2008 NBA Draft New Edition Style

Ever since the Bulls won the rights to draft first, people wondered if they would take Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose. Beasley is a power player who has been pegged in this spot since the middle of the college season. Rose is a point guard who got his team all the way to the championship game. The Bulls seemed to like Rose better for a few reasons, and the word on Beasley was that he didn’t work hard enough, was immature, and was being compared to the likes of Derrick Coleman and Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson, former number 1 picks with great talent that didn’t work hard enough to fully realize it.

I asked “Basketball Blog” contributor and Bulls fan, Young Randall what he wants the Bulls to do.

I think the Bulls take Rose with the first pick.  I really wouldn’t care if they take Beasley as their most glaring hole is a post scorer.  But if they take Rose then they should move Hinrich and possibly Gordon for either another pick or a big from somewhere.

What I didn’t post is that Young Randall also said he wanted to see a full length version of Shaq’s freestyle rap, where he basically asked Kobe how his backside tastes. Why Young Randall would want to hear more, I’m not sure. He’s a mysterious guy.

Let’s get this going. We’ll see how long I can last.

- I saw Vinny “Of The Black” (Del Negro) in the Chicago Bulls war room smiling. I almost forgot he was their new coach. Wait, is it the war room for the basketball draft or only for the football draft?

- The Bulls grab Rose and now the wonder is if Miami passes on Beasley because of Pat Riley’s supposed dislike for Beasley. I say they still grab him. Why would they take OJ Mayo if he and Dwayne Wade not only both play the same position, but both need the ball in their hands? It doesn’t make as much sense.

- Stephen A. Smith asked Rose what he would bring to the Bulls and one of those things was, “to stay focused”. I think he’s a bit nervous.

- The Heat take Beasley and if anything, with a front line of Shawn Marion and Beasley, they are very athletic there.

- Ovintin J’Anthony (better than Orenthal James) Mayo goes third to Minnesota and the first thing that comes to my mind is that he looks like a dead ringer for Ralph Tresvant. Maybe his NBA nickname will be “Mr. Sensitivity.”

 

- The Sonics pair up Russell Westbrook with Kevin Durant. In this NBA, where you draft based more on possibility, rather than finely tuned game, your fourth pick averaged 12 points and 5 assists last year.

(By the way, your first four picks are 3 freshman and a sophomore.)

- UCLA goes back to back as Memphis takes Kevin Love, which I’m sure makes ShavedAsian a happy man.

(My man Ty Kennan loves Westbrook and doesn’t think Love’s skills will cross over into the NBA. He covered the Pac-10 for AOL’s FanHouse.)

- To a chorus of boos, the Knicks take Danilo Gallinari from Italy. Let’s hope that Stephon Marbury doesn’t know how to speak Italian. The guy plays in Italy and Stephen A. Smith’s question has to do with Knicks fans “sleeping on him”. Nice job there Stephen A. Way to know your interview subject.

- The Clippers, who lead all of the NBA in the category of most lottery picks ever, take Eric Gordon, a 6’ 3’‘ shooting guard. They go from one undersized two guard to another.

(After Jay Bilas gets done telling us that Gordon can’t play point guard because he doesn’t handle well and is turnover prone, Stephen A. asks Gordon how he’s going to help the Clippers at the point. Nice job Stephen A.)

- Milwaukee took Joe Alexander who Jay Bilas says has freakish ability, but also said he benefited from power players guarding him. If he plays small forward, they now have two as the Bucks just traded for Richard Jefferson earlier today.

- The Bobcats pass up Brook Lopez and take DJ Augustin, point guard from Texas. Lopez either had something in his eye, or he was bummed to not go to Charlotte.

- Lopez goes to the Nets and according to one of the draft guys I read earlier today, trading Richard Jefferson was all about clearing cap room for Lebron in 2010. The Double L, Lopez and Lebron!

- The Pacers draft Jerryd Bayless from Arizona, yet another freshman. With the possible trade of Jermaine O’Neal for TJ Ford, looks like Jamaal Tinsley might be on his way out. I know a team about 75 miles from me that needs a back up point guard.

- The Kings took the first guy who isn’t even at the draft in Jason Thompson, who is the first senior taken in the draft. We’re at pick number 12. Jay Bilas says there’s nothing spectacular about his game and he’s just solid. On the ESPN poll, Kings fans graded the pick as a F. But second place was an A. Now that’s a polarizing pick.

- Portland kind of has a cool draft. Though they drafted Greg Oden last year, he didn’t play, so as far as fans are concerned, they get two top caliber rookies this year. They pair him up with Brandon Rush, though I swear they have the another guy named Brandon who is pretty good and plays the same position, and who stole Baron Davis’ All-Star Game spot last year.

- Next up are my Warriors. Tim Kawakami thinks the Warriors would take Anthony Randolph if he was available. Kosta Koufos went to the Warriors in a ton of mock drafts. And the pick is Randolph. Here’s another young guy that Don Nelson won’t play. Jay Bilas says that Randolph is so skinny that he makes the skinny Brandan Wright look like Mr. America. Ouch.

(Mystery Cow instant messaged me before I had to chance to watch the draft and said that the Warriors drafted “The Scarecrow”. I didn’t know if he was talking about Randolph because he’s so skinny or Robin Lopez because of his hair.)

- To keep up with my now New Edition theme, if you look at Randolph sideways and squint a little, he kind of looks Ronnie DeVoe.

 

(Now that we’re out of the lottery (aka, the Warriors have picked) I probably won’t update after every pick.)

- Just as I say that, Phoenix grabs the other Lopez twin. One Lopez twin could possibly play with Lebron in a couple years and the other will get to play with Shaq and Nash, at least for a year or two.

- Toronto just drafted Roy Hibbert, who will probably go to Indiana, based on the proposed trade for Jermaine O’Neal. I loved Hibbert when I saw him two years ago. I guess he should’ve came out last year.

- JaVale McGee just got drafted by the Wizards and his claim to fame is that his mom played in the WNBA. I bet Agent Zero is going to have a field day with that one.

- I thought it was odd that Portland would draft Rush considering that Roy plays the same spot and my intuition was correct. They traded he and Jarrett Jack to Indiana for Ike Diogu and the rights to Jerryd Bayless. Poor Ike. That makes three teams in the last two years. Brandon joins brother Kareem Rush. Memba him?

(Kareem Rush kind of looks like a drunk Ricky Bell.)

 

- The guys at the broadcasting table are actually an interesting group. Of course, with Stu Scott hosting this thing, you’re going to get a lot of cheese, but Mark Jackson is great. I love Van Gundy doing the games, but he’s said some wacky things on the broadcast like that he thought Stephen Marbury was still a good player and that he likes Ike Diagu. Jay Bilas is Jay Bilas.

- The Nets just took Ryan Anderson from Cal. Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson battled each other in the Pac-10 and now they are teammates and possible teammates of Lebron in 2010. Not bad guys, not bad.

- The one guy who has fallen is Darrell Arthur from Kansas. Someone who looks to be his little brother has already fallen asleep at the table.

- Utah, at 23, selected Kosta Koufos, who seemed to be handcuffed to the Warriors at the 13th pick. Jay Bilas really likes him by the way.

(If Koufos was black and was about a foot and a half shorter, he’d look like Michael Bivins.)

 

- Seattle just drafted a guy named Serge who is from Congo. Interestingly enough, he was wearing a green tie that matches his new Sonics hat.

- Ric Bucher just said that Arthur is slipping because he has a kidney issue. Yep, that would probably stop me from using a draft pick on a guy. The Hornets finally took him at 27.

- The first round is over after Boston just picked someone named JR Giddens, who supposedly has a ton of talent, but is a head case. I’ve had enough. As Kimbo Slice said after he beat James Thompson several weeks ago, I’m done Gus.

Edit:

Looks like OJ Mayo and Kevin Love are switching places in a trade.

(Since I couldn’t find someone who looked like Johnny Gill or Bobby Brown, here is a shot of NE sans both guys.)

 

I’m done Gus.

Plan C: Corey Magette

Baron Davis said no. Gilbert Arenas said no. Elton Brand said no. But Corey Maggette said yes. According to Marc Stein from ESPN.com, it’s a $50 million contract for five years.

He also stated that it is believed that the Warriors will sign LA Lakers power forward Ronny Turiaf to an offer sheet, which the Lakers will have a week to match. I’m not sure they’ll let Kobe Bryant’s buddy get away.

Also, say goodbye to Mickael Pietrus. It looks like he’s on his way to Orlando. My favorite Pietrus moment was when I was at a game several years ago with Eddy Zucko, and they asked Pietrus who his favorite cartoon charter was. He said it was, “The Tweety Bird”. And he said it like only Pietrus could say it.

With Baron Davis verbally committed and ready to sign with the Clippers, word is that Elton Brand is heading to Philadelphia. Is that a back stab job worthy of when Carlos Boozer verbally committed to Cleveland and then went and took the offer from the Utah Jazz? J.A. Adande, also from ESPN.com, started his column about Brand by saying it is what it is.

As it turns out, Elton Brand is an NBA player, the Clippers are the Clippers and the joke’s on all of us who ever thought otherwise.

I wonder if B-Diddy can do the same and come back to the Warriors. Actually, I wouldn’t wish that on Clippers fans.

So why would Brand spurn the Clippers after saying all along that he wanted to help the Clippers get another superstar right by his side? Ric Bucher says it’s more about how he thinks he fits in the Eastern Conference. But it also has to be about the benjamins. It always is.

The Warriors Are Trying To Steal Brand

Supposedly, Elton Brand opted out of his contract so that he could offer the LA Clippers some flexibility to help to the team offer more money to a big time free agent. Last night, they got their guy in Baron Davis. It seemed like a lay-up that Brand would then agree to a contract that would allow he and Davis to be Clippers for the next several seasons. But it looks like Chris Mullin and the Golden State Warriors have given Brand something to think about.

According to both Tim Kawakami and Marc Stein, the Warriors have offered Brand max free agent money to come up north.

If the Clippers offer Davis what is expected to be $65 million over five years, their offer to Brand looks to be smaller than what the Warriors can throw at him. The Warriors reportedly are offering at least $90 over 5 years. I won’t even pretend to understand the NBA’s salary cap, but it seems that in order to have both Davis and Brand under contract for next season, the Clippers’ offer could be much less than what the Warriors could offer.

But Brand specifically has stated that his goal was to remain a Clipper and that he was inspired by what Boston did by having Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen all on the same team. He wanted superstar teammates who were willing to give it their all. So if that’s his goal, the Clippers are probably his team. The Warriors’ best player is a young and small shooting guard and right now, they have no point guard. Will money talk? Who knows. But my bet is that Brand takes the Clippers deal. If he doesn’t, he might be more hated in Los Angeles than Carlos Boozer is in Cleveland.

BDiddy Gives Back The Keys To The City

It was time. Baron Davis opted out, the Warriors called his bluff, and now BDiddy is going to southward. According to Mark Stein, Davis has verbally agreed to join the LA Clippers. The deal is said to be for five years and $65 million, which according to possible deals I saw from the Warriors, was similar in base money, but definitely longer in years.

If Elton Brand comes back as well, the Clippers have two definite stars and immediately leap frog over the Warriors in the West. As for the Warriors, it doesn’t look like Gilbert Arenas is coming back to play for the team that drafted him. Newly re-signed Antawn Jamison thinks it’s a done deal that Arenas is back with the Wizards.

Now, where do the Warriors go from here? I think Chris Mullin and company have a back up plan, but I guess we’ll have to wait.

We’ve been basketball blogging a lot lately.

Agent Zero Is In The Picture Again

The Wizards Insider blog at the Washington Post is reporting that soon after Baron Davis opted out of his contract, the Warriors were trying to offer former Warriors guard Gilbert Arenas a max contract in the neighborhood of $100 million. The Wizards are offering a bit more (and an extra year), so Agent Zero has a big decision to make.

Warrior Fans, Remember This Guy?

The Wizards are offering more and have a better shot at making waves playing in the lesser Eastern Conference. But really, you could argue that the East had the two best teams in the league in Boston and Detroit. So even though the Wizards’ shot at making the playoffs and advancing further would be easier than the Warriors’, there’s still a bit of a ways to go for the Wiz. You could also argue that the Warriors have not only the better team, but the style that suits Arenas’ game best.

I don’t think the Warriors have the best shot to get him. I do think Arenas will stay in Washington. That city loves the guy. But kudos to the Warriors by going for the top guy available, after their own guy spurned them. It also says to Davis that he’s not even thought to be the best possible free agent by his own team.

I say this to Chris Mullin, which was first told to Mick Foley by Dominic DeNucci - you gotta a lotta ball(s).