At the end of the draft, the analysts went around the table to discuss which teams they thought had the best night. Jon Barry said Washington. Jay Bilas said Cleveland (I think). Jeff Van Gundy, however, said Dallas had the best night by acquiring Rudy Fernandez and Petteri Koponen for the 26th pick. He said Fernandez is still a very good NBA player and is good enough to be a starter, and with Stevenson, Marion, Barea and Peja being free agents, this was the best deal of the night. I looked up this Koponen kid. He's got mad game. Would be great as a third stringer on the Mavs. <iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aGEK7USKl9M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
When asking who had the best draft, it should be clarified whether it's based on (1) how well a team did with their draft position or (2) just on acquired talent.
X-Rockets (we have so many)try not to seem biased on the air, like Barry almost never replies about the Rockets, now ask Van Gundy when not on the air, and he usually favors the Rockets. You see they do not work for us any longer and try to be over professional.
I think Utah had the best night drafting players, coming away with Kanter and Burks is just an amazing night
Van Gundy has always been a "win now" guy and not a "draft talent for the future" evaluator. We're talking about a man that brought in a 45-yr-old Mark Jackson, and 49-yr-old Oakley, Clarence Weatherspoon, David Wesley, Jim Jackson... So of course he's going to love the Dallas trade for an established vet.
Well, it's not like the Mavericks are going to be contenders for long. If they get ALL the right pieces this off-season; they'll have one last chance to make a run. I'm praying that they fail.