NBA Draft Night
UPDATE: ESPN.com reports that the Jazz dealt their #6 and #27 picks this year and their rights to Detroit's #1 pick next year to Portland in return for the #3 pick tonight. I love this move for Utah because I think Deron Williams (I'm assuming Sloan & Co. will take him #3) is a franchise PG, which the Jazz desperately need, and I don't think Felton is the same. If the Jazz had stayed at #6, they likely would have missed out on Williams (and Paul). The Blazers will still get Gerald Green (probably) at #6, so this seems to be a good deal for both teams.
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Worth about the pixels on which it's printed, RealGM provides an interactive, if not accurate, website for wannabe NBA GM's. They posted a report on Monday night that alleges that the Rockets and Hawks have discussed swapping the #24 and #31 picks in tonight's draft. I don't see that this is a big deal, really. I'm sure the Rockets have a handful of guys that, if available at #24, they'd be happy to take, but the impact of a player taken tonight at #24 is likely to be somewhat minimal, so if they are able to put a package together that either adds another pick or brings in a proven player (not that the Hawks really have any proven NBA talent on their roster), the Rockets would certainly have to consider it. The RealGM report indicates that the Rockets have their eyes on Luther Head. Head's a nice player, in my opinion, but I'm not sure he's worth the #24 pick in the draft, which apparently the Rockets seem to think as well.
Here's my mock draft (assuming no trades):
1. Milwaukee - Andrew Bogut: I think that this is a mistake, as Marvin Williams is a freak of nature, but apparently the Bucks are sold on Bogut. He's definitely a beast in the paint, but I'm not sure how high his potential really is. If I'm Atlanta at #2, I'm sending highlight films of Bogut to Milwaukee every 10 minutes trying to convince them to take the Ute. (Note: When's the last time the same school boasted the #1 pick in the same year's NBA and NFL drafts?)
2. Atlanta - Marvin Williams: Al Harrington, Josh Childress, Josh Smith, Donta Smith and Marvi Williams. While none of these guys are allowed to buy a bottle of beer, they sure do provide the nucleus of an exciting young roster. But since it's the Hawks, I'm sure they'll sell the kids for parts at some point in their neverending pursuit of imperfection.
3. Portland - Gerald Green: Paul or Deron Williams is probably the best pick at #3, but I'm assuming Telfair's selection in '04 will preclude the Blazers from taking a point guard at #3.
4. New Orleans - Deron Williams: I'm not sure that the Hornets have any kind of plan in place, but I do know that Dan Dickau likely is not their "PG of the future", despite how effective he was last season.
5. Charlotte - Chris Paul: Paul has the talent to be the biggest star out of this draft, in my opinion.
6. Utah - Raymond Felton: To me, Felton = Ed Cota II. We'll see if he proves me wrong.
7. Toronto - Danny Granger
8. New York - Hakim Warrick: I'm sure that Isiah will manage to screw this up somehow, but this sure seems like a nice fit to me.
9. Golden State - Charlie Villanueva: I wouldn't be surprised to see GS move up to try and get one of the 3 big PG's in the draft, but I think they think that they're not far from competing, so I don't think they'll go with a high schooler if they stay at #9. I'm not big on Villanueva, but he's certainly talented.
10. LA Lakers - Martell Webster: Since the Zenmaster admits that the Lakers are likely years away from being competitve again, a HS player seems the perfect fit.
11. Orlando - Channing Frye: Loren Woods says "Hi."
12. LA Clippers - Yaroslav Korolev: I've never heard of this guy, so he's a perfect fit for the Clips.
13. Charlotte - Rashad McCants: If the Bobcats go into next fall with Paul at the point, McCants at the 2, Okafor at the 4 and Brezec at the 5, they'll deserve a lot of credit. I'd buy tickets to see that team develop.
14. Minnesota - Andrew Bynum: Nothing like hiring a GM hours before the draft. I'm assuming that the Kandi Man might be a guy that new GM Boy King would like to replace.
24. Houston - My guess is that the Rockets don't pick at #24 tonight. I'm not sure what they'll do exactly, but I figure that JVG's dislike for rookies and the need to move Sura/Wesley will result in a deal being done, probably to bring a young vet into the Rockets' fold.
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Worth about the pixels on which it's printed, RealGM provides an interactive, if not accurate, website for wannabe NBA GM's. They posted a report on Monday night that alleges that the Rockets and Hawks have discussed swapping the #24 and #31 picks in tonight's draft. I don't see that this is a big deal, really. I'm sure the Rockets have a handful of guys that, if available at #24, they'd be happy to take, but the impact of a player taken tonight at #24 is likely to be somewhat minimal, so if they are able to put a package together that either adds another pick or brings in a proven player (not that the Hawks really have any proven NBA talent on their roster), the Rockets would certainly have to consider it. The RealGM report indicates that the Rockets have their eyes on Luther Head. Head's a nice player, in my opinion, but I'm not sure he's worth the #24 pick in the draft, which apparently the Rockets seem to think as well.
Here's my mock draft (assuming no trades):
1. Milwaukee - Andrew Bogut: I think that this is a mistake, as Marvin Williams is a freak of nature, but apparently the Bucks are sold on Bogut. He's definitely a beast in the paint, but I'm not sure how high his potential really is. If I'm Atlanta at #2, I'm sending highlight films of Bogut to Milwaukee every 10 minutes trying to convince them to take the Ute. (Note: When's the last time the same school boasted the #1 pick in the same year's NBA and NFL drafts?)
2. Atlanta - Marvin Williams: Al Harrington, Josh Childress, Josh Smith, Donta Smith and Marvi Williams. While none of these guys are allowed to buy a bottle of beer, they sure do provide the nucleus of an exciting young roster. But since it's the Hawks, I'm sure they'll sell the kids for parts at some point in their neverending pursuit of imperfection.
3. Portland - Gerald Green: Paul or Deron Williams is probably the best pick at #3, but I'm assuming Telfair's selection in '04 will preclude the Blazers from taking a point guard at #3.
4. New Orleans - Deron Williams: I'm not sure that the Hornets have any kind of plan in place, but I do know that Dan Dickau likely is not their "PG of the future", despite how effective he was last season.
5. Charlotte - Chris Paul: Paul has the talent to be the biggest star out of this draft, in my opinion.
6. Utah - Raymond Felton: To me, Felton = Ed Cota II. We'll see if he proves me wrong.
7. Toronto - Danny Granger
8. New York - Hakim Warrick: I'm sure that Isiah will manage to screw this up somehow, but this sure seems like a nice fit to me.
9. Golden State - Charlie Villanueva: I wouldn't be surprised to see GS move up to try and get one of the 3 big PG's in the draft, but I think they think that they're not far from competing, so I don't think they'll go with a high schooler if they stay at #9. I'm not big on Villanueva, but he's certainly talented.
10. LA Lakers - Martell Webster: Since the Zenmaster admits that the Lakers are likely years away from being competitve again, a HS player seems the perfect fit.
11. Orlando - Channing Frye: Loren Woods says "Hi."
12. LA Clippers - Yaroslav Korolev: I've never heard of this guy, so he's a perfect fit for the Clips.
13. Charlotte - Rashad McCants: If the Bobcats go into next fall with Paul at the point, McCants at the 2, Okafor at the 4 and Brezec at the 5, they'll deserve a lot of credit. I'd buy tickets to see that team develop.
14. Minnesota - Andrew Bynum: Nothing like hiring a GM hours before the draft. I'm assuming that the Kandi Man might be a guy that new GM Boy King would like to replace.
24. Houston - My guess is that the Rockets don't pick at #24 tonight. I'm not sure what they'll do exactly, but I figure that JVG's dislike for rookies and the need to move Sura/Wesley will result in a deal being done, probably to bring a young vet into the Rockets' fold.
posted by Scott | 9:36 AM
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