NBA Draft Blogging

Posted by HoopsAvenue on June 26, 2008 under NBA Draft |

#1. Chicago - Derrick Rose. No surprises here.

#2. Miami - Michael Beasley. Well, Pat Riley didn’t seem particularly enthused by the pick, but surprisingly he kept his hands off and let the team choose Beasley.

#3. Minnesota - O.J. Mayo. No surprise that Mayo is drafted here, but we were looking for some kind of trade. C’mon, Kevin McHale, couldn’t you liven things up a bit?

#4. Seattle - Russell Westbrook. Whaaaat? I don’t think anybody saw this coming. Jerryd Bayless was #4 on just about everybody’s mock, including this one. So Seattle might end up looking like geniuses here or maybe we find out the owner was out to spite Sonics fans for making moving the team such a hassle.

#5. Memphis - Kevin Love. We thought Memphis would go big, but didn’t expect Love to go this soon with the questions surrounding his athleticism. We shall see.

#6. NY Knicks - Danilo Gallinari. Haha, you gotta love the Knicks taking a European player in the lottery. You can cue the boos when that happens since nobody knows who the guy is.

#7. LA Clippers - Eric Gordon. Good pick for the Clips. Jerryd Bayless is slipping.

#8. Milwaukee - Joe Alexander. Bucks fans should at least have some hope after acquiring RJ earlier today and now getting a guy who might be ready to contribute on Day 1.

#9. Charlotte - DJ Augustin. I guess Larry Brown thinks Augustin “plays the right way”.

#10. New Jersey - Brook Lopez. Along with Yi, the Nets now have acquired 2 7-footers on the same day.

#11. Indiana - Jerryd Bayless. Bayless has now been traded to Portland. So now Portland has a good point prospect, the Rookie of the Year, and Greg Oden in the middle next year. Blazer fans should be pumped.

#12. Sacramento - Jason Thompson. Kings fans should expect Thompson to be ready to rebound and play D on day one, but he might not be ready offensively.

#13. Portland - Brandon Rush. Traded to Indiana. I’ll be he would rather be with the young and promising Trailblazers, but the Pacers have some young pieces of their own so don’t fret too much, Brandon.

#14. Golden State - Anthony Randolph. I thought Randolph would be off the board by now. The Warriors are getting a bargain.

Other Notables

#19. Cleveland - J.J. Hickson. The freshman from NC State has seen his stock rise in the past few weeks, but he’s going to have to help out ASAP if the Cavs want to be an attractive option for Lebron when he becomes a free agent.

#27. New Orleans - Darrell Arthur. You gotta feel bad for Darrell Arthur having to wait all the way until the 27th pick to get drafted. That was worse than Brady Quinn. At least the NBA doesn’t take as long between picks or Arthur would still be waiting there.