i was high on thornton early on but now that i think about it he is a good nba player but he is sort of average in everything he does. i think he would be a great player off the bench but probably not a starter material. IMO a starter needs to be a a gifted player offensively or defensively or possess a special skill set that meshes with the teams "star" thortons good but he isnt great in any one category but I will admit getting him at 14 was a bargain of the players drafted behind him only Aaron Brooks, Rodney Stuckey, Rudy Fernandez, arron afflalo, nick young, carl landry, glen davis and aaron gray get any significant minutes for their team.
Yeah I was high on him too but you're right he isn't consistently great on offense, he shows glimpse of it. I didn't watch enough Clipper games to judge him defensively. I do think playing with Baron Davis and Zach Randolph kind of stunts his growth, because those 2 players on a losing team really won't help a team with real young talent.
why do teams send scrubs to represent them at the drawing? got a tweet from charlie villanueva earlier (via the NBA twitter page), announcing he would be representing the bucks and hoping for some good luck to land the #1 pick. lol, don't you know your ass won't see the light of day if they draft griffin? as a sidenote, anyone else following the NBA on twitter will know what i mean when i say that the bill russell guest tweet experiment last week wasn't exactly a success. in his old age, i don't think bill grasped the point that it's preferred to offer some wit or insight. i just unsubscribed from the NBA. shaq is hilarious BTW.
Yeah, I didn't mention shifting Jamison and Butler down a position because I thought it would just make the Wizards two slow on defense at two positions. However, it would make for a pretty dangerous offensive team so it maybe worth experimenting with. I don't think Griffin is going to match 21+ points, 9 rebounds his first season like Jamison has roughly done the past three seasons for the Wizards. In addition, the Wizards aren't going to be a team in rebuilding mode next season, so I don't see why they wouldn't bring Griffin off the bench and ease him into the starting line up based on how he performs. It would also give the Wizards some time to unobtrusively experiment with different lineups the first month or two of the season before settling on a starting lineup/rotation. ...and now I'm getting way ahead of myself. Maybe I should just wait for the results.
I like what Nick Young did last season. If he's at the 1, I could see a small ball lineup of: Young Arenas Butler Jamison Griffin
I saw him in the Olympics and he didn't look anything close to ready for the physicality, speed and athleticism of the NBA, not to mention the 82-game season. Even Rudy Fernandez said he may not be ready. I have no idea how good Rubio will be after a few years, but he won't be much of anything to start with. His body just doesn't measure up yet to NBA standards. I think he's making a mistake by entering this year's draft.
I know it won't happen cause the odd are against them but what if the Suns somehow got the #1 pick in the draft. What da hell would they do? Pick Griffin and trade Amare, pick someone else, or trade the pick?
i just hope griffin goes to the east. i never root for western teams to win the lotto (or even the top 3 if possible) because i don't want any more competition for the rockets.
I dont know how Rubio will do in the NBA his first few years, but aside from Blake Griffin, im not so sure about any of the prospects, let alone any point gaurd prospects. What I do know is that Rubio is certainly NOT making a mistake by entering the draft. How can making the decision to enter a draft where you would be pick in the Lottery, furthermore a LIKELY TOP 2 or 3 Pick be a mistake? Staying in Europe doesnt gaurantee he'll be the top pick the next year, nor does it guarantee his stock wont drop, he'll continue to improve, or worst of all wont get injured. The questions of how he will adapt/grow in the nba, if his game is ready or if he is physically able to compete, will remain questions... wont wont however will be his guaranteed multi million dollar contract as he finds the answers.
Butler would be fine at SG. He has the quickness and handles. Haywood Griffin Jamison Butler Arenas Would be a badass lineup.
damn it. of course a team in our division would jump into the top 3. and all top 3 teams are in our conference. oh well. so much for luck. at least this draft is supposed to suck.
Memphis, Oklahoma City, LA Clippers The remaining 3. It was cool seeing the 2nd worst team come up at 5. That just meant the Kings clinched 4 and Oklahoma City, LA Clippers moved up.
