Its that time of year - playoffs out of reach, team begins playing inspired ball, wins pile up, draft pick plummets. So this thread is devoted to predicting what pick we'll actually end up with. Wasn't long ago it was #7 with a bullet, sliding towards 5 or 6 - we now stand at #8 inching towards #9 or 10. Teams we could Pass: Utah 33-37 (4-6) Philadelphia 32-37 (2-8) NO/Oklahoma City 32-37 (1-9) Chicago 31 40 (4-6) Golden State 30-39 (5-5) Houston 30-40 (3-7) Minnesota 29-41 (3-7) Seattle 29-41 (6-4) Boston 29-42 (3-7) One of BOS, CHI, or PHI won't matter because one of them will make the playoffs. My guess though is that we leapfrog 3 teams between now and the end of the season, and end up with the 11th pick. Finishing out the final 12 games with a record of 7-5. Thoughts???
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting M_Cage89:</div><div class="quote_post">Its that time of year - playoffs out of reach, team begins playing inspired ball, wins pile up, draft pick plummets.</div> Golden State board.
Something tells me that all of this will be irrelevant come lottery time. David Stern understands the severity of our lease agreement and what better way for our fan base and legislators to support Seattle for us to get one of the top three picks. We haven't had a top three draft choice since we got Gary Payton and haven't drafted before the eleventh pick since that draft either. To say that we are due is an understatement. The league is as corrupt as it has ever been and there is no doubt in my mind that with Adam Morrison being from the Pacific NW, and a dearth of American born white stars in the NBA (not that I think that he'll become one), there will be some sentiment from some high ranking NBA officials for him to be in a situation where he will be comfortable and prosper. It happened with LeBron and it can happen again. I don't anticipate that we'll get the first pick but at the same time I'll be shocked if we don't get a top three pick this season. It's amazing how successful we have been in the past 16 years without the luxury of being able to acquire a top draft pick or a top notch free agent. What is the NBA equivalent to "Moneyball?"
Would Adam Morrison really help the Sonics? They already have a good SF in Rashard Lewis. And Morrison certainly isn't going to help their defense any.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Iron Shiek:</div><div class="quote_post">It happened with LeBron and it can happen again.</div> It helped that Cleveland had the equal worst record in the league for the season though with only 17 wins. Anyway, I would hope if we got a top three pick we'd look to take Gay over Morrison.
I'm not a big fan of Morrison, but I think that there would be a lot of pressure on the team to take him if we got a top three pick. In terms of long term potential, I'd rather have Gay than Morrison too, but I wouldn't be upset if we ended up with the diabetic wonder. True competitiveness is a trait shared by few. I think the best fit for us in this draft would be Randy Foye, simply b/c he is capable of being a reliable two guard and could play spot minutes at the point. Brandon Roy is another player that I'd love to get, but other than that, there aren't too many players that I would look at as being a great fit for our team. We are pretty solid across the board right now.
I'm not a big Morrison fan either. Don't get me wrong the kid can shoot and also does a good job creating space to get his shot off in traffic. But defensively he's deficient, rebounding is sub-par and he's just an OK passer from what I've seen. I'd much rather have Brandon Roy just for his all around game, although I'm not sure he's a top 3 pick. Draft looks pretty weak this year - I don't take a power player with Swift, Petro, Wilcox, Collison and even Felix and Big Game Mikki playing a few minutes here and there. Even though I like Sheldon Williams despite his Duke pedigree, LaMarcus Aldridge looks like he might be this years Chris Taft (speaking totally out of my ass BTW since I've only seen him play 5 minutes), I saw this Horford kid play last weekend and he looked like a player, same with Noah. So I'd just take a skill guy either as a backup 2 or 3. Really, I see Ray Allen as the only guy who can create off the dribble and get to the rim, maybe Watson now that he's getting comfortable. That's where I see Roy fitting in perfectly. I like what I saw of Foye in the tournament as far as having an NBA game/body. Lastly, we may just take this kid Allen Ray, just so we can have a Ray Allen/Allen Ray backcourt.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Roland Hood:</div><div class="quote_post">Lastly, we may just take this kid Allen Ray, just so we can have a Ray Allen/Allen Ray backcourt.</div> I can just picture Craig Ehlo having fun with that backcourt. I want to see Roy in a Sonics uniform!!! Period. We need a guy like that...
