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Posted 06/25/2009 at 07:41 PM
The 2009 NBA Draft is considered one of the weaker classes, so it's not surprising to see so many blockbuster trades the past couple of days. It will be interesting to see how Las Vegas Sports Consultants changes its NBA future odds for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and San Antonio Spurs after the draft.
Cleveland opened as the 9/2 'chalk' to capture the 2010 title, but is now a 3/1 co-favorite with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Cavaliers put all their eggs in one basket for the upcoming season in an attempt to keep LeBron James in town and win a championship. Cleveland traded for veteran center Shaquille O'Neal in an effort to counter Orlando and center Dwight Howard.
That move prompted Orlando trade for forward Vince Carter, especially with the departure of sharpshooter Hedo Turkoglu. The Magic opened as a 5/1 selection to capture their first title, and this move makes Orlando one of the major players in next year's championship chase.
Another key basketball trade before the NBA Draft was San Antonio picking up scoring forward Richard Jefferson from Milwaukee. The Spurs figure to be right back in the championship mix, already moving from 10/1 to 7/1. In a related story, the Bucks' odds of being in next year's Draft lottery have also improved dramatically.
Now let's focus on the 2009 NBA Draft.
7:00 p.m. ET What is more American than gearing up for the NBA Draft with some beer along with chips and salsa? Los Angeles can easily be classified as A Tale of Two Cities concerning its basketball teams. The lowly Los Angeles Clippers are back with their annual basketball lottery selection, while the Lakers are celebrating yet another championship. Both teams play at Staples Center, but these two franchises are miles apart on the basketball floor.
The Clippers are easily one of the worst run franchises in American pro sports, and owner Donald Sterling remains a punchline. The Clippers have drafted Danny Manning (1988) and Michael Olowokandi (1998) with the first pick over the years, resulting in little to no success on the court. Expect Oklahoma's Blake Griffin to serve a four or five-year apprenticeship in downtown LA before shipping off to brighter prospects.
The Clippers odds of winning the 2010 NBA Championship is 200/1, the same odds that the 1999 St. Louis Rams had of winning Super Bowl XXXIV. Wonder if retired running back Marshall Faulk can play point guard?
7:38 p.m. ET NBA Commissioner David Stern announces Blake Griffin's name as the Draft's top selection, officially beginning his basketball purgatory with the lowly Clippers. Even though it was a done deal, the Clippers took four minutes to make the selection in an effort to get as much TV time as possible. This franchise has had just two winnings seasons the past 30 years, one playoff appearance (1997) and a dismal .347 winning percentage since 1984. Can't wait to see where the Clippers get to select in next year's Draft lottery.
I do find it hard to believe that Griffin is the first Oklahoma Sooner drafted since Eduardo Najera in 2000.
7:46 p.m. ET Memphis is an incredibly young team, starting three rookies last season. Stern's voice cracks as he announces that the Grizzlies select 7-foot-3 center Hasheem Thabeet. The UConn product is the tallest player in this year's draft, and should provide a defensive presence down low. But he has as much of a chance of becoming an offensive threat in the NBA as Team USA has of beating Brazil in soccer's Confederations Cup. Those are roughly the same odds of the Clippers cutting down the nets at the end of the 2010 campaign.
7:52 p.m. ET The Oklahoma Thunder provide the first real surprise of the 2009 NBA Draft by picking Arizona State's James Harden. The sophomore guard was the Pac-10 Player of the Year in a down season for the Conference of Champions, but he played horribly in two games in the NCAA Tournament. There are also some questions about how well he will be able to play defense on this level after playing just zone in coach Herb Sendek's system. Maybe it's just my Arizona Mildcats rose-colored glasses showing, but time will ultimately tell if this was a good selection.
I know Oklahoma City is in the league's Northwest Division (since they used to be the Seattle Supersonics), but that makes as much sense as having Utah's team called the Jazz and Los Angeles stuck the Lakers moniker. I have no idea why those franchises didn't ditch those names when the franchises moved from New Orleans and Minnesota respectively.
7:57 p.m. ET The one strong position of this year's draft is point guard, and Sacramento grabs playmaker Tyreke Evans from Memphis. This marks the second straight year that a Memphis point guard has been selected in the lottery, and Kings fans are hoping he can follow the footsteps of last year's top selection Derrick Rose.
8:03 p.m. ET Minnesota has four first-round picks in a weak draft, which is par for the course concerning the Timberwolves. Minnesota grabs Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio, who becomes the first-player drafted that was born in the 1990's. The Timberwolves are already a young squad, so expect to see plenty of growing pains from this franchise the next couple of years.
File this under Pot meet Kettle, but Rubio is scrawny at 6-foot-4 and 180 pounds. But in his defense, he did play well in last year's Olympics for the Spanish national team and San Antonio's Tony Parker has a similar build. On the Pot meet Kettle part, I'm a few inches shorter and a few pounds lighter than Rubio but I can run a 4.3 30-yard dash. However, the other 10 yards would probably take a week to complete.
Note to self, more chips and less beer.
8:09 p.m. ET Minnesota, with back-to-back selections, continues to add to its backcourt with Syracuse guard Jonny Flynn who gets a huge reception from the New York crowd at Madison Square Garden. By picking two point guards with consecutive picks, is there a possible trade on the horizon?
8:15 p.m. ET A trade was announced, with Atlanta picking up guard Jamal Crawford from Golden State, who now have the services of guard Acie Law and Speedy Claxton.
8:16 p.m. ET Golden State selects Davidson's Stephen Curry, prompting boos from the New York fans that wanted to see him in a Knicks jersey. Curry was the two-time Southern Conference Player of the Year, and is the son of former Charlotte Hornets shooter Dell Curry (who ironically was celebrating his 45th birthday). Good selection from the Warriors.
8:21 p.m. ET The New York Knicks select power forward Jordan Hill from Arizona, and he quickly receives the first of many boos that he will hear at Madison Square Garden. He did grab 375 rebounds last season, which was a school record. Hill is talented but raw, and should fit into coach Mike D'Antoni's offense. This selection is very similar to when New York picked Arizona's Channing Frye back in 2006. The Knicks haven't drafted an All-Star since 1987 when they selected guard Mark Jackson.
8:27 p.m. ET Southern Cal's DeMar DeRozen will have to update his passport after Toronto selected him with the ninth pick of the Draft. DeRozen, who was named the Pac-10 Tournament's MVP this season, wisely jumped ship from the sinking Trojans' program.
8:34 p.m. ET Milwaukee picked controversial guard Brandon Jennings, who spent last year playing as a pro in Italy after failing to qualify academically at Arizona. Jennings didn't see a ton of court time during his European stint, and will take a couple of years of seasoning. Not sold on this selection since he's not a very good shooter, and strikes me as another Sebastian Telfair. One potential warning sign for Bucks fans, Jennings and his entourage did not go to the league's 'green room' since he wasn't a guaranteed selection.
Good luck Milwaukee, at least the start of the Packers' training camp is roughly a month away.
8:39 p.m. ET The New Jersey Nets (future Brooklyn Dodgers?) grab Louisville's Terrence Williams, making him the first college senior selected. That marks seven guards that have already been drafted, and he should be a solid contributor after playing for the Cardinals' Rick Pitino.
8:46 p.m. ET Charlotte keeps it in the state of North Carolina by selecting Duke guard Gerald Henderson. It must have been a tough selection for former Tar Heels Michael Jordan and head coach Larry Brown, but I'm sure there are bigger issues on the table considering this franchise has never advanced to the NBA Playoffs.
Duke alum Jay Bilas is practically doing backflips, yet another reason to hate the Blue Devils.
8:51 p.m. ET As soon as the first 'Dookie' was selected, Indiana goes with North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough as the New York crowd seranades him with an 'overrated' chant. To Hansbrough' credit, he was a three-time first-team All American and the 2008 National Player of the Year. Wonder if Knick fans would rather have Hansbrough or Hill who they selected earlier?
8:57 p.m. ET Milwaukee's Brandon Jennings makes an appearance on the stage with Commissioner Stern, trumping Phoenix's selection of Louisville forward Earl Clark. Let me go on record here that the possible trade of power forward Amare Stoudemire would be a huge mistake for the Suns. Getting rid of Shaq was a positive, but this franchise seems to be stuck in a downward spiral. This selection marks the end of teams picking in the lottery.
9:05 p.m. ET Detroit nabs Gonzaga forward Austin Daye, who's father Darren played five years in the NBA. The 6-foot-10 sophomore is incredibly skilled and can shoot from the perimeter, but he will have to bulk up to fit in the Pistons' physical style. That marks the third selection of this year's draft featuring a player who had a dad that played in the league.
Listening to Dick Vitale is like hearing fingernails on the chalkboard. I can't stand that guy, and the only good thing about March Madness ending is that I don't have to listen to him again until November.
9:11 p.m. ET Chicago grabs Wake Forest forward James Johnson, who actually has a mixed martial arts background. Good thing to know if there are every any future brawls with the Detroit Pistons. There was actually a pretty good blog about him from Yahoo's Steve Cofield titled, 'James Johnson: The NBA first-round pick with quite a kick.'
9:16 p.m. ET Philadelphia, fresh off of updating its uniforms, select UCLA guard Jrue Holiday. Following the Pac-10 extensively, I think this is a great pick for the 76ers. Holiday was the last player in the 'green room,' and was the 2008 High School Player of the Year. The Year of the Guard concerning the NBA Draft continues.
This marks the third Pac-10 Player selected in the first round with the initials JH after Arizona State's James Harden (third to Oklahoma City) and Arizona's Jordan Hill (eighth to New York). As you can tell, the chips are gone but the beer is still flowing.
9:21 p.m. ET Minnesota seems to be cornering the point guard market with its selection of North Carolina's Ty Lawson. I haven't seen a power play like this since Randolph and Mortimer Duke tried cornering the orange juice market in the 1983 film 'Trading Places.'
9:24 p.m. ET ESPN reports that Ty Lawson will be shipped off to Denver for a future pick.
9:26 p.m. ET Atlanta, avoiding its annual visit to the NBA Lottery, grabs Wake Forest guard Jeff Teague who will have to work on his defense.
9:27 p.m. ET The Utah Jazz continue this year's guard theme with Virginia Commonwealth's Eric Maynor, who is known for leading the Rams past Duke in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Maynor owns school records in career points (1,953) and assists (674).
9:33 p.m. ET New Orleans select senior UCLA point guard Daren Collison, who played 142 games for the Bruins. The Hornets are officially loaded at point guard with Collison backing up star Chris Paul. This marks the third time the past four drafts that multiple UCLA players has been selected in the first round.
9:40 p.m. ET Portland goes overseas to grab Spanish forward Victor Claver, who has been called a lottery-pick talent. The one catch is that he is going to stay in Europe, but that should work to the Blazers' advantage. Portland is loaded with young talent, and he'll have an opportunity to gain more minutes overseas.
Shaq has a chance to talk with ESPN's Lisa Salters, and sends his condolences to the Michael Jackson family. Jackson was an incredible musical performer, but I personally think a bigger setback for the public is losing Farrah Fawcett. Her classic 1970's poster did way more for young boys than the pedophile singer.
I'm now falling behind with my live updates, thank God for DVR's.
9:45 p.m. ET Israel is represented when Sacramento picks forward Omri Casspi. I fall farther behind reporting when a couple of friends call to bust my chops saying I look like this guy. I'm just seven inches shorter, and numerous millions poorer than this first-round selection.
Here's a picture of Casspi, poor bastard got the short straw in the looks department. There has never been an Israeli player in the NBA, nor has there ever been a 6-foot-2, 170 pound sports writer in the league either. I guess we have more in common than I thought.
9:50ish p.m. ET Dallas selects freshman center B.J. Mullens, who stared just two games last season for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Is it really that late to select projects or has my beer consumption finally kicked in?
9:52ish p.m. ET Oklahoma City grabs Rodrigue Beaubols with the 25th pick, the second guard selected by the Thunder in this draft. It is now being reported that he will be shipped off to Dallas for B.J. Mullens.
10:00 p.m. ET Back on real time with Chicago's selection of Taj Gibson from Southern Cal. Fourth time in the lottery era that two Trojans basketball players have been selected in the first round. USC remains a football factory, and it seems like the Trojans have two players selected in the first-round of every NFL Draft. Considering the mass exodus from the basketball program, it could be quite awhile before the Trojans put anyone else in the NBA.
10:05 p.m. ET Memphis picks Missouri forward DeMarre Carroll with the 27th pick. Tagged with the nickname 'The Junkyard Dog' means he probably won't mind going to one of the league's worst teams.
10:11 p.m. ET Even commissioner David Stern seems loopy at this point. The Minnesota Timberwolves, with their fourth pick of this draft, grab guard Wayne Ellington. The Tar Heel was the 2009 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player en route to leading his school to the national championship.
10:16 p.m. ET The defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, picking for the New York Knicks, select guard Toney Douglas from Florida State. Maybe the Knicks are trying to capture lighting in a bottle once again after drafting point guard (and Heisman Trophy winner) Charlie Ward back in 1994.
10:22 p.m. ET Cleveland's selection ends the first-round of the 2009 NBA Draft, and guard/forward Christian Eyenga from the Congo figures to get hazed early and often from LeBron and Shaq this upcoming season.
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