Winners
Minnesota Timberwolves – Rashad McCants was a fantastic pick. It’s unbelievable that he was available at 14, and the T-wolves will be back in the playoffs next season. McCants will be replacing Spreewell at SG. The next step is to find PG Sam Cassell’s replacement. They also nabbed Bracey Wright from Indiana in the 2nd round, who at least will help their 3-point shooting now that Fred Hoiberg may not be playing due to having heart surgery. The Timberwolves always battle bad luck, but at least they drafted well, and with KG, Wally, McCants, and a healthy Troy Hudson, they will return to the playoffs.
Charlotte Bobcats – They can definitely pack the stadium now that they have Felton and Sean May to add to Emeka Okafor. Felton is still pretty raw, but Charlotte is really winning back the fans by drafting college players who can immediately play and avoiding any attitude problems. If they can add a shooter next year, they will have built a .500 team rather quickly.
Questionable
New York Knicks – They got their top-rated center in Channing Frye, but he’s as skinny as Shawn Bradley, and he’s only 6’10”. I realize he’s the center most likely to play immediately, but it’s a big gamble. I have to actually give credit for the first time ever to GM Isiah Thomas for getting Quentin Richardson and Nate Robinson (short guy from Washington) for Kurt Thomas. The Knicks actually got a quality player in a trade! It’s unbelievable!
Golden State Warriors – They drafted Ike Diogu from Arizona State, who can rebound and score, and is real talented. The problem is, he doesn’t play defense. GM Chris Mullin has a quick team that can score a lot of points, but won’t play any defense. He’s trying to create a 21-st century version of Run TMC! (That was what they called Tim Hardway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin). This version has Baron Davis, Jason Richardson, and Ike Diogu.
LA Lakers – If Phil Jackson wasn’t the coach, and they weren’t planning on competing immediately, then their pick of a 7-foot tall 17-year old is fine. The problem is, they were supposed to get players ready to play immediately, especially at point guard. I thought Jarrett Jack would have been a great pick for them, but instead they chose a 2nd round PG from Florida St. I guess we’ll have to see some Phil Jackson magic and some off-season acquisitions if the Lakers are going to get a playoff spot next year.
Losers
Toronto Raptors – I guess they are planning on using Chris Bosh at Center. They added Charlie “I look like an Ogre” Villaneuva and Joey Graham, a physical small forward from Oklahoma State. I’m not really sold on Chris Bosh at Center, so if Bosh plays another position, suddenly Villaneuva is a 6th-man and then the draft really doesn’t make any sense. The Raptors failed to address their SG or PG concerns, other than a European who doesn’t sound like he’s ready yet.
Utah Jazz – Gave up 3 first round picks just to get PG Deron Williams. A) I don’t like Deron Williams that much as an NBA point guard. He’s slow like Khalid-El Amin (that Uconn point guard who lasted all of 2 seasons). B) If Utah doesn’t pull the trade, Portland stays put, and still drafts a high schooler at #3 since Portland already had a number of point guards. Which means that one of Deron Williams, Chris Paul, or Raymond Felton still would have been available at #6. I think Utah just got absolutely fleeced by Portland. In Utah’s defense, Portland may have threatened to draft a PG and hold him ransom, but it would have been only a bluff, and Utah could have played that game, and probably given up less AFTER the draft in a point guard/high schooler swap.
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3 comments:
I think in the questionable category I have to put the Nets in that category. Antoine Wright, a shooting guard out Texas A&M, is a good player from what I have heard. However the Nets have one of the best back courts already (Kidd and Carter) with RJ coming back at the 3. Where does that put a 2 guard in Wright? Given the fact that the Nets have Collins and the winner of the "Who Wants to be Power Foward for a Day" contest up front you think New Jersey would have drafted a big man. Unless New Jersey is trading Wright, that pick seems awfully questionable.
Obviously I'm partisan but I think the Knicks come out of this draft as winners. Frye is listed at 6'10 1/2" 248 which is Marcus Camby size. While I have no idea if Frye can perform like Camby has the last two seasons, I am pretty sure that the NBA has a place for athletic players with offensive skills. Frankly, I think Frye was the safe pick and not a gamble at all. He gives the Knicks some size, he's coming from a great program that coaches its players very well and he can play the kind of up-tempo basketball the Knicks are trying to play. The gamble would've been if they had drafted a bigger man like the high school kid the Lakers took. In the NBA, drafting size for size's sake tends to often leave you with Adonal Foyle, Eric Dampier and Sean Rooks. The Knicks made a very good pick at #8.
Trading for Nate Robinson is the steal of the draft. He won't be a starter in the NBA but he'll be the pesky defensive player that every team needs in its 2nd squad. To add in Q was a stroke of genius. He makes Jamal Crawford our 6th man, a role that is perfect for him. Q is the Allan Houston that we didn't have last year.
I'm just not sure about Channing Frye, but it's definately true that he was most ready to play out of those available. With Nate Robinson and Q, there could be some light on the end of the tunnel for New York this season.
Boston did get a supposedly awesome high schooler in the middle of the 1st round. They have a nice young team, and it will be interesting to see how that develops the next 2 years.
I wasn't sure what the Nets were doing. I tried to just cover some notable teams. Also failed to mention how Portland traded for Jarrett Jack, so they now have 4 point guards on their roster. I hope they are working on some more trades.
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