I did a live blog of the draft right below here, sort of, but due to stupid kids and a stupid new cat the thing wasn't up to par. I think the previously mentioned entities were having a contest to see who could break me, and the winner was my son who made me give up on watching the draft so somehow negotiate a truce between not letting the cat in his room and not having his door closed. An impossible problem, to be sure, but luckily I am a genius and also a 6-time winner of dad of the year at my house, so I managed. However since I was unable to give the draft my full attention I will rectify that now, mainly because there's no world cup on this afternoon and no baseball so I'm cranky. Let's look at what a few teams did that seemed noteworthy.
- First, you have to start with the hometown 9, and though I don't particularly like the Wolves' draft I can't really blast them either because I understand their thought process. Adding Zach LaVine and Glenn Robinson 3 certainly increases the athletic ability of the team, even if neither put up primo college stats or have, you know, skills. I also think Robinson's athleticism is overrated, and given that he doesn't really have a true NBA position and has a tendency to not try real hard all the time I'm not very optimistic with that pick. LaVine has more potential, and everything I'm reading says he could be one of the top 5-10 players out of this draft, and unlike Aaron Gordon, who sucks at basketball, he does have some skills to go along with that athletic ability. I know potential is potential until something actually happens, but the Wolves have to hit on something at some point, right?
- The Sixers are starting to remind me of the Kansas City Royals. Remember when the Royals had all those top prospects and everybody said in 3 years they'd be great, including myself? Sixers are giving off that vibe, and last night they took Joel Embiid, who is likely at least a year away, and Dario Saric, who will probably stick in Turkey for a couple of years. They also got back a first round pick they had given to the Magic to help facilitate the Dwight Howard trade. Basically they're stockpiling "assets" while assuring themselves of another horrible season upcoming and another high lottery pick - another "asset." At some point you have to actually start doing something, but at least they have a clear plan. It may not work - the Royals are 4.5 out of first place in a bad division and are just 2 games over .500 - but at least it's a plan.
- Sadly, nobody really screwed up their draft which, along with the lack of any real meaningful trades, made it a very boring night. The closest thing to a screw up was the Raptors taking Bruno Caboclo at #20, but I can't pretend I know who he is or if he's any good, I just know he wasn't projected as a first rounder. Their GM seems to pretty much know what he's doing and #20 is a crapshoot anyway, so whatever. Plus who cares? It's Canada.
- Can't believe Bill Simmons is allowed to be such a raging homer on TV. I know people are human and are going to have allegiances, but when somebody like Jalen Rose pulls for Michigan guys he does it in an understated, human way. Simmons is a complete spaz who belongs on a couch watching the draft. Did you see his eye roll when the Hornets traded Napier to the Heat? I don't know, maybe I'm being oversensitive but it just bugs me. Plus when he's on site he can't do his running draft diary, which was always a good time back when he was actually a writer - something he's good at.
- After watching the Spurs dismantle the Heat after coming out of the supremely difficult Western Conference, you'd think teams might take a look at the Spurs business model and try to emulate them. Maybe draft some high basketball IQ guys who will buy into the team concept, pass well, and can shoot. Two guys who fit that model perfectly fell to the end of the first round, both who would be perfect for the Spurs in Kyle Anderson and Cleanthony Early. The Spurs went Anderson, and the Knicks were lucky enough to get Early in the second round (Early could end up the steal of the draft - mark it down). Anderson's going to thrive in San Antonio.
- If you read ESPN too much, you've probably stumbled across John Hollinger's prospect ranking formulas, which generally do a pretty decent job of projecting future value of incoming players in the NBA draft. Hollinger now works for Memphis, but Kevin Pelton still runs the same column and I'm assuming uses the same formulas, or at least very similar maybe with some of his own tweaks. Memphis took Jordan Adams at #22 in a bit of a surprise, then traded a 2016 first round pick to get an early second rounder from Utah to take Jarnell Stokes. Looking at Pelton's column, Adams ranks fifth and Stokes ranks twelfth. Interesting. Last season they didn't have a first rounder, but at pick #41 took Jamaal Franklin, who ranked 21st using Pelton's formula. Seems like you could get a pretty good handle on what Memphis is thinking just by checking out Pelton's column before the draft. I have no idea what you'd do with that information, but I'm going to figure out how to use it for gambling.
- Congratulations to Khem Birch, Chane Behanan, Jabari Brown, Jahii Carson, Alex Kirk, James Michael McAdoo, LaQuinton Ross, Jakarr Sampson, and Roscoe Smith - your early draft entrants who went unpicked. Wait, not congratulations. The other thing. When is the NBDL draft? I bet Carson goes first.
- Did you notice the Charlotte Hornets are starting to do some good things? I mean, a lot of it was luck having Noah Vonleh slip to them and then having PJ Hairston slip to them, but it could get interesting. The talk was they needed a shooter bad and would be very happy to get either Stauskas or McDermott, but then Vonleh was sitting there and they did the smart move, shocking in the NBA I know, and took a potential star in him over getting the shooter they needed in McDermott. Then they were lucky enough to snag Hairston, a great shooter (potentially) and picked up a couple picks from Miami in the process because they were so hot to trot for Napier. So now the Hornets look like this: Kemba/G. Henderson or Hairston/MKG/Vonleh/Al Jefferson.
Jefferson and Vonleh should compliment each other well since Vonleh can do perimeter/high post stuff despite Crean's strategy of never giving him the ball, and Hairston can help open things up since neither Henderson or MKG can shoot. Then they still have Cody Zeller who I haven't given up on, especially since he and Vonleh can talk about how much Crean sucks. Plus they're in the East. I mean it's not great or anything, but at least they're moving in the right direction. Seriously I'm realizing how screwed up the Wolves are since I seem to be totally impressed by any team that seems to have a plan.
- The team I'm not sure has a plan is the Sacramento Kings, and I think it's been that way for a while. They drafted Stauskas the year after drafting Ben McLemore the year after drafting Jimmer Fredette, who is now a Bull. Meanwhile their starting PF is currently Derrick Williams, who did not improve with a change of scenery, and they're paying a lot of money to Rudy Gay (who did, to be fair, play a lot better once he got out of Toronto). Their point guard is Isaiah Thomas, who is a restricted free agent and they're almost going to have to match any offer because their other point guard is Ray McCallum, who I like, but I wouldn't exactly hand the car keys too. Add in their best player is DeMarcus Cousins, who has been a model citizen but has the potential to explode if things keep going shitty, and ti's looking like they will. It's at least comforting to know there's a team that's a mess besides the Wolves. Then again, Cousins hasn't demanded a trade while the GM decides he's just going to stick with him and hope everything turns up sunshine and lollipops. Stupid NBA.
- So to sum up, I hate this draft for the Wolves, but I understand why they did it. I don't expect it to workout, but I'm hopeful. I also desperately want this Kevin Love trade to happen so I can move on and start figuring out how to fix the team, rather than having zero clue where they're going. I mean, you need an entirely different mindset and strategy if if you trade him to Golden State than if you trade him to Boston, and a whole new plan if you trade him to Denver (please god no don't do this). Let's get on with it already, ladies.
Showing posts with label Zach LaVine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zach LaVine. Show all posts
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Thursday, June 26, 2014
2014 NBA Draft Live Blog
Hurray! Live Blog! This draft could get absolutely crazy, or at least I hope so. Seems like most drafts that are supposed to be nuts end up being snoozers, but there's so much potential for the crazy here I can't believe nothing interesting will happen.
As with just about anything, you can bet on a ton of draft related stuff. Because you can bet on it, I did. Here's what I have tonight:
Joel Embiid draft position over 5 (small)
Tyler Ennis draft position over 18.5 (small)
Marcus Smart draft position over 5.5 (normal bet)
Shabazz Napier draft position under 25.5 (normal)
Total seniors taken in first round over 2.5 (extra super big bet)
I also have a combination of bets where I win a normal amount if Parker goes first but don't lose anything if Wiggins go first. It's from a combination of an early bet at great odds that suddenly looked like a bad bet but an opportunity to hedge out of a lot of it presented itself. It's complicated and you're definitely not smart enough to understand.
Anyway, hopefully something happens with Love tonight or soon at least. I think if they can get Golden State to include Harrison Barnes that's a pretty good trade. Remember Barnes averaged 16 points and 6 rebounds per game in 12 postseason games in 2012-2013. Then the Warriors traded for Andre Iguodala and his development was completely blocked. If you can get Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, and David Lee you're acquiring three starters, two of whom could have significant upside and at a minimum you're getting a second tier star in Thompson, a solid starter in Lee, and at least a rotation guy in Barnes (though I think he'll be better than this). I dunno, I take it for sure, especially if you can shed either Kevin Martin or Chase Budinger's contract while you're at it.
Anyway, on to the draft.
- We got a new cat today. Murray. 3 years old and Orange and super mellow. Daughter (age 6) cried tears of joy when we brought him home. Took him less than three hours to get stuck in the crawl space in the basement and, despite being I assured that I would have to do zero work if we got a cat, guess who got to spend 40 minutes getting him out and then figuring out how to block it off so he couldn't get out. Yep.
- Does anyone ever pick in this draft?
- Cavs go with Andrew Wiggins. Kind of a mild surprise since Cleveland is Cleveland and I could see them doing something insane like picking Dante Exum.
- How fast does Milwaukee get this pick in? It should take about 4 seconds. Like you.
- Indeed it's Jabari. What are the odds going to be on him winning ROY? He's got to be an overwhelming favorite as the most NBA ready talent and going somewhere he'll immediately become the #1 option. He will be the top option there, right? I'll admit, I have trouble coming up with Bucks. I think they have Larry Sanders and maybe Brandon Jennings. Or is he on the Pistons now? Wow. This is embarrassing. Jon Leuer maybe? Probably some foreign guys. So yeah, ROY. For a lot of monies.
- Third pick here for Philly is the most interesting one. Go with Embiid and take that risk or take a safer player (or somewhere in between like Exum)? I'd go with Embiid as the Sixers since they aren't going to be anywhere near contending for at least another couple years, why not swing for the fences?
- Boom. It is Embiid. No doubt about, most talented guy in the draft. A seven footer with the athleticism of a swingman who keeps developing more offensive abilities, including a mid-range jumper mid-season. Unreal. IF he stays healthy, and yes that's clearly become a monster IF, he's going to be a monster.
- Magic go with Aaron Gordon at #4. Gross, and what horrid night for Orlando. First they trade Aaron Afflalo for some crappy guard with a frenchy name and almost the last pick of the draft, now they take a guy with absolutely no real basketball skills when there were two much better forwards (Vonleh and Randle) available. Gross.
- Utah travels back in time to when high school kids were drafted in the lottery despite having no real game tape against proper competition and takes Dante Exum. Look, maybe he'll work out - KG, Kobe, and Lebron certainly did, but thanks to Jon Bender, Kwame Brown, and Kovortney Barber I wouldn't touch him with so many semi-proven good players still on the board. And this means the Lakers will get either Vonleh or Randle. Stupid Lakers.
- Exum's accent makes him sound like a dandy.
- Celtics go with Marcus Smart, and this has to mean they're trading Rondo, right? They're practically the same player with the ball, in that their strength is their strength when it comes to getting to the rim to either score, get fouled, or dish. Both are good rebounders for guards, both are excellent defenders, and neither can shoot outside. I had heard earlier that Rondo might be on the move to Sacramento for #8, and now that sounds more likely to me than it did earlier today.
- Vonleh or Randle is one hell of a tough decision. It's like choosing between Knob Creek and Woodford Reserve. I LOVE YOU BOTH.
- I think how they can't stop talking about how Smart is so competitive. Sure, but he's kind of an asshole too and he still can't shoot.
- Randle is the choice. `If Sacramento goes Vonleh and that trade with the Celtics is real a Smart/Vonleh draft is a great one for Boston. Oh, and the cat's in the ceiling somehow. Time to visit my good friend liquor.
- Whoa, Nik Stauskas. Wasn't expecting this. Would Boston want to reload with Smart/Stauskas? Would the Kings really want Stauskas when they took Ben McLemore last year? Well nothing really fun has happened yet, but there are enough questions about this first round that there's got to be some wheels turning.
- Hornets, who have been basically been linked to Doug McDermott by everyone, do the smart thing with Vonleh having slipped and take him. He's going to be a star.
- Interviewer guy to Vonleh, "How important was Tom Crean in your development." Give Vonleh and incredible amount of credit for not just plain bursting out laughing.
- Philly goes Elfrid Payton at #10, which is a horrible pick and also doesn't make a whole lot of sense because he's a point guard and the Sixers have rookie of the year Michael Carter-Williams and neither one of them can shoot. Both are good defenders, but neither has a whole lot of strength and they could both just get brutalized by stronger 2s. I feel like this is another trade waiting to be announced. And never, ever trust a player who shoots up draft boards late for no real reason. It never works. Probably.
- Here comes Denver, a pick that has been rumored to be heading to the Wolves along with Wilson Chandler and Kenneth Faried for Kevin Love and if that happened I would kill myself.
- Nugs take McDermott. Now I'll double kill myself if that trade happens. 1 senior off the board. I need three to go. That's seriously a really big bet.
- There you go, McDermott traded to Chicago for #16 and #19. Let the trade waters flow.
- The Magic take Dario Saric from Croatia to go with trading Afflalo for nothing and Aaron Gordon. Oof. This is like watching Dawger at a fantasy football draft.
- I suppose that means the Wolves are up. I have very little interest in anyone here. Gary Harris is probably the most ready. Adreian Payne is interesting. Zach LaVine is Bilas's best available and even though I think he has bust written all over him I suppose at this point he also has the most upside of anyone available. I dunno. I am strangely ambivalent, but that's probably because I know the Love trade is coming up at some point and that's way more interesting.
- Zach LaVine it is. Any time you can get a point guard who was a backup at UCLA and averaged more rebounds than assists you have to do it.
- Sixers and Magic trade Saric for Payton. One time I gave this bum a bag of trash and he gave me back his bag of trash.
- Suns go with T.J. Warren. This either going to be an absolute steal or a huge bust. Warren is a monster scorer, but he doesn't really look the part. He has a goofy looking jumper and he scores a ton of his points on weird shots that go in because he can just do it no matter how off balance or out of rhythm. He should actually do quite well in Phoenix.
- Atlanta takes Adreian Payne (senior #2), which means we get to hear that whole story about him and that little girl again. Yes, it's a great story, but does it make me a bad person if I'm bored hearing about it? Actually I don't care.
- The Magic should have their two picks, Aaron Gordon and Elfried Payton play horse. Could last until infinity.
- Denver takes some foreigner from Bosnia whose name I don't feel like typing, Celtics go with James Young (who I like a lot, mostly because he's a lefty, he got a lot better last season when he decided to be more than a jump shooter), and the Suns take Tyler Ennis to go with T.J. Warren. Tyler Ennis goes #18. I had the over 18.5. Dammit.
- Vance Worley with 7 innings of 1 run ball tonight, running his ERA to 1.74 in 3 starts with the Pirates. It's like the Twins coaches somehow actually wreck players. I know I've joked about it before, but I think maybe it's time to stop joking about it. They're doing something very wrong over there.
- I'm strangely super bored by this draft. Nuggets take Gary Harris, which means Denver has acquired both Aaron Afflalo and Gary Harris, which is redundant.
- Raptors select some buy from Brazil who nobody has ever heard of. I'm bailing on this draft as soon as Napier goes.
- Jesus Christ with this cat stuff. Now my son, who is kind of scared of everything, is freaking out if the cat goes in his room while he's trying to fall asleep. But he also cries if we shut his door because he likes to sleep with it open. Remember back when I started this blog and I was basically just a drunk stupid kid? Growing up and having to take care of things like kids sucks sometimes. I'm out boys. Pray for Shabazz Napier.
As with just about anything, you can bet on a ton of draft related stuff. Because you can bet on it, I did. Here's what I have tonight:
Joel Embiid draft position over 5 (small)
Tyler Ennis draft position over 18.5 (small)
Marcus Smart draft position over 5.5 (normal bet)
Shabazz Napier draft position under 25.5 (normal)
Total seniors taken in first round over 2.5 (extra super big bet)
I also have a combination of bets where I win a normal amount if Parker goes first but don't lose anything if Wiggins go first. It's from a combination of an early bet at great odds that suddenly looked like a bad bet but an opportunity to hedge out of a lot of it presented itself. It's complicated and you're definitely not smart enough to understand.
Anyway, hopefully something happens with Love tonight or soon at least. I think if they can get Golden State to include Harrison Barnes that's a pretty good trade. Remember Barnes averaged 16 points and 6 rebounds per game in 12 postseason games in 2012-2013. Then the Warriors traded for Andre Iguodala and his development was completely blocked. If you can get Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, and David Lee you're acquiring three starters, two of whom could have significant upside and at a minimum you're getting a second tier star in Thompson, a solid starter in Lee, and at least a rotation guy in Barnes (though I think he'll be better than this). I dunno, I take it for sure, especially if you can shed either Kevin Martin or Chase Budinger's contract while you're at it.
Anyway, on to the draft.
- We got a new cat today. Murray. 3 years old and Orange and super mellow. Daughter (age 6) cried tears of joy when we brought him home. Took him less than three hours to get stuck in the crawl space in the basement and, despite being I assured that I would have to do zero work if we got a cat, guess who got to spend 40 minutes getting him out and then figuring out how to block it off so he couldn't get out. Yep.
- Does anyone ever pick in this draft?
- Cavs go with Andrew Wiggins. Kind of a mild surprise since Cleveland is Cleveland and I could see them doing something insane like picking Dante Exum.
- How fast does Milwaukee get this pick in? It should take about 4 seconds. Like you.
- Indeed it's Jabari. What are the odds going to be on him winning ROY? He's got to be an overwhelming favorite as the most NBA ready talent and going somewhere he'll immediately become the #1 option. He will be the top option there, right? I'll admit, I have trouble coming up with Bucks. I think they have Larry Sanders and maybe Brandon Jennings. Or is he on the Pistons now? Wow. This is embarrassing. Jon Leuer maybe? Probably some foreign guys. So yeah, ROY. For a lot of monies.
- Third pick here for Philly is the most interesting one. Go with Embiid and take that risk or take a safer player (or somewhere in between like Exum)? I'd go with Embiid as the Sixers since they aren't going to be anywhere near contending for at least another couple years, why not swing for the fences?
- Boom. It is Embiid. No doubt about, most talented guy in the draft. A seven footer with the athleticism of a swingman who keeps developing more offensive abilities, including a mid-range jumper mid-season. Unreal. IF he stays healthy, and yes that's clearly become a monster IF, he's going to be a monster.
- Magic go with Aaron Gordon at #4. Gross, and what horrid night for Orlando. First they trade Aaron Afflalo for some crappy guard with a frenchy name and almost the last pick of the draft, now they take a guy with absolutely no real basketball skills when there were two much better forwards (Vonleh and Randle) available. Gross.
- Utah travels back in time to when high school kids were drafted in the lottery despite having no real game tape against proper competition and takes Dante Exum. Look, maybe he'll work out - KG, Kobe, and Lebron certainly did, but thanks to Jon Bender, Kwame Brown, and Kovortney Barber I wouldn't touch him with so many semi-proven good players still on the board. And this means the Lakers will get either Vonleh or Randle. Stupid Lakers.
- Exum's accent makes him sound like a dandy.
- Celtics go with Marcus Smart, and this has to mean they're trading Rondo, right? They're practically the same player with the ball, in that their strength is their strength when it comes to getting to the rim to either score, get fouled, or dish. Both are good rebounders for guards, both are excellent defenders, and neither can shoot outside. I had heard earlier that Rondo might be on the move to Sacramento for #8, and now that sounds more likely to me than it did earlier today.
- Vonleh or Randle is one hell of a tough decision. It's like choosing between Knob Creek and Woodford Reserve. I LOVE YOU BOTH.
- I think how they can't stop talking about how Smart is so competitive. Sure, but he's kind of an asshole too and he still can't shoot.
- Randle is the choice. `If Sacramento goes Vonleh and that trade with the Celtics is real a Smart/Vonleh draft is a great one for Boston. Oh, and the cat's in the ceiling somehow. Time to visit my good friend liquor.
- Whoa, Nik Stauskas. Wasn't expecting this. Would Boston want to reload with Smart/Stauskas? Would the Kings really want Stauskas when they took Ben McLemore last year? Well nothing really fun has happened yet, but there are enough questions about this first round that there's got to be some wheels turning.
- Hornets, who have been basically been linked to Doug McDermott by everyone, do the smart thing with Vonleh having slipped and take him. He's going to be a star.
- Interviewer guy to Vonleh, "How important was Tom Crean in your development." Give Vonleh and incredible amount of credit for not just plain bursting out laughing.
- Philly goes Elfrid Payton at #10, which is a horrible pick and also doesn't make a whole lot of sense because he's a point guard and the Sixers have rookie of the year Michael Carter-Williams and neither one of them can shoot. Both are good defenders, but neither has a whole lot of strength and they could both just get brutalized by stronger 2s. I feel like this is another trade waiting to be announced. And never, ever trust a player who shoots up draft boards late for no real reason. It never works. Probably.
- Here comes Denver, a pick that has been rumored to be heading to the Wolves along with Wilson Chandler and Kenneth Faried for Kevin Love and if that happened I would kill myself.
- Nugs take McDermott. Now I'll double kill myself if that trade happens. 1 senior off the board. I need three to go. That's seriously a really big bet.
- There you go, McDermott traded to Chicago for #16 and #19. Let the trade waters flow.
- The Magic take Dario Saric from Croatia to go with trading Afflalo for nothing and Aaron Gordon. Oof. This is like watching Dawger at a fantasy football draft.
- I suppose that means the Wolves are up. I have very little interest in anyone here. Gary Harris is probably the most ready. Adreian Payne is interesting. Zach LaVine is Bilas's best available and even though I think he has bust written all over him I suppose at this point he also has the most upside of anyone available. I dunno. I am strangely ambivalent, but that's probably because I know the Love trade is coming up at some point and that's way more interesting.
- Zach LaVine it is. Any time you can get a point guard who was a backup at UCLA and averaged more rebounds than assists you have to do it.
- Sixers and Magic trade Saric for Payton. One time I gave this bum a bag of trash and he gave me back his bag of trash.
- Suns go with T.J. Warren. This either going to be an absolute steal or a huge bust. Warren is a monster scorer, but he doesn't really look the part. He has a goofy looking jumper and he scores a ton of his points on weird shots that go in because he can just do it no matter how off balance or out of rhythm. He should actually do quite well in Phoenix.
- Atlanta takes Adreian Payne (senior #2), which means we get to hear that whole story about him and that little girl again. Yes, it's a great story, but does it make me a bad person if I'm bored hearing about it? Actually I don't care.
- The Magic should have their two picks, Aaron Gordon and Elfried Payton play horse. Could last until infinity.
- Denver takes some foreigner from Bosnia whose name I don't feel like typing, Celtics go with James Young (who I like a lot, mostly because he's a lefty, he got a lot better last season when he decided to be more than a jump shooter), and the Suns take Tyler Ennis to go with T.J. Warren. Tyler Ennis goes #18. I had the over 18.5. Dammit.
- Vance Worley with 7 innings of 1 run ball tonight, running his ERA to 1.74 in 3 starts with the Pirates. It's like the Twins coaches somehow actually wreck players. I know I've joked about it before, but I think maybe it's time to stop joking about it. They're doing something very wrong over there.
- I'm strangely super bored by this draft. Nuggets take Gary Harris, which means Denver has acquired both Aaron Afflalo and Gary Harris, which is redundant.
- Raptors select some buy from Brazil who nobody has ever heard of. I'm bailing on this draft as soon as Napier goes.
- Jesus Christ with this cat stuff. Now my son, who is kind of scared of everything, is freaking out if the cat goes in his room while he's trying to fall asleep. But he also cries if we shut his door because he likes to sleep with it open. Remember back when I started this blog and I was basically just a drunk stupid kid? Growing up and having to take care of things like kids sucks sometimes. I'm out boys. Pray for Shabazz Napier.
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