Old post, early reads on draft winners and losers

by Audino237

Draft Winners and Losers

Ok, people. It's been quite a while since I last made a post. Ten days to be exact. But if you know me, you know I have got to write about the NBA Draft, one of my favorite days of the year. The night was full of anticipation, as future superstars Greg Oden and Kevin Durant were drafted first and second to the Pacific Northwest teams. The entire lottery was full of intriguing players. Usually the word "intriguing" comes with uncertainty, a player with a high ceiling but could very well be a bust. The only possible bust I see int he lottery is Brandan Wright, whom the Bobcats drafted 8th then stupidly traded to Golden State. Also, many teams drafted high-ceiling players in order to attain more trade chips for guys like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and Jermaine O'Neal. From everything that I've read, I am certain that the reason that Phoenix tried so desparately to move up into the lottery was to get a good prospect to sweeten the deal for Garnett. Here are what I think what teams came away winners and losers.

WINNERS: Portland Trail Blazers- I don't see how someone can't absolutely love what the Blazers are doing with their team. Obviously, they got the number one pick, and picked the safest bet to lead a team to a championship since Tim Duncan, Greg Oden. They got rid of the overweight crybaby, Zach Randolph. On a young team, he was a potential cancer because of complaining when they experienced some growing pains this season. It also opens up playing time for last year's number 2 pick, LaMarcus Aldridge, who showed flashes of greatness last year. They got Steve Francis in the deal from the Knicks, and he could very well be resurrected in their high-octane offense. If not, he will be bought-out. Channing Frye also came int he deal. He had a down sophomore season, but he is polished and athletic, and could return to his rookie form with all of the excitement in Portland. In the last 2 years, the Blazers have also bought first round picks from the Suns to get 6-6 Spanish combo guards Sergio Rodriguez and Rudy Fernandez. Last year they also picked highly touted 19-year old Englishmen Joel Freeland, who would've been a lottery pick this year. This year, they also purchased Philadelphia's first round pick, 6-4 Finnish point man Petteri Koponen, who is the most underrated and unknown player in the draft. In the second round, they selected rugged Duke PF Josh McRoberts, who was a consensus 15-25 pick.

Seattle Supersonics- Kevin Durant alone makes them winners. The trade of Ray Allen brings them Jeff Green, the athletic 6-9 small forward, who is a solid role player on a championship-caliber team right now. It also left them more cap room to re-sign Rashard Lewis. In the Supersonics' up-tempo style, it is possible that all 3 of then could start or log significant minutes. The Celtics also gave them Delonte West to provide competition for the unstable Luke Ridnour at point guard. Don't discount wally Sczerbiak in this deal; I believe he is the one that makes this deal a surefire win for Seattle. He could play a lot of shooting guard out West and be able to hide his defensive weaknesses. Wally World could average 17 off the bench or in a starter's role.

Los Angeles Lakers- They obviously aren't taking the route of having Kobe runt he team and get his every wish. They had 3 picks, and all 3 look to be projects, and at least 2 have high ceilings. Javaris Crittenton, the 6-4 former Yellow Jacket point guard, fell to them at number 19. GTech has a good history of point guards (Kenny Anderson, Starbury, Jack, etc..) and he could start for them in 2 years. In the second round, they took Pau Gasol's younger brother, Marc. Marc is 2 inches taller, but 20 pounds heavier, and does not have the athletic lower body that his brother possesses. He'll be nothing more then a Bruno Sundov. Sun Yue was their first pick int he 2nd round, and he could be a star. He has spent alot of time in America, as he is part of Yi Jianlian's generation. LA has a large Asian population that will embrace him. Oh, yeah, he is 6-9, still growing, and can play both guard positions. He attacks the rim and has a deft shooting touch.

Golden State Warriors- They had the biggest steal of the draft. They traded Jason Richardson's hefty contract (3 years, $48 million) to MJ's Pussycats. Unless the Bobcats plan to amp up their playing style about 73 notches, JRich will be useless and rot away in Charlotte. He thrived in the Warriors offense, and would do so only in certain places, like Golden State, Phoenix, Toronto, Memphis, and New Jersey. They stole Brandan Wright from Charlotte in the process. Yes, Wright has a high Bust factor, but they are a young, up-and-coming playoff team who knocked off the juggernaut Mavericks. They play with 4 guards and athletic, mean big man Andris Biendrins. Withoput Richardson, they still employ point guard Baron Davis, swingmen Matt Barnes, Al Harrington, Mickael Pietrus, Monta Ellis, and Stephen Jackson, not to mention their first round selection, 6-7 Italian combo guard Marco Belinelli.

Atlanta Hawks- The Birds' draft is hard to read. Yes, they almost had to draft Al Horford, the most NBA ready player this side of Greg Oden. And, yes, they also went byt he book and took point guard Acie Law. This means that they will turn up the heat on dealing from their stable of young forwards to try to obtain Amare Stoudemire. They will try to move last year's pick, Shelden Williams, which made zero sense. They filled a need with a proven leader and winner at point guard, and a post presence they haven't had since Sheed skipped town after one game 3 years ago. If they had guts, they would have taken the bigger risk, bigger potential Mike Conley Jr. with the 3rd pick and traded down 5 or 6 picks to pick up a veteran shooting guard and select BC's troubled big man Sean Williams.

LOSERS: Milwaukee Bucks- Yi may very well turn out to be an All-Star, but his agent, Dan Fegan, clearly didn't want him in Minnesota or Milwaukee. They are both dying cities with little Asian population. They won't be able to capitalize on his global appeal. Yi may become unhappy, and the Bucks may have opened up a can of worms by selecting him, as he may refuse to report to camp and/or be unhappy all year and not play to potential.

Detroit Pistons- They are championship caliber, there only question being whether or not they can sign Chauncey Billups. They could have traded up 5 picks to select Acie Law IV, who is ready to play and possibly fill in for Billups in the starting lineup. They took Rodney Stuckey, a combo guard from EWU, and Aaron Afflalo, who doesn't have much room to grow. If they can re-sign Billups, then Stuckey is a great selection. If not, they're between a rock and a hard place and will have to move fast to get a guard.

New York Knicks- They ridded themselves of Stevie Franchises' contract, but only to gain a bigger and longer one, Zach Randolph. Portland's Porker is very talented, but a troublemaker. The Knicks committed themselves to an up-tempo style of play, and it started to work. Adding him to a frontcourt alongside Eddy Curry makes for the league's slowest PF-C combination. Trading away athletic Channing Frye and taking time away from hustling fan favorites David Lee and Renaldo Balkman is a negative of the deal. By adding the contract, it takes the Knicks out of the Dwayne Wade-LeBron James-Chris Bosh derbies in 3 years because they will have no cap room. Wilson Chandler from DePaul is a relative unknown, but I have to go with Isaiah's pick, he is a heck of a drafter.