Themes of the 2009 NBA Draft: Upside, Steal and Traded

To try and follow the 2009 NBA Draft, you really needed a chart and maybe a map. Especially if you gutted it out through the second round.

Through the first ten picks, there was very few surprises. Sure, the Wolves were calling upon the spirit of Kevin McHale and selected two point guards in back-to-back picks at Nos. 5 and 6 (Rubio and Johnny Flynn) but you really didn't hit a surprise pick until No. 13 when the Pacers snagged Tyler Hansbrough. Even that wasn't a huge stretch.

But sitting there and listening to the likes of Stuart Scott, Jeff Van Gundy, Marc Jackson. and Jay Bilas talk about these first round picks sounded close to repetitive, with "upside" being the word of the round.

"What do you think Jay?"

"Well, I like this pick. I think {insert name} has the athletic ability and the skills to be a great player someday. There is a lot of upside to taking this guy and while he may not make a huge impact this year, he is someone who, if he can develop {insert skill}, should be a good player in this league for years to come."

I swear, Bilas could have been reading off the same script for every player.

I mean, I understand that it is the NBA draft and few players ever come into the league "star ready" but with the exception of a few players (Griffin, Curry and Hansbrough), every single player has upside but needs to figure out one major facet of the game.

• Haseem Thabeet: Upside, if only he can develop an inside offensive game.
• Tyreke Evans: Upside, if only he can develop an outside shot.
• DeMar DeRozen: Upside, if only he can get bigger and stronger.
  
• Brandon Jenning: Upside, if only he can develop a consistent jumper.
• Terrance Williams: Upside, if only he can focus enough to bring the effort every night.
• Austin Daye: Upside, if only he can gain muscle and develop a "killer instinct."
• Jrue Holiday: Upside, if he can be more consistent and a better decision maker
  
• Jeff Teague: Upside, if only he can make the effort to improve his man to man defense.

...Getting the picture?

And I know this draft was supposed to be weaker than most, but come on. Couldn't at least the brilliant writers for ESPN could have busted out a thesaurus and looked up more words to use other than upside and potential? Humor me here. I mean I tuned in for like five hours of Stuart Scott. I think I deserved a little bit more.

Finally, around the end of the first round and throughout the second, Bilas showed he had two cue cards to read off of and suddenly every player taken became a "steal."

Wayne Ellington, Jermaine Taylor, DaJuan Summers, DaJuan Blair, Sam Young, and Chase Budinger all apparently should have been taken well before they were. Ellington earlier in the first and the rest in the first round period.

It was weird in the sense that a lot of teams were drafting on potential than actual proven abilities, but I suppose that is why they are GM's and I am security guard.

And finally the number of trades involving picks was amazing. There was like a total of 11 (rough count) and that didn't include the Shaq, Vince Carter, or Richard Jefferson. But surprisingly none of these trades happened until the Wolves traded the third point guard they selected at No. 18, Ty Lawson to the Nuggets.

OK, I need this last couple paragraphs to say who did well from the draft... and no, I am not talking about teams, I am talking about players. So, in no particular order:

First: How lucky is Ty Lawson? He gets to go to a team that will be in the playoffs for at least the next eight years, he will be Carmelo's teammate for his entire time there, and he gets to learn from the perfect sensei in Billups. Lawson will be a star one day because of this trade. Perfect situation for a point guard.

Second: DeJuan Blair going to the San Antonio Spurs. He gets to play along side Tim Duncan. He gets to learn from ole' Pop. He gets to focus on rebounding as a rookie and master his offensive game at his pace because with Duncan, Parker, Manu, and now Jefferson, the scoring will be taken care of.

Third: Earl Clark will have Steve Nash passing to him. He will get to play with Amare (providing he doesn't get moved) and will be able to start from the get go. Clark will flourish in this system.

Fourth: Terrance Williams will have one of the better up-and-coming point guards in Devin Harris to pass him the ball on the break and has one of the better young centers in Brook Lopez rebounding and eventually drawing double teams.

Fifth/sixth: Eric Maynor/Goran Suton. They get to play for Jerry Sloan. Maynor gets to learn under Deron Williams. Suton will get to learn from either Boozer or Millsap, if either returns, or at least under Mehmet Okur. Both players are smart and will only improve under that coach and that system.

And finally: Stephen Curry. He gets to play with Monta Ellis. He gets to play with Stephen Jackson. He gets to play for Don Nelson. His defense isn't that important. He will get to shoot it whenever he likes. I do not know if he will win ROY honors, but he will definitely have the highest scoring average of any rookie out there