NBA Draft: 2007

I will be posting here all night as I follow the NBA Draft as closely as one can from East Lansing, MI. I will be sizing up each pick and each trade as the night moves along. I will refresh the post every three picks so this post will grow in size as the night gets later, enjoy.

1st: Portland Trailblazers: Greg Oden (C) Ohio State: Can't fault them for this pick, not one bit. I think they maybe thought about grabbing Durant instead, but why? Oden is a franchise quality center, guys like that really only come along every 8-10 years, so they couldn't pass him up. I think this is like when Houston took Hakeen Olajuwon over Michael Jordan. We all know that Michael Jordan is the best player ever but you have never heard anyone rip the Rockets for taking Hakeem, same sort of situation. Sure, Durant could be a McGrady/Garnett hybrid, but Oden is a defensive force and a true post scorer, can't pass that up if you're Portland. Now Portland has Oden, LaMarcus Aldridge, Zach Randolph (for now), and Brandon Roy. A very good young nucleus.

2nd: Seattle Supersonics: Kevin Durant (GF) Texas: Another no brainer here. Durant will sell seats in Seattle (for at least one season if the team is moved) which is no easy task. The thing that scares me about Durant is that he is just so frail looking. Sure there are plenty frail guys in the NBA, but then there are great players like McGrady that have been very skilled in the NBA but just cannot stay healthy. I can see that happening with Durant. I won't put any money on it, it just scares me. That's really the only downside to this pick. Plus, this is a zero pressure pick. Portland could be ridiculed for years to come for passing on Durant, the Sonics don't have a choice, nothing wrong with being in that position. Seattle is a team poised to make lots of deals so I don't feel like I can really speculate on what that team will look like for next year. However, I can see them building around Durant. They have some really good players that are aging that they could trade off for other good young players to play along with Durant. The future is bring for the Sonics, no matter where they play.

**All I can think when they call players names is how they're mom's are all getting paid. I'd love to see someones mom say, "Sure, I'm very happy for my son, but I'm getting paid!"**

3rd: Atlanta Hawks: Al Horford (F) Florida: I like this pick even though the Hawks have now taken forwards like 19 out of the last 20 years. I think this pick triggers some trades for the Hawks and that's good. Horford has been called "the most NBA ready" of all players in this draft. I always liked him when he was at Florida because he was one of those guys when watching him that made me think "this guys could score 30 a game if he wanted to". He never did because he was such a good teammate. He's also good for Atlanta because he's always been a winner, you can't discount that in college players. Good pick for the Hawks. Lots of really good young talent and the Hawks have the 11th pick as well, we'll know more about where they are headed after that pick.

4th: Memphis Grizzlies: Mike Conley (PG) Ohio State: The comparisons to Tony Parker have been non stop since he said he was going pro and I think it's fair. I also don't know if it's totally accurate. He can't shoot like Parker and as we all know, Parker is great because he can get to the rim whenever he wants to, I don't know that Conley can do that in the NBA. Look at the best young PGs in the NBA. Paul, Williams, Parker, etc, they can all shoot the ball from the outside. That really worries me about Conley. He seems a lot like a 12ppg /7apg guy to me, which isn't awful, but is he worth the number four pick for the worst team in the NBA? Hmm. Conley has also had Oden as a teammate since 9th grade, I don't see anyone like that on the Grizzly roster, how will Conley adjust to not having a dominate teammate.

**TRADE** Looks like Boston will pick here, Boston picks up Ray Allen from Seattle. Looks like Boston will try to compete for the next couple years with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, that sounds a lot like 45 wins to me. Boston will now pick for Seattle. **

5th: Boston Celtics: Jeff Green (F) Georgetown: So Jeff Green and Kevin Durant are going to be teammates, two quality wing guys. Green was one of those guys I really loved two years ago. This year as Georgetown started play great basketball I think he got a big overrated. Jay Bilas just said he could put up "big numbers" I don't see that. I think his ceiling is Josh Howard/Tayshaun Prince. Now that I think about it, pairing a guy like that with Kevin Durant is a pretty good move. So Seattle is starting to take shape, they now have lost their top two players (Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen) and replaced those positions with two really athletic young players. It looks like Seattle is moving in the right direction. Now they just need a healthy Robert Swift to score in the post (sort of kidding, sort of not). Go ahead and do a google image search of Robert Swift, you won't be disappointed.

**Side note, I read that the Chinese government really want Yi to go to a big market team. Milwaukee is picking next. Could get interesting.**

6th: Milwaukee Bucks: Yi Jianlian (FC) China: Uh oh. Milwaukee is about to go to war with China. I've obviously never seen the guy play. I'll just recycle what I've heard. He's a big guy who can shoot from outside and can score off the dribble. He's basically what people said about Darko when he was picked. So he sounds really good but who really knows. He is a seven footer but he's very skinny. However, I really like the Bucks, they now have him, Michael Redd, Maurice Williams, Bogut, and Villanueva. That's a lot of young talent. Now they just need to sign him. However, I wouldn't be surprised if he refused to sign so they had to trade him.

7th: Minnesota Timberwolves: Corey Brewer (GF) Florida: Kind of surprised here. I thought maybe they'd pick a big man so they would never have to play Mark Blount again, but I am wrong. I like Brewer. He can play D. That'll be his biggest asset. He's big for a guard but he'll draw the biggest matchup in almost every game. He'll be guarding Kobe, LeBron, Wade et al for the next 12 years. However, he's not much of a scorer. That being said, I'd take him over Jeff Green. Obviously he's still very young and has time to work on his offense, so that should improve. This could signal the end of the Ricky Davis era in Minnesota. However, with Garnett's future in the air, it's hard to say how this pick will effect Minnesota in the long run. I fully expected McHale to take Spencer Hawes here, good thing he didn't.

**I don't trust Michael Jordan as an executive. I bet he screws this next pick up. Probably Noah.**

8th: Charlotte Bobcats: Brandan Wright (F) North Carolina: Big surprise, another UNC guy. I like this pick a lot. All season long people had Wright going third or fourth in the draft. He dropped over the past two months because he's so skinny and doesn't have a great shot. However, he's gonna be a power forward, he jumps like crazy and if he bulks up a bit more, who cares that he can't shoot from outside. Another thing that has been said about him is that he doesn't play his hardest at all times. Isn't that what everyone said about Kwame Brown? So the Bobcats will need to stay on top of him and make sure he plays hard all of the time. I'm betting he hits a major wall around March 1st and the Bobcats will still be really bad. You heard it here first, folks.

9th: Chicago Bulls: Joakim Noah (F) Florida: Just what they needed, another big man who cannot score. I hate this pick for Chicago. The main knock on the Bulls last year was that their offense got stagnant and they didn't have a big man to score down low. Noah only averaged 12ppg last year and I'm guessing 90% of those were on free throws, dunks, and layups. Yikes. The one thing about him is that he's a real winner, and he tries hard all of the time. He's like that jerk Verajao. Verajao is very valuable to Cleveland but is he what Chicago needs? I really don't think so. Maybe he'll prove me wrong. The main feeling here is that when I add him to Chicago's roster he doesn't make them any more scary.

10th: Sacramento Kings: Spencer Hawes (C) Washington: I like this pick. Hawes is really young and needs a lot of work, but what do the Kings care, they're going nowhere. I had never heard of Hawes until the middle of the season last year. He's killer in the paint, there are very few guys who can do that. An easy comparison is Brad Miller and they will be teammates for the Kings. I'm always scared of big guys who don't dunk or rebound. They all remind me of Stacy King, Brad Miller, and Chris Mihm. Just learned he has a bumper sticker that says "God Bless George W. Bush". Interesting. Anyway, I do like this pick, it's a bit of a gamble but if the Kings just nabbed a productive 7 foot scorer they will come off as big winners in this draft.

**I think we could see the Hawks trade this pick for a PG, if not, they could take Acie Law. If they somehow pass on a PG, I will be amazed.**

11th: Atlanta Hawks: Acie Law (PG) Texas A&M: Good pick here. Law is one of those guys who dropped a bit a few weeks back, but he's gutsy, you can't pick that up. I watched a few A&M games last year and he played huge in each game. He's tough and he's not afraid of anything, he'll always take the big shot. I like the Hawks taking him here instead of taking Conley with the third pick. I do think Conley is better, but not that much better. Another nice thing about him is that he's a senior, so you know he's ready to go right away, something the Hawks need since they haven't had a decent point guard in a decade.

12th: Philadelphia 76ers: Thaddeus Young (F) Georgia Tech: Rated as one of the better scorers in the draft. He's a bit of a tweener at 6'7''. Not sure where he plays though. They already have Korver at SF. However, the Sixers do have three picks in the first round so they could have a lot of movement before the summer is over. Young did put up around 15ppg as a freshman in the ACC, no easy task. I think the Sixers would have preferred a PF to replace Joe Smith but all the options were gone by the time they had to pick.

13th: New Orleans Hornets: Julian Wright (F) Kansas: Good pick for the Hornets. He can play the 3 or the 4 which is good since Peja Stojakovic is worthless. Wright is still very young, he left after his sophomore year. Wright is a lot like Young in that he is young and raw but he did put up big numbers in a strong conference. Should the Hornets try to up the tempo in their game, which they should with Chris Paul, Wright could be very good his rookie season. Not a bold pick here, but he should contribute a bit this season. He did score over 20 pts only four times last year and averaged only 12 for the season.

14th: Los Angeles Clippers: Al Thornton (F) Florida State: One of those guys who everyone was talking about leading up to the draft. When I look at the Clippers team I see a bunch of slow and old guys, not good. They were wise to pick up Thornton here who many say is the next best scorer next to Durant in the draft. I saw a few FSU games last year and he was amazing. He carried his team, that says something about the guy. He can also rebound like crazy for a guy who is 6'7''. When you look at his numbers and hear what people say about him, you wonder why he dropped this far. The only real downside is that he is sort of old. If he scores 13 a game next year no one will care how old he is.

**I heard that there is no way the Pistons won't take Rodney Stuckey right here, I'm going to start my write up on him right now during the commercials.**

15th: Detroit Pistons: Rodney Stuckey (G) Easter Washington: Stuckey is a combo guard who can play PG, SG, and SF. He averages about 25ppg last year for a small school, many view him as one of the best guards in the draft. The Pistons needs more scoring from their backup guards. Stuckey will be viewed as a huge upgrade over Hunter, Flip, and Delfino. So essentially the Pistons picked up Stuckey for Darko. We'll see if that pans out for them. Being 6'5'' Stuckey can guard a number of different positions. Obviously there are concerns about him being from a small schools. He didn't go to a small school for skill reasons but for grade reasons, so it's not so much of a red flag. The Pistons don't need him to score on from the outside, they just need a guy who can get points in the lane, something Stuckey can do.

16th: Washington Wizards: Nick Young (G) USC: Young is another guy who shot up the draft boards after the season ended. The Wizards did need some help scoring from their guards, he's clearly an upgrade over Deshawn Stevenson. Plus, the Wizards play up and down basketball so Young should score plenty his rookie year.

**TRADE: Knicks just picked up Zach Randolph, gut reaction is that I like this deal for both teams. They needed to get Randolph away from those young players. Makes me wonder what they will do with Steve Francis.**

17th: New Jersey Nets: Sean Williams (FC) Boston College: Kicked off of Boston College for drugs. He had all kinds of trouble over there. However, he was averaging about 6 blocks a game before he was kicked off of the team. I'd be a bit worried if my team picked him though. However, the gamble could pay off because he's quick and will be a wonderful defender as long as he can stay out of trouble.

18th: Golden State Warriors: Marco Belinelli (G) Italy: Obviously people compare him to Delfino and Ginobili. Word is he's feisty and plays hard all of the time. He scores a lot and can shoot from the outside, very streaky. Sounds like someone who is perfect for the Warriors. He went a bit earlier than most people projected but you can't question the Warriors any more after what they did in the playoffs. Maybe he'll replace the mentally unstable Stephen Jackson.

19th: Los Angeles Lakers: Javaris Crittenton (G) Georgia Tech: Very good young player, very young however, young point guards don't always pan out right away. Many people say Crittenton is actually better than Acie Law. The main difference is age and experience. Crittenton is 6'5'' so he's a big point guard which is all the rage in the NBA these days. The Lakers now have both he and Jordan Farmar at PG, not a bad young duo to build with.

20th: Miami Heat: Jason Smith (FC) Colorado State: Chris Mihm Jr. Averaged 17/10 last year at Colorado state and can shoot from the outside a little bit. Jay Bilas loves him, but he loves everyone. The fact that he was on a bad team hurts him a bit and I know very little about him but when your two centers are Shaq and Mourning you need to take some young big guys, probably a pretty good pick.

21st: Philadelphia 76ers: Daequan Cook (G) Ohio State: Traded to Miami and Smith will head to the 76ers. I don't really understand that, why not just draft who you want? Whatever. Cook is a 6'6'' guard, lots of upside for him but his attitude is a question. Some have said that he was really overlooked at OSU because of Oden and Conley and they say he could be very very good. The Heat do need some better back up guards for WHEN Wade gets hurt every season. Good trade here for the Heat. The Sixers did need a big guy so I guess it works for them too.

22nd: Charlotte Bobcats: Jared Dudley (F) Boston College: Michael Jordan surprised me last time with a decent pick in Brandan Wright. There was talk of Dudley going to the Warriors, Dudley is like a Jason Maxiell or Ronny Turiaf. He's a weird size with no real position but he's very solid. He's a great team player and he has no questions about his attitude. Where does he play now that he's in the NBA? What does this pick and the Wright pick do to Adam Morrison? I'm always a big fan of taking those good college players that people pass over for some reason or the other. Tayshaun was one of those guys.

23rd: New York Knicks: Wilson Chandler (F) DePaul: I don't know much about this guy, but Isiah has a great track record for draft day choices so I assume this is a strong selection. Should the Randolph trade go through the make up of the Knicks changes. With NBA being slanted towards the athletic runners like Chandler this should hold up as a decent pick.

**Phoenix sold this next pick to the Blazers. I don't get that. The Suns have trouble with money so why do they keep throwing away draft picks where they are guaranteed cheap players?**


24th: Phoenix Suns: Rudy Fernandez (G) Spain: There has been talk of this guy the past few years, he's a terrific young point guard, something the Blazers need. He's a bigger guy for a guard which is obviously a plus. The Blazers seem to be doing this a lot more lately, picking up foreign guys late in the first round. They must be doing their research.

25th: Utah Jazz: Morris Almond (G) Rice: Poor guy has to go and play in Utah, tough break Morris. Seems like the Jazz have been looking for scoring guards since Jeff Malone left. Almond is a terrific scorer and stayed in college for all four years so he's ready to go.

I'm done now, I was thinking about doing the entire draft but this is probably getting close to unreadable because of its length. I'll do this again next year.