I understand you need to be a good athlete to be in the league but OJ Mayo predicted to go number 3 is a joke. A point guard #1? Anyone else gonna watch this shit?

I usually watch the first couple picks, but as the days they use to draft can be summed up in about five minutes, I'll catch a sports show Friday night to get most of it.

Only really like Rose and he'll be picked first so... don't really have to watch much on Thursday.

I didn't watch the draft, but I stayed up extremely late reading up on the picks as much as I could. I didn't expect to be this interested in the draft, but I found it tough to find a team that didn't get better.
For this and other reasons, I'm absolutely terrified of the amount of talent in the NBA right now.

Take a look at some of these rosters that didn't make the 08 playoffs.

The Heat could be scary. They could be the new Celtics - Worst team in the Eastern Conference suddenly with a group of three extraordinary players.

New Jersey Nets: Vince Carter, Devin Harris, Yi Jianlian, Brook Lopez, Sean Williams, Krstic, Nachbar, Diop, Simmons, Douglas-Roberts. That's not a bad roster. Maybe they can even get something out of Stromile Swift, or Marcus Williams, or whatever other scraps they have about. They're stacked with assets but I doubt a Carter led team will ever win any banners.
And they have cap space for Lebron James (Yes I believe this whole Brooklyn Nets hype, only because it would be terrific drama)

The Pacers are another team that snuck up and made a bunch of moves that make them look like a playoff team. Just like the Nets it's a long list of good assets and they're looking at a situation of having a ton of cap space.

There were a lot of more subtle moves I liked in the draft too - I felt like the Raptors needed a player like Nathan Jawai for example - oh wait they traded for Jermaine O'Neal didn't they? Wow that makes the Pacers look even more impressive.
sidetracked, but I think the Raptors were waay too soft, which is a shame, because I'd rather pull for them as division rivals over NY, NJ and Philly (though they're ok too). Glad they decided to draft some huge beast. Chris Bosh needs to play with someone like that.
Jermaine, I don't know about him. I can't tell if he's broken-down, is past his prime, just sucks, or I'm missing something. Maybe it's all four of those factors. I would never be excited to have him on my team. Maybe he'll but up decent stats, I guess, but meh,

I like the Celtics picks too. Even if Giddens is a problem, I don't think Boston is a team that will put up with much fucking around from him. They don't need him and they'd let him know that. Even when they did need talent, they simply booted Telfair the fuck out of there. So I guess they have better wings now, and Tony Allen might end up being obsolete sooner than I expected, sadly.

The Blazers are still shaking everything up and I wouldn't be surprised if they're the West team that I'm pulling for the hardest next year. Can't wait for Greg Oden.

And the Timberwolves even got better. Will the NBA even have a bad team next year? The Clippers maybe? No, not with Elton Brand, right? No seriously, who's the shitty NBA team now? The Grizzles atleast have a little bit of talent and a very skilled rookie. The Bucks, with Jefferson, Redd, Mo Williams, and even Bogut?

How about the Kings? They don't seem to have a whole lot going for them. They could be a bottom 4-5 team next year easily and they're not even terrible.

I love the Spurs being unexpected - they are the literal opposite of a boring basketball team - and I love that there's another Patrick Ewing (sort of) in the NBA.



Edit - I thought I'd throw in the Pacers current roster just so you can see how much they have to work with now.

Danny Granger
Mike Dunleavy
Roy Hibbert
T.J. Ford
Troy Murphy
Brandon Rush
Jarrett Jack
Josh McRoberts
Kareem Rush
Jamaal Tinsley
Maceo Baston
Shawne Williams
David Harrison
Stephen Graham

The expiring contracts of
Marquis Daniels
Rasho Nesterovic
Jeff Foster

Surely some good will come of that, unless they find a way to fuck it up.

Wouldn't get too excited over the Heat yet, but there is defiantly hope for them. Trail Blazers possibly as well.

And I'm hoping that Jermaine just needed a change of scenery. A whole new country is about the best he could do.

There's not a single team in the East I would rule out of the 09 playoffs right now, Miami included. With all of the competition getting tougher it's hard to tell what's going to happen though.. Even Charlotte could sneak up in there. They have an ok roster that enjoys getting decimated by injuries. I'm not saying any of these small time teams are going to be battling in the conf. finals or anything, but it's going to be a hell of a thing to behold. Of course, it's easy to pull for all of the other teams when you're looking down from the top :)

OJ went too high in my opinion.

Good stuff about the East being unpredictable, i agree. Even the Knicks were on pace to beat the nets out for a spot if we didn't lose our last 5 games :( I think the knicks did good, they got the best international player available, hopefully he will mesh well with curry and crawford. D'Antoni is the perfect coach for him, a guy who played with his father, a guy who has won overseas and is used to euro players. Should be a good fit. He didn't seem fazed when he was jeered by the new yorkers, so thats a good sign, hes a 6 foot 9 Italian playing for the Knicks, he has an uphill battle, who knows he may be end up being a surprise.


But for Knicks fans who have no idea who Danilo Gallinari is, he has been compared to a Dirk Nowitzki- or Toni Kukoc-type with a good basketball IQ.

Gallinari was the team leader on an Italian Euroleague team -- and the Euroleague is much more competitive than the NCAA. Euroleague teams scrimmage NBA teams in the preseason and beat them from time to time. The fact that Gallinari has starred there at such a young age suggests that he's more ready than most of the freshmen rushing into the league.

Portland's GM is a genius.

The Clippers maybe? No, not with Elton Brand, right?

also with Baron Davis now.