My Outlook on The 2009 NBA Draft

From Blake Griffin to 'Team Tyreke' to the (over)hype around Ricky Rubio to Stephen Curry's near miss at a dream to 'what the hell is going on?' with the Minnesota Timberwolves, tonight's NBA Draft was much more intriguing than I thought it was going to be. It started out fast with big name after big name but slowed down late in the 1st round and early in the 2nd round but the mid 2nd round to the end included some more fairly well known names.

There were two players in this year's draft that were the surest of sure things: Blake Griffin and Stephen Curry.
The Los Angeles Clippers officially made Blake Griffin the #1 Pick and then the Pacific Division rival Phoenix Suns made Blake's older brother, Taylor Griffin, the 48th overall selection.

A neat little fact about tonight: There were 3 players drafted in the 1st round whose Fathers had also played in the NBA.
Stephen Curry's dad Dell Curry
Gerald Henderson's dad Gerald Henderson, Sr.
Austin Daye's dad Darren Daye

2009 NBA Draft Blog on Myspace
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=44825236&blogId=496250714

Despite the word on the street that Hasheem Thabeet absolutely did not want to play in Memphis and was "very confident" the Thunder were going to choose him at #3 (which I am confident to say they were not going to) that Thabeet refused workouts with the Grizzlies, but Memphis made Thabeet the #2 overall selection anyway. Like it or not, Thabeet is a good fit for that team. With the young core that they've developed the past three years, the Grizzlies are well on their way to becoming a playoff contender. Look at it, Memphis also picked up DeMarre Carroll near the end of the first round and more surprisingly got Sam Young in the 2nd round and there's absolutely no reason why Young should not have been a first round pick.

While I'm thinking about it, the Houston Rockets actually did a nice job. They did not trade Tracy McGrady [yet] and did not have a single draft pick yet still picked up some good young players by giving up almost nothing. They traded away future second round picks for some good young guys drafted in this year's 2nd round like Jermaine Taylor, Sergio Llull, and one of my favorite guys, Chase Budinger from Arizona who also should have been a first round pick.

The Washington Wizards on the other hand had a horrible draft. This is a team with some major wholes to fill and could have gotten Jordan Hill at the #5 pick but gave the pick to Minnesota and the only other pick the Wizards held was the 2nd pick in the 2nd round in which they drafted Jermaine Taylor but later traded him to Houston for nothing but cash.

Back to the main point. Well here's the Top 10 of the Draft
1. Clippers: Blake Griffin, PF, Oklahoma
2. Grizzlies: Hasheem Thabeet, C, Connecticut
3. Thunder: James Harden, SG, Arizona State
4. Kings: Tyreke Evans, G, Memphis
5. Timberwolves: Ricky Rubio, PG, Spain
6. Timberwolves: Jonny Flynn, PG, Syracuse
7. Warriors: Stephen Curry, G, Davidson
8. Knicks: Jordan Hill, PF, Arizona
9. Raptors: DeMar DeRozan, SG, USC
10. Bucks: Brandon Jennings, PG, Italy

The best moment of the draft: When Ricky Rubio fell out of the Top 3, and for that matter, the Top 4. The Top 4 went as planned for me but I had Jonny Flynn at #5 and assumed someone would trade up to 6 to get Rubio but I had hoped that the Knicks would have traded up to 6 to get Stephen Curry. More on that later.

The Timberwolves to me were the biggest mystery of today's draft. They had the 5th, 6th, 18th, and 28th picks in the 1st round so you figured they were in great position. The first three picks were like "What?" that even North Carolina Coach Roy Williams had a look of "WTH is going on?" on his face (you could tell that's exactly what he said to). Minnesota took the overhyped point guard from Spain, Ricky Rubio with the 5th pick, and then with the very next pick took Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn. Then with the 18th pick took yet another point guard in North Carolina's Ty Lawson. Now, the Wolves did indeed make a move and traded Lawson to the Denver Nuggets but ESPN's Rick Bucher reported that Rubio and Flynn will play together. This could turn into a major disaster for Minnesota or something that will make them accidentally look like geniuses down the road.
The only possible way I see that these two can play together is the fact that Rubio is going to need some time to translate to the American game. Jonny Flynn is a guy who's projected to be able to step in and play right away. The strategy could be then that Flynn will start and Rubio will sit to watch and learn. If this is true, it still doesn't make sense in terms of long-term outlook. There is going to be controversy eventually on who gets the ball between Flynn and Rubio. Flynn is the better leader and the better scorer and shooter while Rubio is the better passer and better overall ball-handler. I'll be trying to keep tabs on what goes in Minnesota in the coming months.
Now, the Timberwolves did make a great selection with the 28th pick by taking Wayne Ellington of North Carolina. I was surprised that Ellington was still on the board at that point because I had him projected to end up in Utah or New Orleans. And Ellington's high school teammate, Gerald Henderson went as projected, 12th overall to the Charlotte Bobcats.
But what happened with Minnesota in the 2nd round? They took another point guard. Why? This time it was Nick Calathes from Florida, but there's a story behind Nick's draft status. He has already signed a professional basketball contract for four years with a team in Greece. He has expressed his intent to play pro-ball overseas unless an overwhelming opportunity came to him in the NBA Draft. Going to Minnesota with a place already full of point guards isn't exactly an overwhelming enough opportunity to keep Calathes in America. Because of Nick's will to play in Greece, teams like the Kings and Mavericks late in the 1st round were unwilling to take a chance of drafting him and him going to Greece instead. I think the Timberwolves just said hell with it and took a chance with Calathes but because of the situation, I think he Nick Calathes honors his contract in Greece. He won't be putting on a Minnesota Timberwolves uniform.

Let's talk about Stephen Curry a.k.a. 2009-2010 NBA Rookie of the Year. Who was #1 on the New York Knicks Draft Board? Stephen Curry. Who did the fans at Madison Square Garden want on their team? Stephen Curry. Who did I want Curry to play for and projected Curry to go to? New York Knicks. Where did Curry want to play and for who? Madison Square Garden for the New York Knicks. It was oh so close. It almost happened.

Stephen Curry's charisma, energy, ability, leadership, flare, competitiveness, heart, desire, everything was perfect for the New York scene. Curry is going to be a star in this league and there was just no better match for him than the New York Knicks. The Knicks did not pull the trigger on a trade that would have moved them up to #6, one pick ahead of the Golden State Warriors, in which they could have drafted Stephen Curry. Instead, they sat back and prayed Curry's name did not get called out. Last minute prayers never work out; the Golden State Warriors selected Curry with the 7th overall pick, one pick ahead of the Knicks, and the "boos" dragged on throughout the entire crowd. Curry's first reaction was to shake his head in disbelief as was mine, but then he made it up to the stage with a smile on his face glad to be where he was. Golden State turns out to be a good fit for him too but it was a huge disappointment for a slight moment. More importantly though, Stephen Curry has the chance to do what he does best, play basketball at a high level. He's going to have a great career, even if he starts out in California and ends in New York.

Curry, Rubio, Flynn, Evans, and Brandon Jennings were all chosen in the Top 10 to be among 10 point guards in the first 21 picks. By the way, there was a string of 5 straight point guards selected from Philadelphia at Pick 17 to New Orleans at Pick 21 (Jrue Holiday, Ty Lawson, Jeff Teague, Eric Maynor, Darren Collison).

I wonder what kind of talks were going on in the Philadelphia 76ers draft room. I'm sure they almost had to take Jrue Holiday with that pick, I mean it was a no brainer, right? I'm sure they were shocked to see Holiday on the board at #17. Holiday was the top ranked high school player in the country last year and was rated as a Top 10 prospect for the Draft while I projected him to go 13th overall to the Indiana Pacers. Now, we all know that didn't happen as the Pacers got the crowd to make some noise in the building with the "overrated" chants for Tyler Hansbrough. I'm actually a part of the minority that say Hansbrough will have a solid NBA career.
But for the Sixers, they need a point guard, that was a must. They need one now though. Sure, they got Jrue Holiday, but he didn't even play the point at UCLA, that was all Darren Collison. Holiday can handle the ball but he's at a developmental stage. He's going to be great, he has probably the highest potential of any draft pick but he's going to need a year or two. First of all, I thought Holiday would have been off the board, but I thought Philly would go for a point guard that was ready to step in and make an impact right away. I turned my sights on Eric Maynor from Virginia Commonwealth and Lawson from North Carolina. But, like what's always done, Philadelphia drafted on potential and Lawson was the next player selected with Wake Forest point guard Jeff Teague following him and then Eric Maynor going to Atlanta followed by UCLA point guard Collison to the Hornets.

The Second Round of the Draft held almost just as many big names as the first. We saw guys like DaJuan Summers, DeJuan Blair, Sam Young, Chase Budinger, and Patrick Mills finally get taken by NBA teams. Summers, out of Georgetown, was the first to come off the board and land in Detroit. The Pistons got a major bargain with that pick. Summers is going to be an All-Star.

The next two picks yielded the top two Pittsburgh prospects Sam Young and DeJuan Blair. Some teams shied away from Blair because of his knee problems suffered in high school, so the San Antonio Spurs, looking for help inside, got a gift from the basketball Gods as Blair landed in their back pocket. Blair's a monster rebounder and if anything translates from college to the NBA, it's rebounding. Blair's fierce nature and high intensity is going to be a sparkplug for the Spurs. With their next pick, San Antonio selected Jack McClinton from Miami. The 6-1 guard is a catch-and-shoot type player who can drain some big buckets but at the same time can lose his shooting touch for games at a time and is undersized for the position. It'll be interesting to see how things pan out for me but when he's on his game, he's tough to cool off. With their final pick of the draft, 53rd overall, the Spurs drafted Nando De Colo, a point guard from France.

A couple guys went in the 2nd Round too that show glimpses of Ray Allen: Jodie Meeks and Robert Vaden. If you take a close look, Vaden actually does look alike with Ray Allen. But those these are guys are perimeter shooters who can flat out score. Meeks went to Kentucky so he's a baller and he dropped 54 points on Tennessee this past season. Vaden on the other hand, he's a deadly long range shooter but also at the same time, inconsistent. He'll have his days when none of his shots will come off right and make it in. Charlotte drafted Vaden and traded him to the Thunder where I think will be a better fit for him. The Thunder really doesn't have a perimeter shooter other than Kevin Durant who we all know is capable of many things so Vaden could end up being a nice addition. And speaking of Meeks, another SEC guy who can flat out score in Marcus Thornton from LSU. He was drafted by the Heat which I thought was a good place for him but they promptly traded his rights to the Hornets where his chances of making an impact, in my mind, decreased significantly.

The Miami Heat did have the final pick in the draft though and with that they selected Memphis forward Robert Dozier. It was weird, just before it happened I was thinking "I can't believe Robert Dozier went undrafted." And then, there he is getting drafted as the last player selected.

So most of the guys I root for got drafted (Curry, Evans, Summers, Budinger) but then were two guys who stood out in my mind that did not get drafted. AJ Abrams and Kenny Hasbrouck. I have a feeling that Abrams is going to land in Philadelphia as a free agent for some reason and I feel like Hasbrouck is going to end up in Cleveland. We'll see. It's tough out there being an undrafted free agent, but it's an open world of options which is something you don't get once you're drafted.

Before I close this out, I want to acknowledge that Danny Green of North Carolina was drafted 46th overall by the Cavaliers. He withdrew from the draft last year to return to UNC for his senior year and win a national championship and shows his character and unselfishness. Green would have been a late first round pick in last year's draft.

Michigan State center Goran Suton found a home with the Utah Jazz and I think that's a perfect fit for him in terms of style of play. I forgot all about Suton being a senior until his name was called at the draft. Suton can really rebound the ball and shoot well for a big man but for his size he's even more impressive playing the pick-and-roll.

Nobody thought AJ Price had a future in the NBA and with everything he went through at UConn, the senior point guard was given a chance by the Indiana Pacers who made him the 52nd overall selection. But the biggest steal and if you will, surprise, of the 2nd round was (not only DeJuan Blair) but the selection of Patrick Mills by Portland with the 55th pick. Mills was projected by myself and even ESPN's Jay Bilas as a late first to early second round pick and he fell to almost being undrafted. He's going to a great team in Portland and he can be a successful NBA point guard. Mills is a bit undersized but no smaller than Darren Collison and just as fast, if not faster than him and he has the quickness of Ty Lawson too not to mention he can shoot the lights out of the ball. Mills is going to earn his way into the rotation in Portland. If anybody can burst onto the scene and make a strong push for Rookie of the Year by giving Blake Griffin and Stephen Curry a run for the trophy, it's Patty Mills. Last year I called out Courtney Lee as the sleeper pick, this year I'm calling out Mills.

Same time next year.