Who are the winners and losers of the draft? I think Portland did pretty well, as they have been over the past few years. The Spurs are usually a really good drafting team but I question what they did last night. I don't think the Kings did that well either even tough I like Jason Thompson.
I liked the Sonics' picks. Westbrook and Ibaka are pretty solid picks, and DJ White and DeVon Hardin were money picks for them. I liked Indiana's picks. Bayless was great, and Hibbert should be good for them. The Nets got the biggest steal, picking up CDR in the 2nd round. That alone makes them a winner to me. Portland - well that just isn't fair. Every year they have the best draft... Everyone that passed on CDR in the 2nd round, except for the Clips (Jordan), stumped me. Minnesota did get Chalmers, which is solid - but that was their second 2nd round pick. The Kings' picks stumped me. I'm not sure they got the players they should have. Utah's picks stumped me a lil. They got 3 bigs - while Chalmers was still on the board. And while CDR, and a few other wings were available. I don't know what they were thinking. Also, I didn't really like the Memphis - Minnesota trade for either team. Fail.
I know Pat Riley looked upset in his interview after taking Beasley (Lord only knows why) but they without a doubt to me had the best draft. Michael Beasley is a star already and in my opinion was clearly the best player in the draft (Chicago might regret their decision in a few years). Beasley can score and rebound and putting him next to Dwayne Wade is just sickening to think about. Not only do they walk out with Beasley but they got a STEAL in Mario Chalmers in the second round. He can score, defend and shoot the rock. Oh yeah, he is a winner and has a ring to show for it. As far as Darnell Jackson, I don't know enough about him to make an educated opinion. So at the end of the night the Heat walk out with the best player in the draft to pair with Mr. Wade and a tough backup point guard that they desperately needed. They got a damn good one at that.
Nets did very well... Lopez was a steal at #10 and they were fortunate to have him fall to them. CDR was also a steal at #40 since he was expected to go mid-late first round.
I love what the Nets did and love what the Heat did. The Nets got a steal at #10 in Brook Lopez and then a huge steal again in the 2nd round by landing CDR. With the Heat, they got the best talent in the draft in Beasley and then a damn good PG in Mario Chalmers.
Chicago. And the reason is simple: Derrick Rose is, IMO, gonna be HEAD AND SHOULDERS the far best player in this draft. I may be saying this prematurely, but I expect his name to be on top of the all-time greats list right underneath some players named Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Oscar Robertson, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. I'm probably gonna take a bashing for this one......
The winner of the draft is clearly Portland, which shouldn't come as a surprise since they only had like, what, half the picks of the entire draft? I'm still amazed at all the young talent that team has managed to stack up. They're going to be extremely dangerous in the future. Other teams that did well in my opinion are New Jersey and Miami. The loser of the draft? Sacramento Queens, I mean Kings. They picked Jason Thompson in the lottery when he wasn't projected to get drafted until the late first round / early second round. Then they take Sean Singletary in the middle of the second round, when he was projected to be one of the later picks of the draft. They took Patrick Ewing Jr. when he wasn't even projected to get drafted. Obviously the Kings probably saw something I didn't, and they could very well end up with a very good draft class when it's all said and done, but based on the mock drafts that I have seen, they made a lot of big reaches.
I liked Rose, I really did. However, as a Chicago fan, I wanted Beasley. He filled more of a need than Rose, even though Rose is an upgrade over Hinrich. However, their 2nd round flustered me. Both CDR and Billy Walker are on the board, and they took some dude I've never even heard of. Why do you let two first round talents fall past you? It befuddles me still.
Of course Portland. They ended up with Bayless, Batum, an 09 2nd rounder, and two additional unamed future second rounders. Minnesota has a good draft. The ended up getting the guy they wanted in Kevin Love PLUS Mike Miller and exchange some crap contracts with the Grizz. Then they take Nikola Pekovic in round two who figures to be a solid C down the line. Then they move Chalmers for two second round picks next year, which is a good trade for them IMO because I think Chalmers is overrated. Clippers did pretty well for themselves getting their guy, Eric Gordon, at 7 who I believe will be a big time scorer for them. Then they got DeAndre Jordan at 35 and later traded for Mike Taylor. I would say the Nets did well but Ryan Anderson at 21 is a pretty bad pick IMO (this is coming from a Cal fan). Hard to argue with Brook Lopez at 10 and CDR at 40 though. I like the Celtics trading for Bill Walker in exchange for cash as well as drafting JR Giddens and Semih Erden. I love my Warriors' draft from a value standpoint- Randolph is a top ten talent and a great pick at 14. Hendrix IMO should have been taken between 28-35 and outclasses a lot of the players drafted above him. Worst draft has to go to the Kings. Thompson at 12 is a joke and then Singletary and Patrick Ewing Junior at 42/43 with a lot of very good players left on the board is ridiculous. Seattle got talent but not really at good value. Russell Westbrook at 4? DJ White at 29 (and you give up 2 second round picks)? Devon Hardin is a decent pick in the 50s though. Grizzlies... lol. Trade a PF who fits in perfectly for another combo guard to add to the collection and give up Mike Miller. Then trade Donte Greene for Darrell Arthur. Indiana was another head scratcher. They trade Bayless and Diogu for Brandon Rush and Jarret Jack, terrible on all accounts. Then you take Roy Hibbert with the pick you got from the JO trade.
I don't see what peoples problem is with Indys draft. I kinda liked it. Hibbert does fill a need with JO leaving, and they had no real spot for Bayless with TJ Ford coming in, and they needed a 2, so it makes sense to get Brandon Rush, who on all accounts is going to be an extremely good player.
I'm sort of in the middle on this night. I'd have to say Milwaukee did really well overall as they were able to trade for Richard Jefferson and pick up Joe Alexander in the process. Another team of course being Portland, who really came away strong again and are looking even brighter to the future. I also thought Houston had the biggest steal of the night by drafting Nicolas Batum. They haven't traded him to Portland as far as I've seen this morning and it may look like they won't either. They'd be smart to keep him now. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Moo2K4 @ Jun 27 2008, 01:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I liked Rose, I really did. However, as a Chicago fan, I wanted Beasley. He filled more of a need than Rose, even though Rose is an upgrade over Hinrich. However, their 2nd round flustered me. Both CDR and Billy Walker are on the board, and they took some dude I've never even heard of. Why do you let two first round talents fall past you? It befuddles me still.</div> I'm happy with the second round results now though as they traded Sonny Weems away to get Ömer Aşık, who you may remember I wanted if we couldn't get CDR. Since the Bulls passed on him, at least they made up for it by signing a solid Euro big man who can play power forward and center.
When did the Bulls trade Weems? I'm looking at Ford's mock and it says we got Asik and Weems both. I've heard that the Bulls traded a trio of 2nd rounders to get Asik, not Weems.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Moo2K4 @ Jun 27 2008, 02:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>When did the Bulls trade Weems? I'm looking at Ford's mock and it says we got Asik and Weems both. I've heard that the Bulls traded a trio of 2nd rounders to get Asik, not Weems.</div> Do not read, watch or follow ESPN in general. Trust me on that. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>After being drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the second round (39th overall), Sonny Weems received a call from his agent fifteen minutes later informing him that he’d already been traded to the Denver Nuggets. “He just told me I got traded to the Nuggets,” Weems said Thursday night. “That was fine by me. I think Denver wanted me all along.”</div> Source: Fayetteville Flyer In any case, I just found this morning that Batum was indeed traded to Portland after all. Another big plus for me!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Hunter @ Jun 27 2008, 12:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I know Pat Riley looked upset in his interview after taking Beasley (Lord only knows why) but they without a doubt to me had the best draft. Michael Beasley is a star already and in my opinion was clearly the best player in the draft (Chicago might regret their decision in a few years). Beasley can score and rebound and putting him next to Dwayne Wade is just sickening to think about. Not only do they walk out with Beasley but they got a STEAL in Mario Chalmers in the second round. He can score, defend and shoot the rock. Oh yeah, he is a winner and has a ring to show for it. As far as Darnell Jackson, I don't know enough about him to make an educated opinion. So at the end of the night the Heat walk out with the best player in the draft to pair with Mr. Wade and a tough backup point guard that they desperately needed. They got a damn good one at that.</div> That's right, I forgot about the Heat. Add them to the winners list.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (M Two One @ Jun 27 2008, 01:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'm sort of in the middle on this night. I'd have to say Milwaukee did really well overall as they were able to trade for Richard Jefferson and pick up Joe Alexander in the process. Another team of course being Portland, who really came away strong again and are looking even brighter to the future. I also thought Houston had the biggest steal of the night by drafting Nicolas Batum. They haven't traded him to Portland as far as I've seen this morning and it may look like they won't either. They'd be smart to keep him now.</div> Batum was traded to Portland. EDIT: nevermind you figured that out lol
Surprised no one has mentioned us as having the worst draft. Passed on the likes of DeAndre Jordan, Devon Hardin, Bill Walker and Chris Douglas Roberts, for.... Walter Sharpe (?), Trent Plaisted and Deron Washington.... Although Joe has said he was drafting based on being able to send the guys to Europe, and we save money not having to sign these guys to garunteed contracts, we would've been better trying to trade for future picks, or cash considerations in my opinion. I would've loved to have seen a gamble on DeAndre Jordan though, considering we're still lacking depth at the 3 and 5.
