2nd Annual NBA Draft Recap

The Good
Memphis trading Shane Battier for Rudy Gay. The Grizzlies actually did something riske. They got great value for Shane Battier, I still can’t believe a team was willing to part with a top-10 pick in exchange for Shane Battier in the year 2006. Now with Rudy Gay, Memphis actually is trying to improve itself, and they get tons of “upside” potential.

Orlando taking JJ Redick. With the power of Darko, Dwight Howard, and my favorite underrated PG, Carlos Arroyo, this is a team destined for the playoffs! There certainly should be enough open looks for JJ on this team. I think JJ didn’t fit very well on most teams, but this is one of those teams where JJ should be able to go in and get some open looks, because I don’t believe he can create his own shot that well.

The Bad –
Seattle choosing the Senegal center, named Sene. Huge upside. Good news: He’s 7 feet tall. Bad news: He only weighs 235 pounds! Just like his fellow Senegalese countryman, DeSagna Diop, this is one of those draft picks where the player is a definite project, and he probably won’t be paying dividends to the Sonics, but to his 2nd team. If I was an NBA GM, I’d only take these insane, long-term projects if I had a playoff team. The Sonics need help now!

I also discovered that this is the 3rd year in a row they have taken a center! In 2004, it was it was Robert Swift, a dorky white 7-footer (averaged 6 and 5.5 in 20mpg). In 2005, it was Johan Petro, a 7-footer from France (average 5 and 4.4 in 19mpg). I believe they are trying to start an international all-star team of skinny 7-footers.

On the subject of skinny 7-footers, I have to bring up one of the first things I learned over the years about drafting players. The 76ers drafted Shawn Bradley back in the early 1990s, who was a skinny 7’6”, but the 76ers management had this great idea to “fix” their draft pick, they would just fatten up Shawn Bradley. The orders came down from the GM and the president, and Bradley was placed on a SIX THOUSAND CALORIE DIET. So I was watching NBA Inside Stuff back in like 1993, hosted by Ahmad Rashad and Willow Bay, and they followed around Shawn Bradley and had dinner with him. Granted, Willow didn’t eat the 7th and 8th courses of the meal, but Shawn Bradley did. Sadly, Shawn Bradley gained only 5 pounds that year. Moral of the story, NBA GMs cannot expect to alter someone’s metabolism. The science just isn’t to that point yet!

Boston – taking on Brian Grant’s salary ($13.3 million) in exchange for rights to Rajon Rondo. Rondo can only score on layups, and has no outside shot. Boston GM Danny Ainge did get Sebastian Telfair earlier in the night while ensuring that Dan Dickau is now moving on to his 6th team in only his 5th year! Congratulation Dan! You are well on your way to catching Jimmy Jackson who has been on 13 teams in 14 years!

The Ugly
Dick Vitale doing NBA draft analysis. Is he up there for comedy purposes??? I really don’t know. All he does is talk about how great the juniors and seniors in college are. This year, he took things to the next level, by stating, “The #1 pick sounds more like an Italian construction company, than [his name] sounds like an NBA player.” And you wonder why the rest of the world doesn’t like Americans.

Names with the Letter “Y”
Throughout their careers at ‘Nova, I could never distinguish Ray from Foye. They played similar positions, and those stupid “y”s confused me. Add in Brandon Roy from Washington, and I just have no idea who is who anymore. I was talking to Mighty and I got very excited that Ray and Foye got drafted back-to-back, then traded for each other. But really, it was Roy and Foye. I hope I can distinguish these guys once they start actually playing.

Cash Considerations
When the Timberwolves traded the #6 pick (Roy) for the #7 pick (Foye), the Timberwolves scored some “cash considerations.” I’d much rather the NBA release what the cash is going to be used for. For example, the trade really could have been “Roy for Foye, a 4-night cruise for the GM, 3 strippers, 2 tickets to the Super Bowl, and $100,000 cold hard cash.”

Isiah is a World Cup Fan
The Knicks always keep it interesting. They drafted Ronaldo! The all-time leading scorer from Brazil! Oh wait, I got it wrong. It was Renaldo (Balkman). From USC. Actually, Univ. of South Carolina. Projected to be a late 2nd-round pick. He’s a 6-8 small forward. At least his favorite food is “peach soda.” No joke, that’s actually listed on NBA.com.