NBA Draft Winners and Losers, Future Front Page Article Options

[ZoomSlowik]

NBA Draft Winners and Losers
By Joseph Slowik, draft analyst


Winners
-Memphis Grizzlies
Memphis had an absolutely fantastic night. Besides getting Kyle Lowry and Alexander Johnson with their own picks, they somehow managed to get Rudy Gay and Stromile Swift for Shane Battier. The team added a lot of athleticism and some much needed size.

All four players should immediately fit into their rotation. Gay gives them a long, supremely athletic small forward with a very high ceiling. He could easily turn out to be the best player in the draft, and might start immediately. Lowry gives them another option at PG, and could also start. He is very quick and is not afraid to take the ball to the rack among much bigger players. Swift and Johnson are both athletic players with scoring ability. Pau Gasol just got a lot of reinforcements.

Jerry West proved why he is widely considered the best GM in the business with this draft. Even in what is widely considered a below average class, he managed to acquire several productive youngsters that filled needs for his team. Memphis is now an athletic team that should be fun to watch.

-Portland Trailblazers
The Trailblazers came away from this draft with two very solid prospects in LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy. They also added two talented projects in PG Sergio Rodriguez and PF Joel Freeland, and PF/C Raef LaFrentz from Boston. This is especially impressive given the relative lack of proven talent in the draft.

Roy and Aldridge should contribute early. Brandon will probably start at SG, giving the team a solid all around player that can also handle the ball if necessary. Aldridge could also start, but it is more likely that he will backup both LaFrentz and Zach Randolph. LaMarcus needs to get stronger, but he is a skilled big man with excellent length and solid athleticism for his size.

Rodriguez and Freeland will probably play minor roles, or spend some time in the NBDL. Although he has good quickness and ball-handling ability, Rodriguez needs to work on his defense and outside shooting. Freeland has good size and athleticism, but needs to bulk up and get more game experience.

Overall, the team added some talented prospects that should add to their young core. Malcontents Darius Miles and Zach Randolph may be on their way out as the Trailblazers continue to rebuild the team.

-New Jersey Nets
New Jersey came into the draft in a very good position. They had two late first round picks and no glaring needs in the starting lineup. Their main focus was adding some punch off the bench. They had the flexibility to go in numerous different directions depending on the route the draft took. They settled on Marcus Williams and Josh Boone with their two picks, and added Hasaan Adams in the second round.

Boone gives them an athletic big man off the bench. He’ll be a good fit because they don’t need him to score, just play defense and rebound. Williams provides a good distributor off the bench that will let them rest Jason Kidd a little more this year. Adams should be a great bench player for New Jersey. He’s extremely athletic and should provide great energy and defense from the second unit.

It wasn’t a perfect draft though. Kyle Lowry or Shannon Brown might have fit their needs better than Williams. However, they still added three potentially solid players with their picks.

-Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland is another team with a later pick that still managed to add some quality talent.. They added two very gifted players in Shannon Brown and Daniel Gibson, as well as forward Ejike Egboaja.

Brown is an explosive athlete that knows how to score. He was also a dangerous outside shooter in college. He’s a little undersized, but he can still be an effective player. He would have been a top-5 lock if he were 6’6”. Gibson is another guy with lottery talent. He is coming off a rough season at Texas, where his status as a point guard came into question. He’s still a very good athlete that is a capable shooter. With more game experience and improved decision making, he could be quite a steal.

Cleveland found two potentially effective players late in the draft, which is a real feat this year. It would have been better for the team if they had taken a big man, but the options were rather slim at that point in the draft. Brown should help their backcourt immediately.

Losers

-Phoenix Suns
Phoenix had a chance to add some decent rotation players with their two picks late in the first round. Players like Shannon Brown, Kyle Lowry and Josh Boone were available at pick number 21, and at pick number 30 they could have drafted a useful project like Joel Freeman, James White or Kosta Perovic. Instead, they wound up with no one. The team traded both picks, acquiring a future first rounder and cash.

One could argue that Phoenix is a solid team that didn’t really need to add young players, but this team still has some holes. They are very short on big men, so Boone could have played a valuable role off the bench. Lowry could have given the team a true backup PG that could push the tempo when Steve Nash needs a rest. Brown could have given them another dangerous wing player. If nothing else, they could take a project that they would send to the NBDL, or a European player that could stay overseas for another year or two.

Phoenix missed a chance to bolster their roster and add some more dangerous pieces to their attack. Their team will still be dangerous, but I have to seriously question the wisdom of giving up both of their first round picks.
Atlanta Hawks

Shelden Williams had a productive college career and is one of the more NBA ready players in the draft. He also fills a need for the team. However, this simply wasn’t a smart pick by the Hawks. They also reached on Solomon Jones, a very raw prospect at center.

Williams is considered to have limited potential in the NBA, especially offensively. He is a rather ordinary athlete and doesn’t have the length of many other prospects. He was a reach, projected to be taken toward the late end of the lottery. The team could have traded down several spots and still drafted Williams. Even if Williams were off the board in that situation, Patrick O’Bryant and Cedric Simmons would be other solid alternatives. Even assuming they couldn’t get a deal, they probably would have been better off taking Brandon Roy or Randy Foye, who are both likely to be better pros and could take some of the pressure of being the primary ball-handler off of Joe Johnson. As for Jones, Alexander Johnson would have been a much better selection at that point, even if he is somewhat similar to Williams.

Atlanta simply can’t seem to get the right players in the draft when they have a high pick. After passing on Chris Paul last year, they again seem to have made an error in taking a rather limited player. At least they didn’t take another small forward.

-Houston Rockets
The Rockets had a rough night. The team had a deal set up with Minnesota that would allow them to get Brandon Roy. However, Portland took Randy Foye, the player that Minnesota wanted, leaving the Rockets in a bad position. Then, they made the situation worse by over-paying for Shane Battier.

Wouldn’t it have made more sense to keep Gay, a very talented SF that could help right away? Or draft Rodney Carney, another great athlete with a decent jumper? Or J.J. Redick, who would have been a very dangerous sniper with teams double teaming Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady? Battier is a solid player that will help the team, but he’s nothing special. He simply wasn’t worth their first round pick and Stromile Swift.

They managed to salvage the draft somewhat by drafting Steve Novak. Novak is a great shooter that could help their offense. Unfortunately, he’s a bit of a tweener. He’s a little small and thin to play PF, and he’s not quick enough to play SF. He could still have an impact though.

The team could really have used some solid players to complement McGrady and Ming, but it doesn’t look like they made significant strides. Battier is decent, but giving up Swift hurt their depth, and they lost a chance to add some solid youngsters. It really hurt their plans when Portland took Foye. That is one major drawback of the draft-and-trade deals that seemed to be very prevalent in this year’s draft.

[Rowand44]

NBA Draft Winners and Losers
By Joseph Slowik, draft analyst


Winners
-Memphis Grizzlies
Memphis had an absolutely fantastic night. Besides getting Kyle Lowry and Alexander Johnson with their own picks, they somehow managed to get Rudy Gay and Stromile Swift for Shane Battier. The team added a lot of athleticism and some much needed size.

All four players should immediately fit into their rotation. Gay gives them a long, supremely athletic small forward with a very high ceiling. He could easily turn out to be the best player in the draft, and might start immediately. Lowry gives them another option at PG, and could also start. He is very quick and is not afraid to take the ball to the rack among much bigger players. Swift and Johnson are both athletic players with scoring ability. Pau Gasol just got a lot of reinforcements.

Jerry West proved why he is widely considered the best GM in the business with this draft. Even in what is widely considered a below average class, he managed to acquire several productive youngsters that filled needs for his team. Memphis is now an athletic team that should be fun to watch.

-Portland Trailblazers
The Trailblazers came away from this draft with two very solid prospects in LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy. They also added two talented projects in PG Sergio Rodriguez and PF Joel Freeland, and PF/C Raef LaFrentz from Boston. This is especially impressive given the relative lack of proven talent in the draft.

Roy and Aldridge should contribute early. Brandon will probably start at SG, giving the team a solid all around player that can also handle the ball if necessary. Aldridge could also start, but it is more likely that he will backup both LaFrentz and Zach Randolph. LaMarcus needs to get stronger, but he is a skilled big man with excellent length and solid athleticism for his size.

Rodriguez and Freeland will probably play minor roles, or spend some time in the NBDL. Although he has good quickness and ball-handling ability, Rodriguez needs to work on his defense and outside shooting. Freeland has good size and athleticism, but needs to bulk up and get more game experience.

Overall, the team added some talented prospects that should add to their young core. Malcontents Darius Miles and Zach Randolph may be on their way out as the Trailblazers continue to rebuild the team.

-New Jersey Nets
New Jersey came into the draft in a very good position. They had two late first round picks and no glaring needs in the starting lineup. Their main focus was adding some punch off the bench. They had the flexibility to go in numerous different directions depending on the route the draft took. They settled on Marcus Williams and Josh Boone with their two picks, and added Hasaan Adams in the second round.

Boone gives them an athletic big man off the bench. He’ll be a good fit because they don’t need him to score, just play defense and rebound. Williams provides a good distributor off the bench that will let them rest Jason Kidd a little more this year. Adams should be a great bench player for New Jersey. He’s extremely athletic and should provide great energy and defense from the second unit.

It wasn’t a perfect draft though. Kyle Lowry or Shannon Brown might have fit their needs better than Williams. However, they still added three potentially solid players with their picks.

-Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland is another team with a later pick that still managed to add some quality talent.. They added two very gifted players in Shannon Brown and Daniel Gibson, as well as forward Ejike Egboaja.

Brown is an explosive athlete that knows how to score. He was also a dangerous outside shooter in college. He’s a little undersized, but he can still be an effective player. He would have been a top-5 lock if he were 6’6”. Gibson is another guy with lottery talent. He is coming off a rough season at Texas, where his status as a point guard came into question. He’s still a very good athlete that is a capable shooter. With more game experience and improved decision making, he could be quite a steal.

Cleveland found two potentially effective players late in the draft, which is a real feat this year. It would have been better for the team if they had taken a big man, but the options were rather slim at that point in the draft. Brown should help their backcourt immediately.

Losers

-Phoenix Suns
Phoenix had a chance to add some decent rotation players with their two picks late in the first round. Players like Shannon Brown, Kyle Lowry and Josh Boone were available at pick number 21, and at pick number 30 they could have drafted a useful project like Joel Freeman, James White or Kosta Perovic. Instead, they wound up with no one. The team traded both picks, acquiring a future first rounder and cash.

One could argue that Phoenix is a solid team that didn’t really need to add young players, but this team still has some holes. They are very short on big men, so Boone could have played a valuable role off the bench. Lowry could have given the team a true backup PG that could push the tempo when Steve Nash needs a rest. Brown could have given them another dangerous wing player. If nothing else, they could take a project that they would send to the NBDL, or a European player that could stay overseas for another year or two.

Phoenix missed a chance to bolster their roster and add some more dangerous pieces to their attack. Their team will still be dangerous, but I have to seriously question the wisdom of giving up both of their first round picks.
Atlanta Hawks

Shelden Williams had a productive college career and is one of the more NBA ready players in the draft. He also fills a need for the team. However, this simply wasn’t a smart pick by the Hawks. They also reached on Solomon Jones, a very raw prospect at center.

Williams is considered to have limited potential in the NBA, especially offensively. He is a rather ordinary athlete and doesn’t have the length of many other prospects. He was a reach, projected to be taken toward the late end of the lottery. The team could have traded down several spots and still drafted Williams. Even if Williams were off the board in that situation, Patrick O’Bryant and Cedric Simmons would be other solid alternatives. Even assuming they couldn’t get a deal, they probably would have been better off taking Brandon Roy or Randy Foye, who are both likely to be better pros and could take some of the pressure of being the primary ball-handler off of Joe Johnson. As for Jones, Alexander Johnson would have been a much better selection at that point, even if he is somewhat similar to Williams.

Atlanta simply can’t seem to get the right players in the draft when they have a high pick. After passing on Chris Paul last year, they again seem to have made an error in taking a rather limited player. At least they didn’t take another small forward.

-Houston Rockets
The Rockets had a rough night. The team had a deal set up with Minnesota that would allow them to get Brandon Roy. However, Portland took Randy Foye, the player that Minnesota wanted, leaving the Rockets in a bad position. Then, they made the situation worse by over-paying for Shane Battier.

Wouldn’t it have made more sense to keep Gay, a very talented SF that could help right away? Or draft Rodney Carney, another great athlete with a decent jumper? Or J.J. Redick, who would have been a very dangerous sniper with teams double teaming Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady? Battier is a solid player that will help the team, but he’s nothing special. He simply wasn’t worth their first round pick and Stromile Swift.

They managed to salvage the draft somewhat by drafting Steve Novak. Novak is a great shooter that could help their offense. Unfortunately, he’s a bit of a tweener. He’s a little small and thin to play PF, and he’s not quick enough to play SF. He could still have an impact though.

The team could really have used some solid players to complement McGrady and Ming, but it doesn’t look like they made significant strides. Battier is decent, but giving up Swift hurt their depth, and they lost a chance to add some solid youngsters. It really hurt their plans when Portland took Foye. That is one major drawback of the draft-and-trade deals that seemed to be very prevalent in this year’s draft.

Once again we seem to be on the exact same page when it comes to the draft, Zoom.

[ZoomSlowik]

I just realized that I left the Knicks off the losers list. Not sure how I did that, I had a little tirade all planned out and somehow forgot.