"It's such a joke that the league made the new owners be at the lottery for the show," one high-ranking team executive told Yahoo! Sports. "The league still owns the Hornets. Ask their front office if new owners can make a trade right now. They can't. This is a joke." The reaction of several league executives was part disgust, part resignation on Wednesday night. So many had predicted this happening, so many suspected that somehow, someway, the Hornets would walk away with Davis. That's the worst part for the NBA; these aren't the railings from the guy sitting at the corner tavern, but the belief of those working within the machinery that something undue happened here, that they suspect it happens all the time under Stern. There's no proof, and there will never be proof. Yet, there's an appearance of impropriety – always an appearance – that marches arm-and-arm with Stern into the twilight of his commissionership, marches right out the door with him. I think one of the league executives they are talking about is our own MM.
The NBA is a brand and they protect their brand. People need to stop thinking of the NBA as a sport and start looking at it as a business. The players already look at it as a business, it's just the fans who are stuck in the past. The golden era of the NBA is gone.
I don't think it would be so bad, but I think a lot will change over the next month. I suspect the mocks today will be very different from the mocks in a few weeks. Guys like Lillard or Waiters could sneak into the top ten or even higher if a team decides to reach.
I've seen every one of your posts in all the draft threads so I know how much you love Beal, but there's really no reason for it. He doesn't have a star level talent in anything. I watched a lot of Florida games, the SEC is the conference I watch the most. As was said earlier, the only thing he was superb at in college was rebounding.. And he's a 2 guard.
We all know these mocks and the draft itself is a giant crapshoot. I love looking back and seeing what would happen if they got to redraft. Here is a cool look at '06 (This was obviously written before Brandon came down with injuries) http://www.aolnews.com/2009/06/23/revisiting-the-2006-nba-draft/
Funny how that was written in 09 and if you re-drafted again today Rondo would go from #4 to #1, Millsap would rise about 5 spots. Lowry was ranked below Daniel Gibson, Craig Smith, Randy Foye, Ronnie Brewer.
[video=youtube;5IVL29Vulio]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IVL29Vulio&feature=channel&list=UL[/video]
Draft Express has J.Cunningham (Beavers) going early in the 2nd. NBA Draft.net now has him going in the middle of the second. http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2012/ http://nbadraft.net/2012mock_draft
Hey, I'll take that version - we get Rondo! Notice that Ronnie Brewer was judged the 5th best player in that draft. Something to remember as we're all getting so excited about having picks #6 and #11. In a very good draft there may be ten solid players.
Is a guard we can take at #11 better then Elliot Williams? I know we are trying to acquire as much talent as possible, but just curious.
Good video on Drummond from DX. His offense scares me, but playing and learning next to LA could be very helpful. I think his success will really hinge on who our next coach is and how he works with him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=V1xHtOMCJPg
One thing about Drummond is that he is a year younger than most of his classmates. He is the same age as Oden was coming out of HS. The definition of a project but is the only true C prospect to come into the draft since Oden and Hibbert.
