2007 NBA Draft Thread, started on the night of the lottery.

"Respect the Dream,
Call him Hakeem.

-- Leee, Wednesday, June 27, 2007 6:45 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link"

WORD

i'd still take hakeem over jordan btw~

i dont think it'd be crazy to take durant first tho

Me neither. I don't think Seattle loses whoever they get.

Nothing there indicates to me he can't be as good as the guys you mentioned and the most dominant center in the world for the next ten someodd years.

really? i watched him a bunch last season and while he was def impressive i didnt get the force of nature vibe. yeah his wrist was broken and all but he seemed sort of robotic regardless. his demeanor on the court is a little disturbing too - he could just be duncaesque i guess - still most great players seem more passionate.

Well I also haven't heard anything that indicates his legs are going to fall off Bowie-stylee either.

he actually does have some health issues: reduced flexibility in the injured wrist, a bulging spinal disc and one leg is shorter than the other. none really serious right now, but two concern his back and the other his shooting hand - should at least give pause.

but regardless the main point is that durant dominated college basketball like no freshman ever. and he was a young freshman. he just looks like the surest sure thing ever.

but regardless the main point is that durant dominated college basketball like no freshman ever

Taking sides: Carmelo Anthony vs. Someone "Duncanesque".

carmelo was great but durant was better:

anthony: 22ppg 10rebounds 2ast 2steals 1block 45% 34%3s 71%ft

durant: 26ppg 11rebounds 1ast 2steals 2blocks 47% 40%3s 81%ft

and durant has the potential to be a lock down defender, while carmelo cant guard anyone.

but that is so clever how you flipped the duncanesque line there lolololol

yeah I'm a sneaky dude.

As a Portlander though I've just been very very pro-Oden throughout this whole last month. Mostly I'm just anticipating getting this whole WHO'S IT GONNA BE HONK ONCE HONK TWICE thing over with and move on to the real business of moving Randolph and being a .500 or better ballclub next year.

Though I guess I should admit that obviously I think Durant's going to be a great deal better than Melo and is a likely future MVP etc etc etc. To me it comes down to awesome, athletic wing players being more common than awesome, athletic centers. For every like dozen or so Nowitzki/McGrady/What-Have-You types there's one Duncan/Shaq guys. And the twin towers thing with LaMarcus and Oden is just too sweet.

i dont really care unless one of them drops to number three. i dont know anything abt nba draft strategy but in futbol it's smarter to use first rounders on guys at positions that are at a premium, instead of a tight end or safety or whatever. i dont know if that really translates to basketball since you only start 5 dudes but it could be a compelling reason to take oden first. i dont think dude's gonna be the GOAT or anything but with a little polish to his offensive game you could have someone comparable to 'Zo (he's closer to Mutombo rn, which aint half-bad)

Yeah that's the draft strategy in the NBA too which is why there are a lot of center busts because they get drafted higher than their talent necessarily deserves.

HOWEVER in this case I think that it's safe to say that Oden is not going to be Olokwandi or Manute Bol.

yeah no doubt that center is a more valuable position to fill - but when that's the only argument yr getting into dangerous territory. talent has to be a factor in the equation too. and i havent heard anyone say they think oden is better at basketball than durant.

unfortunately in the nba the big man first logic has become self-perpetuating conventional wisdom - gm's take front court players early for the sake of their resumes. a center bust is fine cause everyone wouldve done the same. but if you take a point guard early and he sucks then youre an idiot headed for the cba.

historically the draft has way overvalued big men - like way past the relative merits of their position.

but yeah oden would be first pick worthy most years. just not this one.

and id much rather see durant in portland cause that is a pretty sweet young team already. seattle could still suck for a long time w/him. oden would actually fit right in in seattle tho.

Are we going to be live bullshitting this draft and all the crazy trades that make no sense tomorrow dudes?

love to but i have plans. not going to be able to watch the draft at all ;_;

http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2007/0521/nba_u_oden_412.jpg

apparently portland told oden that theyre taking him

thats not a cute guy there

i must admit oden and aldridge will be a sick defensive force for years and years. so now they trade randolph for a 3, no?

Maybe they can trade him to Boston, and Boston will trade their #5 to Minnesota with Wally Szberbiackakak back to Minnesota, who'll sent Kevin Garnett and 500 autographed Joe Smith 4 x 8s to Atlanta, who'll burn them as part of a sacrifice to The Human Highlight Reel while sending the #3 pick to Phoenix for Amare Stoudamire and D'Antoni's moustache, and the Knicks will pick a 2nd round player 15 picks early and David Stern will choke Isiah Thomas like a bitch.

jhoshea I know you hate Tim Duncan, but with that one pick the Spurs conjured up four titles, which is mighty impressive given that they would have none otherwise, so I don't think any team could pass up on Oden as the first pick this year.

9 minutes until the blazers dynasty starts.

Oh christ Mike Tirico AND Stephen A. Smith? Fuck my ears.

AND STUART SCOTT

Thank God ESPN re-upped their NBA deal. Wheeeeeeee.

RAY RAY coming back east! Oooooooh!

Looks like that trade is pretty much confirmed. Isn't pierce/allen kind of a weird combo? How does that work?

They both shoot 30 times a game?

All I know is Boston fans should be stoked that Sebastian Telfair has another outside shooter to ignore.

Joakim Noah's whole look tonight is just absolutely classic!

WHOA ISIAH

Looks like that trade is pretty much confirmed. Isn't pierce/allen randolph/curry kind of a weird combo? How does that work?

FIXED.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i95/tadams1080/1178215055.jpg

;_;

Oh wellz, at least we guaranteed another couple years of (Beli)Nelli ball.

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/8056/ccryrr0.png

guys yeah i think im out guys yeah

MY PREDICTION: THAD YOUNG 3RD BEST PLAYER OF THIS DRAFT ALSO IM NOT SURE IM A BASKETBALL FAN ANYMORE

and the bulls got noah - more power to em yah

AWWW MCAINZ WIFE AWWWW

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/06/29/us/29cindy-337.jpg

id do her i mean ijust need someone to hold me right now someone not ray ray

City Women Agree: The Farmer Needs a Wife

fyi

thaddeus is a pimp, i was hoping the hawks would get him along w/conley, tho i cant complain at all abt horford/acie

wow i cant believe i was drunk posting just 5 hours ago - waht a beautiful dream. also cant believing how much the nba hates zach randolph. wtf dude must actually be the douche to end all.

There are much worse douche bags in the nba than Randolph. That isn't saying much in his favor, though. He can give you 20 and 10 every night, but his big problem is that he can't be a role player and you can't build a successful team around him. So he's just another expensive millstone, like so many other players are.

But is he a bigger or smaller millstone than Steve Francis?

He also gives the guy he's guarding about 30 a night while he's obsessing over his own 20 and 10. I went to almost every game at the Rose Garden over the last couple years. Hope Knicks fans enjoy watching Zach stare at the stat counter for 48 minutes.

Now the Knicks have two Eddy Currys, although at least Randolph can stick his arms up in the air and grab some boards. The DePaul kid is benefiting quite nicely from the Renaldo Balkman effect!

I love how Marco Bellinellinnellyball wasn't on ANY first round mock drafts, but the talking heads still insisted he was a good pick. It reminds me of when the Patriots draft ... automatic praise. If the Warriors drafted Roberto Benigni or Francesco Totti, I think the response woulda been exactly the same.

Was Tiago Splitter DESTINED to go to the Spurs or what? I was kinda hoping they'd grab Big Baby and have Duncan/Pops whip him into shape, though. Also, I really liked Oberto's play in the playoffs, so it'd be weird if they let him get away in free agency. Resign that fella.

Minnesota drafted Rashad McCants for the third consecutive year.

I'm gonna miss J-Rich. :(

Haha, Tiago fulfilled the Spurs annual requisite foreign power forward selection (Luis Scola, Ian Mahinmi) and I'm guessing dude will probably never play for us.

Aimless is otm with this: "but his big problem is that he can't be a role player and you can't build a successful team around him." How many guys in the league can be described this way that basically fill up stat sheets and do fuck all for a team?

oh right. "The brother from DePaul" was maybe my favorite moment of the draft.

Is anyone calling Oden "thunder god" yet?
Because I am.

Man, Spencer Hawes, strikes one and two here:

Spencer Hawes is a hardcore conservative from, of all places, the liberal stronghold of Seattle. He was drafted into a city (Sacramento) where one of the country's most recognizable Republican governors (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is in office. Hawes says he "loves" Arnold, and that he brought True Lies with him on the trip to New York, with plans to watch it on the flight home. "Now it has a little extra meaning for me," Hawes said.

When I spoke with Hawes at the league's predraft camp on May 31, he talked about a recent Public Debate class exercise at the University of Washington. In it, he said, he denied the entire existence -- and human cause -- of global warming. When asked for his take on Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, Hawes said, "It's one big lie. I talked about that in my opening speech -- it's the media's liberal overexaggeration of just about everything."

Will root for his demise openly.

God of lightening, more like.

The past two days I've picked up The Oregonian newspaper to find stories and photos that try to emphasize how immensely huge Greg Oden is. That's silly. He isn't a new Shaq. The Trailblazers already have a center, Pryzbilla, who's bigger than Oden in both height and weight.

Oden's gift is his quickness and timing for his size. He runs like the wind, moves his feet like blue blazes, shifts to the weak side in a blink, and times his jumps excellently well. He's a 7 ft. gazelle, not a sasquatch. He even looks Bill Russell. Sweet.

But he isn't the biggest guy in the league by a long shot.

Could someone tell Spencer Haw-Hawes that Arnold favors gay marriage and a federally mandated cap on CO2 emissions?