1. Toronto 2. New Y...oh wait, they traded it to Chicago 3. Charlotte 4. Portland 5. Atlanta 6. Minnesota 7. Boston 8. Houston 9. Golden State 10. Seattle 11. Orlando 12. New Orleans 13. Philadelphia 14. Utah 15. New Orleans (from Milwaukee) 16. Chicago 17. Indiana 18. Washington 19. Sacramento 20. New York (from Denver through Toronto and New Jersey) 21. Phoenix (from LA Lakers through Atlanta and Boston) 22. New Jersey (from LA Clippers through Atlanta and Boston) 23. New Jersey 24. Memphis 25. Cleveland 26. LA Lakers (from Miami) 27. Phoenix 28. Dallas 29. New York (from San Antonio) 30. Portland (from Detroit through Utah)
Sorry, Portland fans. No #1 this year. Congrats to the Toronto fans. You guys are quietly positioning yourselves for a strong showing next season.
Chicago's clearly the big winner here-- returning to the playoffs this season, giving Miami a run for their money in the first round, and now they own the #2 pick in the 2006 NBA Draft?
Let's just hope (for their sake, not for everyone else's) that they don't Darko Milicic their pick away.
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Originally posted by It's FalseCongrats to the Toronto fans. You guys are quietly positioning yourselves for a strong showing next season.
I wouldn't say that just yet. Most analysts are saying that this is a weak draft with no real standout franchise-fixing prospects, and I tend to agree with them. There's not even a consensus #1 pick, although Tyrus Thomas is pretty close to it.
My fear? With a shitty #5 pick, my Hawks are going to take Adam Morrison, who will most likely still be around at that point. While Morrison will probably end up being at least as good as Keith Van Horn, the last thing the Hawks need is another 6'9 swingman. Then again, that's all they seem to draft. Sigh. Is it football season yet?
You wanted the best, you got... Out of Context Quote of the Week.
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Nice to see the two representatives of the 2006: Year of the White Guy Who Can Hoop At the College Level campaign aren't exactly burning up the mock drafts.
StingArmy: The Hawks just do that so the Knicks can draft all the 6'9" power forwards.
As for my team, not a clue what the Hornets should do at 12 and 15. But they were damn close to the playoffs this past year, considering the hot start and season-killing cold streak, so they could just be one player away, thanks to Your God And Mine, Chris Paul.
Originally posted by drjayphdStingArmy: The Hawks just do that so the Knicks can draft all the 6'9" power forwards.
Have y'all looked the Hawks roster for this season? Harrington, Joshes Smith and Childress, Marvin Williams, and even Joe Johnson could play small forward. The last thing the Hawks need is yet another small forward when the Hawks were overloaded and were lacking a decent point guard; trading away Tony Delk didn't help mattters. I would have suggested center too but good centers are always at a premium league-wide.
It sucks when Billy Knight obviously wants to shoehorn a youth-filled run-and-gun team yet doesn't fit into Coach Woodson's defense-minded philosophy. Whatever happened to balance? -_-
Originally posted by JALmanand were lacking a decent point guard; trading away Tony Delk didn't help mattters.
Let's not forget they said "no thanks" to drafting Chris Paul when they had the chance (and took Marvin Williams instead.. brilliant). Any chance they wise up and take Marcus Williams? I don't think he's as good as Chris Paul, but you have to start somewhere. Maybe they have some cap room to make a big signing. Then again, I think that's what Joe Johnson was.
Everyone talks about how hopeless the Knicks are, but at LEAST they have some talent on their roster. The Hawks have disgustingly awful management AND a bunch of nobodys on the roster.
Thank the lord God that the Raps didn't win the pick when Babcock was GM. Lord knows who he would've taken...my guess is Isiah Thomas himself, somehow.*
Now, with Colangelo, I'm confident that the Raps will actually take someone who will contribute and be a star to their team.
* = perhaps that's not fair to Babs, since he did take Charlie V, who ended up being very good....though that was arguably because he whipped himself into shape after everyone trashed Babs for taking him that high. The NBA is funny.
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I think it's a little unfair how people blast Isiah about trading the pick for Eddy Curry. Health issues aside, if Curry was in this draft (a 6' 11" foot Centre who can score), he would EASILY go first overall. I mean, in his last year in Chicago, he average 16.5 points and 5 rebounds. Even this year past, he was 2nd in the league in Field Goal percentage. And he's only 23. Isiah's made a LOT of bad moves (Francis, Rose, Larry Brown), but this really isn't one of them. I realize health is an issue, but who you rather have, a healthy Eddy Curry or the potential (possibly) of a LaMarcus Aldrige or Andrea Bargnani?
Kevin Kelly: "Mr. Austin, would you like to comment on Wade Keller's Take that endorsing the XFL hurts your anti-authority character?"
Steve Austin: "Oh shit, he actually said that? I thought the boys in the back were ribbing me!"
Kelly: "No, he really said that. Did they tell you the part about you sitting in the stands, looking all skeptical?"
Austin: "AHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yeah... oh man that was too much."
Originally posted by DirtyMikeSeaverI think it's a little unfair how people blast Isiah about trading the pick for Eddy Curry. Health issues aside, if Curry was in this draft (a 6' 11" foot Centre who can score), he would EASILY go first overall. I mean, in his last year in Chicago, he average 16.5 points and 5 rebounds. Even this year past, he was 2nd in the league in Field Goal percentage. And he's only 23. Isiah's made a LOT of bad moves (Francis, Rose, Larry Brown), but this really isn't one of them. I realize health is an issue, but who you rather have, a healthy Eddy Curry or the potential (possibly) of a LaMarcus Aldrige or Andrea Bargnani?
Curry's health issues are his heart (the literal, not figurative). That's more serious than pulling a groing or hamstring on a consistent basis. Plus I'd like my starting center to average more than 5 boards a game.
Another issue on that trade, Chicago also has the right to swap first rounders with NY next year if the Knicks pick is higher than the Bulls. If NY gets the #1 pick again next year, then the trade will look even worse than it alreay does. Especially if Greg Oden enters the draft then.
(edited by BOSsportsfan34 on 27.5.06 1421) "Speaking of Thomases, I loved your recent Atrocious GM Summit column, although I think that you flatter Isiah Thomas far too much by suggesting that he is merely one of a number of atrocious GMs. The truth is that Rob Babcock and Billy King are Einstein next to him. The mess he is creating right now in New York will be studied by business school students 50 years from now alongside Enron and pets.com."
Originally posted by DirtyMikeSeaverI think it's a little unfair how people blast Isiah about trading the pick for Eddy Curry. Health issues aside, if Curry was in this draft (a 6' 11" foot Centre who can score), he would EASILY go first overall. I mean, in his last year in Chicago, he average 16.5 points and 5 rebounds. Even this year past, he was 2nd in the league in Field Goal percentage. And he's only 23. Isiah's made a LOT of bad moves (Francis, Rose, Larry Brown), but this really isn't one of them. I realize health is an issue, but who you rather have, a healthy Eddy Curry or the potential (possibly) of a LaMarcus Aldrige or Andrea Bargnani?
Curry's health issues are his heart (the literal, not figurative). That's more serious than pulling a groing or hamstring on a consistent basis. Plus I'd like my starting center to average more than 5 boards a game.
Another issue on that trade, Chicago also has the right to swap first rounders with NY next year if the Knicks pick is higher than the Bulls. If NY gets the #1 pick again next year, then the trade will look even worse than it alreay does. Especially if Greg Oden enters the draft then.
(edited by BOSsportsfan34 on 27.5.06 1421)
I'm not trying to downplay his health issues, but he seemed fine this year. Anything can happen to anyone. John Olerud had a brain aneyrism and played baseball for a long time.
He averaged 5 rebounds, but he's only 23. Remember, we're not comparing him to O'Neal or Yao Ming. I'm just saying that if he was coming out in this particular draft, he'd be the No. 1 pick easily (maybe No. 2).
And no one could predict the Knicks would be this bad. They aren't a playoff team or anything, but they shouldn't be worse that the Raptors or Warriors. So when they made that trade, the last thing Isiah thought about was losing out on Oden.
Kevin Kelly: "Mr. Austin, would you like to comment on Wade Keller's Take that endorsing the XFL hurts your anti-authority character?"
Steve Austin: "Oh shit, he actually said that? I thought the boys in the back were ribbing me!"
Kelly: "No, he really said that. Did they tell you the part about you sitting in the stands, looking all skeptical?"
Austin: "AHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yeah... oh man that was too much."
But what about the poor cap management and getting guys with very similar skill sets (Francis, Marbury, Rose, Crawford) and crippling the future of the team. The Curry move is just one in a series of bad ones.
Maybe, but I didn't expect him to contribute much this year anyway. Probably plays up in Maine for the season. Sullinger looks like he could be the steal of the draft though.