If you haven't heard by now, the results of Tuesday's draft lottery didn't go exactly as anticipated, which means bad news for Wizards fans. After winning the tiebreaker with the Los Angeles Clippers, the Wiz found themselves with the 2nd spot in the lottery and the 2nd best chance at landing this year's top overall pick. Now, I know that most of the time the worst team doesn't end up with the top pick, in fact, since 1990, only four teams with the worst record have won the lottery: the Magic in 2004, the Cavs in 2003, the Sixers in 1996 and the Nets in 1990. Crazier things have happened, I get that, but still I had high hopes for a Wizards team that really wasn't as bad as their record indicated to steal a franchise guy and maybe a NBA Finals appearance a couple of years down the road. Alas, my hopes were crushed as the Wizards hear their name drawn much earlier than expected, winding up with the #5 pick, while the Clippers, the team with the position that the Wiz would have had if they'd lost the tiebreaker ended up with the 1st pick. I know what you're thinking, "Hey! the 5th overall pick is still pretty good, what's all the fuss about?" But this year it couldn't be further from the truth.
In what is one of the weakest drafts in recent history, there are only really two players that are worthy of being taken in the top five in my opinion. The first and most obvious choice is Blake Griffin, who has been on NBA radars since he first put on his OU jersey back in 2007. This guy may be a little overrated, but there is no doubt that he could have an immediate impact on any team that drafts him. The second guy who could turn out to be a real game changer right out the gate is Spanish showman Ricky Rubio. I've been watching tape of this kid since the Beijing Olympics and let me tell you first hand that he is the real deal. His passing is so superb that he makes Steve Nash look like Dan Werner. Honestly, I would prefer Rubio to Griffin if I had the first pick in the draft. But since America has already decided unanimously that Blake Griffin is God, the Clippers, and maybe even the Grizzlies (#2 overall) are going to pass on him. Aside from those guys, the rest of the field is weak upon first glance and I really see no difference between the 5th pick and the 25th pick. Everyone in that range seems to have an equal chance of impacting the teams that drafts them.
So why do the Wizards
always pick the worst possible draft years to suck and get a high pick? The last time the Wizards were fortunate to land a top 5 pick was in 2000 where they won the cherished #1 overall pick and foolishly squandered it (thank you very much Michael Jordan...) on Kwame Brown. This kills me on two levels because not only was he the biggest bust at the top of the draft since Sam Bowie (thank you very much Micheal Jordan...), and set the Wiz back another couple of years, but he was also initially committed to my Alma mater, the University of Florida. Had there not been as much hype around him by the likes of MJ and others, he would have played for the Gators and had at least one year of Billy-Ball under his belt. His presence at the college level could have helped a team that snuck into the National Championship game in 2000 as an underdog, get there again as a favorite in 2001. Instead, he went on to flounder in the NBA while the Gators went five straight seasons without making it past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.It's been nine years since the dawn of a new millennium and our little Wizards team is all growns up and is all growns up (So I'm the a**hole in the bar...). That being said, I don't think the Wiz and Abe Polin will be as foolish as they have been in the past, as a high draft pick gives them quite a bargaining chip to work with. I see two possible options/directions that the Wizards could go in by utilizing this pick. First, in what seems to be a popular idea, they could package this pick along with Antawn Jamison and attempt to land a proven, somewhat young big man to join Gilbert and Caron as part of a new "Big Three." One team that is in the discussion is Phoenix, who wants to clear up some cap room and has been shopping around F/C Amare Stoudamire for the past season or so. I think Amare would be a great fit in Washington's offense. He's fast, he's athletic and he plays the same position as Antwan so there wouldn't need to be any adjustments made to the line-up. For Phoenix, they get a guy in Jamison who will give them consistency for at least another year or two and they don't have to worry about keeping him to a long term contract after that. Also, they could draft a young big man with the 5th pick that could work with Jamison and develop to fill into his role once he departs from the team.
A second option could be for the Wiz to trade with Memphis up to the second pick and use it to draft Ricky Rubio (highly unlikely but would be a dream come true for me)
. Initially, this may look like a bad move for the team since they already have the 111 million-dollar-man Gilbert Arenas playing the point, but I think that a player like Rubio would, if anything, enhance Gilbert's scoring ability and allow him to utilize his silky smooth shooting skills (alliteration intended). With Rubio at the point, Gilbert could be moved to SG. This almost makes too much sense, as a shooting guard Gilbert could focus primarily on shooting off "off-ball" screens, much like Ray Allen does in Boston. Let's face it, the guy is going to have had lost a step or two coming off of three surgeries, so this position would allow for him to still be a scoring threat, without banging his knee up driving to the hoop or having the ball in his hands all the time. This could be a good way for Gilbert to ease back into real game scenarios and also give the Wiz a deadly back court with Deshawn Stevenson and Nick Young coming off the bench. Unfortunately, I don't see what the Wiz have to really entice the Grizz besides their pick. I don't think Memphis would be too inclined to to eat up what's left of Antawn's contract while not dumping any significant salary of their own in the process. Unfortunately, this looks like a lost cause, but it's still a cool scenario to think about..or mull over thinking what could have been...I also wanted to take a minute to talk about the NBA Conference Finals and the complexity of these two match-ups. I find it ironic how the Lakers and the Cavs are both the favorites to win their series, and yet their respective opponents are clearly the more complete teams. While LA and Cleveland are anchored behind one incredibly dominant superstar, Denver and Orlando have a lot of role players and position players that contribute equally to the game. Let's look at Denver first and how they match up against LA.
This Denver team was incredibly underrated heading into the playoffs, I myself had them losing in the first round to the New Orleans Quit Show, but even I can admit when I make a mistake. These guys are for real an
d they are doing it by practicing the fundamentals of basketball. Denver's defense has been unstoppable at times. Carmello Anthony may be one of the most underrated defenders in the league, as he has proven that Kobe Bryant can be stopped (although Kobe did mange to sink a few wet J's right in Melo's face). He was all over Mr. Consistency for the first two games of this series, and the rest of the team struggled as a result. This allowed for the Nuggets to get favorable match ups for the rest of their starters and the defense was able to thrive. He is also so versatile on offense and can make you pay in a lot of different ways. As an incredibly strong small forward, he always has an advantage under the boards. A lot of times this will draw a double team and he can kick the ball out to an open shooter if he doesn't muscle in the hoop himself. He can also shoot the long range shots and can create shots for other players. It's nice to see Melo finally coming into his own after living in the shadows of Wade and Lebron for the last six years.Does anyone on the Lakers have an answer for Chauncey Billups? This is another guy that I slept on all season and never truly realized how important he is to this team. He made everyone on the Lakers look stupid in game two, creating his own shots and drawing fouls pretty much at will. He is a nightmare to contain for opposing defenses, especially one that's still searching for its identity like LA's. Billups finished with 27 points, Melo added 34 and 9 rebounds, and the Nuggets stole away home court advantage in a 106-103 victory last night. As for supporting casts, Denver's is as scrappy as they come. The difference in this series is the hustle that the rest of this team shows every time they are on the court. Whether its fighting for loose balls or creating turnovers, it just looks like Denver wants to win more. I am so impressed with this team, I really believe that they have the tools to win a championship.
What's shaping up to be another exciting series is the Eastern Conference Finals. I don't think anybody saw Orlando's game one victory (107-106) coming, especially Cleveland. Lebron James had a career playoff high 49 points and it still wasn't enough to get the win. In the same way as Denver, Orlando is the more complete team in this series. Cleveland's offensive strategy worked pretty well during the regular season, but it was destined to fail because of their lack of role players. Essentially, the Cavs built their entire team around Lebron's style of play, and since Lebron's does pretty much everything, all Cleveland had to find in a supporting cast were guys who could knock down jump shots when their defenders left them to double Lebron. Since James is the one creating all the shots, everyone else's decisions are based on what he does. Take James out of the equation and you are looking at a lottery team in the Cavs. This is favorable for the Magic because they have guys on the floor aside from Dwight Howard that are proven difference makers (Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu) and are matching up incredibly well against the sub par Cleveland players. In game one 'shard was playing like the all star he was in Seattle. If he can keep producing like he did, Cleveland is in big trouble (though, they already are in trouble). He was unstoppable Wednesday night, hitting the same shot time and time again. This is a perfect example of how the Cavs supporting cast can't really compete, I mean, how many times are you gonna let Orlando run the same play? It was hard to watch, it really was. The key to beating Cleveland is easier than many thought it would be. Shut down the role players and you can win, even if Lebron puts up silly numbers, which he undoubtedly will. I would like nothing more than to see a Magic/Nuggets finals just to spite the NBA and all their terrible officiating, because you know its in their best interest to have a Lakers/Cavs final (The puppet commercials have already penciled those two teams in). In an earlier post, I said that a Lakers/Cavs final HAD TO happen for the good of the NBA and the good of every NBA fan, but now my stance has changed. I think a Nuggets/Magic finals would be just as exciting a match-up because the teams are better and they are hungrier to win since nobody expected them to make it there in the first place. The NBA, where unexpected happens...
I got nothing to say about the O's (16-25) except hopefully they can end their losing skid against the woeful Nationals this weekend's "battle of the beltway" (not too much of a battle, these days...). NBA and NHL Playoffs all weekend, enjoy your memorial day.
some statistics courtesy of espn.com
Until next time...
