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        Welcome to the NBA Draft, the ugly stepchild of ESPN’s draft coverage family.  Because there is no hockey this year, basketball’s annual rite of passage has graduated to 2nd on the sports leader’s pick ’em totem pole, though they’ve still got miles to go before they catch the NFL.  While the folks from Bristol trot out Chris Berman, Mel Kiper, and Chris Mortensen for football’s meat market each April, the basketball-loving public is reduced to watching Mike Tirico, Greg Anthony, Steven A. Smith, Jay Bilas, and Dick Vitale assess the futures of the year’s NBA hopefuls.  Talk about a poorly assembled roster.  ESPN used to be the kind of network that had talent to spare, whose B-league guys could run the draft in their sleep.  This same network could have presented a draft-day lineup of Craig Kilborn, Tim Hardaway, Tom Tolbert, and David Aldridge.  In the words of Steven A. Smith, “whueva is running this netwurk needs to be fiyad!”  I managed to stay awake for most of the evening’s proceedings, despite the fact that this meant missing the BET Awards.  Can someone please tell me if Omarion managed to upset Chingy for “Biggest Living Pile”?  

There were many smiles on display when two of the three Celtic draft picks, Gerald Green and Ryan Gomes were introduced to the Boston media on Wednesday. Everyone already knew that Celtics’ Executive Director of Basketball Operations was excited with his selections on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday he seemed downright giddy, joking about the hat worn by Mickael Gelabale, one of Seattle’s second-rounders.

When Green talked about watching former Celtic greats like Larry Bird and Bill Russell, on ESPN Classic, Doc Rivers quipped, “You should probably say Danny Ainge.”

Green, more than willing to get in on the fun, replied to his new coach, “You can’t leave me alone.” Green then jokingly apologized to Ainge, saying “Don’t be mad at me Danny!” We don’t think that Green has to worry about insulting his boss too much; trading Young Gerald is probably the furthest thing from Ainge’s mind.

It’s finally here, everyone, the 2005 NBA Draft. All the speculation
about who’s coming out and who’s staying in school, all the mock
drafts, all the trade talk. It’s all here. Most of what’s going to
happen will happen tonight. The wheels started turning this afternoon
when the Blazers traded the number 3 pick to the Jazz for their
numbers 6, 27, and a first -rounder next year. My crazy friend `Neal
and I had already made up our mock draft before that trade went down,
and we were forced to change it up once the deal was announced. We’re
positive that this one is our most accurate ever…which really doesn’t
say all that much considering our past performances. Come join `Neal
and I as we give our commentary as the first round unfolds: