What NBA Teams Scored Big in the 2009 Draft?
What NBA teams scored big in the 2009 draft?
The NBA draft this past weekend was surrounded by questions. Who would be picked first among a crowd of lackluster names? There was no “big name” at this year’s draft, no potential Lebron James, no player that analysts could say would turn into another Dwight Howard. In fact, this may have been the mildest draft in recent history in terms of rookie talent. Some analysts looked at the field and saw nothing but a lack of depth — while others prepared for a massive amount of player trading.
That’s exactly what happened.
Teams looked to bolster their lineup with veteran players rather than add an unknown element. Don’t believe me? During or just before the draft, there were more costume changes in the NBA than at Aladdin on Ice.The Cleveland Cavaliers added Shaquille O’Neal to their roster, a feat they probably wish they’d pulled off back at the trade deadline. Before the sports world could say “Shaq-fu” the Orlando Magic traded for Vince Carter from the New Jersey Nets. Two big men moving to two new teams.
You have to remember that both of these big moves came after the fading dynasty of the San Antonio Spurs added the talents of Richard Jefferson (probably for one last big push at the NBA title while Tim Duncan is healthy enough to play) and the Boston Celtics were looking to trade Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen. Even the Denver Nuggets got into the game, trading down in the draft in order to acquire Ty Lawson, a great back up their star Chauncey Billups.
This draft was less about vying for big name players and more about bolstering your team for what appears to be an open ended time in the NBA — sure, the Lakers just won another championship, but that’s after a playoff series that saw teams like the Houston Rockets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic, and Denver Nuggets really come out of their shells and earn a chance at greatness. All those teams have to do is line up the right combination of big and fast, and any one of them could compete for next year’s title.
All that aside, who were the winners and losers of last week’s NBA draft?
One big winner is Blake Griffin, the ex Oklahoma forward selected by the Los Angeles Clippers as the first pick in the 2009 draft. Griffin is seen as a “tough guy”, and he’s certainly athletic. Scouts call him a “hard worker” and his character isn’t marred by incidents on his college campus or any off court legal nonsense.
But does the slection of Griffin make the Clippers a winner? Not even a first round pick seems capable of that. In the past 30 years, the Clips have had only two winning seasons — obviously, they’ve made some high picks in the draft before. While Griffin seems like the best choice out of a weak draft, you have to remember the history of top draft picks in the NBA. There are at least four big name top picks that I can think of that failed miserably — Michael Olowokandi, Kwame Brown, Andrew Bogut, and Kwame Brown — yes, I know I put Kwame down twice. He’s just played that bad. In fact, all three of those top picks have failed to reach a single All-Star game, much less a championship. Greg Oden, the top pick from last year, also comes to mind as a potential bust. Time will tell if the Clips have made a big pick in young Griffin.
A big loser in this year’s draft — the Indiana Pacers. They drafted Tyler Hansbrough with the 13th pick in the draft, leaving many sports fans scratching their heads. Hansbrough is what is known in the NBA as an “in betweener” — he isn’t big enough to guard the league’s top power forwards, but he isn’t fast enough to pair up against small forwards. His style of play was highly suited to the NCAA. It seemed that Hansbrough got every call that came his way, and few of his shots were defended at the level he’ll see in the NBA. The Pacers will be lucky if Hansbrough can get four or five points a game, and at the thirteenth position in the draft, four or five points is not what you’re looking for.
The 2009 NBA draft was a picture of confusion. No one knew who the big players were. Yes, the concensus among sportswriters held that Griffin would be picked first, but after that the predictions were all over the place. Teams that really “won” this offseason are teams that shuffled for veteran players, while some teams made rookie picks that were downright questionable.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 7:32 am and is filed under Entertainment, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.