NBA DRAFT
I’m rather surprised that Bogut went number one in the NBA Draft. As badly as he was exposed in the NCAA Tournament, I thought he would be regarded as more of a project than a top pick. He proved himself to be a step too slow and too easily rattled by the higher level of competition. His frustration was apparent even in games they won. Against Kentucky he looked extremely average. He did however show that even on an off night he could still score twenty points. For some teams that might be a pretty big plus. What he didn’t show was that he could involve any of his teammates in the offense if he was having an off night; for an NBA player who figures to be more of a Nowitzki type player that isn’t as promising. The sleeper of the draft and the steal of the draft as far as I’m concerned was Channing Frye. He should have been the top pick in this year’s draft and in about six months time I expect he will be receiving a lot of talk as rookie of the year. During the tournament he showed great leadership on a team that had its share of mental problems and very nearly carried them past Illinois. He has McHale like touch and footwork in the post and is probably a better passer. He seems to operate as well from the top of the key as he does from the low post. The Knicks got one over on the league by getting this guy as late as they got him. The only comparable steal was the Celtics getting Gerald Green with the 18th pick. How did that happen? I guess everybody expected him to be gone in the top five and failed to do any research on him and consequently thought it safer to take a pick they had done their homework on. In five years he should be an all star. The big goat of the draft looks to be the Lakers who took a player that doesn’t even have trade potential. On a team that needs immediate help you’d think they would take someone who is potentially capable of playing by the end of the season and giving them a few minutes per game during the playoffs. Looking at this pick they seem to have already written off next season and be building for 2007. If they expect Phil Jackson to be around at that time, maybe that’s a good thing. Even the Lakers have to build for the future at some point. Still this looks pretty inept at the moment.