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| Who would you take? |
*Easily my favorite draft. Hockey's a nonstarter, baseball players don't show up in the league till 3 or 4 years later, & the NFL draft... Listen, I like the NFL draft, but after the first round do you care about who anyone's drafting besides your favorite team (& maybe division rivals)? Do you know who any of the non-quarterbacks are after first round? No & no––unless you're some crazy Mel Kiper wannabe. The NBA draft is primarily made up of guys you know, & they can have a huge &, immediate, impact. Only 5 players are on the court at a time, instead of 11, & they play offense & defense. Not only that but starters & even all-stars are traded during the draft, & they have championship impact. Remember Ray Allen to the Celtics, what about George Hill for Kawhi Leonard? Those were huge trades! And this year we've got Kevin Love hanging out waiting to see if the Wolves are smart enough to trade him now rather than getting nothing next year. It's gonna be so much fun!
The NBA draft has always been a mixed bag for me. In 2009 I whiffed harder than David Kahn, nailing just 4 of the 14 lottery picks, including having DeJuan Blair going to the Pacers at 13 when he actually went 37 to the Spurs. In fairness to me Kahn should've taken Steph Curry like I predicted, & Blair's a better player than actual Pacer pick Tyler Hansbrough.* In 2010 I rebounded, hitting 9 of 14 & beating out every major sports publication (Believe me, I checked). 2011** saw me go a solid 8/14, overrate Derrick Williams & have a better understanding of how good Kawhi Leonard was that a bunch of NBA teams (then again everyone who wasn't a NBA GM seemed to). I skipped 2012, then last year the Cavs went crazy, picking Anthony Bennet 1st, trades were happening all over the place, madness reigned & I ended up a Skip Bayless like 2/14.*** Suffice to say I run pretty hot & cold with the NBA draft, so hopefully this is a bounce back year. Or maybe not... Last year's craziness was a lot of fun & this year has the bonus of the players being drafted actually being good.
*I may also have had Jordan Hill as the third best prospect, ahead of James Harden & Steph Curry, so I'm no GM. Fuck... why would you even read on beyond this point after I told you that? Just know that between Hill & Derrick Williams I've learned to check my Arizona bias.
**The best part of my 2011 predictions––my 5 sleepers: Jimmy Butler, Charles Jenkins, Nikola Mirotic, Norris Cole, & Isaiah Thomas. Butler's an elite defender, Thomas is a future 6th man award winner (Who was the last pick of the draft!), Cole's a solid backup, & Mirotic should be an impact player once he comes over from Europe. If only I'd said Chandler Parsons instead of Charles Jenkins I'd look like a genius.
***I have no idea if Bayless ever makes draft predictions, but if he did I'd imagine they'd be horrible & he'd figure out a way to criticize LeBron James with every pick.
