Thursday, June 28, 2007

Thursday 06/28 A.M. Quickie:
2007 NBA Mock Draft, Rumors, KSK B-day, More!

NBA Draft tonight: Here we go. Tonight marks the most stocked and intriguing and potentially seismic NBA Draft of the post-KG Era, if not ever.

The main storylines: Oden vs. Durant (sounds like that's over). Three Gators in the Top 10 (an NBA Draft first to have three players from the same team in the Top 10). Yi flexing China's market power over the NBA. Versatile forwards, dovetailing with the "new" NBA. Three quality point guards, dovetailing with another hot NBA trend. Which unlikely player will shoot up the draft board? Which player will have a Brady Quinn-like plummet? I really do love the NBA Draft. Hope abounds.

UPDATE: Listen to me with the Basketball Jones guys on their latest podcast. (The Jones podcast is the best sports podcast online -- I was so excited to join in today.)

My 2007 NBA Mock Draft: One of the biggest cop-outs in mock draft-dom is claiming you're picking who a team SHOULD take, rather than who they WILL take. So I'm saying here's who these teams WILL take:

1. Blazers: Kevin Durant
Yes, despite the "reports"
2. Sonics: Greg Oden
Shocker! Seattle gladly takes him
3. Hawks: Al Horford
Warning: SEEMS like a no-brainer
4. Grizzlies: Mike Conley
Best PG, best player available
5. Celtics: Yi Jianlian
And fans in Boston freak out
6. Bucks: Corey Brewer
Designated LeBron-defender
7. T'wolves: Joakim Noah
KG staying, will need energy guy
8. Bobcats: Jeff Green
G'town was a Brand Jordan school
9. Bulls: Julian Wright
Chicago stays local, versatile
10. Kings: Al Thornton
The old man of the draft class
11. Hawks: Javaris Crittenton
Pass on Law for local, bigger PG
12. Hornets: Nick Young
Who DOESN'T have this slotted here?
13. 76ers: Spencer Hawes
Philly's next... Todd McCullough!
14. Clippers: Acie Law
Best of Big 3 PGs available.

Shocker: Brandan Wright slips out of the Lottery!
My Team: At 16, the Wizards take... Derrick Byars.

Comments: OK, it's time to weigh in with your own official, on-the-record mock-draft predictions. (To avoid comments with a list of 30 teams and players, maybe stick with the Lottery and the non-Lottery pick you'll be most interested in tracking?)

Complete Draft coverage coming in the a.m.

Draft Rumors: Blazers will take Oden. Kevin Pritchard is apparently going to go with his head over his heart, which will drive Durant-as-1 backers (from Simmons to DraftKevinDurant.com) totally insane.

There is NOTHING wrong with that pick. Most fans agree with it. Most GMs agree with it. And it puts Portland in the best position possible to win titles. (And that's why teams play, right?!?! Heh.)

In this particular draft, however, the one downside to picking first is the lingering "What if?" in the event that either (a) Oden doesn't produce titles or (b) Durant does (or KD just looks more entertaining).

KG-Amare deal appears to have fizzled after yesterday's supernova, when – predictably – a Hawks rogue ownership partner put the kibosh on the one deal that could have turned the franchise around.

(Related: Are the Hawks considering taking Yi over Al Horford at No. 3 because of the Atlanta ownership group's business interests in China? Yi is a bad fit on the Hawks, but the universal language is green.)

But the new hot rumor is the Mavs sending Wisconsin hero Devin Harris to the Bucks for the No. 6 pick. Would the Mavs then ship the 6 and parts to the T'wolves for KG?

Draft Fashion: In 2001, I introduced the NBA Draft Fashion Report Card on ESPN.com, then filed it every year after that through last year's draft. It was my favorite column of the year. (Dan Steinberg picks up the slack with a great pre-draft fashion report.)

This year, I'm proud to move that coverage to DanShanoff.com – and proud to welcome a guest-commenter (and my first-round pick for the job), The Head Chick in Charge from the great blog Leave The Man Alone. She will be providing the best draft-fashion live-blog commentary found anywhere online. I'll chip in my own take on the draft fashion in the morning, but HCIC's is the definitive and standard-setting real-time analysis.

The Comments section of the draft-fashion post will also serve as your place to comment on all things draft in real-time.

MLB Dud: Roger Clemens doesn't strike out a player in a game for the first time in 200 starts: This is the worst omen yet that the Yankees' season is lost.

MLB Stud: Jack Cust, who had a career-high 5 RBI to help continue his breakout season.

MLB Malcontent: How come Shea Hillenbrand only shows up in the news when he's being a d-bag?

MLB Milestones: Glavine wins No. 297. No one will remember it came in an abbreviated, 5.1-inning game. They WILL remember it was a 1-hitter.

Tiger as Varsity Dad: He's skipping the Buick Open this week even though Buick is one of his biggest sponsors. However, Tiger WILL play in his OWN event, at Congressional in DC next week.

Sports Media: A few days after wowing me with his unique draft analysis, Penn center Stephen Danley lost me with his ludicrous (if spirited) defense of Alando Tucker.

And, finally: Happy first birthday/anniversary to the deviant-savants over at Kissing Suzy Kolber. If any group has proven the glowing meritocracy of the sports blogosphere, it is these guys. Unfortunately, in KSK's case, their "glow" comes from the bukkake stains resulting from their daily circle-jerk. Happy-happy, fellas.

-- D.S.

42 comments:

Johnny b said...

Cubs surging; though unable to gain ground because the Brewers keep winning. Since the fight Zambrano has been pitching out of his mind. Big series this weekend between the cubs and brewers if they want to get back in the hunt

Saturday night in Pittsburgh the fans are trying to stage a "walk out" game where everybody leaves after the 3rd inning

this is the first time i have ever been awake when there was no comments here (flying to la for an interview with boeing)

David Kippe said...

MLB Milestones: Glavine wins No. 297. No one will remember it came in an abbreviated, 5.1-inning game. They WILL remember it was a 1-hitter.


Who the hell remembers anyones 297th win? Does anyone here remember Seavers? Ryans? Maddux? Clemens?

Matt T said...

The Atlanta paper says that Knight wants Horford and likely Law. One of the owners is all about Yi and one of the other owners is the one who put the kibosh on getting Amare (Coddamn it)

I'm actually looking forward to this draft more than the past few years, David Stern's one year rule has made the players more recognizable to the casual fan, instead of a bunch of high schoolers going early. Its nice

Ahorow said...

wait i thought the sixers had the 12th pick dan i think you messed up your mock draft

Adam Giblin said...

Dan, you can't declare your mock draft to be who the teams WILL take and then pick Durant first. Bucher reported that Pritchard has already alerted Oden's people that he's #1. The debate is over. Simmons lost.

pv845 said...

You really should have made the Draft a separate post.

First: No MLB Stud for the Royals: Swept the Angels??? What do we have to do to get you off the coasts? Leave ESPN and their coverage alone!

Second, you are smoking something seriously strong if you think that an energy guy like Noah would be a good fit for the T-Wolves. They need scoring badly.

You keep comparing him to Camby on a good team. A better comparison is Laetner coming out of college. Except he is more like Rasheed Wallace without any ability to score. He has the same hot-headedness that will get him lots of T's.

And why would the Bucks want Brewer? The designated Lebron defender? I would worry about all the other people I have to play against other than Lebron. See how good Dallas did trying to prepare for one team? They lost, in the first round.

Finally, no way some team does not take Brandon Wright in the lottery.

Liz said...

The Sixers do have the 12th pick...the Hornets have 13th.

Anonymous said...

Chad Ford is reporting a trade offer between Boston and Seattle,Dan.Boston would get Ray Allen,for Gerald Green,Theo Ratliff and the number 5 pick...

DO IT danny!

Jen said...

Royals sweeping the Angels should be HUGE! That was excellent.

Jack Cust is another friend of my cousin's. He's spent so many years in the minors and I'm really glad he's doing well. Unfortunately those 5 ribbies were against the Indians last night. booooo HA

mattie said...

I know someone brought this up toward the end of yesterday's thread, but I wanted to reiterate what an AWFUL decision it was by the NBA to extend the ABC/ESPN contract for another eight years. The comments yesterday on ESPN were almost funny -- 100 or so straight posts of anger/despair. ABC/ESPN coverage is terrible, and has never come close to holding a candle to TNT's or NBC's. They don't seem to care about basketball or the NBA at all, and it shows, and all that does is make everyone else wonder why *they* should care, and makes the diehards like me disappointed and irritated watching these poorly done telecasts. I know, it's a business, and Stern and company don't care as long as they get that cash, but this is just a big mistake, and will continue to hurt the league for the next eight years. Can't wait to see what low-rent pop-stars they get to do a cheesy opening for the ABC games next year!

chipp said...

RSN:
How's your Papelboner this morning; a little limp? You're still up nine on Toronto, but getting swept by the M's and that line-up only scoring one (unearned) run is pretty bad. Is this a sign of the wheels coming off or Seattle putting things together?

PV:
Definite MLB Team Studs: KC and SEA!

Anonymous said...

Re:Mattie,Pray that Bill Simmons writes a column about how they should make a trade for John Tesh.

TJ said...

Dan, do you really have to make a "16 over 1" call every major sports event? You already got one right with the Warriors, you don't need to keep doing it every time. Portland should take Durant; they are taking Oden. See Truehoop for evidence that even Durant himself believes he's going to Seattle.

Eric Chase said...

I'm glad to see the commenters of this blog are smart enough NOT to react to Dan's ridiculous Oden/Durant comment

CMFost said...

1. Blazers: Oden
2. Sonics: Durant
3. Hawks: Al Horford
4. Grizzlies: Jeff Green
5. Celtics: Corey Brewer - if the Celtics make the pick which I don't believe they will
6. Bucks: Yi Jianlian
7. T'wolves: Mike Conley
8. Bobcats: Jeff Green
9. Bulls: Julian Wright
10. Kings: Al Thornton
11. Hawks: Acie Law
12. Hornets: Nick Young
13. 76ers: Spencer Hawes
14. Clippers: Sean Williams

CMFost said...

Chipp - it was just one series against a team that seems to own the Red Sox. One bad day hitting does not make a trend. The positives are that Dice-K was great and Paps was dominating in his 1 2/3 innings.

The Sox's still have a 9 game lead which is the largest in MLB.

NA said...

Mexico Stuns Brazil 2-0. Brazil doesn't send it's "A" team, but you got to feel this lends a little more credibility to US Gold Cup victory...

(Of course, the US "B" team is going to get slaughtered 3-nil tonight by Argentina)

I like saying "Nil"

Brian in Oxford said...

mattie,

your comment sounds just like how we feel about ESPN's attitude towards hockey, too. except ESPN doesn't even show that anymore!

mattie said...

ryan from boston,ma -- ABC should throw in some extra cash with this monster deal to get that theme song. And to get some decent announcers. And a better production team. ;) I assume this is one of things where Bill is electrocuted by his editors. He can't possibly like the ABC/ESPN coverage.


Brian in Oxford -- ESPN seems to only really care about football (NFL and Arena, now that they have those rights), NASCAR, and baseball, when the Yankees are playing. Their basketball coverage is pitiful...

chipp said...

cm:
Paps was dominating?! He gave up a BB and the game losing double!

thistlewarrior said...

eric,

is the match on fox soccer channel tonight?

Jingoist said...

Why oh WHY would the Blazers tip their hand on the #1. Stupid.

And the Celtics don't need Ray Allen, who is a clone of Paul Pierce with more miles and less desire- if that second trait is even possible given Pierce's lack of motivation especially on the defensive end of the court.

1999 Officers said...

Ok Dan, what type of blog are you going for? Each morning you shill for your Varisty Dad projects and then this morning switch gears with a Bukkake joke. What's it gonna be...Quickie-like or Deadspin/KSK-like? No offense, but this multitasking is like Carl Lewis' National Anthem or Shaq's Rap Album. Stick to what you know, and what people have come to know you to be.

CMFost said...

Chipp guess you did not watch the game. It was Pinero that gave up the walk and the game winning double.

Paps pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings with 2 K's

chipp said...

CM:
Dang it, that's right. Sorry, I was mixed up. I did think it was interesting that both teams closers pitched in a tie game, neither getting a W, L, or S.

Maybe that's why the M's let Piniero go.

Matt T said...

There are some good interviews that Henry did on True Hoop.

Worth a read.

CMFost said...

did I read the quickie wrong or is Dan actually going to do Live blogging on his own site for once??

Chris said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
John Paul Manahan said...

Clippers are like the Bulls (after the J-Will accident)

They were not supposed to pick a pg, but now they have to

(i would love acie to drop to us at 14).

Chris said...

Studs:

Yunel Escobar & Jeff Francoeur: Combined 7/8 2 Doubles, 4 RBI's and 5 Runs Scored. It might be against the Gnats but still

Ryan Howard: 505ft HR ... nuff said

Duds:

Yankees Hitters, can't get any runs for Clemens

Gnats Pitchers: 4 of the 5 Pitchers used gave up atleast 1 run in an inning of work.

Anonymous said...

My favourite, most underrated storyline of the draft: Could the Hawks' picks be placed any better? They get their choice of the non-Oden/Durant batch at 3, and 11's the perfect spot to pick up a sliding star. How quickly can the franchise rebound if they get Horford at 3 and either Noah, Conley or Brewer slides out of the top 10 to them?

NA said...

eric,

is the match on fox soccer channel tonight?

Nope, only Univision. And GolTV, but I don't know a single person with GolTV, so Univision it is. I guess I can download Sopcast and get GolTV off of that, but I can just watch in Spanish I suppose. I think they need a SAP option so I can watch in English.

Big D said...

"How come Shea Hillenbrand only shows up in the news when he's being a d-bag?"

Uh... maybe beause he's a rather lousy player otherwise? Actually, I'll be kind. Let's call him "Stunningly Mediocre".



Stupid question here everybody, but is the draft on ESPN, TNT, or ABC tonight? I only get 1 of those 3 channels through the bunny-ears (don't laugh), so if it's on ESPN or TNT, I guess I'm following along online...

John Paul Manahan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
John Paul Manahan said...

malcolm:

the bigger one would be how the ATL will squander that opportunity....

CMFost said...

draft is on ESPN

Brian in Oxford said...

I always wanted an announcer to describe a Hillenbrand home run with:

"Shea Ralphs one to left for a three-run homer."

Roge said...

Why is the article about Alando Tucker ridiculous? I thought he made some fantastic points. The parallels to Josh Howard are right on. I think Tucker will be a great pro - that third fiddle kind of a guy that gives you solid play and stats. What's wrong with that Dan?

Matt T said...

@Malcom - if the trade with Amare doesn't happen, I'd like to see them pick up Horford/Law and then try to move Childress/Shelden Willaims for some veteran help.

They have the youngest team in the league still.

CMFost said...

Wow - Michelle Wie sucks - +11 after the first round of the US Women's Open

Jingoist said...

Because I like to push hockey here... the NHL HOF announced its 2007 class this afternoon.

I added a quick montage pic of the 4 HOFers to my blog if anyone is interested.

Joey said...

Brewer the LeBron stopper? That's just ridiculous. He might be able to play some good defense, but LeBron has him by about 60-70 lbs.

It is obvious that Oden is going to be picked #1 and should be. This is a worse prediction than your Oral Roberts pick.