The 2010 Prospects

It's never (ever, ever) too early to take a look at next years crop of NBA prospects. Unlike this year which was dominated by guards, next year is all about the bigs. Lets assume the same teams are in the lottery next year. Here's what it might look like.

1 Kings - John Wall, PG

2 Wizards - Greg Monroe, PF

3 Clippers - Donatas Motiejunas, PF

4 Thunder - Ed Davis, PF

5 T-Wolves - Derrick Favors, PF

6 Grizzlies - Cole Aldrich, C

7 Warriors - Al-Farouq Aminu, SF

8 Knicks - Willie Warren, PG/SG

9 Raptors - Craig Brackens, PF

10 Bucks - Xavier Henry, SG

11 Nets - John Henson, SF/PF

12 Bobcats - Deven Ebanks, SF

13 Pacers - Kemba Walker, PG

14 Suns - Paul George, SF

Of course the final standings will be different, new top prospects will emerge over the course of the NCAA season but given what we know today look for power forwards, not point guards to dominate next years lottery.

Thoughts on the Draft

Now that I'm all caught up on the results of the draft and the many trades that took place, here are some random thoughts:

The New Jersey Nets did well to dump the enigmatic and disgruntled Vince Carter in exchange for promising prospect Courtney Lee. Lee showed in the playoffs that he not only belongs in the NBA but could be an All Star for years to come. Meanwhile Carter is on the downside of his career and takes a lot of salary cap space.

The Warriors will be fun to watch. I'm not convinced yet that Stephon Curry will be an NBA star but it will still be fun to watch the Fun N Gun Warriors hoist reckless three pointers and score in the 120's.

Ricky Rubio is not likely to play in a T-Wolves uniform. I believe that the Knicks or some other big market team will pony up and give the Wolves a package of young players, cash and draft picks for the young Spaniard. With Jonny Flynn ready to run the point it would be good for the Wolves to let Rubio go. Speaking of Flynn, I think he could be the second best player out of this draft.

Speaking of the Knicks, they did well to bolster their frontline in preparation for making a run at some big time free agents next Summer. The presence of Jordan Hill under that basket will make it much more desirable for LeBron or D Wade to move to New York.

In what is supposedly a weak draft class I believe that there will be number of second round picks that not only enjoy long NBA careers but might even be starters and perhaps All Stars for years to come. Pendergraph is solid, Cunningham could develop into a poor mans Scottie Pippen, Blair could be starter for the Spurs very soon and Sam Young could be a steal along the lines of Josh Howard. Other second round players that I think will succeed are: Sergio Llull, Jonas Jerbko and Goran Suton.

Jrue Holiday falling to my beloved 76ers could be the steal of the draft. He's young, inexperienced and a bit of a tweener but his upside is high and the 19 year old could be a solid starter and a household name by the time he turns 22. The big question is: can he really play the point in the NBA?

Harden is a good fit for the OKC Thunder. He's a team first player who will help Westbrook and Durant find their shots. He might be the gel that this young team needs to finally come together and win some basketball games.

Finally, Tyler Hansbrough will have a decent NBA career but should have been drafted in the 20's, not at number 13. More comments to come later, thanks for reading.

Oh the agony

When I scheduled this backpacking trip 6 months ago I completely forgot that the NBA draft was this same week. Now I'll have to wait until next weekend to find out the results. Ahhhh,

"If we took a (Jrue) Holiday, come on, let's celebrate"

Unusual to reference a Madonna song on an NBA Draft site but hey, it happens. And which ever team selects Jrue Holiday might just have reason to celebrate. Holiday had a forgettable collage career. One season, few highlights and lots of mistakes. But in his last few games he showed a glimpse of something more. A flash of potential, like a lightbulb finally went off in his head and the game slowed down and became easy again.

It's tempting to compare Holiday to last years surprise rookie Russell Westbrook but that's taking it too far. At 6,4 Holiday has exceptional size for a point guard prospect and his strength and athleticism give him enough size to match up with NBA 2's. Physically he is built along the lines of Rodney Stuckey, Randy Foye, Billups and the above mentioned Westbrook.

The lingering questions about his passion and his feel for the game will fade come draft day. Some GM in the top 15 picks will envision Holiday as a future star and pick him. And if he works hard and studies hard Holiday will come around and give his city reason to celebrate.