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.
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