Draft Day

After an unpredictable and oddly entertaining NBA Draft, I've got a few thoughts I'd like to talk about. None of them involving Darko Milicic's trade to the New York Knicks.

First things first, I was at the Rockets Draft Party at the House of Blues. Joey Dorsey was there and I got him to sign my shirt, I caught a Rockets towel from the Power Dancers and I was interviewed by chron.com, which was probably the highlight of my night. Check for the video sometime tomorrow morning, there's some expert analysis in there from yours truly. Apparently Daryl Morey actually watches these videos so I got to throw my Pistons trade idea at him as well as beg him to somehow pull off the Amare trade. Now onto the actual draft.

What the hell were the Timberwolves doing? Apparently they've already sent Lawson to the Nuggets and are working on a deal with the Knicks for Rubio, but how necessary was it to take three point guards with your three picks in the first round? Were they just trying to screw with their fans? Are the Nuggets and Knicks really that desperate for Lawson and Rubio? Does anyone actually want any players on the Knicks roster anyways? What did the Timberwolves gain from drafting and trading Lawson and most likely Rubio instead of just drafting two other good players?

Since we're on the topic of Ty Lawson, Billy and I were discussing how we thought he'd be a good player if he was put on a good team. Well, he's on a good team. Now all that's left is the first half of that sentence, which is being a good player. I like him as an understudy to Chauncey and think he'll be ready to run the team in 2-3 years when Billups' deterioration really starts to pick up.

A little more on Ty Lawson. It's a little saddening to know that Lawson and UNC teammate Wayne Ellington won't stay together in the NBA. For the Timberwolves to reunite North Carolina's backcourt through the draft only to break it up again a few hours later was just cruel.

We just had three paragraphs centered around Ty Lawson. That should tell you all you need to know about this year's draft.

I called Indiana picking Tyler Hansbrough. I said that they would take the best available white guy to go along with Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy and Jeff Foster, and they took Hansbrough. I just love it when my thoroughly un-researched, unfounded and downright unintelligent guesses happen to be right by some random stroke of luck.

I was disappointed that the Rockets didn't trade up for a draft pick. After spending a week convincing myself we were going to get James Harden, I was actually a little surprised when we didn't. I knew we really had little to no shot of getting him, but I was still somehow expecting it to happen, if that makes any sense.

When the news that the Suns and Warriors were working on a deal that included Amare Stoudemire was announced at least half of the people in attendance booed. Now I'm just guessing here, but I think we really wanted Amare.

The Red Rowdies were present and had a full table to themselves, doing all sorts of rowdy, red activities. They look at lot more subdued in person. Go figure.

Brandon Jennings being brought in after he was originally not allowed inside the green room was one of the more entertaining moments of the night. The awkward introduction by Stern, the interview that was about four picks too late, Brandon Jennings not being there in the first place when he was almost an assured top-15 pick, all of it really meshed together into a high comedy moment.

We've gotten two second round draft picks so far: Jermaine Taylor and Sergio Llull. I'm not going to pretend that I know anything about either of them, but Taylor averaged 26 a game last year. And for some reason, Llull gives me Vasileios Spanoulis flashbacks. Which means I'm going to spend the next week and a half watching highlights of him and talking myself into him, only to have him never, you know, actually come and play for us for an extended amount of time.

A little side note here, if we get Amare, or Amar'e, he's going to have to remove that apostrophe from his name. It's a little ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as taking three point guards in the first round.

And so it begins. Welcome to Houston, "Spanish Jordan." And let's not forget our other draft pick.

And we just bought Chase Budinger. Normally, I'd be doubtful that any championship building plan would be centered around buying three second round draft picks, but with Morey, anything's possible. And here are your Budinger highlights.

I'm starting to realize that in order for Budinger to become a regular contributor, he's going to need a roster spot. James White's roster spot. I'm torn. I love "Flight," but Budinger has a lot of potential and is already a more well-rounded player. Sorry James, Chase gets the rotation spot and the minutes. I'm going to go cry in a corner now.

How the hell did the Heat wind up with the last pick in the NBA Draft? They've had nothing remotely close to the best record in the NBA. It's the little things like this that confuse me. And the big things. Like the Timberwolves drafting three point guards in the first round. Whoops, I think I might have used that one a few times already. To hell with it, it needs to be said more than once.

Blake Griffin's brother, Taylor Griffin, was also in this draft. Too bad nobody said a word about him. In the irony of ironies, the Suns selected Griffin. In case you forgot, the Suns also have Robin Lopez. Or, as I like to call him, Not Brook Lopez. That's the second year in a row in which they've gotten the wrong brother. One has to sympathize.

And congratulations to Robert Dozier, the last pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. In three years you will either be averaging 35 a game for a D-League team, working at a local 7/11 or actually playing an important role on an NBA team. But probably not that last one. Good luck to you. And to all the other 59 draft picks. But mostly just our three. And to you, Dozier, always to you.

I'm ordering a Robert Horry jersey t-shirt. Just because. Anyone know where I can get one?

My favorite part of the draft has to be Adam Silver relieving David Stern somewhere around the start of the second round. Does Stern get tired? Does he get bored? How hard can it be to walk up to a podium and say fourteen words 60 times? How necessary is Silver coming in to replace Stern? It baffles me almost as much as the Timberwolves taking three point guards in the first round. Alright I'm done. I really am.

Before we finish off, I'd like to point out that someone actually stepped on Chase Budinger's face. Whoever this Aubrey Coleman fellow is, I don't like him. That's our Chase, you can't do that to him.

And with that, it looks like we're done. The 2009 NBA Draft was certainly an eventful one, even though it will probably be better remembered for the huge deals that were made in the days preceding it. I was looking forward to the Rockets grabbing a mid-first round pick, but I'll settle for Llull and Taylor. And Budinger, of course. Well not really, but I'm too busy hoping/praying for Amare (Amar'e) that it doesn't really matter to me.