NBA Blog

This is the biggest NBA Draft Lottery ever.  Seriously, only two lotteries have compared to this one, 1997 (where the Celtics were the favorites to land Tim Duncan, and 2003 (henceforth referred to as the “Darko Lott”… I mean the “King James Lottery”).  It is interesting to note that the Celtics have been involved in two of these lotteries.  Will they be hurt again?  If so, I think the loyal ESPN.com readers will be served with a never-ending supply of Sports Guy articles on the tragic destruction of the once-proud Celtics.  At least the Red Sox are winning though, and that could salvage some articles.

Anyway, in honor of tonight’s festivities, I think I will talk about my five favorite potential lottery picks:

1.  Greg Oden - I jumped on the Kevin Durant bandwagon, and watched every Texas game that I could (I like the Longhorns anyway, so it was an added incentive).  However, Oden is so good.  He’s a monster defensively (I keep thinking about his two-handed block of Brewer in the national title game).  He’s also an excellent athlete.  He runs the court well, and can jump through the roof.  I think a lot of people will be shocked at how talented he is offensively in the post, because, by my count, we’ve only seen one or two real games of Greg Oden.  In one of those games, the aforementioned national title game, Oden put up 25 and 13 despite the fact that the Buckeyes forgot he was on the court because they were too busy hoisting stupid threes.  Oh yeah, and those 25 points came while being guarded by Noah, Horford, and Richard.  Last I checked, two of those three were also in the lottery.  He’s young, he’s talented, and he’s a great kid.  What is there not to love. 

2.  Kevin Durant - He will lead all rookies in scoring next year, without a doubt.  He is very close to Carmelo Anthony right now, minus the strength which will come.  Durant is much better outside shooter than ‘Melo was, though, and he has better length to get his shots off with both hands, which makes him extra dangerous.  I would not be surprised to see him post better than 20 points per game next season.

3.  Al ‘Tito’ Horford - Horford has the most NBA-ready body out of any of the lottery picks with the exception of Oden.  The man will come in ready to crash the boards and throw his body around.  He has also added a nice 12- to 15-foot shot, which means he won’t have to camp in the low post.  If he can get coupled with another athletic big (Milwaukee or Minnesota would be great fits), then Horford could be a monster.

4.  Corey Brewer - He reminds me so much of the pre-choke Latrell Sprewell.  When Spre was young, he could guard anybody on the court, shoot from everywhere, move the ball, beat everybody in transition, and showed no fear.  If Brewer’s ability can translate to the same type of play on the NBA level, he will be an All Star in short time.  Let’s just hope he doesn’t pick up all of ‘Spree’s traits.

5.  (Tie) Acie Law, Jeff Green, Julian Wright - Wright and Green are versatile, consistent players.  Perhaps they are just one notch below Brewer on the athleticism scale, but I think they both have more refined games at this point.  Both of these guys are fundamentally solid, and if you are sitting at the 5-8 spot, I don’t see how you can pass on someone who could be a solid player for your franchise for 8-9 years.  Law on the other hand, reminds me of a young Sam Cassel.  Maybe his shot is ugly, but he has shown the cajones that Sam always displayed at the end of games.  He will take over in the crunch time and carry teams on his back.  Right now I keep seeing mock drafts placing Law at number 14 for the Clippers.  If he falls that far, 10 teams are really going to be kicking themselves next season. 

Two guys I would avoid:

1.  Joakim Noah - He’s Mikki Moore.  Seriously, he is.  Their hair is even similar.  Why would you take a role player at 4-7 who will flounder if he is in the wrong system?  If I’m Phoenix and I have a loaded roster, I would snag him if Brewer was gone, but that is because he would fit well in the up and down system.  He would also come off the bench like Stephen Hunter did a few years ago.  In my opinion, that is where he belongs, and he should not go to a team in need of a starter who will provide big numbers.

2.  Spencer Hawes - When you are a 7′0″ white guy, and Chad Ford starts his analysis off you like this, “Hawes doesn’t have the athletic upside of many of the top prospects in the draft…”, I’m not touching you. 

Enjoy the show tonight. 

***Addendum***

I have one more quick thing to talk about.  How come nobody has talked about the fact that the Atlanta Hawks, the franchise in the most disarray (Seattle and Memphis are just behind them), the franchise that has been so inept at the NBA Draft in recent years (passing on Chris Paul and Deron Williams for starters), could possibly land the number 1 and 11 picks? 

They could instantly nab Oden and Conley, pairing Oden with his childhood friend and the guy he has said he desperately to play with at the NBA level.  The Hawks would instantly be one of the top four teams in the East, and would have the potential to have three All Stars (Conley, Oden and Johnson) with the two Joshes and Zaza to boot. 

Their G.M. has screwed up every deal I can think of in recent history, and could luck into these two picks.  That blows my mind.  Yet, nobody has mentioned this anywhere.  Of course, this won’t happen, because I am sure that the Hawks have already promised to take Spencer Hawes with the number 1 overall pick, if he is still on the board.