Timberwolves the Team to Watch on Draft Day

Whether it be the NFL or NBA draft, there is always one team to watch that will determine how everything falls into place. In this year’s NBA draft, that team is the Minnesota Timberwolves, which own four picks in the first-round. The Timberwolves already had picks 6, 18 and 28, and they were able to grab the 5th overall pick when they traded Mike Miller and Randy Foye to the Wizards. With so many picks, the options are limitless — and the possibility of affecting what happens with other teams in the draft is inevitable.

With so much ammunition, the Timberwolves have the perfect opportunity to move up a few spots tomorrow night. But it all depends on what players the T’Wolves are looking to add. If they want a center such as Hasheem Thabeet, they will likely have to trade up with Oklahoma City in order to get him. The Thunder, however, reportedly want Thabeet, so it will take a great offer from the T’Wolves to move up to that spot.

If they want a player such as Ricky Rubio, James Harden and/or Tyreke Evans, they likely will not need to move up as all three are expected to be available at picks 5-6. Trading up for the No.1 overall pick is out of the question, as the Clippers have already indicated that they will select Blake Grifiin. Plus, Griffin is the only player in this draft that has been talked about going No.1, and the T’Wolves do not need a player of his type. With Al Jefferson and Kevin Love, they already set at the forward positions.

Minnesota general manager David Kahn will have to weigh all of the possibilities, and the decision on whom the T’Wolves will select must come down to what type of player they feel they need to compete. I feel that they need a bona fide wing player who can score the basketball — someone that you can count on late in the game to take over.

James Harden, a shooting guard out of Arizona State, is an option. Harden averaged over 20 points per game and college, and last year was named the Pac-10 Player of the Year. But he comes with some question marks. Though he was a prolific scorer in college, he tended to disappear at times, most notably in the second round of the NCAA tournament against Syracuse. There’s no question that Harden possesses the talent necessary to be a very good player in the NBA, but the fact that he didn’t step up for every game is a huge concern. The No.1 trait of the best players in the league is consistency, something he must develop. But if he does, he has the talent to be a top-10 player in the NBA.

Memphis’ Tyreke Evans is a tweener. He began his freshman season playing shooting guard, but with the Tigers struggling early in the season, head coach John Calipari moved him to point guard and the team flourished. Evans never struck me as a player with great vision, and as a result I wonder if he has the chops to play point in the NBA. He was very good at it in college, but the NBA is a whole different level. At 6-foot-5, his best position in the NBA might be shooting guard. And while his shooting motion is a little strange, but he gets the ball in the basket.

Selecting both Evans and Harden would be a mistake, in my opinion, so the T’Wolves would need to decide which of the two they like best.

NBA Draft Top 10: Who Goes Where?

UPDATE: Sacramento is backing up off of Ricky Rubio and Oklahoma City is now wanting Rubio. This can change the draft dramatically.

The 2009 NBA Draft is coming up and a lot of people are wondering; who will go where? In this article I will explain who the top 10 Draft picks will be, and why.

1. Los Angeles Clippers – Blake Griffin, PF, Oklahoma : The Clips already announced that Blake Griffin will be their pick in this draft.
2. Memphis Grizzlies - Hasheem Thabeet, C, UConn : The Griz said it will be between Hasheem Thabeet and Ricky Rubio for their draft pick. I think however they will end up drafting Hasheem Thabeet because they already have a promising Point in Michael Conley already and they can always move Marc Gasol to play Power forward. It will be a huge frontline to deal with, but who knows? It just may work.
3. Oklahoma City – Jordan Hill, PF, Arizona : The Thunder needs a Big Man they can count on to throw the ball in to make moves and score for them. A lot of people have been saying Blake Griffin would be a perfect fit for Oklahoma, Jordan Hill can do very well for them too. Ricky Rubio will NOT come here because they have the Point ran by an up and coming star in Russel Westbrook.
4. Sacramento Kings – Ricky Rubio, PG, Spain : It’s kinda obvious Rubio will land here if passed up by the three teams before him. The Kings have expressed strong interest in Rubio because of their Dire need of a true Point guard as they think that Beno Udrih cannot hold up as being their starting Point guard.
5. Minnesota Timberwolves – Jonny Flynn, PG, Syracuse : The wolves have expressed interest in Flynn of Syracuse, the Wolves are also one of the teams who are in need of a good Point. They just traded Randy Foye for this 5th Pick, so I assume they will take a Point guard with this pick.
6. Minnesota Timberwolves – Earl Clark, SF, Louisville : Anyone can land here, but I will go with Earl Clark from Lousville, I think he can fit well with the T’Wolves playing their starting Small Forward position. At this point, they might have also gave up on Corey Brewer, deciding he is at best a role player coming off the bench.
7. Golden State Warriors - Brandon Jennings, PG, USA : I’ve watched Brandon Jennings play alot and I see alot of upside in him, this could very well be a great steal for the Warriors if the Warriors decide to draft him. Although Monta Ellis hasnt been very happy about the news that the Warriors want Jennings in the draft, I wonder if he’s ever thought he can move back to his natural SG position and be the team’s primary scorer?
8. New York Knicks – Stephen Curry, SG, Davidson : Mike D’Antoni adores this guy, Curry is the perfect player for the the Knick’s system and will be drafted by the Knicks if not drafted earlier.
9. Toronto Raptors – DeMar Derozan, SG, USC : A lot of people are saying DeRozan could very well be the Raptor’s pick this year. DeRozan can develop into a great player with his Athletic prowess, he can pave his way to being the next Vince Carter. Since Anthony Parker could be leaving Toronto, it makes sense to draft another SG to fill their SG role.
10. Milwaukee Bucks – Gerald Henderson, SF, Duke : The Bucks might want to fill their need at the Small Forward position after they traded Richard Jefferson, so I’m guessing Gerald Henderson will land here in Milwaukee.

These are my Top 10 Draft Predictions, if you have your own Top 10 Predictions, go ahead and comment them.

Question Marks Surround Future No.1 Pick Griffin

The NBA Draft will be conducted in New York on Thursday, and the drama has already been taken away with regards towhom the Los Angeles Clippers will select with the first-overall pick. Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin — widely considered to be the best player available in the draft — will be the choice. The Clippers said so the minute they won the lottery, and they have also said that they are not willing to trade the pick.

The question now becomes just how good Griffin will be for the Clippers. Currently, there are more than a few question marks surrounding his game and why he will be the No.1 pick.

First off, the 2009 draft class is weak. Very weak. In fact, many analysts are calling this the worst NBA draft class in the last 25 years, and I would agree. There seems to be no debate about who the best player available is, and though Griffin is a very talented player, he really is the only player executives can justify selecting with the first-overall pick. After Griffin, there are no players that jump off the page. No one that would make a team attempt trade up for the No.1 pick because his a player that can turn a franchise around.

As a result, Griffin will be the No.1 pick, no questions asked. Analysts will spend all of Thursday discussing how good of a player Griffin is, and there is certain to be high levels of hyperbole involved, as there tends to be with every No.1 pick. But can Griffin live up to that hype?

 

Second, Griffin is a very athletic and raw player, to say the least. His athleticism is off the charts. At his size, it’s amazing the things he can do with the basketball, especially his leaping ability. He used his athleticism to his advantage in college, and that is how he scored most of his points.

He is a 6-foot-10, 251 pound forward. It is hard to know if he truly is 6-foot-10, because most colleges tend to exaggerate on player’s height. In the NBA, his body type puts him in between the small and power forward positions. His game, however, points heavily toward power forward. Griffin was a very good rebounder at Oklahoma, averaging 14.4 rebounds per game. The problem with that is that he used his size and will to bully around smaller players in college. In the NBA he will only be facing bigger players who want the ball just as much as he does. Currently, rebounding is the best aspect of his game. Moreover, it is the only part of his game that is developed. That is why the best description of Griffin would most likely be “raw.”

The negative facets of his game are not good signs, at all. For one, he showed no signs of knowing how to play any defense, whatsoever. The excuse that has been floating around is that his head coach, Jeff Capel, told him not to play defense because he didn’t want Griffin to get into foul trouble. That excuse is Bologna, and it speaks to Griffin’s knowledge of the game. If he were a good defender, he would know how to play without fouling. The fact that Capel was worried about Griffin getting in foul trouble speaks volumes about just how good of a defender he was. Plus, he went up against smaller players all throughout college, and the fact that he was not able to bully them around and pile up on blocks is disconcerting.

The Oracle Challenge: 2009 NBA Draft

Welcome to the newest installement on the website, it is called “The Oracle Challenge”.  In the Oracle Challenge, I challenge readers to predict something or answer a question correctly.  Today’s Challenge is to predict which players will be the Top 5 draft picks in the draft, and which teams they will go to.

Draft Order:

#1 – Los Angeles Clippers

#2 – Memphis Grizzlies

#3 – Oklahoma City Thunder

#4 – Sacramento Kings

#5 – Washington Wizards

Top Prospects:

• Terrence Williams
• Ricky Rubio
• Jordan Hill
• Stephen Curry
• Jonny Flynn
• Hasheem Thabeet
• James Harden
• Jrue Holiday
• Blake Griffin
• Tyreke Evans
• Demar DeRozan
• Gerald Henderson
• Brandon Jennings

You can use whatever resources you want to answer the question, and on Draft Night we will see who is correct.  Sorry, but the only prize is self pride!

What’s Up Next Once The Season Is Over?

Well as the NBA’s showcase event is now in full swing. The WNBA season has started . And if you’re an avid WNBA fan then my condolences ! Now I’m not against female sports at all. Save that I’d be more inclined to watch women’s beach volleyball than I am to watch the women of the WNBA fashion themselves after their male counterparts.  

Derrick Rose of the University of Memphis is congratulated by NBA Commissioner David Stern having been taken as the number one pick overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 2008 NBA Draft. picture appears courtesy of ap/photo/ Matt Charles …

What one would elicit as being as excitement to me with regard to watching the WNBA game is akin to either enduring Chinese water torture or watching paint dry. What’s being exhibited isn’t really athleticism to my mind. But then again it’s all in the eye of the beholder.

Rose seen here with Michael Beasly who’d been taken by the Miami Heat pose for the cameras at last seaon’s NBA Draft ceremony. picture appears courtesy of getty images/ Nick Laham …………

As we all know the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic are for all sense and purpose trying to evoke a great deal of pleasure for their fans and purists alike in the NBA Finals. That being said as the Finals progress it’s very hard to sit and watch the Lakers waylay the ambitions of the Orlando Magic. The Magic for their part continue to shoot themselves in the foot with their poor play and inept offensive presence. Never mind the fact that Dwight Howard is now to Superman what Clay Aiken is to the romantic ballad. Any semblance at this juncture may well be purely coincidental. Howard’s performances thus far even by his own lofty standards have been average at best. And average as we all know won’t cut it if the Magic are indeed to usurp and overcomethe Lakers in these NBA Finals.

Ricky Rubio (32) seen here playing for his Spanish league team DKV Joventut of the Spanish league. Rubio has drawn comparison to late Pete Maravich in terms of his play. And the highly regarded Spaniard is viewed as being a high draft lottery pick. picture appears courtesy of afp/reuters/

And now with the Magic being (0-2) in the best of these seven game series. It’s now hard to envisage how they’ll manage to turn things around. Given that their play in these first two games has been less than stellar. And with the ensuing three games to be played at the Magic’s homecourt of the Amway Arena in Orlando, Florida. It’s hoped that the team can avail themselves of the hometown crowd’s support in the hope that’ll be enough to provide them with an assist in evening the series. Anything less than that and they might as well fold up their tents and begin to reminisce on the season they had as a collective. The highs to an extent far outweighed the lows.

 

Who’s Minding The Store? Absolutely No One And The NCAA And NBA Don’t Really Care Or Gives A Damn For That Matter!

As we all know the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is basically the feeder system whereby the NBA in part derives the vast majority of its talent. And as we’re all too aware there’s also international players who enter the draft each year.

Commissioner David Stern of the NBA . Under his leadership the NBA has seen its revenues grow tenfold . picture appears courtesy of ap/Phil Mueller ....

And as long as those players meet the criteria they’re quite welcomed to be a part of the NBA Draft. Such has been the global presence of the game. That many of the players primarily in Europe , Far East Asia and to an exent Latin America look to ply their trade in the NBA. Whereupon if those players are successful they can be set for life in terms of untold wealth and fame.

When the league’s commissioner David Stern sought to introduce the age limit for players entering the league. There was a widespread outcry. As many felt that what was being proposed by Stern was unlawful and at the same time a restraint of trade. But somehow Stern was able to override whatever concerns and oppostion there was to his edict.

Myles Brand President of the NCAA . The National Collegiate Athletic Association oversees all of the college programs in terms of sports and its student athletes. What a lot of people are unaware however is that the organization is a also a registered charity and tax exempt body that has its own lobbyists working on Capitol Hill to ensure its right to exist as it now stands. picture appears courtesy of ap/photo/Phil Russo ...

The rule concerning a player’s entrance into the draft. Is that they ought to be no younger than nineteen years of age and at least one year removed from having attended high school. So in effect the main purpose was to have a player at least have served or played one year in college. Well with a number of high schoolers now looking to forego college and go to Europe where they’re not bounded by those rules. It’s now making it very easy for many of those young players to look upon the NBA as something of a final stop off point once they refine their skills in Europe or elsewhere.

Eureka! Clippers Strike Lottery Gold

For a team that has had a terrible streak of bad luck in the past, the Clippers finally ran into some good luck. Last night, the Clippers won the NBA Draft Lottery and the rights to the No.1 overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.

Los Angeles seemed destined for the second worst record in the league (19-63) from the offseason. It started when they acquired point guard Baron Davis from the Clippers, who was going to pair with forward Elton Brand to make one heck of a tandem. But even though Brand, a free-agent at the time, had told Davis that he would stay in L.A. if Davis joined the team, Brand quickly did a 180 and left the Clippers for Philadelphia.

The team was decimated by injuries all season long. Zach Randolph missed 43 games, Marcus Camby missed 20, Davis missed 17 and Thornton missed 9. It was a very difficult season for everyone involved, but their luck may have changed for the better last night.

With the No.1 overall pick, the Clippers will most likely choose between Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin — regarded by many as the best player in the draft — and Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio.

Here is the lottery order:

1. Los Angeles Clippers
2. Memphis Grizzlies
3. Oklahoma City Thunder
4. Sacramento Kings
5. Washington Wizards
6. Minnesota Timberwolves
7. Golden State Warriors
8. New York Knicks
9. Toronto Raptors
10. Milwaukee Bucks
11. New Jersey Nets
12. Charlotte Bobcats
13. Indiana Pacers
14. Phoenix Suns