NBA Draft Thread

[Stallion]

I feel this deserves its own thread for discussion. Anyway aside from Blake Griffin being the undisputed number 1 pick, this draft was full of surprises. Here are some of the more notable ones:

Ricky Rubio falling as far as 5. Back when Rubio was the undisputed number 2, I still thought the Grizzlies would pick Thabeet over him, but I was truly surprised that not just the Thunder passed him, but the Kings too. I see why they preferred Tyreke Evans, more NBA ready being the main one. However, once Rubio develops a good jumper, he could be an absolute steal at 5 for the Wolves.

Picking Johnny Flynn over DeMar DeRozan or Gerald Henderson was a real suprise for me. Yes, Flynn is an excellent point guard, but seriously, why draft two consecutive point guards (especially when you haven't traded either) in a draft when picking a complimentary wing of DeRozan's calibre makes sense. The fact that the boy doesn't have a big ego means he would have slot in well amongst the Wolves stars such as Jefferson, Gomes and Love, and his ridiculous upside would have been an awesome thing for the Wolves to have.

Tyler Hansbrough being picked over Earl Clark. This to me was just a great steal for Phoenix. Hansbrough is more polished at the moment, but Clark's upside is huge (think better then Odom/Marion) where as its been agreed that Hansbrough will be nothing more then a role player. I guess that the fact that Clark is more of a 3 (Danny Granger's usual position) means that Hansbrough was the more attractive option, but I just can't help but think what a matchup nightmare they would be with Clark at the 3 and Granger at the two. Rush has shown alot of improvement at the 2 though, so maybe it was the wiser decision. Who knows?

DeJuan Blair and Chase Budinger falling as far as they did. New Orleans really should have taken Budinger with that pick as his outstanding outside shooting and athleticism would have really given them a good offensive compliment to CP3. Instead they pick Darren Collison, forever destined to be nothing more then a bench player so long he is at New Orleans. Budinger should be a solid role player at Detroit though so that was a good pickup. Blair was even more suprising seeing as most mock drafts had him top 15. I understand the fact that his lack of size for his position made him an unattractive option to most teams, but his toughness will add alot to a traditionally tough Spurs team.

And finally, my former school mate Patrick Mills. I thought he would go late first/early second round, but was honestly suprised as anything when he fell to pick 55 to the Blazers. I understand the concerns with him, in that he is pretty short and has questionable shot selection, but considering the fact that he torched a ridiculously loaded Team USA for + 20 points in the Olympics last year and was incredibly consistant for the Boomers, as well as almost single handedly transforming St Mary's into an NCAA team (I still argue they should have been there), should at least put him in a higher echelon then many of those other 2nd round scrubs. Despite being a lifelong Laker fan, I am now inclined to support the Blazers due to Paddy's presence there (or at least support both teams), go Blazers!

Anyway discuss your thoughts/musings on this year's draft.

 

[Da Letter El]

No mention of Jrue Holliday falling to 17 as being a major drop? This guy was projected as the #1 college recruit last year. I have troble justifying picking an unproven guard from overseas over someone who has shown his raw talent and athleticism in multiple points. I remember watching him when he played in high school, and he was without a doubt the most explosive player I have seen in a while. He would come out of nowhere and intercept passes; he would blast by defenders without even trying, etc. That's as much of a drop as any, considering he easily could have gone top 10 (and probably should have gone where Demar did, in my opinion). He didn't have an amazing Freshman year, but honestly, when it comes to raw talent, you can't get much better than Jrue Holliday.

And New Orleans made a huge mistake in drafting Collison; Collison had a pretty meh senior year, and I don't see him contributing anything to any NBA team, let alone a team that already has CP3.

...and now to talk about my Lakers; they put themselves in as good of a position as they could to resign Ariza and Odom, which I honestly can't blame them for.

And there were SO MANY TRADES. I don't think there's ever been a draft with that many trades. I think that teams like Orlando did themselves a huge favor with this draft, which Minnesota did whatever they could to help their team as little as possible with 6 picks in the draft (5 guards? Seriously? I don't care if you're trading them, trade the pick itself so you don't look absolutely idiotic in the process).

Anyway, I'd like to hear who everyone thought was the biggest winner in this draft. Besides the Clippers getting Blake Griffin, which should help immensely and give them a solid core. Still, I gotta say that the Magic definitely improved their stock a lot in this draft.

 

[Lakers]

Actually, Brandon Jennings was the #1 recruit out of last years high school class, until he decided to go to Europe over college. Jrue Holliday was the next highest rated pg though, and they had him going top 10 in this draft possibly.

Another surprise I thought in this draft was the Knicks. It really shouldnt have surprised me as I watched them pass up on Marcus Williams for Ronaldo Balkman, and even trading away NeNe, but I really thought they couldnt mess this pick up. I just wonder how anybody figures Jordan Hill is going to get decent minutes when he has David Lee and Al Harrington ahead of him. They needed a guard to run their offense, and Chris Duhon isnt going to get it done. They could of had Jennings, De Rozan for a swingman, or Holliday....

For biggest winner, I think its gotta be the Sixers or the Bucks. I think jennings can be a major part of that team, and Holliday was a steal for the Sixers at their pick. Another team that I thought was a winner was the Thunder. I didnt really like their pick of Harden, but I think he can pan out to be solid. I also think their trade for B.J. Mullens. I think if they work with him he can be a solid center also

 

[franky]

Decent draft, a plethora of PG's though I must admit.. I posted on the other thread but is anyone else shocked that Christmas never got drafted? He was pretty amazing.

Also as for ROY predictions, I can see James Harden winning this. James Harden is probably the best overall package behind Griffin. Harden has physical size for PG and has the entire package. Reminds me a bit of Deron Williams / Brandon Roy type of player so watch out for him

 

[Tint]

Maybe it's because I'm from Pittsburgh, and I saw these two play, but Blair and Sam Young are crazy good. DeJuan went up against Thabeet three(?) times, and he came out on top all three, while having a crazy good game, so his whole height difference is bullshit. He also comes to my old middle school every year to play with the basketball teams in a student-teacher game. He's got hugggge arms, and he can touch the top of the backboard, which shows how much of an athlete he is.

Sam Young is a great athlete, tough, strong, and can shoot. He's gonna be a top rookie this year, and many teams will be upset that they passed on him.

 

[Brawley]

I dont know why the Timberwolves drafted 2 point guards, rubio/curry would be much better, also they might trade rubio to new york which they should.

 

[Loki]

yeah that was a rumor but it's supposedly not happening. if they're trading someone it's probably more likely to be flynn. i think the biggest winners were the spurs even though they didnt even have a first round pick. blair is the best rebounder in this draft and should be able to come off the bench right away. i know his knees scared off a lot of teams but even if you only get a few years out of him, thats still pretty good for the 40th pick. jack mcclinton is basically eddie house jr. so he can contribute off the bench right away as well and de colo is a solid backup for parker.

btw budinger is not with the pistons, he was traded to the rockets for cash. as for sam young, yes he's talented but teams typically dont draft a player that old early unless he's really really good. to put it in perspective, young is only 6 months younger than lebron james and 5 years older than rubio. he's basically a finished product at this point and nba teams like drafting more on potential.

 

[ToF]

Patty Mills to the Blazers was an absolute steal for them. Passing him up will be regrettable for the teams that left him on the board.

 

[Phizzlax]

Rubio will probably be spending another year or two in Spain before coming to the NBA (I don't blame him).

He's scary, I can't wait to see him play when he's older.

Poor Knicks wanted Curry so badly. Hahaha.

 

[darkie]

I'm not too unsatisfied with the Mavs picks. I really wanted Eric Maynor, but Beaubois should be a decent defender. Plus, his name is really great. I hope he's good for the sole reason of making announcers say his name a lot. I like Calathes; once he's done in Greece, he should be a great back-up if not starter!