Category Archives: trade

Suit Up! – The 2008 NBA Draft Analysis

The NBA Draft is now officially over and every team has forgotten about the disappointment of last season and are excited for a new season. A new trend may have started this year, I didn’t see any funky suits. What happened to the Jalen Rose and Hakeem Olajuwon? The only suit that I could take a swing at was the suit O.J. Mayo wore. It was a 3-piece suit, but it was super tight and appeared to be a bit short on him.

Also, I would like to note that this year’s “Best Hair Award” goes to Robin Lopez. Any hair that is barely dented by a hair, gets a trophy. Here is my recap of this year’s lottery selections.

1 – Bulls – Derrick Rose, Memphis , PG – No surprise here, we’ve known that he was going here for awhile. He should have a decent season this year, but the team still needs a few more pieces to compete with Boston and Detroit.

2 – Heat – Michael Beasley, Kansas State,PF – I am still a little shocked about this one. All the news you heard from Miami pre-draft was how this guy wasn’t their guy, but they still picked him. I guess it still seems a little fishy, unless it was all political and was trying to bait a trade. Beasley will fit well with Wade and Marion and they will have a much better season this year.

3 – Grizzlies – O.J. Mayo, USC, G – Minnesota did a good job in picking Mayo, but maybe a move was trading him away. The T-wolves received Kevin Love and Mike Miller, which will help a young team. Mayo can play the 1 or 2 and is a very versatile player, but with Mike Conley at the point, Mayo will look to fill the 2 spot. Look for Mayo to do well out of the gate and make Memphis, but they are still a few drafts away from filling the void that Pau Gasol left.

4 – Sonics – Russell Westbrook, UCLA, G – Westbrook was the perfect pick for the Sonics. He can defend, which was a serious need for the Sonics, plus he can help run the offense and get the ball to Durant.

5 – Timberwolves – Kevin Love, UCLA, PF – I didn’t think Love would go this high, but Minnesota finagled a trade with Memphis for the big man who can hit full-court shots. Kevin McHale still needs a lot for the T-wolves to be competitive, but this move looks like a smart one. Minnesota knows that they have a lot of work ahead of them, but for now, the Love/Jefferson combo in the post will drive defenses crazy. Good move McHale, it will take about ten of these moves for the people of Minnesota to forget about KG.

6 – Knicks – Danilo Gallinari, Italy, SF – Time will only tell if this pick will be a good one. His success depends on his ability to handle the pressure of playing in New York. The analysts are comparing Gallinari with Toni Kukoc and Dirk Nowitzki, but don’t they usually compare any big European who has a jumpshot with those guys?

7 – Clippers – Eric Gordon, Indiana, G – As you may already know, “America’s White Boy” have been critical of Eric Gordon in the past. Gordon reminds us of Sam Cassell-type of player who can score in bunches. Cassell had success with the Clippers, in the short time he was there. If Gordon can put together a full season, the Clippers made a good pick here.

8 – Bucks – Joe Alexander, West Virginia, SF – The Bucks were in love with Alexander for a long time now. This pick didn’t come as a surprise to anyone. They drafted three small-forwards in this year’s draft. Tou have to think that they will be good at that position for a few seasons. By the way, “Vanilla Sky” is the best nickname of any draft prospect since Fred Hoiberg’s “The Mayor.”

9 – Bobcats – D.J. Augustin, Texas, PG – A definite surprise here from the Bobcats. Charlotte is trying to trade Raymond Felton and by selecting Augustin, you have the exact opposite of Felton. Augustin isn’t going to be a big-time scorer, but he can handle the ball and run the offense much better.

10 – Nets – Brook Lopez, Stanford, C – “I know the Nets really like Brook Lopez,” that is how I started out my preview for this pick, but I never thought Lopez would be undrafted at this point. The Nets have had a really good day. They picked up Bobby Simmons and Yi for Richard Jefferson, which is making them much more physical. The Nets have needed a frontline scorer since Kenyon Martin left, Lopez fills the need.

11 – Blazers – Jerryd Bayless, Arizona, PG – The Pacers originally picked Bayless, but traded the pick with Ike Diogu to Portland for the #13 pick (Brandon Rush), Jarrett Jack, and Josh McRoberts. The GM for Portland has looked like a genius the last couple seasons, so I can’t really second-guess any of his decisions at this point. Portland will be a contender in the West next season, with or without a healthy Greg Oden.

12 – Kings – Jason Thompson, Rider, PF – Thompson is one of those under-the-radar type of guys, so this was surprising that he would be picked this high. They really needed a point guard, but without Bayless or Augustin available, they had to go with Thompson’s upside. I don’t see him being a factor the next season or two.

13 – Pacers – Brandon Rush, Kansas, SG – (see Pick #11) The Pacers have been in need of a shooting guard since the retirement of Reggie Miller. Rush is a good defender and is a proven winner. He has great size (6’7) and should give other guards troubles with defending his shot. The Pacers traded Bayless for Rush and gained a player that seemed more NBA-ready.

14 – Warriors – Anthony Randolph, LSU, PF – I thought the Warriors would pick Mario Chalmers with this pick, but NBA teams seemed to fall out of love with him. Instead of picking for need, the Warriors picked the next best prospect on the board with Randolph. I don’t understand the logic behind this pick since they drafted a clone of Randolph last season (Brandan Wright). They both are tall, but both need to get much, much stronger. Randolph is 6’10 and only 197lbs, he will end up in the D-League the next two seasons and it would still take a lot of hard work for him to live up to being a lottery pick.

After all the trades shake out, look for a “Draft Winners and Losers” post.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Josh McRoberts Is Still In The NBA?

As I predicted, kind of, the Pacers would get another white boy on the team by the end of the night. I predicted that it would either be Kosta Koufos or Joe Alexander, but it turns out to be Josh McRoberts. Yep, the same McRoberts that should have went pro out of high school, but went to Duke and collected dust for two years and watched his draft stock plummet. He spent last season with Portland, but mostly on their D-League team roster.

The Pacers obtained McRoberts as a “throw-in” with the Jerryd Bayless/Ike Diogu for Jarret Jack/Brandon Rush trade. I didn’t find out that McRoberts was even involved until I was looking around on the internet and his name was mentioned last.

Josh McRoberts “could” end up being an average player in the NBA, but I am not sure where he will play. He still has one more season of D-League eligibility left, that’s always an option I guess. He grew up in Indianapolis and played at Carmel High School, where he won basically every National Player Of The Year awards you can win. One could assume that with him coming back home, he might be relaxed and play up to his potential.

He has been linked, in the past, with Lauren Conrad from “Laguna Beach” and “The Hills” fame. She is in the picture above with him, but she was too ashamed to be photographed. Sadly, I would also use something to cover my face if I were to ever be in a photograph with Mr. McRoberts…ask me this time next year and I could change my opinion.

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O’Neal Traded To Toronto – A Pacer Fan Critique

Jermaine O’Neal was traded to the Toronto Raptors for T.J. Ford and the #17 pick in the NBA Draft tomorrow night. O’Neal has been asking for a trade since Isiah Thomas was fired as the Pacers head coach. Last off-season a rumor swirled that he was going to the Lakers for either Lamar Odom or Andrew Bynum, but the Pacers wanted both of them and the Lakers didn’t move forward with the trade. The trade with Toronto could be a good thing for the Pacers, only if Ford stays healthy and the player selected at #17 can step in right away and help the troubled franchise.

Jermaine O’Neal hasn’t been the same since he was involved in the “Palace Brawl” a few seasons ago. After he served his suspension, he wasn’t the same on the court for the rest of that season and last couple years he has been out with various injuries. He is due to make 20+ million each of the next two seasons and the Pacers were smart to make a move for a point guard. Indiana needed to either make a move and trade for a point guard or draft a point guard (who would have either been D.J. Augustin or Russel Westbrook). Augustin is in the same mold as their current point guard Jamaal Tinsley, he can make plays, but either have a consistent jumpshot, same could be said for Ford. The different between Tinsley and Ford/Augustin is that they haven’t been a team disruption off the court. Tinsley will still end up on the team ’cause he has a large salary, but with Ford starting and Tinsley coming off the bench, their backcourt could be pretty nice.

On the Toronto side of this, you have a GM in Colangelo that is used to winning. He plays a faster style of basketball and Jose Calderon seems like a better fit at point guard. The front court of Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal will give the Eastern Conference a migraine. Toronto takes on a huge contract for the next two seasons, but with the addition of O’Neal, if he stays healthy, can cement a playoff spot next season.

I’m not defending Larry Bird as team president, but I have faith that the moves he is making is going to eventually make sense. I admit that the Harrington/Jackson to Golden State for Murphy/Dunleavy still makes no sense, but Jackson was a distraction and they had to package Harrington with him to send him packing.

The color barrier may be broken this year if the Pacers pick another white guy with the #11 or #17 picks tomorrow. I think that Joe Alexander or Kosta Koufos are on their radar, but it isn’t certain that Alexander will be there at #11 or Koufos will be there at #17. If they pick either one, they could actually put a five white guys on the floor at once. Jeff Foster, Travis Diener, Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, and either one of the draft picks. As “America’s White Boy,” it would be a proud moment in white boy history. I am not sure what is up with Bird, but before he came in, the only white boy on the team was either Rik Smits or Detlef Schrempf (Austin Croshere was around, but I choose not to remember his tenure). Larry Bird is down with the white boy and I my friend, am down with Bird.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.