The NBA draft is now done and I felt like it was not a deep draft. It was decent at the top and the trade activities made it a little fun, but overall it wasn't great. The trades started early with the Pacers sending Jermaine O'Neal to Toronto for T.J.Ford and center Rasho Nesterovic. This is a good gamble for Toronto. The Raptor fans should love the thought of O'Neal and Chris Bosh in the same front-court. I used to have great expectations for Jermaine O'Neal before he became a serious and regular injury A-lister who played basketball once in a while. And every time he came back, his game seemed to take a step or 2 backwards. I sure hope it works out for the Raptors. I like what they are doing there with CB4 and the gang. I also like them sending T.J.Ford and turning over the keys to Jose Calderon. Jose is good, real good. Pacers are clearly rebuilding and T.J.Ford is a good gamble for them as well.
The trade that shocked me was the one between the Nets and Bucks. Richard Jefferson to the Bucks for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Summons. The shocking part was the Bucks sending away Yi. I thought Yi was an untouchable cash-cow. Didn't the Bucks draft him despite his initial refusal to be there and didn't his game against Yao and the Rockets outdraw the Super Bowl World-wide? I thought they were trading everybody but Yi, and then Scott Skiles shows up in town and they decide to ship off Yi. Getting Jefferson might help them basketball wise. In the LEastern conference, teams should go for it and thats what the Bucks are doing here. But I still can't believe it from a business perspective.
The other big trade was Memphis and Minnesota swapping O.J.Mayo and Kevin Love and a whole bunch of expiring and bad and bloated contracts. Memphis got Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker and Greg Buckner along with Mayo and the TWolves got Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins along with Love. I almost forgot Antoine Walker was in Minnesota. By the way, is Brian Cardinal the worst signing ever by the Logo? I mean the Custodian had one semi-good season with the Warriors and Jerry West broke the bank for him. It was all downhill from there in Memphis both for the Logo and the Custodian. In any case, these moves are far-reaching and we wouldn't know how they work out until a few years down the road.
Derrick Rose went first and I completely support that move by Chicago. I like Michale Beasley, but I think Derrick Rose is going to be better. This is the era of point guards and he is one of the true PGs. Chicago has too many assets in the back-court but Rose is better than anything they got and hence they had to go for him. Now they just have to trade some pieces and if they play the trade-game right, they can make something special out of this team. Vinny Del Negro was a stretch as a coaching choice, but he might end up coaching a very talented team. The Miami Heat got a good player in Beasley and with DWade and Marion, it should be fun to see that team.
The other big news of the first round was both the Lopez twins being drafted in the first round. That should be an amazing day for their mom. Robin Lopez is really the lucky one of the two. Brooke is really good, but this guy ends up going in the first round anyways - just 5 spots behind Brooke's number 10. Plus he goes to the Suns, a much better team and a much better basketball town than New Jersey. And Robin is dating Michelle Wie. How many NBA first-rounders are dating hot 19 year old girls whose earning potential is higher than theirs? Good job Robin!
As for my Suns, I don't like this pick, but this was not a deep enough draft for them to work any kind of magic at 15. We have to live with a true 7-footer with decent athleticism. I still can't believe how bad the Suns luck has been the last year or two and how that Atlanta Hawks pick they got along with Boris Diaw for Joe Johnson finally ended up as Robin Lopez at 15. Wasn't this supposed to be a 4 or 5 last year in a deep draft? Hawks lucked out and got their top-3 protection last year and ended up making the playoffs in the horrible LEastern conference with a 37-45 record only to screw up the Suns pick this year. Thats life in the draft-lane these days for the Suns. At least I am happy they kept it all in the Pac-10 family as they also drafted Malik Hairston out of Oregon in the second round. San Antonio was involved in this transaction as they gave the Suns another future second rounder. I am hoping this turns out as good as the Barbosa deal for the Suns, another late draft pick traded to the Suns by the Spurs.
At least the Suns still got Shaq, his big-ass contract and his stupid-ass Kobe rap.
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