1 Toronto
2 Chicago (via Knicks)
3 Charlotte
4 Portland
5 Atlanta
6 Minnesota
7 Portland (via Boston in a trade for Sebastian Telfair)
8 Houston
9 Golden State
10 Seattle
11 Orlando
12 NO/Oklahoma City
13 Philadelphia
14 Utah
15 NO/Oklahoma City (via Bucks)
16 Chicago
17 Indiana
18 Washington
19 Sacramento
20 New York (via Nuggets)
21 Phoenix (via Lakers)
22 New Jersey (via Clippers)
23 New Jersey
24 Memphis
25 Cleveland
26 LA Lakers (via Heat)
27 Phoenix
28 Dallas
29 New York (via Spurs)
30 Portland (via Pistons)

Is it wrong to hope that the Raptors select Rudy Gay, just for the "Raptors get Gay" headlines, and the Rudy Gay #1 Jersey?

GO BULLS!!!!

I have no idea what they should do though! Guess we'll see.




TRADE FOR KG!! Just sayin'

I have no idea what will happen in this draft. But I dont think there's anyway the KG trade goe down.

The LSU guy actually seems like a good fit. Great shot blocker that can score. But if you can get KG.......

Tyrus can rebound and block shots, but I dont think he can really score. At least he didnt show a great offensive game in college. If he had any type of offensive game, he would be the easy choice for the number 1 pick anyways.

I like the Wolves picking Roy. Great pick. He should help immediately.

Not when he gets traded, along with 90 million other deals in the draft.

Marcus Williams finally stops freefalling and is selected by the Nets at 22. I suspect the rumor about the Suns pick at 21 being traded to the Celtics to clear out Brian Grant's contract (who could barely crack the rotation without K/T Thomas and Stoudemire in the lineup) is true, and will dispel the rumors about Marion being traded.

Well the Rockets selected Gay but will trade him for Battier (keep in mind these trades arent final for a couple of weeks. they could change but they usually dont).

I do like this trade. I'll explain why I like it and then the negative afterwards.

Battier should solve an issue that's been bothering me for a long time. He will play small forward and allow McGrady to move back to shooting guard where he belongs. McGrady played there in Toronto (Carter was the forward) and was suppose to play that position in Orlando except Hill got hurt. It's significant because he wont have to be guarding larger players all the time and bodying with them down low. Hopefully that will ease the pain on his back. At the same time he should be able to post up smaller 2 guards and shoot over them with ease. On defense McGrady solves a big problem the Rockets had last year: penitration from the 2 guard spot. The 2 guard kept getting into the lane and getting Yao in foul trouble. McGrady's a good on ball defender and should solve that problem. McGrady should also become one of the best rebounding guards in the NBA which should help the Rockets in a sore spot - the offensive boards. They are an above average defensive rebounding team - due to Yao having position. But they are a below average offensive rebounding team - due to Yao's lack of quickness. Having McGrady and Battier helping on the boards should make them a great overall rebounding team which is essential for the Rockets half-court/ball-control style.

On to Battiers contributions... He will have immediate impact with 3 point shooting. The Rockets were the 4th WORST 3 point shooting team in the NBA. Thats horrible considering the 3-point shot is suppose to be one of their main weapons. Battier is a career 38% shooter from the arc and that would make him the best on the Rockets right now. Battiers on the ball defense is also good and should help cut down on inside penitration which was a problem last year. He also doesnt need to have the ball to be effective (which is good considering that Yao and McGrady will have most of the time). He's the perfect complimentary player. Battier is a Van Gundy type of player. Always gives 100%, always prepared, and he needs little coaching or assistance getting motivated. He should fit right in and contribute immediately. The Rockets know what they're getting and thats a big factor.

The trade only backfires if Gay ends up being a star. But if the rumors are true that he has a hard time getting motivated, thats not likely to happen. The Rockets already have trouble motivating a player thats gifted athlically: Stromile Swift. Thats not going too well and the Rockets likely dont want to take the chance of having two of those guys. In addition it was rumored that Gay repeatedly disappeared during games. I think his disappearing act would be much worse if he's the 3rd option. He's likely to be more confortable in Memphis where he will be the 2nd option to Gasol. The scary thing is Jerry west wanting to make this deal. He's not exactly an idiot and usually has a good eye for talent. Maybe he sees something we dont, but his last few picks havent reall been star quality so who knows.



Is Roy getting traded? I didnt see that rumor.

To all the basketball minds: Help!

OK, the Raptors got Bargnani, who was clearly the guy they wanted as it seemed it didn't come down to him and Morrison, or him and Tyrus. So why wouldn't Colangelo trade down the pick and try to acquire any kind of help no matter how small it may be? Would it be for the fear of whoever they trade with or another team picking Bargnani ahead of them? Because from what I remember in the NBA CBA, the #1 pick gets a set amount of money, and that set number gets lower as the picks go down so wouldnt they save money drafting him at 3 rather than 1?

Roy-for-Foye: Timberwolves, Blazers in swap
Minnesota sent the rights to No. 6 Brandon Roy to Portland for the rights to No. 7 Randy Foye.

The Celtics took Foye with the No. 7 pick in the NBA draft Wednesday night, then promptly traded him to the Portland Trail Blazers for Sebastian Telfair in a five-player deal.

The Blazers then shipped Foye's rights to Minnesota for Brandon Roy, the Washington guard who was taken sixth by the Timberwolves.

The 6-foot-4 Foye was a first-team All-American as a senior last year at Villanova after averaging 20.5 points and 5.7 rebounds. He led the Wildcats in scoring and was second in rebounds, assists and steals.

For that exact reason. No one wanted to pay #1 money to players most everyone felt are not #1 talent. Basically no one wanted to trade up to #1

Thanks. LoL Oh well. Spoke too soon. I heard about the Celtic/Blazer swap but not the Blazer/Wolves swap. Anyways, I dont like this deal for the Wolves, but i like it for the Blazers. Foye's a good player, but I thought the Wolves would be thankful to get Roy. I guess they weren't.

BTW, I knew we would see some deals going down, but this is more than I expected.

No prob. I do think you're right about Roy having an immediate impact no matter which team ended up with him. He might've been the most NBA ready of the draft.

And I'm extremely surprised at how many deals are going on. No, actually, it might be the type of deals. We're not talking a variety of deals here, with players and other draft picks involved...a lot of the picks have been pick for pick, or pick for cash. A couple of them make no sense whatsoever. Been a strange first round.

Just read this in the Houston Chronicle:



The Swift part is significant. He just didnt pan out last year. That seems like a lot to be giving up for just Battier, but Swift was a non-factor for the Rockets anyways.

And the Rockets, considering their system, just ended up getting a steal in the 2nd round. Steve Novak is a killer from the 3 point line. Career 46% from the arc. Thats insane. He doesnt do much else, and for a 6-10 guy his rebounding sucks. But he will make the team and get minutes. My guess is that he will play the 3 and 4 position depending on the situation. VanGundy has said that he needs to put a 3-point shooting 4 on the floor at times to spread the floor for Yao. He should be able to do that now. Novak should take the the few minutes that Swift was getting.

I'm assuming the Rockets will keep Novak, but in this draft who knows.

There are always plenty of LOL moments during the NBA draft...my favorite this year being when Marcus Williams was interviewed after his selection by NJ and asked about what he learned from being suspended earlier in the year after stealing laptops and he replied that learned "anything can be taken away from you and to take nothing for granted"....wtf? anything can be taken away from you?!? I'm sure the folks whose laptops you stole feel the same way. Also his mom during her interview said she would do anything "as long as it's legal" to help her son...I love the NBA draft...always high comedy. Was it Roy or Foye who was born when his mom was 14?

For me, the highlight was the exchange between David Stern and Dan Patrick somewhere near the middle of the first round (I don't remember the exact pick, I was too busy trying to figure out where he'd be traded to). No question about it, that was funny from both sides.

Bulls made out good this draft. 2 defensive badasses and some other dude. Plus Thomas can throw down!

The two teams I thought did real well in the draft were the Bulls and Blazers.

For the Bulls, I liked how they managed their picks and got exactly what they wanted and more. I'm not as high on Tyrus as everyone else is, but I think that was an excellent trade.

For the Blazers, they needed a completely new roster and they're off to a good start. Roy should be an immediate impact player. I'm not real high on Alridge, but I dont see him hurting them at all. Both those guys should be in the league 10 years.


The two teams that completely confused me were the Celtics and Knicks.

For the Celtics, I cant really give them a hard time yet cause I think another trade is coming. They acquired Telfair and Rondo at the point when West was already making good progress there. So basically they have 3 so-so point guards. The only way I can rationalize this is for another deal to be in the works. If not, I'm totally confused.

For the Knicks, total confusion. Isiah has an extremely good record on draft day (when he's not blindly trading his pick of course), but he really threw me off here. Why not trade down and pick Balkman? That would make some sense. I'm just not sure what that man is thinking at this point.

The thing I didnt like about the Blazers was why trade Foye for Roy, when they are supposedly really high on Martell Webster (plays the same position as Roy). Put Foye at PG and Webster at SG and roll with it for the next ten years.