The Draft is Here!

Finally the NBA Draft is about to start. There has been so much hype and discussion that I feel like I've been waiting forever for it happen.

Notable Pre-Draft Trades

RJ to the Bucks for Bobby Simmons and The Chairman

Jermaine O'Neal to the Raptors for TJ Ford, Nesterovic, and the 17th pick


In honor of one of the best days of the NBA season I will do another running diary. I expect to at least get through the lottery, maybe the entire 1st round. I will be doing a cliche counter at least including the cliches - upside and any variations (i.e - tremendous upside potential), long or length, ball-friendly (lol), blow-by ability, high motor etc.

4:o3 PM - The draft starts in about 30 minutes. The main analysts are Stuart Scott, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, and Jay Bilas. Should be entertaining. And of course Dick Vitale will be commenting from time to time. Did Bilas just call it a "diaper draft"? May the cliches begin

4:05 PM - Andy Katz reports the Bulls will take Derrick Rose - no big surpise there.

4:10 PM - All the analysts say Miami has to take Beasley (Bilas - His arms extend beyond normal limits) instead of Mayo or trade the pick

4:12 PM - Dick Vitale is unusually calm (for him) when talking about Beasley. He is worried about the temptation of South Beach but agrees he is a good fit in Miami. I hope he gets more excited when the draft starts.

4:14 PM - Journey to the Center of the Earth looks incredibly cheesy. A cell phone getting service? C'mon now. Looks like they are ruining a great book.

4:17 PM - Stephen A. Smith interviews Beasley and manages not to yell or get hype. What the hell is going on?

4:2o PM - Knick fans are booing Gallinari just when Stuart Scott is talking about him. I really hope the Knicks draft him, it could get very ugly.

4:24 PM - Colleen Dominguez reports that it looks unlikely the Sonics will trade the #4 pick

4:31 PM - David Stern is talking and the draft is finally starting. I really don't care what he has to say. Just start the damn draft! Bulls on the clock (5 mins max)

4:34 PM - All the analysts say the Bulls have to fit the team around Rose, not the other way around. The Bulls have a logjam at guard although none of them are all-star quality except Rose in the future

4:36 PM - Still don't understand the Del Negro hiring, probably never will

4:38 PM - Bulls take Rose as expected. Beasley has a fake smile on his face. Rose is nicknamed "Pooh". I'll avoid any corny joke. Heat on the clock. According to Bilas Rose "can dunk with his elbows" - sounds retarded but I know what he meant....I think

4:42 PM - Heat select Michael Beasley. Looks like they're not idiots after all. Mayo looks a little perplexed. I wonder if the Heat are still working on a trade to move Beasley.

4:45 PM - All the analysts are praising Michael Beastly. Somehow they are avoiding a lot of cliches but Bilas busted out his beyond normal limits line again

4:47 PM - Bulls GM Paxson is saying Rose is going to have to earn what he gets. He better start over Hinrich.

4:49 PM - T'Wolves select OJ Mayo. Not really surprising. He doesn't look that happy. I wouldn't be. Sonics on the clock. Mayo is wearing some wild outfit. Ugly shoes and it looks like a striped polo under his suit jacket and vest lol.

4:53 PM - Riley supposedly loves Beasley now. Don't know if he's just trying to increase his trade value or if they really were just BS'ing

4:55 PM - Sonics select Westbrook. 1st real surprise of the draft. This is higher than most people expected him to go. The Sonics were unsuccessful in trading down but I guess they just really wanted Westbrook

4:57 PM - Durant appears happy about the Westbrook pick

5:01 PM - Grizzlies want some Love in their club and select Kevin Love. I'm not that high on this pick but it wasn't unexpected. Bilas has a man-crush on him apparently.

5:03 PM - explosion ability? is that somehow different from explosiveness? they are attaching ability to anything and everything. That's going to be added to the cliche counter

5:07 PM - Let the booing commence. Knicks select Gallinari. He is booed instantly. My boy Gary wonders "if that translates into Italian". One of these days I gotta make it to the draft. Gallinari is supposedly solid but Knicks fans are just going to boo because of the Frederic Weis disaster (yes that Frederic Weis)

5:10 PM - SAS interviews Gallinari and he is still getting booed. And SAS keeps mentioning it. This is hilarious. ESPN SN fan grade of F for the pick.

5:12 PM - Clippers select Gordon over Bayless. Doesn't make much sense considering they need a PG and Gordon lacks handle. And who knows how good Livingston is going to be when he finally comes back.

5:14 PM - The analysts think this is a good pick even though the Clips need a PG and they can play Maggette/Mobley at the 2. Gordon looks like he has cut down on the cheeseburgers.

5:16 PM - Knicks GM Donnie Walsh is getting booed as he is being interviewed. I think it's safe to say the Knick fans don't like the pick

5:18 PM - Bucks select Joe Alexander. I know they were high on him but it seems unnecessary because they just traded for Jefferson today. Bilas really loves him. Mentioned his athleticism like 80 times in 3 seconds. Supposedly it's "freakish". Buck fans prepare to get freaked

5:24 PM - Jackson thinks the Bobcats are solid across the board. I have to disagree. They really need a 5. Bobcats select DJ Augustin! MJ screws up again. They needed a big man and they draft a PG who's going to be a back-up to Felton (unless they go super small or trade Wallace)

5:26 PM - Brook Lopez looks like he is about to cry. Man up homie

5:29 PM - All the analysts say the Nets MUST draft Lopez because they need a big man badly...and they do. Solid pick.

5:32 - Jackson is hilarious. He says that Vince Carter was the Nets' best post player last year and he's a perimeter player. lol

5:33 - The Lopez twins' voices crack me up. They sound so funny IMO. They are so goofy

5:35 - Pacers select Bayless. Not sure if they are going to start Bayless and Ford or Bayless and Tinsley or bring him off the bench. Bayless doesn't look happy. I wouldn't be either. He was rumored to go 4 to Seattle and now goes 11 to the Indy.

5:39 PM - Euro 2008 plug. Germany vs Spain for the final. Should be a great game

5:41 PM - The Kings select Jason Thompson?! He's not even at the draft. Bilas says he is just "solid, not spectacular". Called him solid about 50 times. I don't remember Thompson being rated this high. King fans give the pick a strong F. Mark Jackson says "it's very surprising they draft a big man out of Rider?!". My boy Sol -"SAC must know something we don't, like they are going to be folding in a few years"

5:47 PM - Blazers select Brandon Rush. Very solid pick for them. Perfect role player who can shoot and defend multiple swing positions. The Blazers are on their way back to getting beat by the Lakers in the playoffs like the good ol' times.

5:49 PM - Stuart Scott simply asks Katz "Why Thompson?" I'm wondering the same thing

5:51 PM - The W's select Anthony Randolph. He has TUP. He seems like a good fit because of the Warriors up-tempo style. Bilas says he is "painfully skinny" and "makes Brandan Wright look like Mr. America". The lottery is finished

5:54 PM - Randolph is very defiant and defensive about being painfully skinny. He is not lacking for confidence.

5:57 PM - The Suns select Robin Lopez. A little surprising but they do need a defensive big man. His hat does not fit at all on his sideshow Bob haircut.

5:59 PM - The Lopez twins' mother acts just as goofy as them.

6:03 PM - Sixers select Marreese Speights. Seems like a solid pick for them. They need a talented big man. No qualms from the analysts about the pick.

6:07 PM - Since the lottery is finished the draft is starting to get less interesting

6:08 PM - Raptors select Roy Hibbert for the Pacers. They need a center but I'm not sure Hibbert "The Big Stiff" is the answer.

6:13 PM - Wizards select JaVale McGee. Don't know much about him. Bilas says "his arms go forever"

6:15 PM - Breaking news. Blazers trade Rush (their new pick) and Jack to Indiana for Bayless and Ike Diogu. I really like the trade for the Blazers. Rush gets to play with his brother Kareem in Indy. Don't know if that's good or bad

6:20 PM - Jackson tells Arthur to get a new piece of gum and enjoy being the last person at the draft not to be drafted yet

6:21 PM - Cavs select JJ Hickson. He is strong, powerful, and explosive according to Bilas. I've seen him play I think and don't remember anything special but we are getting late into the 1st round.

6:25 PM - Bobcats select Alexis Ajinca. They needed a big man and they went international (France). He is lacking strength but is very long (7'8 wingspan). Fran Fraschilla - "He was unstoppable in those 1-on-0 workouts" haha. Is he another Yi?

6:29 PM - More news on the Pacers-Blazers trade. Josh McRoberts is also going to Indy. Bayless looks a lot happier to be going to the Blazers instead of the Pacers.

6:33 PM - Nets select Ryan Anderson. He was pretty solid in the Pac-10 (20 and 10). He's tall and can shoot. I think it's a good pick

6:38 PM - Magic select Courtney Lee. They could use another guard but this seems a little high. He is a "strong player with a strong build". JVG just bangs on his brother (coach of the Magic) talking about how he's at the buffet line.

6:42 PM - The Jazz need backcourt help according to the analysts. I agree

6:43 PM - But the Jazz apparently don't...they select Kosta Koufos. Bilas loves the pick even though Koufos has a lot of different things to improve on (according to him)

6:48 PM - Sonics select Serge Ibaka. The Sonics are back to drafting international big men. This is one of the those "stash away" pick.

6:52 PM - Stan Van Gundy says he wanted to eat so he doesn't even know who they picked lol.

6:54 PM - 25th pick. Bout to dip to go hoop. Hopefully the Rockets mess up this pick hahaha. Rockets select Nicolas Batum. He gets compared to Rudy Gay. They show a nice move where he dunks on someone.

10:00 PM - Had to dip but there was a big trade. Minnesota trades OJ Mayo, Antoine Walker, Marko Jaric, and Greg Buckner to Memphis for Kevin Love, Mike Miller, and Brian Cardinal's terrible contract. Also, the cliche counter was a failure as the usual cliches were missing. Bilas had come classic lines but he even admitted that he went through the entire draft w/o saying long or upside.

For a quick wrap-up I just have to say I hope the Lakers win a few titles before the Blazers' youngcore (Roy, Oden, Aldridge, Bayless) enter their primes. But seriously I grade them as the winner of today. They're adding two lottery picks (yes Oden counts) to their already young and promising core. My boy says "pritchard [their GM] is a serial rapist"