The NBA draft is about 90 minutes away and the Chicago Bulls are on the clock. The general consensus is that Freshman PG Derrick Rose from Memphis, a kid who grew up in Chicago, will be their choice. I’m sold on that logic and am excited about his potential if he is in the same ballpark as Chris Paul and Deron Williams.
The big drama surround the 2nd pick of the draft owned by the Miami Heat. Michael Beasley is clearly the 1st or 2nd best player available but for whatever reason Pat Riley doesn’t seem interested in him at all. Time is running short on the chances of a trade but I think it will probably happen with the Timberwolves or the Grizzles the most likely partners. I will be pretty shocked if the Heat actually take Mayo over Beasley in the #2 spot.
We’ve already had a reported trade of Jermaine O’Neal to Toronto for TJ Ford, players and their pick here. This means the Pacers will have two draft picks in the teens. I like this move for both teams for the record.
Also the Nets have moved Richard Jefferson to the Bucks for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons in an attempt to clear enough cap room to sign LeBron in 2011. It’s an interesting move and Jianlian could be a valuable player in Brooklyn if he develops into a star. It’ll be interesting to see what the Nets do with their 2 first rounders now that they have reshaped their team.
ESPN reported that the Spurs have made a open request to all teams for offers to dump the 26th pick in the draft. Very strange move I think, you’d think an aging team like that would want to add a young role player.
ESPN also reports that the Sonics and Clippers have agreed to swap the 4th and 7th picks respectively on the condition that OJ Mayo gets drafted in the top 3 picks. The Clippers supposedly plan to take Eric Gordon (BUST!) at #4.
Other players I’m interested are Joe Alexander, a exciting shooter with tons of height. Could be a brutal match up if he goes to a team with a talented PG and a nasty inside-out game creating open looks for him. Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers are two NBA ready guards that will play above their draft spot, Roy Hibbert who was always one of those inconsistent big men that looked great as a junior and regressed as a senior. He might be a steal, it’s not often a 7-2 center falls out of the lottery, especially one that played successfully in the States in college. Last I’ll be eagerly hoping that Chris Douglas-Roberts, Rose’s teammate at Memphis, slips into the second round for the Bulls at #39.
The player that interests me most is Kevin Love, the UCLA PF/C. I think he’s got a great future, if he goes to the right place. Of course most of the teams in the mid to late lottery are not, by definition, the right place…
I’m not sure I get the Nets thinking., I understand the Lebron theory, but that’s a real risky policy. Admittedly I’ve barely seen Yi play, but it seems like not enough for Jefferson. I gotta imagine VC isn’t too happy about another veteran being traded away.
Just about every projection I’ve seen has him going in the top 6. Seems like his stock is rising. One rumor has the Blazers moving up to take him and pair him with Oden. That’s a pretty good front-court right there.
Well, the Nets haven’t won anything with Jefferson and he’s a lot more valuable to Fantasy owners than an actual basketball team it seems. Jefferson is getting older and is expensive and I don’t see him ever being better than a 3rd banana on a decent team. Yi hasn’t done enough to warrant Jefferson straight up but when you factor in the cost, the international marketing and age it’s a pretty logical move even if the LeBron thing doesn’t happen. I bet Vince gets traded before the deadline next season, it’s mot like Vince has any history of actually caring about winning afterall.
I’d still be happy with either pick, but I think Rose is a smart choice for the Bulls. After that, it gets really interesting. I believe the rules require Miami to make their choice second even if they trade the pick, so they will probably draft Beasley and then we’ll find out where he’s really going a few minutes later. Who wants him most? I don’t know. A Seattle team with a core of Durant and Beasley and Green would be really exciting.
This draft also gets really hard to predict after that second or third pick. It seems like there are a lot of 2s who could go in basically any order.
Apparently Paxson just said that the Bulls are definitely drafting Rose. No big surprise. The Bulls need to free up some salary cap space next year, I hope they make a trade to get back up into the first round to add another young talent. Maybe they can move Hinrich for a pick in the high teens-low twenties along with an expiring contract.
I’m curious about the Bobcats’ intentions. They have multiple needs, so 2 top-20 picks would help, but they also may be thinking about packaging them to move up. For whom? I don’t know, it depends on how the draft goes. They are solid at 2 (Jason Richardson), 3 (Gerald Wallace) and 4 (Emeka Okafor). They need help at 1 and 5. It should be interesting.
I just want to take a second here to say I really, really enjoy the NBA draft. Drafts are exciting, and the NBA draft actually happens at a reasonable pace, unlike the NFL, and there are always the trades.
What the Bulls do from here, I don’t know. They need to move probably two other guards - I don’t know who the best choices are, but I hope Hughes is one of them.
Beasley goes to Miami and no word of a trade on ESPN right now. We’ll see what happens while the T-Wolves are on the clock.
Well, Hughes is probably stuck on the Bulls. He’s basically untradable unless he finds a way to light it up in the first half next year precipitating a deadline deal to a contender willing to pay the luxury tax. Hinrich is now the odd man out and he has the most value due to his reasonable contract. Duhon is gone a Gordon is a excellent SG to pair with Rose so they might look to resign him.
That sounds about right to me, but I do think Hughes is the one who doesn’t fit - he at least did pick up his level of play after the trade.
Minny picked Mayo, so no surprises thusfar. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear about a trade between Miami and Minnesota or someone else within the next 15 minutes or so.
Well, theoretically, Hinrich is the expendible one. Hughes is a shooter and struggles in the PG position. If Hughes can play up to the level he was at when he signed the deal he’d be a great 1 with Rose setting him up off the dribble or high-low with Deng. Then Gordon could remain as the super-sub off the bench and split time with Hughes at the 1 spot. Hinrich is the guy who brings the ball up and his jump shot is a little too inconsistent for him to move to the 1 when Rose is in the game.
Sonics take UCLA guard Westbrook, fills a need for them. Wonder why they didn’t make the deal with the Clippers, Westbrook probably would have lasted until the 7th pick.