Draft Dreams

If the draft didn’t exist, the NBA would be pretty boring. The summer would be pointless and the entire league would probably be finished within a decade.

Lucky for us, the draft does exist.The draft can be many things for many people. For the players it can be everything they ever dreamed of. It can be their utter disappointment as that dream is torn from them. For teams it can completely change everything in a matter of minutes. For some it can be simply another wasted year. (Stand up Atlanta Hawks). For everyone it is a chance to dream and think of what might be.

Let’s look five years into the future.

2013.

Kobe. A.I. Duncan. Garnett. Nash. Some may still be around, but in all likelihood they will not be all-stars. Shaq will be long gone. Only Dikembe Mutumbo will remain.

Lebron and Melo and Chris Paul and Superman will be fully into their stride and will be starting to acquire ‘veteran’ status.

Who will be on the rise? Who will be a new face for their franchise? Beasley? Durant? Roy? The true joy of the draft is the hundreds of thousands of possibilities that could yet occur.
 
These players haven’t yet shown us anything wrong with them, so we are allowed to dream of what might be. We are allowed to believe that Michael Beasley could easily be the best scoring machine ever seen. We can believe that Greg Oden and Dwight Howard could be the second coming of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. We can believe that OJ Mayo could redefine what a point guard is. We simply don’t know if these players can be ones that can change a generation.

But its not restricted to these unrealistic dreams that no-one can possibly know anything about yet. It’s also the expectations of what we do know already. Let’s use Michael Beasley as an example. The guy appears to be a prodigy, a strong athletic big man who can shoot and dribble. He should be something special. For 2 or 3 years, Dwayne Wade appeared to be the best guard in the league. Now he and the Heat are on the way to redemption, and Beasley might be the man to take them there. Looking at them, don’t you think that this pair should be in the finals at least once together? Surely it will be a waste if they don’t make it.

Then there is seeing who will be the better guard out of Rose, Mayo and Gordon. Whether Kevin Love will be as good as he can be. Which Brook twin will be of more worth? There is of course the question of who will be a bust and who was a steal. Or who got the better deal out of the Bulls and the Heat. Similar to the Durant/Oden argument of last year that still must be settled. And obviously, waiting to see who will be the new R.O.Y (Don’t forget that Greg Oden is still eligible)

That’s just one award. Derrick Rose wants to be the MVP. Who (if anyone) will be the first to win the main award? Or a championship? Of Defensive player?

Every draft has potential. Every year there is a star. Some years more than others. 1984. 1996. 2003. These years held great drafts with heaps of talent among them. I believe that 2007 will one day join the list of great drafts. This year is not quite as deep as the latter, but that does not mean it has any number of possibilities. Anything could happen any year. Anyone can emerge. Anyone can be a bust. Thats what exciting. We get to find out. As it stands, all we have is possibilities, but in the coming years we can see what reality gives us.

Switch back to 2013 for a second. Think about the all-star game. Who’s going to be in the starting line-up? Who’s going to win MVP? It could be anyone! From this draft, from last years from a future draft. The 09 draft looks to also be full of one-and-done college stars (mostly guards, see Jennings, Brandon and Evans, Tyreke).  Whose going to be a contender? The draft allows us to think of these things.

I mentioned earlier how these stars will be the face of the league.

Lord knows the league will need them.

The NBA had one of its best seasons with some its best characters being in the limelight. In 5 years, the NBA will be starting to put the plan for expansion into fruition. Think of this. The NBA will become global, it will change completely.  This will be the most important phase of the NBA’s life for 40 years, perhaps even more important than the merger. The pressure will be draped upon the shoulders of the aforementioned Lebron, Paul, Howard, Williams etc. They will carry the NBA into foreign lands and the success of the move depends on them.

What i have said does not simply apply to the lottery picks. Not every draftee will be an all-star. But in my opinion the reserves and role-players are just as important. They are 90% of the league after all.

The Draft is always exciting, it may not always be as surprising or might not be as many stars, but it is always exciting.

And it allows us to dream.