After the Madness that was the NBA draft unfolded last night at Madison Square Garden, let’s take a look at which NBA teams really helped themselves and which teams shot themselves in the foot (cough Toronto cough, cough).Winners:
Charlotte Bobcats: With Dickie V reportedly tap-dancing on the table in his home in Sarasota, Florida after the selection of Sean May by the Bobcats at pick 13, teaming him with fellow North Carolina running mate Raymond Felton, the Bobcats look to become North Carolina homers. Some saw the Bobcats selection of two North Carolina players as a marketing ploy to increase the league’s third worst home attendance from this past season. Marketing ploy or not, these two National Champions are sensational players. Taking Raymond Felton at No. 5 was probably a little high, but Charlotte was drafting on need more than anything else and Felton was the best point prospect left on the board. Sean May was absolutely unstoppable when it came tournament time last year and his hands along with matched with his tenacity on the glass will make his pairing with Emeka Okafor a formidable NBA frontcourt.
Boston Celtics: A guy that I am absolutely enamored with and was shocked to see fall all the way to the Celtics at pick 18, was Gerald Green. Although he didn’t win any national awards, Green is considered the best pro prospect among the prep stars making the jump to the NBA this season. After seeing his 24-point performance at the McDonald’s All-American game, which included 6-9 from three, and his high flying acrobatics during the dunk contest where he showcased his 39 inch vertical, the Celtics got an absolute steal in a player that I think can be legitimately labeled T-Mac II.
Atlanta Hawks: Anytime a team can pick up two starters to add to their roster, the NBA draft was a success. At 6-9 and 230 pounds Marvin Williams is the prototypical small forward. Not only does he have the size and quickness to match-up with threes at the next level on both sides of the court, he can shoot the three (43.2 percent in 2004-05), take his man off the dribble or operate in the post. One year at North Carolina under the tutelage of coaching great Roy Williams really helped Marvin Williams adjust to the mentality of big time basketball. Salim “The Assassin” Stoudamire was perhaps the best pure shooter in this draft, if not in all of college basketball last season. Stoudamire possesses unlimited range on his jumper demonstrated by his ridiculous 50.4% shooting from the floor. His shooting statistics become even more amazing when you take into account that over half his shots were from beyond the three point line, where he also shot 50.4%.
Losers:
Toronto Raptors: It’s impossible not to look at this draft and choose the Raptors as losers. Already having perennial All-Star Chris Bosh on their roster, and a year after selecting BYU big man Rafael Araujo in the first round, the selection of Charlie Villanueva who essentially plays the same position as these two is illogical. Even though the Raptors came back strong with the selection of Joey Graham, I still can’t get past the inexplicable selection of such unneeded and raw talent as Villanueva.
Portland Trailblazers: What were they thinking? For an organization with no coach to select a high schooler would seem like the wrong choice. Especially for the Trailblazers. Although Martell Webster was considered the most NBA-ready of the prep prospects entering the draft, who is he going to learn from? On a team that has few proven leaders and always ends up in the news for doing something illegal, I think the Trailblazers should have brought in a more mature player rather than thrusting this 19 year old into the NBA spotlight.
Los Angeles Lakers: Heading into Tuesday night, the Lakers needed to address two gaping holes in their roster: point guard and front line help. The Lakers were sitting pretty, assuming that they’d be able to nab Raymond Felton at No. 10. But the whole flow of the first round was rearranged after the Blazers/Jazz deal went down. Before you knew it, Felton was off the board to the Bobcats at pick number 5 and the next best prospect, Jarret Jack, would have been a mistake at a pick as high as 10. So the Lakers decided to go with 7 foot 300 pound big man prospect Andrew Bynum. Bynum has long arms and is very athletic and mobile for a player his size, but is still raw on the offensive side of the ball and has trouble keeping his weight down. The prudence of this pick will turn on the ability of Phil Jackson to bring this kid along. The real question is “Do the Lakers fans have the patience for this project?”
One reply on “NBA Draft: Winners and Losers”
I agree With the Lakers taking a young center from highschool as they did this will cause some problems. He will not be ready to handle the ball hog that we know as KB8. Kobe is the star and he will stay that way, Phil Jackson is back, and Kwame Brown will be tried to look like an All-Star. With Bynum straight out of highschool, he really needs to learn a lot more and he has no one to learn from. he will struggle early and often and the Lakers made a big mistake taking him as high as number 10. The should have just taken Sean May but they let him slip away and will regret it for a while.