Category: NBA Draft (Page 48 of 55)

With the ninth pick in the draft, the Chicago Bulls took forward Joakim Noah out of Florida. Is it just me or did Noah look like Weird Al Yankovic before he put the Bulls hat on? Anyway, even though he’s not expected to dominate at the next level offensively, Noah has a non-stop motor, will crash the boards and plays hard on every play. Kind of like how Ben Wallace played in Detroit before he stole $60 million from Chicago last year.

Noah was the third Gator selected in the top 10 of the draft, joining Al Horford (No. 3 to Atlanta) and Corey Brewer (No. 7 to Minnesota). I made the same remark in regard to Ohio State in the blog about Greg Oden, but what a year for Florida. A national championship in football, basketball and now three players go in the top 10 of the NBA draft. Can’t get much better than that.

With the second pick in the NBA draft, the Seattle Sonics selected Texas forward Kevin Durant. Even though Greg Oden was selected first overall by the Blazers, many believe Durant has the best chance to win Rookie of the Year honors.

Seattle is also expected to ship Ray Allen to Boston for the rights of Georgetown’s Jeff Green, who the Celtics took with the fifth overall pick. ESPN is reporting the deal is basically done – Green already did an interview commenting how excited he is to play with Durant – but nothing is final as of this point.

With the first overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, the Portland Trailblazers selected OSU center Greg Oden. Expected to be a defensive specialist at first, the thought by many analysts is that Oden will eventually win multiple championships for this franchise, but that’s always the idea when you take a player first overall isn’t it?

First the Buckeyes reached the NCAA National Championship in football, then again in basketball, and now have a player taken first overall in the NBA Draft. Albeit OSU lost in both of those championship games to Florida, but nevertheless, that’s a hell of a year.

ESPN.com has a story on its main page that the Blazers will select OSU center Greg Oden with the first overall pick in tonight’s NBA Draft. Oden’s agent, Mike Conley Sr., is saying different, however.

“We haven’t been told that,” Mike Conley, Sr. said late Wednesday night. “(ESPN) can have their opinion, but the Blazers haven’t told us anything.”

This is crazy talk, because ESPN would never jump the gun on a report right?

In Bullz-Eye’s Mock Draft, I discussed which player each team should take in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft, but I thought it would be fun to try to predict who the first seven teams will actually draft. Here’s the latest scuttlebutt:

1. Portland Trailblazers: Greg Oden
Oden’s workout with the Blazers didn’t go so well, while Kevin Durant’s did. This has fueled speculation that GM Kevin Pritchard might go with Durant. I still think Oden will be the pick.

2. Seattle Supersonics: Kevin Durant
The Sonics will pick whoever’s left – Durant or Oden.

3. Atlanta Hawks: Al Horford
The Hawks probably should go with Mike Conley here, but Horford has become the consensus #3 pick. The Hawks are talking to a few teams about trading down. They don’t need another forward, that’s for sure. It looks likely that they’ll grab Acie Law at #11.

4. Memphis Grizzlies: Mike Conley
Mike Iavaroni needs a pass first point guard to make his up-tempo offense go. Conley fits the bill.

5. Boston Celtics: Corey Brewer
There is lots of talk about the Celtics trading this pick for veteran help. If they keep it, they might go with Yi Jianlian or Joakim Noah, but Brewer had a good workout in Boston and could play alongside Paul Pierce (or replace him).

6. Milwaukee Bucks: Brandan Wright
Word is that Wright’s stock may be slipping, but he had a great workout in Milwaukee. The main thing working against him is that GM Larry Harris may not be secure enough in his job to wait on Wright to develop. The Bucks could trade up for Horford or Conley, though I don’t know why Harris would draft Conley after trading away T.J. Ford. They are basically the same player. There are also rumors that Harris may still draft Jianlian even though his agent wouldn’t let the Bucks see him work out. Why do you want to draft a guy that doesn’t even want to play for you (and is a shoe in not to re-sign once his rookie contract is up)?

7. Minnesota Timberwolves: Joakim Noah
With Kevin Garnett on his way out of town, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Wolves draft someone who can control the boards. Jeff Green is another possibility.

A few other probable picks:

13. New Orleans Hornets – Nick Young
15. Detroit Pistons – Rodney Stuckey
29. Phoenix Suns – Petteri Koponen