Feelin' A Light Draft

As you may know, Thursday night was the NBA's annual draft, headlined by Kentucky freshman phenom point guard John Wall and NCAA Player of the Year Evan Turner of Ohio St. Normally, I do a "Winners and Losers" piece as a draft follow-up(mainly because I don't believe in draft grades), but this year is different. This year was a very ho-hum draft in terms of the caliber of talent that came out. After all, all of your big college basketball stars were stockpiled on a couple teams(Kansas, Kentucky, Duke) and most of the guys who went deep into last year's tournament were either virtual unknowns or didn't declare for this year's draft. Outside of the Top 5, the rest of the players selected provoked a collective shrug of the shoulders. Once you got past the lottery, there was really nobody taken at, say, 18 that was considerably better than the guy taken at 28. Hell, I turned the broadcast off after the Hornets took Kansas big man Cole Aldrich at 11 and proceeded to follow the draft on my phone the rest of the night(though that was mainly because I simply cannot stand Stuart Scott. He's the DJ Jazzy Jeff of ESPN).

Anyway, a couple of teams caught my eye....so here's my thoughts on them.

Washington Wizards: I covered most of my thoughts on the Wiz's night in my blog on PSB. Basically, Washington came into this draft with a chance to do some damage. They were already getting a franchise cornerstone in John Wall at one. They had the 17th pick which the Bulls suckered Washington into taking along with Kirk Hinrich before the draft. They also had Cleveland's pick at 30 and their 2nd rounder at 35. That's four of the first 35 picks. What did they do? They used Chicago's pick on the French Hasheem Thabeet. Kevin Seraphin is an athletic big man who could eventually develop into a decent big man(though I'd say that's a long shot, given he couldn't even dominate in France). In taking Seraphin, they ignored the chance of getting someone of equal athletic ability to play on the wing and complement Wall's elite passing skills. You can't tell me that Texas' Damion James or Oklahoma State's James Anderson couldn't drop 10-12 a game as the beneficiaries of some great John Wall dishes. On top of that, the Wizards are already waiting on JaVale McGee and Andray Blatche to develop into starter-quality big men. Now they add another to that mix.

There's also the issue of taking Kirk Hinrich's contract and blowing half of that cap space they spent the entire second half freeing up. Hinrich's a solid guard and he's definitely worth starter minutes if the team can deal Gilbert Arenas but who's taking Arenas' bloated contract? Maybe the Knicks if they fall flat in free agency? Maybe Memphis? Still, the chances are slim. You're paying Hinrich $17 mil over the next 2 seasons to be your 6th man.

The Wiz also swung a deal with Minnesota and got two more big men in Clemson forward Trevor Booker and Rutgers shotblocker Hamady N'diaye. Other than Wall, N'diaye might have the next best chance of making the team because he, unlike any of the other Wizards big men, can contest shots and actually provide some D. That being said, N'diaye is 240 pounds. He's a younger Theo Ratliff. Bigger centers are going to eat him alive. The same goes for Booker, who is crazy athletic but also crazy short at 6'7. Booker also doesn't have much in terms of offensive ability to benefit from Wall's presence. So, in essence, the team had four picks in a decent, yet not very deep draft, and left with one franchise player and three guys who will be out of the league by 2012. Good job, Ernie Grunfield.

Oklahoma City Thunder: The Thunder and GM Sam Presti were the anti-Wizards. Having already bought Miami's pick at 18, the Thunder also had picks at 21 and 26. Again, given the lack of depth in this draft, the Thunder's chances of finding a legit piece to add to that young core was slim. So what did they do? They swung a deal with the always-cheap Hornets to acquire New Orleans' choice at 11, Kansas center Cole Aldrich. Now, Aldrich is limited offensively but he's the kind of shotblocker/rebounder the team should have gotten midseason by trading for Marcus Camby. With Kevin Durant, James Harden, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook, Aldrich doesn't need to be a scorer. He just needs to deny guys in the paint. The best part is, it only cost OKC their two late firsts and agreeing to harbor Morris Peterson's rotting corpse. With Miami's pick still in their possession, they got solid Kentucky guard Eric Bledsoe...and then dealt him to the Clippers for a future first round pick(which could be a lottery choice). So for the willingness to accept Daquan Cook and Morris Peterson's contracts, the Thunder got a young defensive stopper in Aldrich and a potential future lottery pick by dealing Bledsoe. THAT'S how you're supposed to build a contender.

Los Angeles Lakers: To me, the biggest statements on draft night were made by the two teams I think will be in the Western Conference Finals next year: The Lakers and the Thunder. With no first round pick, the Lakers got two decent sleepers in West Virgina small forward Devin Ebanks and UTEP forward Derrick Caracter. Ebanks is like a poor man's Trevor Ariza. He has a huge wingspan, is a very capable defender and can score in spurts. At worst, he gives the defending champs a reason to dump Adam Morrison's corpse where it belongs: The D-League. Caracter, meanwhile, is a solid inside scorer, a good passer for a big man and can be a beast on the boards when his mind is right. That, however, is the knock on Caracter. He's a bit of a headcase. When combined with Ron Artest, that can be a bit of a problem but Dr. Phil might be able to settle Caracter down if he puts the time in(or, if he doesn't retire). Both Caracter and Ebanks will be lucky to hold down the final two spots on the champs' roster, but they were good value for where they were taken.

New York Knicks: The Knicks were in a no-win situation. They already lost their first rounder, which ended up being the 9th overall pick by Utah, in the foolish Stephon Marbury trade made by one of the worst GMs in NBA history, Isiah Thomas. So, with that, the Knicks had to make things happen in the second round or try to deal their way into Round 1. They did neither. The Knicks were routinely rebuffed by teams all throughout the first round and when the Knicks finally went on the clock, they spent back-to-back picks on Syracuse's Andy Rautins and Stanford's Landry Fields. Both are rangy small forwards who can shoot the three. Neither can defend and neither are the kind of talent that will raise the eyebrows of LeBron James. Look, Knicks fans are willing to forgive this draft if the front office can lure the King to the Garden(or, worst case, a couple marquee guys in LeBron's place), but if the Knicks fall flat then there will need to be tanks on the Major Deegan. Both the aforementioned Ebanks and Caracter were available when the Knicks went on the clock as were Kansas point guard Sherron Collins(who actually went undrafted) as was Ebanks' teammate Da'Sean Butler and Louisville forward Samardo Samuels(also undrafted). All of them might have been better picks, but that point is moot. The Knicks' draft consists of one man: LeBron Ramone James. It doesn't matter if the Knicks drafted Pat Ewing again. If they miss out on LeBron, they better get the riot gear.

As for the rest of the pack, they were all victims of a lack of talent. The ROTY award this year will come down to the Top 5: Wall, Turner, Derrick Favors, Wesley Johnson and DeMarcus Cousins. Everyone else will probably be forgotten in a couple of years.....and that right there, sums up the 2010 NBA Draft.