Reason #1864 why I love The Onion.
Month: May 2009 (Page 21 of 61)
With the NBA Draft Lottery behind us, we now know the exact order of the first 14 picks. The Los Angeles Clippers hit paydirt when they won the right to draft Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin with the first overall pick. The Grizzlies moved up from #6 to #2, and the Thunder moved up one spot to pick #3. The big losers Tuesday night were Sacramento and Washington, who had the best and second-best shot at the top pick, but instead fell to #4 and #5, respectively.
Mock drafts are tough for me because I’m usually thinking about what teams should do instead of trying to predict what they will do. This mock will be more predictive, but if I disagree with a selection, I’ll say so. Over the next few weeks, I’ll update this mock to jive with the latest news from around the league. It’s still very early in the process so things are very fluid. One mock has a player going #11 while another may have him going #29.
I’m just going to make picks for the first fourteen slots on the first go-round and then provide the picks of a few different mocks that I respect for #15-#30, along with a short writeup for each team.
#1 LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Even Mike Dunleavy can’t screw this one up. Barring something obscenely out of the blue, Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin will be the first overall pick. The Clippers could use a power forward to replace Elton Brand, and Griffin is the only “sure thing” in this draft. He’s strong, skilled and athletic, and he has an improving offensive game. He has star written all over him.
Pick: Griffin, PF
#2 MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES
The Grizzlies were reportedly one of the few teams more interested in UConn’s 7’3” center Hasheem Thabeet than they were in Blake Griffin. The Grizzlies already have 7’1” Marc Gasol, so Thabeet wouldn’t fill a need like Jordan Hill, Ricky Rubio or Brandon Jennings would (assuming the team isn’t sold on Hakim Warrick or Mike Conley), but Thabeet has the potential to become a dominant defensive center along the lines of Dikembe Mutombo. But will he be willing to put the work in to become an effective post player?
Pick: Thabeet, C
In his latest PER Diem, John Hollinger thinks that the Cavs should think about going small.
Thus, the Cavs must go back to the drawing board, and it’s time for them to unearth the one tactic we didn’t see Wednesday night: going small.
This may be the only way for the Cavs to survive. It’s easier to double Howard with quicker, faster players, while James can slide up to the 4 and lock up Lewis. The Cavs haven’t used that plan much this postseason, but it may be the only way they can guard the Magic in this series. Such a lineup might require them to play Sasha Pavlovic, because Wally Szczerbiak can’t guard Pietrus, and that’s a terrifying thought. But anything would be preferable to the way they’ve been chewed up during the teams’ first four meetings.
I know the Cavs like the idea of allowing James to roam by having him defend Alston, but he’s the only player on the team qualified to check Lewis. I’m a huge fan of Anderson Varejao’s defensive expertise, but this is a bad matchup for him. He isn’t used to defending the 3-point line and had trouble getting back to Lewis on the pick-and-pop plays on which Orlando devoured the Cavs during the second half. And if Varejao guards Howard instead, he may be able to flop himself into a few offensive-foul calls — which is vital, because putting Howard on the bench is about the only way Cleveland can stop him.
I guess it’s worth a try. Having Zydrunas Ilgauskas cover Dwight Howard one-on-one did not work. Going small would allow the Cavs to double Howard more quickly with smaller players and the theory is that he’d give the ball up. The problem is that the Cavs would be replacing one of their better players (Ilgauskas or Varejao) with one of their…um…more questionable players (Szczerbiak, Pavlovic). This also means that Joe Smith would see fewer minutes in favor of Szcerbiak or Pavlovic and that’s not a good thing.
In a recent interview for NFL Sirius Radio, Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer took a few diplomatic potshots at wideout Chad Ochocinco, who has been a no-show so far in minicamps.
“It’s definitely a new look for the Bengals receiver corps but I couldn’t be happier with the guys we’ve got,” Palmer said. “T.J.’s (Houshmandzadeh) gone and Chad’s pretty much gone, he hasn’t been here, so we’ve got guys that want those two spots, guys that compete day in and day out, when we’re out there on the field, running, conditioning and in the weight room lifting. They’re guys that want to take over for those two spots. They look every bit capable of doing what we’re going to ask them to do.”
When asked what his expectations about Ochocinco this season were, Palmer said: “Well, I really don’t know. I haven’t talked to him. I haven’t talked to anybody that has talked to him. He wasn’t here last year so I’m expecting him not to be here at all this year. Last year I think he was here for the mandatory camp but didn’t participate in it. So I’m planning on him not being here just because he hasn’t been here yet so we’ll prepare, like I said.
“We’ve got Chris Henry … He’s a guy that’s had a great offseason, really turned his life around. I’m excited to watch him play. He’s a guy that seems like he catches a touchdown every other ball that’s thrown to him, he’s that explosive. He’s kind of taken over for Chad’s position and he’s a guy that, like I said earlier, does not want to give up that spot right now.”
While I would hardly say that Palmer openly “dissed” Ochocinco, he definitely put it out there that he’s not pleased with Chad’s absence. Sure, Palmer could have downplayed the situation and avoid the topic, but I think he handled it right. Ochocinco is hurting the team by not being there and Palmer would rather focus on the guys who are busting their ass right now getting ready for the season. For a team leader, I like what Palmer said and maybe this will light a fire under Ochocinco, although I highly doubt it.
People like to downplay Ochocinco’s actions and write it off as him just having fun. But I don’t care how you slice it – he’s a distraction. And Palmer has it right in wanting to concentrate on the guys who are in camp, as opposed to the one player that isn’t.
According to a report by ESPN.com, Jake Peavy’s agent has expressed doubt that his client will agree to waive his no-trade clause in order for the Padres to complete a deal with the White Sox. Apparently the two teams have already agreed on a trade, but Peavy signing off on the deal is the final step.
The issue apparently is that Peavy wants to stay in the National League, where he’s played his entire career. It’s obviously much easier to face NL hitting than it is to go to the AL, where they DH the pitcher. It makes sense that he wants to give himself the best opportunity to succeed.
If this trade doesn’t go down, I wouldn’t fall asleep on the Cubs. They seemed hell bent on trading for Peavy in the offseason, but they eventually walked away. If Peavy doesn’t sign off on his no-trade clause in order to join the White Sox, will it wake up the other team in Chicago?
Despite battling a slew of injuries, the Cubs remain only three games behind the Brewers in the NL Central. Ace Carlos Zambrano is expected to come off the DL on Friday and start against the Padres (ironically), but adding Peavy to a rotation that already features Big Z, Rich Harden and Ryan Dempster would be killer.
The question is – do the Cubs have enough prospects to make a deal for Peavy? There probably isn’t a chance in hell they’d be willing to give up a young hitting prospect like Josh Vitters, but what about pitchers Jeff Samardzija and/or Andrew Cashner?
Nothing at this point suggests that the Cubs will try and re-enter trade talks with the Padres for Peavy, but it could be something to keep an eye on.
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