By Rory Montana
After six months of hype, a tanking controversy, a debate over #1, trade rumors and a completely bizarre lottery outcome, the NBA Draft is finally here. In the sports world, the NBA draft is nestled between right below the NFL draft and right above the baseball All-Star game on the annual sporting events of importance list, and this year looks to bolster the rosters of the Northwest Division as Portland and Seattle will draft in the top two positions. We know the first two picks, and then we roughly know the next eight… just not the order. It should be interesting to see what happens with Atlanta, a franchise on the verge of facing a revolution among their fan base after years of being miserable, and also with Memphis, who may be packing their bags out of the city sooner than people think.
Before we get going, let me say that I think Nick Young out of USC is an absolute stud, and think he will be great. I would take him over both Yi and Brandan Wright. The kid shot 45 percent from three point land, brought a overmatched USC team to the Sweet Sixteen and knocked Kevin Durant out of the NCAA Tournament.
With that said, let’s get going with my first running diary for Coedmagazine.com, I will be your guide to everything NBA Draft for at least the lottery part of the draft, and if I’m feeling randy, I’ll probably stick around to see what Isaiah does with the Knicks picks.
7:00 pm - 15 seconds into the draft coverage, we get our first glimpse of Joakim Noah. He looks like he should be a building manager in a 1970s sitcom, or Will Smiths younger brother in “A Pursuit of Happiness”
7:04 - Three analysts, three exact same opinions. The top two are money, and after that could go either way. Thanks Mike Tirico, Stephen A. Smith and Mark Jackson. Also trade rumor #1 of tonight involving the Celtics and the Sonics, Ray Allen for the #5, Delente West, and Wally Sczerbiak. Isn’t Ray Allen 32?
7:05 - Atlanta had a chance to grab Amare Stoudamire, AMARE STOUDAMIRE! And missed it because they couldn’t decide if they want to give up both the three and the 11. How do they not pull this deal? With an inside scorer like Stoudamire, and Joe Johnson running the show, the Hawks automatically contend for a playoff spot in the East.
7:12 - According to Dick Vitale, the future TrailBlazer Greg Oden is a little Hakeem Olajuwan, Patrick Ewing, Tim Duncan, and Alonzo Mourning all in one. That’s three Hall of Famers and 7 kidneys wrapped up in one #1 pick. No Pressure Greg
7:15 - If Oden was any character in the history of Cinema, he would be the giant trees from The Lord of the Ring. No Question.
7:19 - Maybe the more accurate comparison of Noah’s appearance tonight is Snoop Dog and Carrot Top’s love Child.
7:24 - According to the experts, the top six picks are already set: Oden, Durant, Horford, Connely Jr, Green and Yi Jianling. With the Hawks and Grizzlies in the mix, don’t be surprised to see Spencer Hawes or Big Daddy Davis to move into this position.
7:25 - Jim Gray reports that the Warriors are now interested in moving on Garnett. They join the club of the Lakers, Suns, Mavs, Celtics, and Bulls as the teams actively working to get him. Gray gives no indication of who they are willing to give up, but Monta Ellis and Jason Richardson have been names tossed around recently. With no third team involved, Golden State would have to give up a little more than those two.
7:28 - ESPN goes to commercial with the All America Rejects. Though it is a major improvement on the Pussy Cat Dolls during the playoffs, it is still highly unlikely that any of the players in the draft have one AAR songs in their Ipod.
7:31 - The post game is over, and now the fun begins. There are so many obvious choices right now, and it is now just a matter of waiting for a team to mess up. It is also nice to know that it is 5 minutes between the picks, unlike the grueling wait in the NFL Draft.
7:35 - Mark Jackson hyped the Blazers to be the 2007-2008 Golden State Warriors. Again, no pressure Greg.
7:41 - Wow, well the Seattle/Boston trade is all but done. Jay Bilas looks mortified about it. Apparently, pending league approval this is a done deal. I don’t know of one person who saw this coming. If the Celtics can swing it and get Jermaine O’Neal, they will have a chance in competing to win the Atlantic Division next year, even if that means surrendering any long term plans they had been working on.
7:42: Durant goes #2. Now that we have the formalities out of the way, the real surprises begin. We’ve known the first two picks since February, and what teams they were going to since May.
Durant’s highlight videos show him doing a little bit of everything (rebounding, posting up, shooting the three) and are much more impressive than Oden’s shot blocks and 15 fade hooks. and they just said he has a 7’5 winspan! That’s on par with Yao. He looks to be an automatic beast immediately. To be fair to Oden, he did play his entire college career with a broken wrist. Prediction: Oden will be more reliable over the course of his career, Durant will sell more jerseys and star in more Youtube videos.
7:48 - Horford goes three, the first Gator taken in the draft. He is a legit 6’10, trilingual and Mike Tirico just announced he is friends with Sammy Sosa. Sign me up as the guy who finds the fillthe silence facts! Averaging 13/10 last season on a stacked team, is impressive. Karl Malone never did that on those stacked Lakers teams.
7:51 - Uh oh, hopefully he has more success than his dad Tito… he faded out after 63 games with the Bucks. The experts have been 3/3 here come the Grizzlies.
7:52 - 4 for 4! Mike Connely jr. should have an immediate impact on an awful Memphis team, but isn’t enough to make them a winner. Gasol will be gone by February’s trade deadline, leaving Connely with almost no help. Should be interesting to see how he performs out of Oden’s shadow, but also with no Oden.
*Side Note*They just had a clip of Connely Jr’s dad, an Olympic triple jumper, dunk from behind the free throw line. I hope they enter next year’s dunk contest as the first ever father/son team.
7:54 - The Celtics traded their pick to Seattle. Jeff Green from Georgetown is going to be a Sonic. The Big East player of the year still has to wear the Celtic hat on stage because they have to figure out the numbers, and make sure the deal will go through. Now that Szczerbiak is out of Boston, maybe Kevin Garnett will rethink going to Boston… but now Boston has nothing to trade for him. If you would have told a Boston fan one week ago that they were trading the number 5 pick for an all star on draft day, they would have jumped for joy for getting Garnett, and then hung themselves when they found out it was 32 year old Ray Allen of Jesus Shuttlesworths’s fame. I can’t wait to see what Bill Simmons thinks of this tomorrow.
8:03 - Yi Jianliang will be a Milwaukee Buck. With the number 6 pick. At first glance, he appears to be 7 feet tall, 165 pounds. Jay Bilas just compared him to 50 cent. His two strong points are his athleticism and that he has seen success against the US national team. Basically the same scouting report as Andrew Bogut, sans 150 pounds and english speaking abilities. Andy Katz reports that the Bucks drafted him without seeing him play live, or workout. That’s the college equivalent entering a relationship with a girl in your dorm because you hear she is good in bed… without ever meeting/seeing her. There is also a running subplot right now that China might not let him play in Wisconsin because it is not up to their standards. We won’t know anything more about this tonight, but the coming days should be fun.
8:10 - The T-Wolves are up next, have missed the playoffs three years in a row, and their franchise player wants out. God help whoever they draft… here it comes… Corey Brewer. Gator # 2 in the draft. MVP of the 2007 Final Four. Former construction worker, and former tobacco farm worker… no joke. Congratulations Corey. You drew the short straw when it came to places to play.
It’s a good pick for Minnesota, but that does not put them in a better position in the West… or for the future. Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, and Utah are all going back to the playoffs, Golden State and Denver will be no worse than last year, and division rivals Portland/Seattle just got a lot better. Minnesota 2007, is looking more like Minnesota 1996.
8:18 - The Michael Jordan led Bobcats select Brandan Wright. The scouts say he needs time to develop, and work on his shooting which does not bode well for the Bobcats, but they confess they said the same thing about Chris Bosh. In his first interview as a professional basketball player, Wright tells Stuart Scott that he can take Jordan one on one. Scott laughs it off, but the Wright looks dead serious. He is either as competitive as anyone whoever lived, or a complete idiot. First practice of the season, Jordan will settle this… one can only hope that it will be put up on youtube. (**After Draft Note: the Bobcats sent Wright to Golden State for Jason Richardson, looks like Garnett is not destined for Oakland)
8:25 - The third Gator of the draft, Joakim Noah, will be a Chicago Bull. He is a strong defending/non-scoring big man on a team that needs a scoring big man. He may not be the most talented player taken so far, but is defiantly the most entertaining. He has the potential to be the Ricky Williams of the NBA. It is impossible to tell if he is high or just strange. He is the son of a tennis champion and a former Miss Sweden, so maybe that childhood explains how he turned out. With Chicago probably losing Nocioni this off season, Noah will be a great off the bench, high energy guy. He looks like a fry person from the old McDonald’s commercials on stilts (Ok, that’s the last one).
8:29 - All of the big names are gone, but we still have some entertaining teams looking to make moves. The smart move for the Hawks at 11 would be Nick Young from USC because they are in desperate need of a point guard. Don’t hold your breath.
8:31 - Spencer Hawes goes 10 to the Kings. Scouts say he is not an athlete, not a rebounder, not a shot blocker, has no offensive vision… on the plus side he is 7 feet tall. Hawes response to the criticism is that he is confident he can improve on this. Stuart Scott doesn’t look so convinced. The announcers say he will be fun in the lockerroom because Hawes loves political debates, and loves George W. Bush. How many republicans are in the NBA do you think right now? I’d say less than ten now that ‘The Mayor’ Fred Hoiberg retired a few years back.
8:38 - The Hawks take Acie Law IV. Even though he is a guard, he is not a natural point guard, and is not a pure shooter. With a new PF, a new SG, and new uniforms, the Hawks will be a completely new look, high energy lottery team next year. I would have gone with Nick young right here. Trust me on this.
8:44 - Steven A. Smith says the Sixers are trying to build their image, and they will rely Mo Cheecks as the coach. It is understood that they need to go big, and draft for height.
8:46 - Thaddeus Young is the pick, and can best be described as the Junior Varsity version of Al Thorton… who is still available. On the plus side, Thaddeus Young is left handed which makes all the difference when grabbing rebounds. Did they just figure the couldn’t get Thorton at this point, so they didn’t even check to see if he was available?
8:52 Well, we’ve seen Julien Wright from Kansas go to New Orleans, the Clippers steal Al Thorton from Florida State, Rodney Stuckey from Eastern Washington going to Detroit, and My boy Nick Young from USC getting picked 16th by the Wizards. It is now just a matter of waiting for the Knick’s to pick
9:14 - Wow, without even making a pick, the Knicks just made the biggest move of the day, making themselves automatic contenders in the Atlantic. Channing Frye and Steve Francis for Zach Randolf, Dan Dickau and Fred Jones. Isaiah Thomas just improved his team. There are more cheers right now in Madison Square Garden than there have been in 3 years.
9:16 - High-risk, High-Reward (emphasis on high). New Jersey picks Shawn Williams out of Boston College, well kind of from BC, he was suspended on drug charges mid-season. He is one of the most talented players of the draft and also one of the biggest potential giant head cases in recent draft history. We know how well that logic worked for the Titans when they drafted Pacman. I’m sorry I can’t spend more time on this, but I’m still trying to wrap my head around the Knicks deal. This is the same reaction I had when the Patriots got Randy Moss for a 4th round pick. New York now owns two of the ten best inside scorers in the league. Un-Real.
9:20 - The Warriors are up trying to improve on last season’s best story by drafting a key piece to next yera. They are on the clock.
9:23 - Marco Belinelli from Italy is this improvement. Ok, we’re officially off the clock covering pick by pick until the Knicks are up, or they somehow trade for Kobe.
9:27 - Prediction ****The Lakers may be the new Knicks**** If they do get rid of Kobe, they will forever been the franchise that traded away two of the best players of all time. If the Bulls traded Jordan in 1993, there would have been riots. Imagine if they had two Jordans and traded both of them.
9:49 - The Knicks are up soon. Spike Lee says they are going to draft Wilson Chadler, a sophomore out of Depaul. Spike hints that Isiah confers with him about moves so we will see what happens.
9:54 - Add Spike Lee to the New York payroll, inexplicable. Some how it does make sense though. Balkman got greeted with boos last year and turned out not awful, so who knows. That is going to be the theme of this Knicks team going into the season next year, who the hell knows. They could take the Atlantic away from the young Raptors, or they could finish below .500 yet again (or both, you never know in the Atlantic). However, unlike Boston or Philadelphia, New York can at least say they are going in the right direction. They are getting big, and getting young, and they are getting rid of those big contracts that have killed them forever.
The draft is a weird thing. It’s talked about constantly, dissected by professionals, and millions are spent on scouting, but rarely is an immediate impact made. Keep in mind that in the past 8 years, Kwami Brown, Andrew Bogut and Andrea Bargnani have been selected number one, and have either fallen off or are just not making a huge impact. Darko Milicic was selected before Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and Carmello Anthony. Michael Jordan went third and Kobe Bryant was selected 13th. Basically, what I’m trying to say, trying to hammer down your throat, pleading with you to understand is that things are impossible to predict. So next year during the draft, when Thaddeus Young is polishing his ROY trophy, and Nick Young is warming the bench for Albuquerque in the NBDL, please don’t hate on me.
Before we get going, let me say that I think Nick Young out of USC is an absolute stud, and think he will be great. I would take him over both Yi and Brandan Wright. The kid shot 45 percent from three point land, brought a overmatched USC team to the Sweet Sixteen and knocked Kevin Durant out of the NCAA Tournament.
With that said, let’s get going with my first running diary for Coedmagazine.com, I will be your guide to everything NBA Draft for at least the lottery part of the draft, and if I’m feeling randy, I’ll probably stick around to see what Isaiah does with the Knicks picks.
7:00 pm - 15 seconds into the draft coverage, we get our first glimpse of Joakim Noah. He looks like he should be a building manager in a 1970s sitcom, or Will Smiths younger brother in “A Pursuit of Happiness”
7:04 - Three analysts, three exact same opinions. The top two are money, and after that could go either way. Thanks Mike Tirico, Stephen A. Smith and Mark Jackson. Also trade rumor #1 of tonight involving the Celtics and the Sonics, Ray Allen for the #5, Delente West, and Wally Sczerbiak. Isn’t Ray Allen 32?
7:05 - Atlanta had a chance to grab Amare Stoudamire, AMARE STOUDAMIRE! And missed it because they couldn’t decide if they want to give up both the three and the 11. How do they not pull this deal? With an inside scorer like Stoudamire, and Joe Johnson running the show, the Hawks automatically contend for a playoff spot in the East.
7:12 - According to Dick Vitale, the future TrailBlazer Greg Oden is a little Hakeem Olajuwan, Patrick Ewing, Tim Duncan, and Alonzo Mourning all in one. That’s three Hall of Famers and 7 kidneys wrapped up in one #1 pick. No Pressure Greg
7:15 - If Oden was any character in the history of Cinema, he would be the giant trees from The Lord of the Ring. No Question.
7:19 - Maybe the more accurate comparison of Noah’s appearance tonight is Snoop Dog and Carrot Top’s love Child.
7:24 - According to the experts, the top six picks are already set: Oden, Durant, Horford, Connely Jr, Green and Yi Jianling. With the Hawks and Grizzlies in the mix, don’t be surprised to see Spencer Hawes or Big Daddy Davis to move into this position.
7:25 - Jim Gray reports that the Warriors are now interested in moving on Garnett. They join the club of the Lakers, Suns, Mavs, Celtics, and Bulls as the teams actively working to get him. Gray gives no indication of who they are willing to give up, but Monta Ellis and Jason Richardson have been names tossed around recently. With no third team involved, Golden State would have to give up a little more than those two.
7:28 - ESPN goes to commercial with the All America Rejects. Though it is a major improvement on the Pussy Cat Dolls during the playoffs, it is still highly unlikely that any of the players in the draft have one AAR songs in their Ipod.
7:31 - The post game is over, and now the fun begins. There are so many obvious choices right now, and it is now just a matter of waiting for a team to mess up. It is also nice to know that it is 5 minutes between the picks, unlike the grueling wait in the NFL Draft.
7:35 - Mark Jackson hyped the Blazers to be the 2007-2008 Golden State Warriors. Again, no pressure Greg.
7:41 - Wow, well the Seattle/Boston trade is all but done. Jay Bilas looks mortified about it. Apparently, pending league approval this is a done deal. I don’t know of one person who saw this coming. If the Celtics can swing it and get Jermaine O’Neal, they will have a chance in competing to win the Atlantic Division next year, even if that means surrendering any long term plans they had been working on.
7:42: Durant goes #2. Now that we have the formalities out of the way, the real surprises begin. We’ve known the first two picks since February, and what teams they were going to since May.
Durant’s highlight videos show him doing a little bit of everything (rebounding, posting up, shooting the three) and are much more impressive than Oden’s shot blocks and 15 fade hooks. and they just said he has a 7’5 winspan! That’s on par with Yao. He looks to be an automatic beast immediately. To be fair to Oden, he did play his entire college career with a broken wrist. Prediction: Oden will be more reliable over the course of his career, Durant will sell more jerseys and star in more Youtube videos.
7:48 - Horford goes three, the first Gator taken in the draft. He is a legit 6’10, trilingual and Mike Tirico just announced he is friends with Sammy Sosa. Sign me up as the guy who finds the fillthe silence facts! Averaging 13/10 last season on a stacked team, is impressive. Karl Malone never did that on those stacked Lakers teams.
7:51 - Uh oh, hopefully he has more success than his dad Tito… he faded out after 63 games with the Bucks. The experts have been 3/3 here come the Grizzlies.
7:52 - 4 for 4! Mike Connely jr. should have an immediate impact on an awful Memphis team, but isn’t enough to make them a winner. Gasol will be gone by February’s trade deadline, leaving Connely with almost no help. Should be interesting to see how he performs out of Oden’s shadow, but also with no Oden.
*Side Note*They just had a clip of Connely Jr’s dad, an Olympic triple jumper, dunk from behind the free throw line. I hope they enter next year’s dunk contest as the first ever father/son team.
7:54 - The Celtics traded their pick to Seattle. Jeff Green from Georgetown is going to be a Sonic. The Big East player of the year still has to wear the Celtic hat on stage because they have to figure out the numbers, and make sure the deal will go through. Now that Szczerbiak is out of Boston, maybe Kevin Garnett will rethink going to Boston… but now Boston has nothing to trade for him. If you would have told a Boston fan one week ago that they were trading the number 5 pick for an all star on draft day, they would have jumped for joy for getting Garnett, and then hung themselves when they found out it was 32 year old Ray Allen of Jesus Shuttlesworths’s fame. I can’t wait to see what Bill Simmons thinks of this tomorrow.
8:03 - Yi Jianliang will be a Milwaukee Buck. With the number 6 pick. At first glance, he appears to be 7 feet tall, 165 pounds. Jay Bilas just compared him to 50 cent. His two strong points are his athleticism and that he has seen success against the US national team. Basically the same scouting report as Andrew Bogut, sans 150 pounds and english speaking abilities. Andy Katz reports that the Bucks drafted him without seeing him play live, or workout. That’s the college equivalent entering a relationship with a girl in your dorm because you hear she is good in bed… without ever meeting/seeing her. There is also a running subplot right now that China might not let him play in Wisconsin because it is not up to their standards. We won’t know anything more about this tonight, but the coming days should be fun.
8:10 - The T-Wolves are up next, have missed the playoffs three years in a row, and their franchise player wants out. God help whoever they draft… here it comes… Corey Brewer. Gator # 2 in the draft. MVP of the 2007 Final Four. Former construction worker, and former tobacco farm worker… no joke. Congratulations Corey. You drew the short straw when it came to places to play.
It’s a good pick for Minnesota, but that does not put them in a better position in the West… or for the future. Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, and Utah are all going back to the playoffs, Golden State and Denver will be no worse than last year, and division rivals Portland/Seattle just got a lot better. Minnesota 2007, is looking more like Minnesota 1996.
8:18 - The Michael Jordan led Bobcats select Brandan Wright. The scouts say he needs time to develop, and work on his shooting which does not bode well for the Bobcats, but they confess they said the same thing about Chris Bosh. In his first interview as a professional basketball player, Wright tells Stuart Scott that he can take Jordan one on one. Scott laughs it off, but the Wright looks dead serious. He is either as competitive as anyone whoever lived, or a complete idiot. First practice of the season, Jordan will settle this… one can only hope that it will be put up on youtube. (**After Draft Note: the Bobcats sent Wright to Golden State for Jason Richardson, looks like Garnett is not destined for Oakland)
8:25 - The third Gator of the draft, Joakim Noah, will be a Chicago Bull. He is a strong defending/non-scoring big man on a team that needs a scoring big man. He may not be the most talented player taken so far, but is defiantly the most entertaining. He has the potential to be the Ricky Williams of the NBA. It is impossible to tell if he is high or just strange. He is the son of a tennis champion and a former Miss Sweden, so maybe that childhood explains how he turned out. With Chicago probably losing Nocioni this off season, Noah will be a great off the bench, high energy guy. He looks like a fry person from the old McDonald’s commercials on stilts (Ok, that’s the last one).
8:29 - All of the big names are gone, but we still have some entertaining teams looking to make moves. The smart move for the Hawks at 11 would be Nick Young from USC because they are in desperate need of a point guard. Don’t hold your breath.
8:31 - Spencer Hawes goes 10 to the Kings. Scouts say he is not an athlete, not a rebounder, not a shot blocker, has no offensive vision… on the plus side he is 7 feet tall. Hawes response to the criticism is that he is confident he can improve on this. Stuart Scott doesn’t look so convinced. The announcers say he will be fun in the lockerroom because Hawes loves political debates, and loves George W. Bush. How many republicans are in the NBA do you think right now? I’d say less than ten now that ‘The Mayor’ Fred Hoiberg retired a few years back.
8:38 - The Hawks take Acie Law IV. Even though he is a guard, he is not a natural point guard, and is not a pure shooter. With a new PF, a new SG, and new uniforms, the Hawks will be a completely new look, high energy lottery team next year. I would have gone with Nick young right here. Trust me on this.
8:44 - Steven A. Smith says the Sixers are trying to build their image, and they will rely Mo Cheecks as the coach. It is understood that they need to go big, and draft for height.
8:46 - Thaddeus Young is the pick, and can best be described as the Junior Varsity version of Al Thorton… who is still available. On the plus side, Thaddeus Young is left handed which makes all the difference when grabbing rebounds. Did they just figure the couldn’t get Thorton at this point, so they didn’t even check to see if he was available?
8:52 Well, we’ve seen Julien Wright from Kansas go to New Orleans, the Clippers steal Al Thorton from Florida State, Rodney Stuckey from Eastern Washington going to Detroit, and My boy Nick Young from USC getting picked 16th by the Wizards. It is now just a matter of waiting for the Knick’s to pick
9:14 - Wow, without even making a pick, the Knicks just made the biggest move of the day, making themselves automatic contenders in the Atlantic. Channing Frye and Steve Francis for Zach Randolf, Dan Dickau and Fred Jones. Isaiah Thomas just improved his team. There are more cheers right now in Madison Square Garden than there have been in 3 years.
9:16 - High-risk, High-Reward (emphasis on high). New Jersey picks Shawn Williams out of Boston College, well kind of from BC, he was suspended on drug charges mid-season. He is one of the most talented players of the draft and also one of the biggest potential giant head cases in recent draft history. We know how well that logic worked for the Titans when they drafted Pacman. I’m sorry I can’t spend more time on this, but I’m still trying to wrap my head around the Knicks deal. This is the same reaction I had when the Patriots got Randy Moss for a 4th round pick. New York now owns two of the ten best inside scorers in the league. Un-Real.
9:20 - The Warriors are up trying to improve on last season’s best story by drafting a key piece to next yera. They are on the clock.
9:23 - Marco Belinelli from Italy is this improvement. Ok, we’re officially off the clock covering pick by pick until the Knicks are up, or they somehow trade for Kobe.
9:27 - Prediction ****The Lakers may be the new Knicks**** If they do get rid of Kobe, they will forever been the franchise that traded away two of the best players of all time. If the Bulls traded Jordan in 1993, there would have been riots. Imagine if they had two Jordans and traded both of them.
9:49 - The Knicks are up soon. Spike Lee says they are going to draft Wilson Chadler, a sophomore out of Depaul. Spike hints that Isiah confers with him about moves so we will see what happens.
9:54 - Add Spike Lee to the New York payroll, inexplicable. Some how it does make sense though. Balkman got greeted with boos last year and turned out not awful, so who knows. That is going to be the theme of this Knicks team going into the season next year, who the hell knows. They could take the Atlantic away from the young Raptors, or they could finish below .500 yet again (or both, you never know in the Atlantic). However, unlike Boston or Philadelphia, New York can at least say they are going in the right direction. They are getting big, and getting young, and they are getting rid of those big contracts that have killed them forever.
The draft is a weird thing. It’s talked about constantly, dissected by professionals, and millions are spent on scouting, but rarely is an immediate impact made. Keep in mind that in the past 8 years, Kwami Brown, Andrew Bogut and Andrea Bargnani have been selected number one, and have either fallen off or are just not making a huge impact. Darko Milicic was selected before Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and Carmello Anthony. Michael Jordan went third and Kobe Bryant was selected 13th. Basically, what I’m trying to say, trying to hammer down your throat, pleading with you to understand is that things are impossible to predict. So next year during the draft, when Thaddeus Young is polishing his ROY trophy, and Nick Young is warming the bench for Albuquerque in the NBDL, please don’t hate on me.
