NBA Draft Review

Before I delve into my not-so-expert analysis of what transpired at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden last night, I’d like to provide you with some of my favorite quotes from last night’s draft.

“He’s new school, he’s 50 cent.” – Chad Ford, on Yi Jianlian’s style of play

“Michael Jordan should’ve worn a mask when he made this pick.” – Jay Bilas, on the Bobcats drafting Brandan Wright at No. 8

“That’s me.” - Rodney Stuckey, in response to Stu Scott’s question “Who is Rodney Stuckey?”

“Hallelujah! Hallelujah!” - Stephen A. Smith, on the Knicks’ trade with Portland

“Stop hurting me man, stop hurting me.” - Stephen A. Smith, to Dick Vitale

“I hear the brother at DePaul.” - Spike Lee, on who he thought the Knicks would take with their first round pick

Now, on to more substantive things.

There weren’t really a whole lot of surprises in the lottery, save for what transpired at 11 and 12:
- Atlanta took Acie Law IV, and while I loved watching Law play, I don’t know how his game will translate to the next level. I’ve heard some rumblings that he won’t make a very good pro player, but obviously that remains to be seen.
- Philadelphia took Thaddeus Young at with their first-rounder, and although I like what I saw from the former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket, I think he’s a couple of years away from being an impact player. He’s a little raw, and I think the 76ers needed someone who could be a major contributor sooner.

But before we move on, there’s one more lottery team’s move that needs to be addressed – Boston’s. I really have no clue what Danny Ainge was doing when he traded away the No. 5 pick for aging and injured Ray Allen. Why they didn’t just stick and take Yi Jianlian is beyond me – I think the Chinese superstar could be a great NBA player and stick around for longer than Allen will. But then again, I’m not Danny Ainge.

Then we get to the Knicks/Trail Blazers deal. Spike Lee approved, and therefore I approve. But seriously, I’ve never been a Channing Frye fan and Steve Francis doesn’t fit on that team, so whatever trade they made that got rid of those two was fine with me.

I’ve been thinking all night of who made bad choices in coming out early, and I can’t think of anyone other than Gabe Pruitt, the guard out of USC. He’s affectionately known as “Smiling” Gabe Pruitt, thanks to USC basketball PA announcer Petros Papadakis, but I don’t think he’ll be smiling any more. Not only did he fall out of the first round, but he was drafted with the second pick of the second round – which is, unfortunately for him, owned by Boston. He’ll now have the opportunity to play for a team that appears to be falling apart in the Celtics, who might get booed out of their own building this season. Let me remind you that the alternative to coming out was staying in Los Angeles on a team that will also include rising star Taj Gibson and incoming super freshman O.J. Mayo. Do you think Pruitt is second-guessing himself now? I do.

And finally, I’m not into this whole draft grades thing, but I’ll hand out a couple:

Los Angeles Clippers C-: I don’t like the pick of Al Thornton, mainly because they need youth at guard and they passed up a quartet of highly-talented guards in Rodney Stuckey, Nick Young, Marco Belinelli, and Javaris Crittenton in favor of Thornton. Then, in the second round, they take Jared Jordan, the guard out of Marist. He was lights-out this past season, but I don’t know how good he can be at the next level.

Golden State Warriors A-: They did trade away Jason Richardson, who averaged 16 and 5 in the regular season and 19 and 7 in the playoffs, but they acquired Brandan Wright, who has the potential to be an absolute superstar in the NBA. They also drafted Belinelli in round one and Stephane Lasme in round two. The Italian guard has a great skill set, and I’ve heard at least one or two experts say that they think Lasme is very underrated.