2009 NBA Draft Thoughts and Analysis

Considered one of the weaker drafts in recent memory, there sure did seem to be alot of unknowns coming into tonight's draft. Lots of foreign players, lots of point guards, a trailblazer, a set of brothers and 3 first round Tar Heels all helped make this an interesting draft. Granted, there was no debate on the number 1 pick as there has been in years past, but Blake Griffin is just a once in a lifetime athlete. Sidenote, the Steroid Era has got to make it to NYC to witness the draft in person and check out the drunk, desperate Knicks fans.

Gotta start with the first pick. Blake Griffin is a stud. He's going to be a stud in the league for many years. The jump shot will come with time, but Blake can rebound with the best of them, jump out of the gym and has a bigger heart than most. And before you write him off since he's with the Clippers, check out the Clips roster. If their health can last, look out for the Staples Center's other home team. Starting 5 of Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Mardy Collins/Ricky Davis, Blake Griffin, Marcus Camby. Come off the bench with Kaman, Al Thornton, and several good young guards and this should be a formidable team. But, then again Donald Sterling hates winning, Mike Dunleavy is just dumb, and after all, this is the Clippers we're talking about.

Hasheem Thabeet: see, Dikembe Mutombo. He may block alot of shots and alter a few more. But he's going to be a career 8ppg 7rbg. I wouldn't spend a #2 pick on 3 blocks a game. That said, the Grizzlies have a slew of young talent and several guys that can fill it up. Maybe a big man like Thabeet could turn out to be in integral piece of the puzzle. Center is probably the least deep position for the Grizzlies. Scoring challenged Marc Gasol, Hamed Haddadi (who) and Chris Mihm don't exactly strike fear into the hearts of charging posterizers, so Thabeet should fit well.

James Harden was part of a Tempe resurgence at Arizona State in his 2 years on campus, the OKC Thunder hope he will be a part of a midwest resurgence in Oklahoma. The consummate teammate who has his head sitting squarely on his shoulders. He can fill it up from inside and find his own shot. Will get into the lane and finish with strength. Most importantly, Harden is very unselfish and a great passer from the off-guard position. He will have no problem with Kevin Durant gets his shots. We love James Harden and fully expect him to be a success.

Tyreke Evans will be a great NBA point guard and already has an NBA ready body. Also, check out that suit he wore. Fly.

Hey Minnesota, how exactly are you going to play Ricky Rubio, Johnny Flynn and Nick Calathes. More specifically how you going to play Rubio and Flynn. Flynn is a favorite here at the Steroid Era and we personally wanted Johnny to fall to his hometown Knicks. So it goes. The Wolves picked 6 times, and kept 5 of those picks. Of the 5, 4 were guards and the 5th is a European guy who won't see an NBA floor for 3 years. We love every guard, well maybe not Calathes, and especially love Ellington. We just don't see how Flynn, Rubio, and Bassy Telfair all get the minutes they crave. Is Telfair going to bring a gun to practice now to get his way? But seriously, all 3 are pure point guards with shooting deficiencies. But hey, we love the frontcourt in the XL Center so we will see how this point guard experiment works out.

Stephen Curry will be a stud and will have a 24/7 365 greenlight up in Oakland under the tuttleage of Don Nelson. As Dickie V yelled oh so eloquently, look out for a Rookie of the Year from Davidson's finest.

DeMar DeRozan first dunked in 6th grade. That's not fair. He's also the third straight USC player to be taken in the first round and as far as the Steroid Era can tell none of his "mentors" were handed $1000 envelopes by Coach of the Year candidate Tim Floyd.

We love the Louisville athletes. And by athlete, here we mean incredibly versatile physical freaks. The first of which, Terrance Williams goes off the board at 11 to the Nets. He will absolutely fill up the box score. But it's not always sunny in New Jersey. The Vince Carter trade makes the Nets a much younger team. Check out the roster, its brutal. Looks like Jay-Z is making room for his CuddyBuddy Bron Bron in 2010. Freak #2 goes 14 to the Suns. If Earl Clark can get his head on straight he could be a force inside, outside and on the defensive end for the Suns.

Carolinian Larry Brown takes Dukie Gerald Henderson in the lottery. Late in the 2nd round, Dukie Danny Ferry takes Carolinian Danny Green. Semi-interesting, completely meaningless, Stu Scott had a heart attack.

In a collision of great sports nicknames, Larry Legend takes Psycho T. Interestingly enough, the Pacers have taken the best player from the best collegiate team 2 consecutive years. Both with the 13th pick. Brandon Rush had a successful rookie season and should compete for a starting spot this year. Hansbrough should be successful too, even if its just because he wants it more than anyone else. The Pacers are weak inside, Psycho T will bring strength, tenacity, and hustle to the frontcourt which Coach O'Brien hopes is contagious.

The Pistons aren't exactly a fan favorite here, so we thanked Wilt Chamberlain and the other basketball Gods for sending Mr. Dumars Tayshawn Prince's twin Austin Daye. The Grinch plays with more heart than Daye. Reportedly, his mother did the 185 benchpress for Daye at the pre-draft workouts. His dad played 5 years in the league. He probably lacked heart too. This pick sucks, look for Daye to be a non-factor in 5 years, just like Poppa Daye.

What can you say about Jrue Holiday? Noone knows whether he can play or not. 100% potential pick. Similar situation to Russell Westbrook's lottery position, let's see if it works out. He's got a good mentor in Andre Miller.

Love Jeff Teague, dude can fill it up. Does this pick, combined with the Jamal Crawford trade mean Bibby won't be resigned?

We love Eric Maynor, he will love learning from Deron Williams. Could he be the next Mr. Big Shot? We think he's got a great shot.

Not sold on Darren Collison. A bit undersized and not incredibly athletic. Then again, New Orleans drafts him to be a back up.

Please, please, please Vinny tell me either Taj Gibson and James Johnson get to use Joakim Noah as a punching bag in summer workouts. Noah sucks, plain and simple. Both Johnson are very quality picks and can both play the position about 1095487395398437293458 times better than Noah, and they probably make free throws every now and then too. Also, James Johnson is a black belt karate buff, don't look for him to back down when Lebron comes barreling down the United Center lanes next year.

Demarre Carroll? Really? Picks like this are the reason the Grizzlies are the Grizzlies. And we're really trying our hardest here not to be biased towards Carroll a.k.a. "Style and Grace." Grizz GM Rod Thorn claimed they took Carroll for his tenacious defensive presence. He hasn't played an NBA style man-to-man for 3 years. Dajuan Summers, Sam Young, and Derrick Brown all are similar body types and play similar positions. They all play better defense and immensely better offense than Demarre. More importantly, all 3 guys were on the board when Carroll was taken. No way this works out.

Toney Douglas can fill it up, we love his game. Look for him to absolutely thrive in the Garden in D'Antoni's super high paced offense. Also, check out his brother, Harry, on Sundays catching TD passes from Matty Ice for the Atlanta Falcons.

Jermaine Taylor: freak athlete that knows how to put the ball in the basket. But will he get minutes in the perimeter laden Wizards gameplan. Especially with the return of a healthy Agent 0 Gilbert and the additions of sharp shooter Mike Miller and Randy Foye. We hope he makes it. Don't you also have a soft spot for mid-major guys?

Huge Steal: Dajuan Blair. He's going to get every rebound down there in San Antonio so all Timmy Duncan has to do is keep stroking those 16 foot bank shots. Also, the Richard Jefferson trade shores up the perimiter and gets rid of Bruce Bowen.

Another huge steal: Derrick Brown. The Bobcats had a good draft, maybe Coach Brown can get things turned around in Charlotte.

Can you imagine having Michael Redd and Jodie Meeks filling it up every night. Get out to the games Milwaukeeans, its going to be one hell of a shooting display. Brandon Jennings will lead the league with about a billion assists. A healthy Andrew Bogut should be capable of rebounding the shots these guys actually miss.

Marcus Thornton is another guy that can absolutely fill it up. He also knows how to win after leading LSU to an SEC West title last year. Look for him to be a good fit in Miami.

Watch out Steve Blake, Patty Millys can ball. Did you catch him in the '08 Olympics? Get your game tight Steve cause Patty is a big-time competitor and one hell of a point guard and he will be gunning for the starting spot.

Lester Hudson: fill it up.

Thank God there's no NBA entrance exam, Robert Dozier would have a tough time getting in.

RANDOM
We wish we had Fran Fraschilla's mind and knew everything about every unknown foreign player. We don't. We did notice one common thread amongst these foreign guys: 99% of them won't see an NBA floor for 3 years.

The 2nd round was full of great athletes, guys who can straight fill it up, and steals.

There were 2 guys taken from Bosnia and Herzegovina. We didn't really even know that was a country. Is that ignorance on our part or irrelevance on theirs? Also, Vladimir Radmonovich hails from BIH.

Jay Bilas didn't have a bad thing to say about any draftee. According to him every guy drafted will be a good solid NBA player.

WINNERS
Orlando, San Antonio, Chicago.

LOSERS
Definitely Cleveland. They need impact guys that can help immediately. Danny Green may be serviceable, but the first round pick won't be playing in Cleveland until Lebron is gone and the Cavs are back to bottom feeder status. LA Lakers, but then again, what exactly did they need? Minnesota, just because I don't see Rubio and Flynn as a miximization of utility provided by holding the 5 and 6 picks.

We know this may be a bit lugubrious but we think you will enjoy. RIP Jacko.