Draft Stunners

Admittedly, I know very little about Jason Thompson from Rider, the Sacramento Kings 1st Round pick. However, I did see him play in one game in his conference tournament and was underwhelmed. I hoped D.J. Augustin would fall to the Kings. My second choice, based on who I thought would be available, was Kansas Darrell Arthur. I never even considered that the Kings would take Thompson. I like Patrick Ewing, Jr as a 2nd Round pick, but not Sean Singletary. As a Kings' fan, I am disappointed.

I was in the car when the Kings made the selection. I was listening to some San Diego area sports talk show. The host admitted that he had never heard of Thompson. Of course, he also referred to San Diego State Head Coach Steve Fischer as a "legend of the game."

Well, everyone thought Memphis might be a little gun shy after the criticism of the Pau Gasol trade. Then they decided to give away Mike Miller.

I understand trading to get O.J. Mayo because he is the player that you covet, even though your interior is a weakness. However, I do not understand giving up Mike Miller to make the trade happen, not to mention acquiring more bad contracts that they gave away. Minnesota instantly upgraded its team with this trade, as Love can play inside with Jefferson (though, defensively they have nobody to protect the rim, which is never good) and Miller can play on the wing with Foye, McCants and Brewer. I think Memphis severely undervalued Miller - I thought the Lakers should make a run at Miller with Lamar Odom, though I figure Memphis may never make a deal with the Lakers again.

Memphis did manage to salvage something by trading Donte Green to acquire Darrell Arthur, potentially the draft's biggest steal at #27. Arthur now becomes the inside player the Grizzlies desperately need, while Mayo fills the two-guard spot vacated by Miller. The Grizzlies still have an extra PG to deal if anyone (Sacramento? Denver?) is interested, but adding Arthur and Mayo certainly upgrades the talent level, even though I am not sure it was worth losing Miller.

Portland stayed busy. I warmed to the Brandon Rush pick right around the time the Blazers dealt him to Indiana. Rush seemed like a great fit in Portland as a small forward who can defend and shoot the three. I am not a huge Jerryd Bayless fan. They later managed to acquire Nicolas Batum, who they obviously wanted, before the San Antonio Spurs managed to draft him. So, Batum and Bayless seem like a talented duo to add to the team and address the Blazers' weaknesses. However, they could have drafted Mario Chalmers with the late pick, leaving them with Rush and Chalmers (though they would also have Jack instead of Diogu). They also acquired another three future second round draft picks.

Bayless has talent and can make shots. It will be interesting how Portland plays together with a potential starting line-up of Bayless, Roy, Outlaw, Aldridge and Oden. That is a talented team, but will there be enough ball to share and keep everyone happy?

Diogu actually could be a nice addition as a scoring big off the bench. With the above starting line-up, the Blazers have Blake, Rodriguez, Fernandez, Webster, Diogu, Frye and Pryzbilla off the bench with Batum likely joining Joel Freeland and Pettri Kaponen in Europe. Everyone keeps mentioning assets and the Blazers certainly have them. They have a minimum of eight "lottery talents" on the roster: Oden, Aldridge, Roy, Outlaw (likely would have been a lottery pick had he played another year of college), Bayless, Batum (considered a lottery pick until the last 2-3 weeks), Fernandez (was a top player in the Spanish league last season) and Webster.

I cannot believe Kosta Koufus fell to the #23 pick and the Utah Jazz. I thought he was a top ten player when I saw him play during the college season. There is no way he should have slid outside the top 15. I like him better than last year's #10 pick, Sacramento's Spencer Hawes.

Miami has to be happy. They draft Beasley and acquire Chalmers, so they upgrade two positions. If they can deal Shawn Marion for some additional talent, the Heat may be relevant again.

New Jersey managed two of the top "value" picks in the draft, as they landed Brook Lopez at #10 and Chris Douglas-Roberts at #40. CDR may be able to step-in right away and add some of the offense New Jersey lost when it dealt Jefferson to the Bucks, while Lopez solidifies its front line. Adding Ryan Anderson is a bonus. The Nets are flush with athletic big men who could stand to add a few pounds of muscle: Anderson, Yi, Sean Wiliams, Josh Boone, Nenad Kristic and Lopez. However, with this length, they should be able to deter some shots around the basket.