NBA Draft...

Here's a column a wrote Tuesday, concerning Wednesday night's draft. The predictions are all horribly off, except for the one about the Knicks at the very end... Then again, it's really too easy to make fun of the Knicks.


Back in April, I revealed that I pay entirely too much attention to the NFL Draft. It is now June 28, the day of the 2006 NBA Draft, and I have another confession: My obsession with the NBA Draft is just as severe as that of the football variety.
Why pay that much attention to a draft that often focuses more on potential than on achievements and which does not involve a team in any local media market? For one, the smaller talent pool (cozy 12-man rosters in the NBA compared to massive 53-man rosters in the NFL) makes it easier to keep track of players and attempt to predict potential “busts” (a player drafter higher than he should have been, i.e. Michael Olowokandi, No. 1 in 1998) or steals (a player drafted lower than he should have been, i.e. Gilbert Arenas, No. 31 in 2001).
With that in my, I’m offering my predictions for the first 10 picks of the draft. Now I don’t necessarily think like an NBA general manager (I couldn’t have drafted Darko Mililic ahead of Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade), so the actual draft results may seem less reasonable than these predictions.
1. Toronto Raptors - LaMarcus Aldridge, Texas. What do the Raptors need? A point guard worthy of the top pick. What does this draft lack? A point guard worthy of the top pick. I see the Raptors trading down to draft a point guard, while also picking up a veteran swingman.
2. Chicago Bulls - Tyrus Thomas, LSU. The Bulls will bring in Thomas to pair with Tyson Chandler in the Chicago front-court, creating one of the top shot-blocking combinations in the league.
3. Charlotte Bobcats - Brandon Roy, Washington. The Bobcats need a scoring guard, and former-Huskie Roy will provide that.
4. Portland Trailblazers - Andrea Bargnani, Italy. He’s a seven-foot European with strong 3-point shot, which means he’s drawing comparisons to Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki. Does he deserve them? It’s tough to say... but Portland will take the gamble.
5. Atlanta Hawks - Marcus Williams, Connecticut. The Hawks roster is seemingly overloaded with swingmen, but lacking a top-flight big man. Connect the dots and you’ll realize this is a good fit for a trade with the Raptors. Perhaps Josh Childress and the No. 5 pick (in this case, Williams) for Toronto’s No. 1 (Aldridge) and a future pick.
6. Minnesota Timberwolves - Rudy Gay, Connecticut. After descending from the Western Conference finals in 2004 to the depths of the Northwest division in 2006, the Timberwolves are in need of many things, including a point guard, but Gay is too talented to pass up at this point.
7. Boston Celtics - Patrick O’Bryant, Bradley. The Celtics are thin at center, and O’Bryant came on strong in Bradley’s NCAA Tournament run. Kansas Jayhawk fans will be torn between cheering against O’Bryant and cheering for former-Jayhawk-current-Celtic Paul Pierce.
8. Houston Rockets - Adam Morrison, Gonzaga. How does Morrison, one of the top scorers in recent NCAA history, drop this far? There’s no crying in basketball... none. Or it may be because he’s entering a draft where athleticism is highly valued, and he isn’t exactly oozing it. He’ll be a good fit in Houston, where he can spot up on the perimeter when Tracy McGrady or Yao Ming draw double-teams.
9. Golden State Warriors - Randy Foye, Villanova. The Warriors will pick the Wildcat point guard as insurance for current starter Baron Davis, who missed 28 games due to injury last season.
10. Seattle Supersonics - Shelden Williams, Duke. The Sonics will try to add depth in the post with the four-year Blue Devil.
As for the final 50 picks, expect plenty of underclassmen, plenty of players from overseas, and a couple head-scratching moves by the New York Knicks’ president/general manager/coach/undertaker Isiah Thomas.