7:00 p.m.- We are live from the sofa for the NBA draft. Everyone in my family is staring silently at a screen right now- but it’s four different screens in four different parts of the house. A real Norman Rockwell tableux.
By all accounts this draft is mediocre or worse, but the dealing of veteran players is making it an interesting night. So far:
The Cavs sent center Ben Wallace and swingman Sasha Pavlovic to the Suns, along with a second-round pick in the 2010 draft and $500,000 in cash, for the love Shaq.
The New Jersey Nets have traded Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson to the Orlando Magic for Rafer Alston, Tony Battie and Courtney Lee.
7:13 - Last year, Jeff Van Gundy and, to a lesser extent, Mark Jackson, seemed lost on this broadcast. This year, perhaps because the big news is more about the current league than draftees, they’ve been on the money, especially in discussing the limitations of the Shaq trade. I’m not sure Vince Carter is “better than Hedo Turkoglu,” though.
Van Gundy: “I have nine teams trying to win right now, the rest are just trying to save money.” Yes, it’s the recession draft.
7:18 - Jay Bilas says Ty Lawson, whom a lot of people think the Sixers have a shot at, is underrated, and “the most efficient player in this draft.” Blake Griffin looks fairly efficient to me. Bilas’ general point is a good one, though- Lawson is a pure point, but still scored on a team of scorers, shot 52 percent from the field, played at the highest college level possible and was the best player in the Final Four. The Sixers could do much worse.
7:22- Fran Frischilla just called Ricky Rubio “Gretzkylike.” OK, but too much has been made of Rubio’s performance in the Olympics. Solanco grad Sarunas Jasikivicius (pretty sure I spelled that wrong- sorry) lit up the U.S. in the Olympics much more than Rubio did, and had a short, marginal NBA career.
7:31- “Welcome to Madison Square Garden, home of the Knicks and the Liberty.” What, no mention of Ringling Bros.?
No speech necessary, Commissioner Stern. Seriously.
7:34- Mike Dunleavy’s working the phones in the Clippers’ war room. “Clippers’ war room” is like “Larry the Cable Guy’s wine cellar.”
More good stuff from Van Gundy/Jackson on the Clips’ need to trade a big guy.
7:38- Griffin is it. Plain black suit and tie enlivened by a purple shirt and matching pocket square. Not bad. Hugs, etc.
Dunleavy - the league’s only coach/GM, seems almost dour in a brief, succinct interview. Geez.
7:45- Hasheem Thabeet to Memphis at No. 2. Meh. This draft is suppoed to be all about guards, but of course the first two picks are bigs. A candid Bilas: “I’m not sure his offense is ever gonna get there.”
7:50- Mild surprise- James Harden to Okie City at No. 3. He’s wearing a goofy suit, not-quite-matching vest and bow tie. Scott Pera, the former Annville-Cleona coach who had Harden in HS and as an assistant at Arizona State, is at Harden’s table.
We never see Pac-10 guys enough around here, but I was disappointed in Harden when I did see him. After seeing some Pac-10 teams in the NCAAs. I wonder if he wasn’t simply the best player in a bad league. Seemed sort of heavy-legged, not real athletic, the opposite of explosive. Reminds me of ex-Temple guard Mardy Colllins, who’s a marginal pro.
7:56- Tyreke Evans to Sacramento. The NBA is way too much into “upside,” and youth, but this kid, to me, is the exception. No doubt he’s an unfinished product, but he has a chance to be Dwayne Wade. Bigger upside - How does one avoid these awful terms? - than Blake Griffin. Seriously. Great pick.
Has there been a commercial yet? They’ve been on for an hour. I was all prepared to make fun of commercials…
Minnesota has four picks in the first round, including the next two.
8:00- Ricky Rubio to the T-wolves. Latest depressing indication I’m getting old- There has now been an NBA draft pick younger than one of my kids. Does Rubio want to live in Minnesota? Just askin.
I think Van Gundy just said the T-wolves young roster will get its to-be-named coach fired. Geez.
8:07- Now we’re wheeling and dealing- Jonny Flynn to the T-wolves, which must mean more deals are coming, although the ESPN guys are talking as if Flynn and Rubio could play together. I sense that approach could cause some, um, matchup problems.
Flynn is a tough, strong, athletic dude, but I would think T.J. Ford is his ceiling.
8:15- Golden State takes Steph Curry, whom the crowd wanted for the home Knicks. Boo. I’m surprised he measured at more than 6-3. Like him.
Am I nuts? There still hasn’t been a commercial…
8:20- The Knicks take Jordan Hill. Boo. Another Pac-10 guy I didn’t see much and wasn’t overly impressed with when I did. Name a big who left college without a post-game and later got one. I can’t either. Hill proves to be a Moses Malonesque interview. Welcome to the Big Apple.
8:26- DeMar DeRozan to Toronto. Similar to Tyreke in every way, but not as good in any way, IMHO. Ought to eventually be able to guard perimeter players, at least.
Commercial break. Let’s all towel off.
8:31- The Bucks, coached by gutty, gritty Scotty Skiles, just took a PG who averaged like six a game off the bench in the Italian League last season and weighs 169 pounds. Of course, Frischilla likes him.
This is taken to mean, of course, that Brandon Jennings’ experiment - blowing off college to go to Europe - worked. It worked because the NBA doesn’t value actual performance and productivity. Congratulations.
8:37- Terrence Williams to Jersey. He’s no Brandon Jennings, but I like him a lot. Remember Alvin Robertson? There you have it.
Whatever happened to Stephen A. Smith? That’s not a rhetorical question, actually. What happened to him? Not that I’m missing Stephen A, but you’ve got to admit, this broadcast is missing some over-the-top weirdness.
8:44- Michael Jordan takes a Dukie- Gerald Henderson to Charlotte. Henderson might be able to take some of his bosses’ cash on the links.
8:49- Indiana takes Tyler Hansbrough, a surprise. It’ll be really interesting to see how he turns out. Never saw a player get beat up every time he touched the ball for four college seasons the way Hansbrough did. The NBA is going to be much less physical than college for this kid. If he learns to shoot the three, he’ll be a good pro. I really think it’s that simple.
8:54- Stunning news from the real world- Michael Jackson is dead of a heart attack. Wow. Forgive the myopia but, again, your correspondent’s getting old- Jackson was within a couple weeks of my exact age.
8:56- Earl Clark, the new Nazr Mohammed, to Phoenix.
Reaction to Michael Jackson’s death apparently blew out Google. Didn’t think that was possible.
9:02- Austin Daye of Gonzaga to the Pistons. This is a guy I liked a lot the few times I saw him, but he has a soft rep.
Excellent rant from Dickie V- “You hear about potential, about these guys who averaged six points a game, 12 points a game, and they’re supposed to be great. They get coaches fired.”
I’ve said this before, but you get Vitale away from an actual basketball game and thus from the Pavlovian urge to yell like a loon, and he’s pretty decent.
9:06- James Johnson of Wake to the Bulls. Borderliner. Sixers are next. Lawson is still out there.
Suns’ GM Steve Kerr pretty much admits, in an interview, that his club won’t be trying to win in the forseeable future. It’s the recession NBA.
9:11- The Sixers take… Jrue Holiday. Saw him up close vs. Nova in NCAAs. Looked like about the fifth-toughest guard in that game. Was clearly the second-best guard on his own college team, and the best, Darren Collison, is in this draft. He’s being picked to play a position he’s never played above the high school level. The Sixers have proved me way wrong with their last couple first-round picks, but this makes no sense to me.
9:17- I was about to suggest, very jokingly, that Minnesota would take Lawson here. Except they took Lawson here. For real. The T-wolves have had three picks so far, and they’ve taken: an 18 year-old point guard, a 5-11 point guard, and another 5-11 point guard. Trade coming, of course. Isn’t it?
9:20- Yes, it is. Lawson’s apparently going to Denver for a 2010 pick Denver was getting from Charlotte. Something like that.
Let’s see- if Charlotte makes the playoffs next year, then the pick they’re getting for Lawson will be about the same as the one they just used to get Lawson with, unless the Wolves think next year’s draft will be much better than this year’s. Except that they stood on their head to get extra picks in this draft. I just don’t know what to tell you.
9:22- Jeff Teague of Wake to Atlanta. Like it. Very athletic, and can really score.
9:25- Eric Maynor to Utah. A terrific pick at No. 20 for a team on which he won’t have to be a savior. Three picks in a row, all guards, I’d rather have than what the Sixers got.
9:32- Darren Collison to the Hornets. Four straight.
9:39- Portland takes a Spanish dude. A 6-9 small forward. Frischilla: “They’ll put him on ice for a while.”
9:40- Just when this was starting to feel as scintillating as an insurance conference, let’s all welcome Shaq: “I haven’t had any verbal conversations with Lebron, but I’ve has many mental conversations with him.”
9:44- The Kings take a player from… Israel. He’d be the first Israeli to play in the league. This seems right down Jon Stewart’s alley.
9:49- The Mavs take a 7-footer who didn’t start for Ohio State in his only college season and has no post game. How did he stay out of the lottery?
9:54- Okie City takes a guard from, yes, Guadalupe. Pretty sure he’s be the first Guadalupean (?) to play in the league. Bucher says they’re trading him to Dallas for the Ohio State 7-footer. I’m just transcribing now, really. It’s been a mediocre draft for basketball and for TV, quite frankly.
9:59- Question for Jay Bilas: Does anyone have a wingspan less than their height?
The crowd seems thoroughly drunk now, and not just the kid who thought (correctly) showing up in a Memphis Grizzlies’ jersey was the best approach to getting on camera. Good times.
10:04- Stu Scott tries to get some nonsense from Van Gundy about how the Grizzlies can win back the city of Memphis. Not happening. Van Gundy: “They’ve got to get good.” Bless you.
10:10- The T-wolves take Wayne Ellington. Not a point guard, so I have no idea what they’re thinking.
10:20- Things are winding down now, and Van Gundy/Jackson are into an involved discussion of what Cleveland should do next. In essence- they have to get more versatile up front, maybe a 4-man who can shoot it. Obviously, they’re not getting that with the No. 30 pick, the last in the first round.
They take a swingman from Congo who plays on Ricky Rubio’s Spanish team’s JV team, or something. Frischilla tends to gush over these overseas players because he’s the only media person who sees them play, but the best he can come up with here is “if he was in college now, he’s be a really solid player.” He’d be a really solid college player? DuJuan Blair, Jodie Meeks and Sam Young are still out there, and a really solid college player is a first-round NBA draft pick.
Wait: Somehow the Knicks got Darko. It’s not gonna get better than that.
Thank you, and good night.
