2007 Draft Diary: PART II

(Due to publishing problems, I had to split this up into two parts. Please scroll down for Part I.)

12:14 - Wizards on the clock, and I demand that the NBA revoke all draft picks until they go back to being the Bullets. Washington changed their name because DC had too many murders, and they didnt want to promote violence.

I won't lie, I fully expected to mock the Wizards, but in 1995, when they changed their name, the murder count in DC was 360. In 2005, it was 195. I can't argue with that kind of production. Kudos Wizards, such a brilliant move!

Wizards take Nick Young, off guard from USC. Interesting story. Documentary about him, chronicalling his problems as a kid. You feel for the kid, but it's still no excuse to wear a cream jacket, cream shirt, cream tie and BLACK SLACKS. Unless he has an endorsement deal with Oreo, he needs to rethink that outfit.

12:20 - Kincks to get Zach Randolph for Channing Frye and Steve Francis. The Knicks fans are going crazy, including Spike who nods in approval. What a steal. Unless Francis rediscovers his game in Portland, the Blazers just got nothing. And when you have Oden and Lamarcus Aldridge, where exactly will Channing Frye fit in? Then again, Zach Randolph couldnt stay out of trouble in Portland......he should be fine in New York City, right?

Stephen A. is yelling at me again.

12:22 - Nets are up and just saved me from sure suicide by taking Sean Williams, keeping the Warriors from taking him. A guy who cared more about smoking weed than playing for Boston College. Just couldn't stop smoking. Well, he couldnt stop getting caught. Guy blocks shots, rebounds, and cant shoot. This guy couldnt hit the ground with a handful of rice.

12:24 - Nervous. Very nervous. The Warriors are on the clock without a single quality player available. Scouts like Jason Smith. Great. They liked Patrick OBryant last year too, and Im not sure he sniffed a single minute last year. I want Morris Almond. This guy is a stud. 26 a game, 45% from 3s, hits the mid range jumper, hits free throws, gets to the line 9 times a game. I understand, he did it in Conference USA, but so what? Stuckey goes lotto for scoring 25 a game in the Big Sky, so what is the problem here? Because Almond is a senior? Just goes to show what a bunch of morons NBA GMs are. Warriors loves scoring, love the three, and he would be perfect in that rotation, and would allow them to trade Monte Ellis in a package to get Yi Jianlian, who they covet.

12:28 - Wow, there it is. We knock off the Mavericks, and yet still, no respect. The Warriors pick expired during commercial break! F you ESPN, F you two times. Im tired of your bias. Here is Frodo.......Marco Belinelli. Italian shooting guard. At least they took a shooter, a guy that can come in and be a player right away. Lets go to the tape!

YES! I love this pick. Great stroke, athletic, long.....Ill assume tremendous upside, even though Bilastrator wont tell me so. This guy will produce immediately. Well done Mullin, well done!

12:32 - Jim Gray reporting about the Lakers, looking like Boggs from Shawshank.

12:35 - Lakers. Who cares. Other than everyone at ESPN of course. Javaris Crittenden. Good pick. Its been almost an entire season since they took a point guard. Crittenden can play though, and is actually an upgrade over Farmar. 6'5, quick, strong. He will be a nice addition, but he needs the ball in his hands. This is the triangle offense, and you need a PG who can shoot, not a penatrator. Kobe is the primary ball handler in this offense, which makes a guy like Crittenden a liability. They need to look to package him in a deal, or move Farmar. They really could have done better with a big at this spot. Jason Smith would have been a perfect fit. But wait, its Mitch Kupchak....ok, Im no longer surprised. That guy would draft a bowl of chili over a sno cone at a Palm Springs snack stand.

12:36 - More John McClane is a good thing, people. Yippie-ki-yay.

12:38 - Miami takes Jason Smith, and a deafening silence falls over the crowd. This is New York so they are either stunned, drunk, or both. Smith is about 7 feet tall, athletic, can hit the face up jumper. Bilas questions why Smith couldnt lead his team to more wins despite his talent. Um, because he was at Colorado State? Me, Bilas and three immigrants from the Home Depot parking lot could beat Colorado State.

12:40 - Mitch Kupchak appears to have kept his endorsement deal with Sominex. This guy gargles peanut butter. Id wear out the volume button on my remote if Stephen A and him ever had a conversation. Kupchak looks like Malcovich in In the Line of Fire, except that instead of killing the President, he is trying to kill the league's premier franchise.

I want to believe Jim Gray is wearing a rug, but in the end, if he was......is that the one he would choose? I honestly believe Hair in a Can would be an improvement for him.

12:44 - Mark Jackson just said EXACTLY what I said, pointing out that Phil Jackson won with Ron Harper at point. Fire Stephen A and give me that job! Bilas says Crittenden is a bad decision maker and turns the ball over too much....and he will be a good one. Bilas is a moron and doesn't know what he is talking about....he is a great announcer.

12:46 - Daequan Cook to the Sixers, who will trade him to the Heat for Jason Smith. Sweet pick. Because a guy who got 12 minutes in the final four is a much safer pick than a guy who scored 26.4 a game last year. Honestly, why take the next Hersey Hawkins or Allen Houston when you can get the next Dennis Hopson!

12:49 - Charlotte is back on the board. Awesome, are there any TarHeels left? Jordan is in the 19th hole playing poker and drinking scotch. They can't call him, he's likely to draft Adam Morrison again (yikes!). On that note, its a good time for me to gloat that I said Morrison and Reddick would be awful, and they were both horrid. Reread my diary from last year, and just try and ignore me calling James White a sleeper. (oops!)

12:51 - 'Cats take Jared Dudley, a 6'7 SF from BC. I really respect this pick. Not sexy, a senior who isnt super athletic. No upside potential, no length, no hooprockability or whatever is next in Bilas' crap fest of an analysis. All this guy does is make smart plays, play good defense, shoot the ball well, and work hard on the glass. Yeah, those qualities suck. Knicks are on the board, and if they dont take Derrick Byars or Almond, Ill be very disappointed. They could be a playoff team with Almond, Im saying that right now.

12:54 - Everyone and their brother says Wilson Chandler with this pick. What a mistake that would be. I know, I crushed the Balkman pick last year, and he ended up being a solid rotation guy....but on a terrible team! Does that count? Tony Campbell scored 23 a game on the T Wolves in their first couple of years, does that make him an all star? Being a valuable bench player on a horrible team is hardly my idea of a successful pick. The pieces are there to improve, but Zeke needs to get a shooter here.

12:55 - There it is. Worst kept secret this year. Wilson Chandler to the Knicks. 6'8 combo forward who was second team All BigEast. Athletic, decent player. Nice stroke inside of 15 feet. I see NOTHING that makes me think he will do anything of substance at the next level. Nothing compared to my boy Almond at least. 14.8 a game for DePaul. Sounds like a millionaire to me!
Bilas' new word this year is "second jumpability." I can't stress enough what an absolute head Bilas is. Stephen A loves the Wilson Chandler pick. Of course he does. He's an idiot.

12:57 - I am now fast forwarding through Stumanji's interviews. The fast forward button has tremendous upside.

1:00 - Phoenix takes Rudy Fernandez, a fellow Spaniard. Of course I love this pick, but it looks like he might go to Portland for cash. He has been a top Euro prospect since he was 16, so you know he can play. Has a nice stroke with a quick release. He's 6'5 and can get to the rim. This is a good pick for next year or two years from now, and if you can pair him with Sergio Rodriguez, that's a tremendous backcourt.

Best thing about this pick? Last year, Portland bought the rights to Sergio Rodriguez from Phoenix for 3 mill. Now they are supposedly buying the rights to Fernandez from Phoenix for another 3 mill. Its really great that we have a mechanism to determine the relative value of a human being. Is it possible Portland doesn't celebrate Juneteenth?

1:06 - Utah Jazz select Morris Almond. Let me recap this selection:

In the United States, larceny is a common law crime involving stealing. Under the common law, larceny is the trespassory asportation and taking of the (tangible) personal property of another with the intent to deprive him or her of it permanently. In English law, the common law offense was codified into the Larceny Act 1916. In turn, the terminology and substance was converted into theft by the Theft Act 1968

Im a little disappointed only because he was my favorite guy in this draft, and he went to my LEAST favorite team. He should have a great time in Salt Lake City. Its a party non stop there. Or, at least until the sun goes down. Im also disappointed because he won't really play alot. They have plenty of guys at the two spot, but here is hoping they give him a fair shot to earn minutes. He is my sleeper ROY if he gets minutes.

1:09 - Rockets select Aaron Brooks from Oregon, shoot first PG. In other words: PASS

1:11 - Mark Jackson won't stop agreeing with me. I am officially a fan. Mark, you an me....we are like, here...right here....eye to eye my man, eye to eye.

Josh McRoberts is still on the board and I am absolutely GIDDY. Only way I could enjoy someone falling more than this is if you pushed Ann Coulter out of a window.

1:13 - They are discussing new GM in Seattle, Sam Presti. Supposedly he is 30 years old, yet he looks a solid 10 years older than me. That takes away some of the sting as I recount my life.....not much, but some....

...augh, why didnt I study harder???? Damn you beer! Damn you!

1:14 - Pistons take Aaron Afflalo. Good for him. Not deserving of first round status, but nice to see him get rewarded for going back to school for at least another year. Should fit in nice with the Pistons. A physical defender with a decent stroke (inconsistent), he will fit in well with that team.

1:19 - Spurs take Tiago Splitter. Smart move, only because they have had so much success over seas. This guy, though, has pulled out of three drafts, and went from a likely lotto pick to 27th overall. Not the soundest business sense, but certainly not the worst decision of all time. Splitter is a good defender and rebounder who cant score with either hand.

1:21 - This draft has reached doldrums status. My bed is looking long with second jumpability.

1:22 - Phoenix, who hates paying rookies, likely to go international here. Nope, Alando Tucker. Hore. I. Bull. I detest this pick. A combo forward in college with a SG's body. Phoenix may be the only team he can produce on, simply because of their style. Tucker can't shoot or get his own shot. Gutty college player who excelled with his strength and 4 years of experience. At the pro level, he'll be lucky to crack the 9 man rotation. I wouldnt count on it. God help me, McRoberts might have been a better pick here.

(I will now beat myself about the head, breast and chest area with sock full of nickels. No, i deserve worse. Im going to sit and listen to this cut away to Vitale....
...ugh...
....no, no, no, no, no.....
...AUGH! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!.......)

1:27 - Sixers on the board. Petteri Koponen. Nice little pick. A Finnish point guard. I gotta tell you, when I think hoops......I think Finland. He'll go great with the off guard from Greenland they are taking in the second round. Highlights look good. I think he could definitely be a backup for Gonzaga. Or a first round pick.....whichever. I always wondered what Opie Taylor would look like running an NBA team. Congrats to Koponen for breaking the colorless barrier. He's the first albino in NBA history.

And so it ends. Fittingly, we reach el fin with a Fin. Rumors of a J Rich to Charlotte trade that will bring us Brandon Wright. I killed Wright earlier, but in the run and gun Warrior offense, he would really be excellent. He wouldnt have to be a banger underneath. Alongside Biedrins he could really excel in transition. Soft touch, athletic with good hands.....he could be VERY good. Which just means it will never happen.

Excel and enjoy my cherubs.