I watched the draft and I have to say that was the lamest draft since the days god knows when. Tirico or whatever his name should never be allowed to do any basketball commentary ever again. On a lighter note: Was it just me or did some of those picks look like they were made for trading purposes? Let me break it down: MIAMI--now this was weird. Yes Riley loves players that are ready and don't want to teach, but Wade?? Something must be afoot. He already has Eddie Jones and Caron Butler. I had that feeling that Riley might try to ship Eddie Jones off somewhere so he can have some caproom. Maybe I'm crazy, but drafting Wade spells trouble for Eddie Jones when some of their needs (PG, C) weren't even answered. CHICAGO--hmmm maybe Hinrich is insurance for Jay Williams..or maybe not. Why make that kind of reasoning when you got Jamal Crawford on the roster? And Hinrich really doesn't fit in at shooting guard either because Rose is the starter and Mercer comes off the bench. This, to me, means that either Hinrich was drafted to be traded away later or Crawford is expendable. It's just too 'easy' to draft Hinrich and say that he's insurance for Jay Williams..but then again.... GOLDEN STATE--I HOPE that they would have picked Pietrus to use him as trade bait. I agree with Tolbert, this was a crazy pick. Why pick a guy that doesn't fit a need? "He's the best player available" theory I guess . I think either they'll see if Pietrus got any PG skills in him and make him run the point or this pick will be eventually traded away. Maybe I'm being a lil crazy but hey that's what I saw/thought at the moment.
I think you may be right about Miami who've been looking to relieve themselves of Eddie Jones for a while now. At first I thought Chicago's pick was horrible but now i'm beggining to see that a lineup of Hinrich, Crawford, Rose, Chandler, and Curry isn't so bad. And by the way, Ron Mercer was traded to Indiana a few years ago. As far as Golden State's pick goes, I think they're now hoping to trade away somebody but their pick was made because they're just that stupid. They don't want to miss out on a guy with this much athleticism and potential and even if they can't play him at least no one else can either.
Looks to me like Jones is trade bait for a C or PF--though I think Wade is a reach at 5. I guess last year they got a 5ish quality pick at 10, this year they got a 10ish quality pick at 5--it all evens out. Hinrich makes a lot of sense to me. Chicago needs shooters, and Hinrich is a good shooter plus a fairly versitle player in general. Hinrich and Crawford together make a big enough backcourt with a lot of complementary skills IMO. Rose can play the 2, 3 or even some at the 1--so I don't see a problem with his PT either. I love the Warriors brass. They continue their trends in helping to reduce the number of threats to the Rockets in the WC by making dumb moves and picks. I'd have taken Ridnour, Gaines or maybe Banks given what the Warriors need.
The Warriors are just trying to build the most explosive, athletic team, even if it doesn't equate wins. Or ticket sales.
Hinrich was a good role-player pick for the Bulls. He can back up Crawford at PG or play alongside him at SG. The Bulls may have a good team next year, but they are going to have to release or not resign some of their players. They were starting Marshall at the end of the season before he got hurt, so they might start - PG - Crawford SG - Rose SF - Marshall PF - Chandler CT - Curry And a bench of : Hinrich Fizer EROB Hassell Mason Jr. Baxter Mario Austin Tommy Smith Bagaric Blount(FA) Hoiberg(FA) Brunson(FA) A pretty weak bench after Hinrich and Fizer
