Draft 2009: Lotto Fun
Draftniks couldn't have been happier with the way the lottery worked out. This draft now has a lot of possible moves at the top of the draft that could shake things up. Next week, I'll start going through the possible offseasons for every NBA squad but for now I'll just give some quick thoughts off the top of my head.
Blake Griffin is the prize but will he land in LA? A Gordon/Thornton/Griffin trio could be a nice young group but I'm not sure if that's really the foundation of a winning squad. Thornton has an especially bad year, ending with him getting screamed at by owner Donald Sterling. More importantly though, the Clippers have been looking to dump their two recently acquired max deals (Baron and Z-Bo) and the #1 pick could help them dump those contract.
One example could be Baron Davis and the #1 pick for Darko Milcic, Greg Buckner, the #2 and #28 pick. Talent-wise, it's a no-brainer for the Grizz. They add a point guard and power forward (in Griffin) and have Conley as insurance in case Davis continues to lollygag through his contract. The Clippers get an expiring deal in Darko, a small contract (4 million) with two years left, and Ricky Rubio to take over the point. They could also push for Darrell Arthur and have Rubio, Gordon, Thornton, Arthur, and Kaman. It's not great but it's a step in the right direction.
I'd probably just hold onto Zach Randolph. In one year he'll be an expiring contract and easier to move. No need to lose a shot at Blake Griffin for that.
Now some people might be stunned that I'm even suggesting dropping down in the draft to dump contracts but there's something about Griffin that makes me nervous. He seems like a good player but I'm not sure he's a guy who is a #1 star. He seems more like a building block than a foundation. He's by far the best player in this draft but he's not someone that I'd deem untouchable.
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As for the Grizzlies, they also find themselves in an odd position. Mike Conley Jr. showed some improvement this season and OJ Mayo seems like a player who is better when the ball is in his hands so I'm not sure whether they would want Rubio. Having Marc Gasol on the team could help the Spanish kid's transition but will he fit? I wouldn't be stunned if they looked to move the pick. I also think that they need to seriously start trying to win games now if they want to survive. The Baron Davis deal would do that.
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The Thunder would probably like to move up but they don't really have anything that I think they'd be willing to deal. They'll probably hang tight and grab Hasheem Thabeet to anchor their defense. OK City is perfect for the big man because he doesn't have to worry about scoring, there's another defensive big man who can handle quicker bigs (Jeff Green), and they have a good enough center in Nenad Krstic who can hold the starting spot for a year until the rook gets acclimated to the pro game.
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Obviously, the big loser was Sacramento. They missed out on Griffin and Rubio and have a wide open field of point guards to judge. While nobody knows where any of the point guards end up, one thing is for certain: none of them look worthy of the 4th pick in an NBA draft. Perhaps they could offer Jason Thompson and the #4 pick for Rubio. The Grizz might actually go for that. Thompson would fill the four spot and they could roll the dice on someone like DerMarr Derozen at four.
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Washington is another team that could look to dump salary in a deal. The Antawn Jamison and Gilbert Arenas signings worked as well as everyone expected so they'd probably be happy to get rid of either of those two. I'm really not sure what they do if they hold onto the pick; either grab James Harden or Jordan Hill. Neither guy seems like a future star but they should be hard working players who find a role and hang around the league.
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Minnesota seems like a good fit for Stephen Curry. With two post players like Big Al Jefferson and Kevin Love, they could use a point guard who can shoot. If James Harden falls here, he almost seems like a given since he's the kind of shooting guard who could help run the offense while Randy Foye focuses on scoring (ala John Salmons and Ben Gordon in Chicago).
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Golden State was probably hoping to win the lotto to help add another trade asset. I have to believe that the Warriors are going to go crazy this offseason, trying to use their young assets to bring in a star player or two. The downside, of course, is that all of their players are on pretty significant contracts so they'll probably have to overpay a bit to get it done. If they don't deal it, there's something about Chase Buddinger that makes him seem like the perfect fit for Nellyball.
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New York has already been rumored to be after Stephen Curry and that's not a bad fit. He could fill the role Nasty Nate Robinson thrived in, if they don't re-sign Nate. On paper, Earl Clark would be a great fit for D'Antoni's system but he seems like a poor man's Lamar Odom to me; tons of talent but doesn't bring it every night. Teammate Terrence Williams seems like a Tim Thomas type.
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Clark also seems like he might be the kind of guy that Bryan Colangelo would like but this is another team that could be in fire sale mode. If they move Chris Bosh, I have to imagine that they'll probably also look to move the aging Jose Calderon as well. The trade winds will be blowing in Canada this offseason and which way they blow will determine who gets drafted here.
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The Bucks are also a team looking to shed salary. And after they took Joe Alexander last season and Yi the year before that, I'm not even going to pretend to know which scrub they'll take this year.
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If the move to Brooklyn really seems like it isn't going to happen soon, the Nets might look to move some of their draft picks and try to start winning again. LeBron isn't going to a Jersey team that might not move to Brooklyn and could actually be sold and move to Seattle or Kansas City. With Devin Harris and Brook Lopez, the Nets have two good young prospects alongside Vince Carter. This draft is low on power forwards and reaching for Dajuan Blair would be a mistake. The Nets should probably hope that Demarr DeRozan is still available or else they'll have to choose between the two Tobacco Roaders, Wayne Ellington or Gerald Henderson.
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The Bobcats will likely go after Henderson if he's available. Local prospect, heady game.
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The Pacers? Did I mention teams are looking to shed salary? I'm sure they'd love to use this pick to dump Mike Dunleavy Jr. I'd like to see Jarrett Jack get a shot at starting full time so these guys should also look for a shooting guard. Because of this, don't be surprised if you see some 2's start to shoot up the draft board and shake up the order of things.
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And finally it's the Suns. This team needs to be blown up.
