up Russell Westbrook at 4. Westbrook was seen as Augustin's primary competition after Rose, Mayo, and Bayless, so it's a little surprising that his stock has shot up this high. I personally wouldn't mind seeing the Sonics trade down to reunite Kevin Durant with DJ, but I highly doubt that happens.

- Finally, John Hollinger has his pre-draft ratings up for the guards, and DJ checks in solidly but not spectacularly. Taking a look at DJ and his comparators:

D.J. Augustin, Texas (14.88); Derrick Rose, Memphis (14.69); Mario Chalmers, Kansas (14.03); Jerryd Bayless, Arizona (14.03).

 

Surprisingly, nobody rates as a slam-dunk lottery pick, not even Derrick Rose. In fact, Rose came in only second here, partly because he had such a slow start to his freshman season before picking up steam at the end.

 

Is this enough reason to draft Augustin ahead of Rose? No, because the margin between them is miniscule, and even if their career PERs end up the same, Rose will have far more defensive value given his superior size.

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Finally, it's notable that Chalmers, though widely presumed to be a fringe first-rounder, rates even with Bayless and pretty close to Rose and Augustin

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O.J. Mayo, USC (13.00), Russell Westbrook, UCLA (11.91)

This is going to surprise some people, as Mayo has been projected as high as No. 3 in the draft. Truth be told, in this draft he probably deserves to be a lottery pick even going by these ratings -- he's rated 16th overall, and his one season of stats means his estimate is more prone to error than the projections of players who stayed in school longer. But he'll be 21 on November 5, and this system takes age into account when projecting potential.

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Though Westbrook is seen by many as a point guard, he actually rated even worse when I tried him there. It's possible he was just playing out of position at UCLA, but the projections say it's not worth using a top-10 pick to find out.

I'm a bit surprised by everyone's low numbers, although it's worth pointing out that many of these players had other stars on the team (Rose, Westbrook, Augustin, et al), and thus their production was perhaps not as high as it could've been (a la Michael Beasley, who was head and shoulders the best player on his team).

Note: Both the Ford and Hollinger articles are Insider only.