Running Diary of the NBA draft..

I am doing a running diary of the NBA draft, should be fun. Oh yeah, I am drinking too...

4:10pm
Is Stephen A. Smith the Samuel L. Jackson of broadcasting? God Damn, the man just yells into the mic. Calm down son! "Of course they deserve to die, and I hope the burn in hell!"

4:12pm
Oden already being compared to Ewing...hahahaha. Good news for Portland. Damn, Dickie V is yelling too. ESPN is turning into the Springer show, just yell to get your point across. Those two are making me like Jay Bilas more and more, that makes me scared.

4:15pm
The camera just caught Durant's mom cleaning something off her son's cheek. Now that was funny. Durant pointed at the camera and his mom gave the camera the "oh, they caught me cleaning my child look". By the way, Durant is looking stylish.

4:20pm
Joakim Noah looks like Snoop Dog with the hair down, and the small skinny mustache. I won't be surprised if he rolls a blunt and smokes it on stage.

4:26pm
Start the draft for the love of god!

4:28pm
Why do they have the ESPN guys over the loud speakers? When they were talking about Yi, he seemed embrassed by what they were saying about his strength. Lets taint the greatest night of these young players lives by guys who were never able to play in this league. Except for Mark Jackson, insult away Mark, insult away.

4:30pm
We already saw this intro, thanks ESPN for not filming two intros.

4:32pm
Here we go, and with the first pick, the Blazer select Father Time, I mean Greg Oden. Spit it out David Stern, he is having a REALLY hard time giving his "Welcome for tuning in" speech.

4:37pm
Durant thought is would be ok to be taken second, from the look on his face, it is not ok. Born is the "chip on the shoulder". Congratulations Sonics!

4:40pm
Bring on Beer two!

4:41pm
SEATTLE HAS SENT RAY ALLEN TO BOSTON FOR THE #5 pick. They are going to select Jeff Green. YEAH YEAH YEAH DURANT BABY!!!!!! WOW! INTERESTING EVENING FOR THE SONICS! Bill Simmons is going nuts right now. I am not happy with the trade of Ray Allen. Jeff Green is an interesting player. I wish they would have taken Corey Brewer.

4:47pm
WHO WILL ATLANTA TAKE? I say they take Mike Conley, but they will take Al Hortford. And they do take Al Hortford. Best player available, I think it is smart for Atlanta. It makes them not have to play Sheldon Williams as much. I think he provides a great one-two punch on the boards and on D with Josh Smith.

4:52pm
Not too much of a surprise here, Mike Conley is taken #4. He is barely taller than the Commish? IS that a good sign?

4:57pm
So the trade goes down. Jeff Green is going to play along side Durant. Baller. I am warming up to this. Ray is 32 years old. He has been oft injured. Nice young nucleus starting to develop in Seattle. Seattle is taking a page out of the Portland Trail Blazers from last season. Wow, interesting draft so far.

5:10pm
Minnesota selects Corey Brewer, and Joakim Noah is looking PISSED! He really thought that he was going to Minnesota.

5:20pm
I WAS RIGHT! Bobcats select Brendan Wright...suck it Sam! Another RAW RAW player, sans Kwame Brown. 3rd UNC player drafted by MJ since he has been with the Bulls.

5:23pm
Why is it that every time I see Spike Lee, I see Reggie Miller? Here is Chicago's pick, does Spencer Hawes go here? Joakim is still on the board, so I don't think so. Yep, Joakim goes instead of Hawes. Chicago has got to be the favorite in the East! DAMN Joakim's MOM IS HOT! Former Miss Sweden. Never would have guessed that with how UGLY Joakim is.

5:31pm
Oh, did you see the Durant Seattle Sonics tickets commercial! I wished they would have ended the commercial with a farewell to Ray Allen! That would have been bonkers!

5:32pm
Spencer Hawes goes #10 to the Sacramento Kings. That is pretty much how I predicted it earlier this afternoon. If Chicago passed, then Sacramento was going to stop his fall at #10. Congratulations Hawes! FUCK BUSH BY THE WAY HAWES!

Sorry...passed out for a while because of the Supersonics draft...

I awoke because of the Stephen A. Smith yelling match with Dickie V.

Anyways, WE OUT!

Allen to Celtics?

The trade that would send Ray Allen from the Sonics to the Celtics is heating up as the afternoon progresses.

SONICS, NO! PLEASE DON'T DO IT! Allen needs to MOLD Durant!

I mean a line-up of Waston/Ridnour, Allen, Lewis, Durant and Swift/Wilcox would be a monster lineup. If they make this move, it makes Durant have to be the SCORER from day one. Especially if Lewis does not re-sign.

Lets look at who the Sonics may take at the #5...

Yi Jianlian - This has to be WORST case senario...horrible pick by Sonics b/c of the Durant and Lewis
Jeff Green - I wouldn't mind this pick, but he seemed to disappear in the NCAA's.
Corey Brewer - I would LOVE this pick. He could be the defensive stopper that helps Durant rest on D by guarding the top shooting guard/small forward. Not a complete scorer or ball-handler.
Mike Conley Jr. - Most Likely be gone by then. Might be that point guard who the Sonics wanted in Ridnour.

Spencer Hawes, How High Will He Go?

The draft is only 2 1/2 hours away, and I am getting excited to see how the Blazers and the Sonics negotiate their ways through this year's draft. They are my favorite two teams. I really hope the Sonics get one more pick in the draft, perhaps by trading Luke Ridnour to Atlanta for the #11 pick. A new rumor has emerged over the past 24 hours, the Sonics are offering the Celtics Ray Allen for Theo Ratcliff and the #5 pick. If I was the Sonics, there is NO way I make that trade. Who is going to be drafted in that spot to be worth Ray Allen? The only way I could see that making sense, was that freed up tons of cap room to make a run at a free agent in 2008, or to re-sign Rashard Lewis (again, not worth getting rid of Ray Allen). Are the Sonics really THAT concerned about Ray's injuries last season?

Another question that is going to be answered tonight, how high will Spencer Hawes go in the draft? My guess is that Hawes will be drafted by the Chicago Bulls ONLY if Joakim Noah is off the board by the time Chicago picks at #9. I really don't see him going any higher, it is also a very good possibility that Spencer falls out of the first round. Sacramento may be there to catch Hawes at #10 though.

There are a lot of questions surrounding Hawes and his toughness underneath the boards and around the rim. I think a lot of those problems last year stemmed from his bout with that nasty flu that caused him to lose 20 lbs. during the season. It made it hard for Spencer to bang bodies with fellow Pac-10 big men because of how weak he felt for the entire season. With his weight back up around 250 lbs., I think the Spencer Hawes you will see next season in the NBA will be a bit more dominate then the one we had to painfully watch this season as a Husky.

My Draft Picks
#1 - Greg Oden - THE Ohio State University
#2 - Kevin Durant - Texas
#3 - Al Hortford - Florida
#4 - Mike Conley Jr. - THE Ohio State University
#5 - Boston trades this pick to either Philly or the Sonics, and they draft Jeff Green - Georgetown, if Boston keeps this pick they take Yi Jianlian. Bill Simmons' head explodes.
#6 - Interesting pick because seems like no one wants to play in Milwaukee...they pick - Corey Brewer - Florida, if Boston keeps the pick they take Jeff Green - Georgetown
#7 - Joakim Noah - Florida
#8 - Brenden Wright - UNC - Jordan loves those high potential, EXTREMELY RAW athletes. Expect the Bobcats to trade this pick to the Blazers possibly for Jarret Jack or Zach Randolph.
#9 - Spencer Hawes - Washington
#10 - Al Thornton - FSU
#11 - Atlanta trades the #11 for Luke Ridnour, and the Sonics draft some BIG guy who won't be ready to play until he gets 5 years of NBDL ball in. I WOULD LOVE, that if they trade Ray Allen to the Celtics at #5, then they draft Rodney Stuckey out of Eastern Washington with this pick. Or if Corey Brewer falls this far, draft him.
#12 - Philly is going to try to move up and to try to grab Jeff Green or another high lottery pick. I bet this pick gets dealt. Julian Wright is a good pick at this spot.
#13 - Interesting pick here for the Hornets, wouldn't be surprised to see Stuckey go here, or Nick Young out of USC or Thaddeus Young out of GT.
#14 - Who ever doesn't get drafted at #13, copy and paste here.
#15 - Detriot has all but promised Rodney Stuckey that if he gets this far, they will draft him.

Yes, I see Acie Law falling out of the lottery if Atlanta trades the #11 which I believe they will do.

We Out!

Elston Turner to Join Rick Adelman's Rockets staff

After turning down a chance to interview for the Kings head coaching job, Elston Turner Sr, the father of 2008 husky commit Elston Turner Jr., has taken a job with his former boss Rick Adelman.

Turner was an assistant for Adelman in Sacramento and Portland. An interesting line from this SacBee article: "Elston, meanwhile, said he is slightly conflicted. The year of unemployment was unwelcome but had its perks, such as allowing him to work closely with Elston Jr. at a critical time in his basketball development." That explains Turner's fast rise as a prospect this year. It will be interesting to see what happens with Turner Jr. down in Texas. Hopefully he'll honor his commitment to UW.

Also, Bob Condotta has some great stuff on his blog right now, including an interview with Jon Brockman and the lowdown on Spencer's NBA workouts so far.

Honk, Honk...

Gotta love being a Trail Blazers fan right now...

A Night With Bob Weiss

I went and played poker the last Friday night at the Drift on Inn Casino. After sitting at a 1-2 spread-limit 40 table for a couple of hours, a seat opened up and the person who filled it was ex-Sonics coach Bob Weiss.

I was amazed, and a bit gun shy to talk. After about a half hour of play, I won a $100 pot, and he leaned over to me and asked me what I had after I didn't show my hand. I told him I had a flush, that was when he introduced himself to me.

Over the next couple of hours, we talked Husky Basketball and other things pertaining to basketball. We got on the topic of Brandon Roy, and the season he just had for the Portland Trail Blazers. Bob was quick to make the comparison to Roy's final season as a Husky, with Jason Kidd's last season with the California Bears. He said anytime he could see Kidd play in college, he would go and watch his games. He said he found himself doing the same with Roy.

He told stories about his time coaching, and we talked a little poker. This was truly a special evening where we exchanged stories, and I got to hear some Husky B-ball stuff. Bob didn't agree with Romar's decision to bench Pondexter last season because it ruined his confidence. He said Pondexter will be the Husky's best player this season.

Oh yeah, I donked off $200 after Bob sat down at the table. But after talking ball with someone who had been around the game for so long, it was well worth it. I was up over $350 at the time. Maybe Bob was the Drift on Inn's William H. Macy in the movie The Cooler.

Isaiah Thomas to participate in Reebok Eurocamp

This is pretty cool. Looks like Isaiah Thomas is going to get to run against some of Europe's finest young talent over in Italy starting next week. Some of the RBK Eurocamp participants will almost certainly be selected in the 2007 NBA Draft. And this after a fairly successful Nike Memorial Day Classic, which included a 27 point game in the quarterfinals.