http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/lottery2007/mockdraft


Kinda fun.

Anyone else remember hitting that thing over and over and over again when it first came out the year of the Darko draft?

I was thinking the same exact think, Vinny. I remember the first time I did it how angry I was that they put Darko for us instead of Carmelo.

Either way, I hate that draft.

Lottery tonight.

0TgJE7C5wiU

And the West should continue to be the dominate conference into the future, with Portland getting the #1 (Oden) and Seattle getting the #2 (Durant). When watching him, I considered Durant to be, at worst, a more talented Rashard Lewis. Now they're about to be on the same team. I could see them moving Lewis and suddenly making a move to playoff-level.

Boston fans worldwide let out a unanimous cry... serves them right for tanking!
Where did Milwaukee end up? I'm really hoping they did shithouse as well...


Its going to be interesting to say the least, watching Durant, Lewis and Allen chucking up 30 3's a game...
Welcome to Seattle, another team that will win a lot in the reg. season, but have no fucking chance in the playoffs.
See: Phoenix

Celtics at #5. I think I heard Bill Simmons' head explode. Should be an interesting column for him later this week.

So what is Portland going to do with Randolph, Aldridge, Pryzbilla, Oden/Durant. Maybe they can have an all 6'10" or more lineup.

From a Piston's perspective, it's a good thing that Atlanta got #3. There's a chance they might take Conley there, and draft a big (Hibbert, Hawes) at 11. That increases the chances that Acie Law drops to us at 15, which is very good news.

There isn't a single team after the Hawks that need a PG?

Teams need a PG, but not to the point where they would pass up an elite prospect, like Marvin Williams over Chris Paul.

The order is:

1 - Blazers
2 - Sonics
3 - Hawks
4 - Griz - Too early to take Law
5 - Boston - have several PGs
6 - Mil - doubtful
7 - T-Wolves - already have a rook pg
8 - Bobcats - nope
9 - Bulls - need a big
10 - Kings - doubtful
11 - Hawks - not here
12 - 76ers - maybe
13 - Hornets - Have Paul
14 - Clippers - Very likely
15 - Pistons

whoa do the blazers have a beautiful future. first off, i loved lamarcus, i thought he was the best prospect last year, and i fully believe still he'll be the best of that class. plus, he will compliment oden perfectly, as he is a capable scorer from the post but his range extends out of the paint. then you throw in roy who is a chippy, knowledgeable 2. pretty much another perfect fit. put in a pass first, defensive pg (jack fits the bill) and all they need is the right sf. probably a defender who can nail an open 3, ala bruce bowen. just dump randolph and miles by any means possible. aldridge/oden alone puts them in title contention every year, if they keep aldridge/oden/roy together for a long time, thats multiple titles. no doubt in my mind. the new no fly zone is definitly in portland, even in year one, that paint is going to be deadly.

i like the sonics, too. if they keep lewis they should be fun next year.

definitly buying the league pass next year. these two teams just became must sees for me.

also, i think atlanta would be crazy to do anything but draft conley. in my mind, hes as good as anyone in the draft other than the big two, but he fills an important need and also the hardest position to fill. they cant screw this up again.

We already have Kevin Durant in the NBA. His name's Luol Deng and he's a Chicago Bull. Just with a worse outside shot.

I think the Bucks might take Law IF conley isnt taken, and that is also if they aren't going to take Billups or Mo Williams.

Yeah, but do the Bucks take Law at #6? That seems like a stretch.

Looking at their team right now, I dont think they have any real weakness other than the 1, and that is if only they dont find a replacement. the 4 and 5 are set for years to come. the 3 is pretty much set with simmons(unless they find a way to ship his big contract), redd, and bell.

maybe they should try to trade down?

Damn, first time ever that the top 3 lotto teams got shut out of the top 3 picks. that's a hose job. It sucks that the West got the top two picks. The nice thing is the Suns didn't get a top pick.

Do the Suns get the Hawks pick next year?

Probably. I didn't look at the details of the pick, but I imagine they do. The Hawks now have two picks before us. You can almost be certain Law won't get past them now, since they'll probably get a big man with their #3 pick.

If the Suns got the #4 pick, they would have been unstoppable. I was worried about it.

The order is:

1 - Blazers
2 - Sonics
3 - Hawks
4 - Griz - Too early to take Law
5 - Boston - have several PGs
6 - Mil - doubtful
7 - T-Wolves - already have a rook pg
8 - Bobcats - nope
9 - Bulls - need a big
10 - Kings - doubtful
11 - Hawks - not here
12 - 76ers - maybe
13 - Hornets - Have Paul
14 - Clippers - Very likely
15 - Pistons

Why do you doubt the Kings and Hawks won't go PG? those are maybe their biggest neads. Bibby is getting old and Jackson has been gone a while. The Hawks haven't had a PG in years. Now that they have #3, they will address F/C and PG both.

The Kings or Clippers are the most obvious to take Law.

With Bibby on the trade block and hart being released, the kings are almost given Law, unless they decide to trade sar, big nasty, or artest for one when they can.

Clippers...if only Shaun didnt get injured...

Mike Woodson is very happy today. I'll go ahead and make him an early candidate for 2008 Coach of the Year.

Does anyone else think that Oden makes a lot more sense on Seattle and Durant on Portland? I wonder what Seattle would have to give the Blazers to consider swapping #2 for #1?

Did anyone else start belly laughing last night when the Celtics were announced at 5th?

If the Sonics take Durant, that would open up some interesting S&T possibilities with Rashard Lewis.

Bibby?

I wonder if the Memphis Grizzlies died last night?

The Las Vegas Grizzlies?

I was not very impressed with Oden during the NCAA tournament but he should be the better player based on body type.

I heard an interesting (believe it or not) observation from Kiki V. yesterday.

He said "Durant will be the better player, but Oden's teams will win more games".

Kiki is a fucking idiot. Not for that quote though.

Why do you doubt the Kings and Hawks won't go PG? those are maybe their biggest neads. Bibby is getting old and Jackson has been gone a while. The Hawks haven't had a PG in years. Now that they have #3, they will address F/C and PG both.

I really think that the Hawks will take Connelly at #3 and therefore wouldn't want Law with their later pick. As for the Kings, they could take Law but I really saw them going after a big man but now that Hibbert is out, who knows. Either way, we won't be getting Law so it's time for plan B!!!

I really think that the Hawks will take Connelly at #3 and therefore wouldn't want Law with their later pick. As for the Kings, they could take Law but I really saw them going after a big man but now that Hibbert is out, who knows. Either way, we won't be getting Law so it's time for plan B!!!
I think the Hawks take Yi and Law and try to play up tempo with all those forwards.

I can't see the Kings taking a center with Miller there.

Brad Miller has missed almost 50 games over the last three seasons and his game continues to decline so I figured it was time to get a replacement.

I don't know if Yi will go as high as #3 and Connelly has been getting a lot of attention.

I wonder if the Memphis Grizzlies died last night?

The Las Vegas Grizzlies?

Aren't the Grizz an option for Chauncey? I thought I read that somewhere. If so, they became a lil less attractive last night.

Where are all of the conspiracy theorists?

Everybody knows this was rigged to get Oden to Portland, viva la frozen envelope!

I thought PNF/Unibomber would be here by now to celebrate his good fortune.

Kiki is a fucking idiot. Not for that quote though.

But because he still goes by Kiki.

Blazers might even try to get Conley.

I'm sure they could and they have the right pieces.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AiY8w6wdwC9DLrarYebMBNc5nYcB?slug=aw-blazers052407&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Basically, everyone on the team but Roy and Aldridge are untouchable...

Randolph
Jarret Jack
Sergio Rodriguez

for
3rd pick
Speedy claxton
Shelden Williams or Marvin

I dont know seems like a lot for Conley, who might not even get taken at 3rd. WOuld the Blazers being giving up too much? The hawks too little?

Can a team like..

Conley
Roy
Alridge
Shelden Williams
Oden

be stopped in 4 years? remember you have players like Martell Webster, who can easily be expandable, Travis outlaw, Darius Miles and Dan dickau as well as the vanilla gorilla. teams going to look very scary once duncan starts to decline

I thought they liked Jack. Why not just grab Dominic James or Taurean Green in the 2nd round?

Did you not read the article about Oden wanting to play with Conley. They have alot of history together so I'm assuming Oden wants a point who knows him well.

Yeah, I think its silly how much credit people are giving that article. I don't think you scrape and claw to try and make that happen. Their kids. They'll get over it.

Did you not read the article about Oden wanting to play with Conley. They have alot of history together so I'm assuming Oden wants a point who knows him well.
If they want Conley, I would suggest trading Randolph to the Bucks or Celtics which need inside scoring. The Bulls may even bite on Randolph since PJ doesn't have much left and we all know Ben is not a scorer. I don't think they need to get the #3 to get Conley. If they trade with the Bulls, there is still a chance Minny takes conley, but they need scoring help on the wing or a center more.

I'm not sure what Randolph is worth in a deep draft with his baggage.

I was thinking about the Celtics but they already have Al Jefferson. No point in having them, unless they trade Al for a center or forward to help Pierce and Randolph.

I don't think the Bucks will be looking to take another huge contract with having Simmons and Redd ANd their young guys looking for more money.

The Hawks are probably themost suitable for Zach

They'd probably have to move Simmons back to Portland in that deal. Portland could send them Miles probably. I haven't looked at the contracts at all though to see if that works.

Then the bucks would be fucked at the 1 if they didnt want to go over the tax this summer. Getting Mo or Billups and getting Randolph and Miles is not going to be cheap, however that would easily mean a top 4 playoff seed.

Randolph only makes 4 mil more than Simmons. I see Miles makes 8 mil, so there is no way they swap SF's.

Randolph, #31 and Jack for #6, #56 and Boykins (he picks up his player option for a year) would work.

Basically, the Bucks would have Redd (14 mil), Randolph (13 mil), Simmons (9 mil), Mo Williams (resigned for 7 mil?), Bogut (5 Mil), Gadz (5 mil), Vill (3 mil) and Jack (1 mil) under contract. That is over the cap but not tax level I don't think. If Williams wants a ton of money they can let him walk and draft James or Green with #31. They can still resign Bell to backup PG too.

PG Mo or #31/Jack
SG Redd/Bell
SF Simmons/Villinueva
PF Zach/Villinueva
C Bogut/Gadz

If they keep Mo they can use #31 on something else. They could even use it to move Simmons for an expiring deal and sign Mo Pete or another SF that would save them money down the road.

yahoo! is reporting that the blazers are trying to move up to get conley.

i dont know about this one. too much youth is a bad thing, and maybe too much talent is too. if they can land conley by trading zach to the bulls (or whoever else) than i'd do it, but id want to hold on to aldridge and roy. but would allen even want to pay all these guys in 5 years? imo, they should get some vets with character rather than more youth.

I agree with what Barkley said tonight. Portland and Seattle getting the #1 and #2 picks is terrible for the NBA. The East is clearly down and the West is already stacked. Now 2 more marquee names are headed west and their games are going to tip-off at 10:30 each night.

But, I guess it helps out the 'stones so I feeeeeeel it!

yahoo! is reporting that the blazers are trying to move up to get conley.

i dont know about this one. too much youth is a bad thing, and maybe too much talent is too. if they can land conley by trading zach to the bulls (or whoever else) than i'd do it, but id want to hold on to aldridge and roy. but would allen even want to pay all these guys in 5 years? imo, they should get some vets with character rather than more youth.

Jon Barry agrees.

Isn't Oden's agent conley's dad? If so, then Oden is just saying he wants to play with Conley to drive up Conley's draft stock, so whoever wants Conley is going to need to trade up to 3 or 4.

There has been some Randolph to the Wizards speculation. I don't see why Wizards even consider this. They have Butler and Jamison at the forward position and Bulter cant play the 2 and Jamison can't play the 5. If i were the Wizards, Id keep Jamison because he played so well in the playoffs

Jamison is a UFA and will leave this year possibly.

There has been some Randolph to the Wizards speculation. I don't see why Wizards even consider this. They have Butler and Jamison at the forward position and Bulter cant play the 2 and Jamison can't play the 5. If i were the Wizards, Id keep Jamison because he played so well in the playoffs
They could put Randolph at the 5. It's just like in one of the other threads when we were discussing how you don't need a big lumbering center anymore. Randolph could do fine, just like Sheed does fine at the 5 for us.

but would allen even want to pay all these guys in 5 years?

There's no guarantee that they all pan out. Maybe one of them gets injured, or maybe they trade one of them at some point.

Jamison is a UFA and will leave this year possibly.

oh..well that changes everything then.

but zach is 6'9 while sheed is 6'11 and is very long. I realize ben was 6'9ish..but Ben had his heart and hustle which made him very valuable on thed efensive end and for rebounds while randolph shouldn't be relied on for post defense.

oh..well that changes everything then.

but zach is 6'9 while sheed is 6'11 and is very long. I realize ben was 6'9ish..but Ben had his heart and hustle which made him very valuable on thed efensive end and for rebounds while randolph shouldn't be relied on for post defense.
I thought Randolph was taller. That changes my argument completely.

I'd be damn tempted to trade one of our 1st round picks and a maybe a future pick for randolph if thats possible. This only if Webber leaves or Retires.

a trade for randolph would have to look something like Outgoing

Zach Randolph
6-9 PF from Michigan State
23.6 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 2.2 apg in 35.7 minutes
Incoming
Nazr Mohammed
6-10 C from Kentucky
5.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 0.2 apg in 15.2 minutes
Lindsey Hunter
6-2 PG from Jackson State
4.9 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 1.8 apg in 14.3 minutes
Flip Murray
6-3 SG from Shaw
6.7 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 2.7 apg in 21.4 minutes
Carlos Delfino
6-6 SG from Argentina (Foreign)
5.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.1 apg in 16.7 minutes
Jason Maxiell
6-6 PF from Cincinnati
5.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 0.2 apg in 14.1 minutes
Ronald Dupree
6-7 SF from Louisiana State
1.3 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 0.3 apg in 5.2 minutes
Will Blalock
6-0 PG from Iowa State
1.8 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 1.2 apg in 11.9 minutes
Change in team outlook: +6.9 ppg, +4.9 rpg, and +5.3 apg.


Detroit Trade Breakdown
Outgoing
Nazr Mohammed
6-10 C from Kentucky
5.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 0.2 apg in 15.2 minutes
Lindsey Hunter
6-2 PG from Jackson State
4.9 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 1.8 apg in 14.3 minutes
Flip Murray
6-3 SG from Shaw
6.7 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 2.7 apg in 21.4 minutes
Carlos Delfino
6-6 SG from Argentina (Foreign)
5.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.1 apg in 16.7 minutes
Jason Maxiell
6-6 PF from Cincinnati
5.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 0.2 apg in 14.1 minutes
Ronald Dupree
6-7 SF from Louisiana State
1.3 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 0.3 apg in 5.2 minutes
Will Blalock
6-0 PG from Iowa State
1.8 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 1.2 apg in 11.9 minutes
Incoming
Zach Randolph
6-9 PF from Michigan State
23.6 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 2.2 apg in 35.7 minutes

unless we're moving main pieces, its not realistic. even if you put dyece in there,we're giving up too many bodies.

I'd be damn tempted to trade one of our 1st round picks and a maybe a future pick for randolph if thats possible. This only if Webber leaves or Retires.

way too expensive imo. good banger inside but not worth one of our starters.

I wonder what the Grizz do. Do they continue to get younger? trade their pick? possibly even move down?

Randolph and Sheed here? Do we really want to become the Jailblazers of the east? No thanks. I'd rather see how good Max can become and keep out first to use on someone else.

BTW, Cross needs to keep this current Av (although the picture crops off a little high).

I'd agree that I'd rather keep the pic and let Max develop. He's shown a lot of potential lately and with Amir finally getting worked into the rotation I just don't see where Randolph fits. Yes, he's a good player, but I'd rather have us developing youth in the system. Maybe if we got the PG we need with the first pick and there isn't anything we like waiting on the board with the second first-rounder AND McDyess or Webber wasn't back. But that would just be a swap for the first and maybe another player. I would never want to trade everything that diddy said we'd have to trade to get him. Maybe if we could pull Max and Delfino out of that deal I'd be okay with it.

Where are all of the conspiracy theorists?

Everybody knows this was rigged to get Oden to Portland, viva la frozen envelope!

I thought PNF/Unibomber would be here by now to celebrate his good fortune.

Oh, the good times are rolling. Pretty much all Portland fans I know were almost resigned to the fate of the sixth pick, but there was a little hope held out. Fucker came out of nowhere.

Pretty sweet for Portland, but almost better for Seattle. This may literally keep the Sonics in Seattle for a while, which is good news for the NBA.

And if you can think up a conspiracy to help the Blazers win, you have no soul.

BTW...if the Pistons do want Zach, we'd have to play hardball and ask for Amir.