Detroit of course picks Darko, it is a no-brainer. Big man who can score, in the EC, it is a shoot-in for the NBA final after 2 years.
This draft lottery is a huge win for the Eastern Conference. 4 of the first 5 picks go to Eastern Conference teams.
Macbeth who do you think will be Toronto's pick? If Ford goes to them will they be willing to trade Alvin Williams?
I bet Detroit will FOR SURE draft Darko. Darko is a better prospect than Melo. Not saying that he's a better player now but a better prospect. Dumars is smart enough to realize this.
Duh, he said it long before Cleveland landed the #1 pick. I remember him saying that he would never play for Cleveland due to the Lucas firing. Of course, ESPN just interviewed him and asked him about that statement. His reply was we're looking for a new coach and that a lot has changed since then.
Did anybody notice that 2/3rds of each team's representative was a player? I thought that was hilarious because I guess that they were going to have the same luck as Francis did last year.
I think this definitely means that: 1. Cleveland will surely try to make some calls and trade Miles and/or Davis for a big body to go with Wagner and LeBron. Will there be any takers? Maybe..maybe not...this is all banking on that the Cavs GM knows what he's doing. 2. Detroit, like someone else has stated, will go after a FA center this summer. Too bad they signed Uncle Cliffy to an extension (correct me if i'm wrong) 3. West is going to demand that his team tank. hahah. Seriously, I think West could move up if he wanted to. Package the #13, dickerson and filler to Toronto for their #4 and get the next best player. That is if West REALLY wants to get in on the fun.
Horrible trade idea for Toronto. Dickerson's so injury-plagued he may not play another NBA game again (the total of games he played for last 2 season < 10). Even if he does, he's just a role player. You can get a lot more with a #4 than a #13 and a player who doesn't play. If West wants to move up, I bet the best he can come up with may only be the Chicago pick. Shane Battier + #13 for #7 would be a realistic one. Cliffy Robinson's contract is only 3-5m a year (for 3-4 years). Not exactly an overpaid untradable commodity. But that's besides the point, I don't think Detroit are really desperate for a FA center. Darko may or may not be a center. Okur is pretty good prospect. Ben Wallace can easily hold his own at center at East.
Tony Razone has been scouting Darko for awhile now and the pistons believe in his scouting. From all indications, Darko has the most upside of any player in the draft on top of being the most nba ready out of all of them. What we've seen from the international players is that most are ready to contribute before the college and high school players. Of course the nba still like to draft players on potential like Skita, but Darko has been good for a while. Gasol and Ming came in pretty polished and I see no reason for that trend to stop.
No question that is what they are going to do. Later on in the night when Joe Dumars was being interviewed you got the sense he was going to pick Darko. They have Curry and Prince at the 3 and have outside scoring in Billups and Hamilton. What this team LACKS is a post up player and someone down low. Darko is their man. Darko and Wallace will play the PF/C spots. Not to mention that Detroit's head scout is Tony Rezone(sp?) who is one of the top international scouts. He covets Darko. Detroit will pick Darko. Bank on it!
They're looking to trade, or if they stay put I would put money on Bosh. But if they trade they're looking for a hell of a lot more than 13, Dickerson and filler, as steddin suggests. They are really, really dissapointed. The general feeling was that, when you combine the fact that they have been historically screwed by the NBA in the draft ( Iverson taken away, etc. ) on purpose, and that they just suffered through the most injured season in NBA history, but still finished something like 2nd in the league in attendance, that they had earned a little luck, or at least immunity from their up till now universal bad 'luck' on draft lottery day...Now they drop again, to 4th in a 3 deep draft. They are trying to put the best face on this, but Toronto fans are really, really pissed.
Toronto has one of the most solid young point guards in the league. Why would they draft T.J. Ford? They have other needs. I don't feel sorry for Memphis. Sure, anyone could use the number two pick in the Draft, but those guys have a pretty good team, talent wise. Gasol, Jason Williams, Battier, and Swift, that team will be just fine.
MacBeth, since you are the resident Raptor guru here, what is going on with Morris Peterson? I heard they want to move him. How about Lamond Murry? Do they expect big things from him? Is he going to start at the 3 spot? I would have to think that the Raptors are VERY disappointed in being #4 in the draft this year. It does seem like a trade might be in order.
? Rafer Alston, Lindsey Hunter, Alvin Willliams are their PG's. TJ FOrd if as good as advertised, is an upgrade over all of them combined. Alvin Williams? He's not even in the top half of NBA point guards IMO. EDIT, or statistically: NBA Assists Leaders RNK NAME GP MPG AST APG TO TOPG AP48M AST/TO 1 Jason Kidd, NJN 80 37.4 711 8.9 296 3.7 11.4 2.40 2 J. Williams, MEM 76 31.7 631 8.3 168 2.2 12.6 3.76 3 Gary Payton, MIL 80 40.1 663 8.3 187 2.3 9.9 3.55 4 S. Marbury, PHO 81 40.0 654 8.1 263 3.2 9.7 2.49 5 John Stockton, UTH 82 27.7 629 7.7 182 2.2 13.3 3.46 6 J. Tinsley, IND 73 30.6 548 7.5 192 2.6 11.8 2.85 7 Jason Terry, ATL 81 38.0 600 7.4 249 3.1 9.3 2.41 8 Steve Nash, DAL 82 33.1 598 7.3 192 2.3 10.6 3.11 9 Andre Miller, LAC 80 36.4 537 6.7 206 2.6 8.8 2.61 10 Eric Snow, PHI 82 37.9 544 6.6 194 2.4 8.4 2.80 11 G. Arenas, GSW 82 35.0 514 6.3 290 3.5 8.6 1.77 12 Steve Francis, HOU 81 41.0 502 6.2 299 3.7 7.3 1.68 13 Kevin Garnett, MIN 82 40.5 495 6.0 229 2.8 7.2 2.16 14 Kobe Bryant, LAL 82 41.5 481 5.9 288 3.5 6.8 1.67 15 Sam Cassell, MIL 78 34.6 450 5.8 177 2.3 8.0 2.54 16 Troy Hudson, MIN 79 32.9 452 5.7 182 2.3 8.3 2.48 17 J. Mashburn, NOR 82 40.5 462 5.6 230 2.8 6.7 2.01 18 Allen Iverson, PHI 82 42.5 454 5.5 286 3.5 6.3 1.59 19 Ricky Davis, CLE 79 39.6 436 5.5 277 3.5 6.7 1.57 20 Tracy McGrady, ORL 75 39.4 411 5.5 195 2.6 6.7 2.11 21 Howard Eisley, NYK 82 27.4 444 5.4 149 1.8 9.5 2.98 22 A. Williams, TOR 78 33.8 416 5.3 128 1.6 7.6 3.25 23 Tony Parker, SAS 82 33.8 432 5.3 198 2.4 7.5 2.18
Alvin Williams is a good player. He can also be moved to shooting guard with Vince sliding to small forward. And that may be what they do, but the initial reports have them leaning toward Bosh. And that also makes a lot of sense. They could use a big guy for the future and Bosh has a ton of potential.
I'm just saying he's solid. He's 6th in the NBA in assist turnover ratio and they have other glaring needs.
I root for Toronto getting a top 2 pick all the way. I REALLY REALLY want Vince to get some help. Feel ya...
I think they have needs at all five positions (given VC's inability to stay healthy). That's what happens when you only win 20 something games.
