Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Draft Reactions

The New York Knicks' draft

8) Channing Frye - Arizona. We need a big man and Frye will help. I was hoping for either Granger, Warrick, or Frye at this spot so I'm pleased. Hopefully we'll have Frye and Sweetney side-by-side in the front court for years to come.

30) David Lee - Florida. Lee was a disappointment in college, but plenty of players have turned things around. Maybe he's more suited to the pro game. The most I'd really expect from him though is to be a solid bench player.

54) Dijon Thompson - UCLA. I'm actually really excited about Thompson. He's a 4 year player that might fit in well with the club. His college teammate, Trevor Ariza, was a huge pick for us last year in the second round.

Potential trade:
New York gets - Quentin Richardson and Nate Robinson
Phoenix gets - Kurt Thomas
Now I love Kurt Thomas. He's my favorite player in the league today. But I knew this day would come at some point. And Sweetney and Frye are gonna need run to improve. Richardson will also help our backcourt's depth. Crawford has shown flashes, but I'm not sold on him as an all-around player yet. In addition, I love Nate Robinson. I don't know how long Marbury will stay a Knick, but if Robinson is his replacement, I won't be upset at all. That little guy can play!

The rest of the draft

I've posted on Andrew Bogut earlier (check the first week of this blog). I'm just not sure about him. I think he'll be a good player, but will end up not reaching a #1 pick's potential.

I really like Marvin Williams. He seems like a good person and has great upside. But where will all the talented wing players fit in Atlanta?

Deron Williams, a good player, but will become anonymous in Utah.

I don't know what it is, but I never liked Chris Paul. I don't think being in New Orleans will help him much either.

Charlotte got two champions, Raymond Felton and Sean May. They drafted another champ in Emeka Okafor last year. They're going in the right direction, even if those two aren't the most talented players. They know how to play ball, simply put.

I can see Martell Webster being a bust. He just has the name for it, and now he has the team for it too, Portland.

Toronto chose Charlie Villanueva. He might be ok, but it was quite a bad pick. Maybe they're trying to copy the Knicks' losing strategy- find as many power forwards as possible, and pay them all too much money.

The Lakers chose a high school big man in Bynum. Kobe's still screwed.

Orlando picked Fran Vazquez and the Clippers chose Yaroslav Korolev instead of May, Granger, Graham, Wright, Warrick, Hodge, and even the high schooler Green. Whatever, they're not my teams.

On that note, my 4 favorite college players were drafted within 5 players of each other. Granger went 17th (I like what the Pacers are doing), Warrick 19th to Memphis, Hodge 20th to Denver, 21 Nate Robinson Phoenix, possibly to the Knicks.

I liked the number of college veterans that were picked in the first round this year. They always seem to play the best out of any group. Sure there are great NBA players from high school, from oversees, and who left college after one or two seasons, but the bulk of good players in the league have college experience.

Atlanta had a good pick with Salim Stoudamire.

There might be a few diamonds in the second round. Gomes, Roberts, and Turiaf should all be solid pros.

I liked when Jay Bilas called the person who told Matt Walsh that he was a first round lock an idiot. There were quite a lot of high schoolers picked in round two. Hopefully their lives are ruined by their choices, but whatever happens happens.

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