2014-2015 NBA Ramblings

[Hammer]

miami already offered supposedly. okc wanted shump at the deadline, im sure we'll be getting into this draft somehow.

[Kingdom]

Seeing as how Thabo is useless, and Lamb is Lamb, they need another wing.

[Hammer]

Ryen Russillo

love the scouts' take on exum.

[Hammer]

and this is the post where i read a bunch of bill simmons' old running draft columns, and pick out funny and awful predictions by him... we'll start in 2004...

"7:37 —The Magic are on the clock with the first pick. If they’re smart, they take Emeka Okafor. If they’re dumb, they take Howard. It’s that simple."

to his credit, he nailed the bust smell on araujo, swift and telfair that year.

"9:08 — The Hawks take high schooler Josh Smith as Bilas rips the pick to shreds: “If you had to pick which guy was most likely to be a bust in the first round, it would be this guy. He has no right hand and he can’t shoot.” That’s followed by poor Smith having to defend himself to Stu Scott, capped off by a phenomenal exchange:"

does jay bilas still work the draft? if he does, how? for all the knocks on smoove... hes still in the league, and hes still quasi productive most nights. still a good defender at least.

"Speaking just for myself, I have an actual opinion on 12 guys on this draft: Okafor and Gordon (future All-Stars); Deng (solid fifth wheel for a contender some day); Araujo (better version of Mark Madsen); Harris, Nelson and Childress (overrated); Delonte West (this year’s “sleeper who will come back to haunt everyone”); Snyder, Igoudala and Tony Allen (8-man rotation guys); and Chris Duhon (he’s not better than Kevin Ollie?)."

missed on okafor and gordon. deng is/was better than that. araujo was most definitely not better than madsen. harris, nelson and childress are all overrated, but at least theyre still bouncing around the league. delonte west came back to haunt the cavs and lebrons mom, yes. iguodala and allen are much better than 8 man rotation guys, kirk snyder was out of the league 5 years ago. chris duhon may have been a slightly better basketball player than kevin ollie... not as good a coach however.

05:
According to Andy Katz, the Celtics are absolutely thrilled, adding that Portland, Atlanta and Denver have already called to try to get this pick. Bilas adds, “an insane athlete … great pick at 18.” Green tells us that it was “God’s plan.” On ESPN.com, Chad Ford calls it the “second steal of the draft.” Stu Scott tells us that Green was cut by his high school team (“just like a guy named Michael Jordan”). My Dad says, “Trade Pierce! Trade Pierce! Let’s build around the kids!” And ESPN tells us that his nickname is G-Money. Just a satisfying three minutes all around. I get to root for Big Al and G-Money for the next 15 years. What could be better than that?

oops. to be fair though, rooting for pierce, garnett and allen for 4 years was probably better than al and green for 15.

"7. With the final pick of the round (No. 30), Isiah and the Knicks took their 47th power forward (David Lee, the first white American player taken in the round), followed by the crowd booing, a shot of a completely horrified Spike Lee and a grinning Stern, quickly turning Round 2 over to Russ Granik before hightailing it out of there. Yet another classic first round in the books."

aka, the fans, spike and bill were all wrong about the great david lee.

06:
"7:38 — Classic wide angle of everyone in Toronto’s War Room applauding the pick. That didn’t seem staged at all. No, really. That’s followed by Bilas telling us, “He does not rebound, he does not post up, he is not physical. He needs to work on his body.” You have to be fired up if you’re a Raptors fan right now."

jay bilas on bargnani. good call there jay.

[Kingdom]

Smith would be even better if he stopped taking jumpers, and just attacked at will. OR just committed himself to being a top 5 rebounder and shot blocker. Otherwise, I wouldn't go near him. He's one of the worst shooters ever and he's a blatant 'tard.

Allen is an 8 man rotation player, though. He lost his starting job this year. I'd say that was a perfect description.

[Hammer]

hes an 8 man rotation guy now. the previous 3-5 years though, he was legitimately one of the 3 best perimeter defenders in the game, and was voted the mayor of memphis. and if he hasnt been yet, he will be soon.

[Kingdom]

He's still a top defender. He just can't shoot. And his backup for that time frame was OJ Mayo. Who still got a lot of PT.

[Hammer]

aka, we're arguing whether bill simmons was 0 for 12, or 1 for 12 on the draft class...

[Kingdom]

IF that's Jameer Nelson, then I agree with him being overrated. He's also terrible. Same for Childress. I bet Phoenix agrees too. Harris was briefly an all-star when he was about the only thing that could score for New Jersey, and is no more than a backup PG. 4/12

[Kingdom]

Luke Jackson...holy crap, forgot he existed

[Kingdom]

The 44th pick of that draft turned out to be one of the best picks of that draft.

[Kingdom]

Rumor mill rapid fire: Mavs looking to acquire Felton and Chanandler Bong for...Calderon, Larkin, Dalembert, Ellington, and second round draft pick consideration. So..ummmm. Ok.

[Kingdom]

Cavaliers pushing for a late meeting with Dante Exum. So does that mean a draft swap and hope he's there at 4 or maybe pulling the trigger on a 1 for 3 and Thad Young? He couldn't be the first pick right?..

[Kingdom]

And the Heat will target Shabazz Napier in the draft in an effort to lure LeBron. I like it, they'll need another PG. Will it be him or Ennis or whoever, who knows. But a back up PG doesn't seem to be the thing to entice LeBron.

[Hammer]

i actually kinda like the trade. tyson has been hurt for a year and a half, so while dalembert is a downgrade, felton to calderon is a major upgrade, plus getting larkin, 34 and 51. good job phil.