Draft time.

This should be one of the most interesting NBA draft season in years. It's almost single-handedly compensating for the horrible NBA finals. This draft is fun for 3 reasons. One, it features 2 franchise players right at the top in Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. Two, there are way too many super-stars who are in the trading block or who want out of their team. High draft picks are always rumored to be part of these high profile trades involving names like KG, Marion, Jermaine O'Neal, Kobe or even Paul Pierce. Thirdly, this is one of the most talented draft class in recent times because it's really 2 drafts rolled in to one. The Commish implemented the age rule last year. So a lot of high school stars like Oden and Durant who would have been drafted last year are now in this draft along with the guys who would have come out this year anyways. So the talent level is very high in this draft. There are those top 2 picks and after that, there are 8 guys who are all at similar talent levels and can all have tremendous impact on their teams. I can't wait for the draft and see who goes where.

As for the story-lines, the following items are very interesting.

1) As a Suns fan, I like the fact that they are trying to get into top 10. It's sad the ping pong balls conspired against them and they didn't get Atlanta's pick this year, but they still are hoping to get a top 10 pick for some package that might even involve Atlanta's pick next year. I like this move because next year's draft is going to be weak and Atlanta is scaring me a little bit. They have a whole lot of young talent and I wouldn't be surprised if they finally come through next season and end up with a worthless pick in the teens. Of course, the other teams know this too and will they take that pick away from the Suns?

2) Of course any KG rumor is big. It started with some Suns rumors, but now the focus seems to be on the Lakers. That should be a scary sight for the Suns to imagine Kobe with KG in LA. That doesn't guarantee anything, but the Lakers will be formidable with that combo to say the least. By the way, how did we go from Kobe moving out to KG moving in?

3) Who goes first, Oden or Durant? Very important question except that I have always been convinced about the answer. As great as Durant is, and he is awesome, Oden is number 1. I liked Durant so much that I picked Texas to go deep in the NCAA tournament just because of him, which ended up destroying my bracket. But still you win NBA championships with talented big men unless you have a player called Michael Jordan. So Portland can't pass up on Greg Oden. He is way too big, way too athletic and way too good defensively to pass up in favor of a wing, even if that wing player is a freakishly talented 6'9" Durant. The easiest job here belongs to the Seattle GM. He just has to pick whoever Portland doesn't.

4) I am fascinated by the talent Florida is pumping in to this draft. They have 3 guys in the projected top 10 with Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Joakim Noah. The Gators will probably have 2 other guys drafted in the second round, may be even 3 if Lee Humphrey gets drafted. Thats amazing. The guy who probably lost a lot of dough is Noah. He could have made a lot more if he declared last year when he was better and the draft was weaker. He would have been a top 5 if not top 3 last year. Now he is projected to go to Chicago at 9.

5) What does Boston do with the 5-Th pick? Looks like Danny Ainge is not really interested in keeping this pick. He is trying all kinds of trades to bring a talented veteran in and convince Paul Pierce that he and the guy coming in can win big. He can get a great talent in this draft at 5, but neither him, nor Pierce nor the fans seem to have any kind of patience for re-building. Also, nobody wants to go to Boston anymore as KG, Marion and J-O'Neal have all said "no" to Boston.

6) Atlanta has 2 picks - 3 and 11 and I am very curious to see what they do. There is a lot of vested interest here as the state of the Atlanta Hawks in 07/08 will have a direct bearing on the state of the Suns may be over the next decade or so. I am very interested in their 11-Th pick. Apparently they might get Luke Ridnour from Seattle for that pick. That could help the Hawks a lot because Luke is a decent point guard and he should help that young nucleus real well especially with Joe Johnson sharing the play making duties. In terms of immediate impact, that trade is bigger than them drafting Al Horford at 3, though Al will be a stud eventually.

7) Speaking of Atlanta, there's also a rumor that Nelly is dangling Monta Ellis and something else for Atlanta's 3-Rd pick so he can pick that Chinese guy Yi Jianlian. Typical Nelly! Trying to chase these "versatile" 7 footers who can shoot threes from the perimeter. He is willing to trade a conventional talent like Monta Ellis who was considered untouchable just a few months ago. This might actually explain why Nelly doesn't win championships! Of course, Atlanta would probably not even give up their 11-Th pick for Monta. Monta is an awesome talent, but not a great point.