It is kind of weak. And I have my doubts that Griffin will ever be the best player on a championship team. But that's just this year's draft. It's the worst since 2000, when Kenyon Martin went #1 overall. Martin was (and is) essentially the same kind of guy. I mean, look at that parade of crap. You can't fault the Nets one iota for taking Martin first overall, even if he was one of the least impressive first overall picks of all time. He, Michael Redd and Hedo Turkoglu were the closest things to stars that came out of that draft. Similarly, I'm not in love with Griffin, but he's head and shoulders above the rest of this draft. He'll be at least a 15/10 guy who can play solid D.
Length and Athleticism, he has the tools, it is up to the Staff where he ends up to make somethng out of him, and even then, how much effort is he willing to sacrifice to be a NBA player? DeRozan is a gut level pick for me, ditto Teague, the NBA is soooo shoddy when it comes to development that both are crap shoots, but the antenna is twitching on those two along with Lawson.
Because this is how I roll, here are my semi-official Vegas odds for the Pistons pick at 15: 2-1 BJ Mullens - Can't shake the feeling that they made him a promise, no matter how much Chad Ford tries to discredit the report. 3-1 Earl Clark - I think he's the guy they really want, I just don't know if he'll be there. 5-2 Austin Daye - If there's no promise to Mullens, he's probably Plan B behind Clark. 6-1 The Field - Seems like they've narrowed their board to Mullens, Clark and Daye. 3-1 Trade - I think they would love to clear some extra cap room, and this might be part of it. I heard mention of a possible swap with OKC that would allow the Thunder to trade up from 25 to 15 if they take Amir Johnson's deal off their hands. I mentioned the swap with Washington above, and I'm thinking that the #15 pick would probably be part of that.
Per Chad Ford, the Knicks offered Larry Hughes for the #5 pick and two crummy contracts (Etan Thomas and Mike James), and the Wizards didn't giggle and hang up. That shows you the combination of how bad this draft is and how tight finances are for a lot of teams.
I've no idea how reliable this source is, but he's reporting some draft promises have been made... Austin Daye has been promised the #18 pick by the T'Wolves. May not matter, Detroit supposedly likes him at #15, and if the rumor below is true, I think he might not get to #18. Earl Clark has been promised the #14 pick by the Suns. ****. He's the guy I really want Detroit to get. This one I can absolutely believe; Clark apparently shut down a workout for the Bulls (#16). Jodie Meeks was apparently promised the #34 pick by the Nuggets. Jon Brockman has a second round promise; that much has been known for awhile. Brockman hasn't worked out for anyone, which is kind of surprising for a player with next to no chance of going in round 1. These guys believe it's either the Blazers (#33, 38) or Pistons (#35, 39, 44) who have made the promise.
Oh please God, let us Knicks fans have this one! Mike James may have an ugly contract but in D'Antoni's offense he would be a 3 point stud in fantasy Get Curry with that pick Tyreke Evans at pick 8 and our backcourt looks nice for the next 10 years. Back to praying.. I think Clark is more of a SF at 6'8" and probably the player most similar to Shawn Marion in this draft. Just what Denver needs, another guard who can score (Meeks) in bunches.
Chad Ford is reporting that the Bobcats may have made a promise to Terrence Williams at #12. Williams pulled out of a workout for the Nets today.
Sorry man. If it makes you feel better, there was never any way Evans was falling to 8, either. Clark's 6'10, not 6'8. And yeah, Meeks seems like a strange pick for Denver unless JR Smith's on the way out (and maybe he is; they've got to be tired of his act).
From NBA fanhouse: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/06/22/fanhouse-2009-nba-mock-draft-no-4/ They have Johnny Flynn going at #4
Uh-oh... If there's one thing you don't do on draft night, it's break a promise to pick a guy. If this is true, MJ just torched a bridge with whoever Williams' agent is, and probably a number of others. You absolutely do not make a deal to pick a player and then back out. MJ had better pray that NJ takes Williams at 11.
Here's the list of Green Room invites, from ESPN, with their approximate draft range in parens: Daye is a bit of a surprise, and that gives more credence to the idea that there's been a promise made to him. The NBA badly wants to avoid a repeat of the Rashard Lewis debacle and has been very active in sniffing around to make sure that guys will go in round 1 and not be sitting there all night. Earl Clark is NOT on the list, and conversely, that seems to cut against the initial report that Phoenix promised him the 14 spot. Ditto BJ Mullens and the Pistons at 15.
i like that tho...along with portland trying to get 17 pick...how sick would a williams/roy backcourt be?
