2006 NBA Draft Wrap
Probably the craziest, most unprediticable draft I have ever covered. Between the lack of uncertainty as well as the trades it was entertaining to say the least. Below I have a quick summary of the winners and losers in this years draft.
Winners:
Portland:
2. LaMarcus Aldridge PF Tex. So.
6. Brandon Roy SG Washington Sr.
27. Sergio Rodriguez PG Spain 1986
30. Joel Freeland PF England 1987
Although they way thet got the picks was a little strange, they ended up getting many key pieces for the future. Its clear they are in rebuilding mode and to come out of this draft with Aldridge and Roy, two of the best players in the NCAA this year, as well as future PG Rodriguez who will help offset the loss of Telfair, a truly amazing draft. Freeland is a guy who may turn out to be a scrappy player in a couple years from now, good pick at #30.Utah:
14. Ronnie Brewer SG Arkansas Jr.
46.Dee Brown PG Illinois Sr.
47. Paul Millsap PF Lou. Tech Jr.
I liked the draft for the Utah Jazz. Ronnie Brewer is a guy I though could go as high as #7 to the Celtics, tremendous defensively and should get major minutes right away playing alongside and backing up Deron Williams. Dee Brown is a guy who would've went first round last year but got injured , he has a tremendous motor and should be able to help increase the pace as well as play solid D. Now for the sleeper in the draft, this years second round gem Paul Millsap. He was the leading rebounder in the country last year and with the opportunity to play I think he has a shot at being a 7-10 rebound per game guy coming off the bench. Offense needs to improve though.
Memphis:
8. Rudy Gay SF UConn So.
24. Kyle Lowry PG Villanova So.
45. Alexander Johnson PF FSU Jr.
Ok, I am not the biggest Rudy Gay fan but this guy was projected to be the #1 overall pick as little as 3 months ago. He could be another Charlie Villanueva who breaks out after leaving Calhouns system at UCONN. The second pick is a good one as well as Lowry would have greatly improved his stock if he came back to Villanova for one more season. Is a strong player for his size, can take anyone off the dribble, needs to improve his J though. The addition of Alexander is solid as I thought he could be picked as soon as #15 to New Orleans. He should bring needed athleticism to the Grizzlies froncourt.
Honorable Mentions:
Chicago Bulls- Tyrus and Thabo is going to make sure of a great future to come for the Bulls. Great moves to get them when they did as well. Look for them to be serious contenders in 2007-2008.
New Orleans- Someone out of the Hilton Armstrong, Cedrid Simmons, Marcus Vinicius trio is going to be a stud so why not just draft all three, what the hell. Peja Stojacovic is also rumored ot be signing here as well so I like the idea of taking chances and filling a need.
Losers
New York:
20. Renaldo Balkman SF So.Car. Jr.
29. Mardy Collins PG/SG Temple Sr.
Ok, this was almost too easy, not a total disaster though. The good part of this was Mardy Collins, who I liked coming out of Temple. He's a player who was held back in Chaney' system at Temple, should play a lot next season even with the glut of guards in NY cause he can match up well against bigger guards. Now to the bad. Isiah did not disappoint thats for sure. Like Jay Bilas said Balkman was a guy who was not on anyones board as a first rounder so why pick him there? Made no sense at all. Balkman can play theres no question and he would surely have been drafted in the middle of the second round but a trade down would have been the best scenario here for Isiah. Balkman also doesnt seem the best fit with all the players ahead of him on the depth chart, totally baffles me considering who else was on the board at that point!Seattle:
10. Saer Sene C Sen. 1986
40. Denham Brown SG UConn Sr.
53. Yotam Halperin PG Israel 1984
I absolutely hate this draft. Yes I saw the higlights video of Sene but they were just the highlights, they didnt show the bad. This guy is so far away from contributing its unfathomable that he was pick #10 overall in the NBA Draft. I mean he just statred playing the game in 2003, averaged a whopping 3 (yes 3!) points per game last season. I would expect that to be his average in the NBA as well, and should easily surpass his scoring average with his block shot average. Long ways away my friends, I thought Seattle could do better. (Carney, Sefolosha, Douby). The Denham Brown pick was OK and he will be a player I will be watching closely in the summer league. Halperin will never be a factor for this team.
Washington:
18. Oleksiy Pecherov PF Ukr. 198
49. V. Veremeenko PF Bel. 1984
I thought they would go with players that could help out now considering they are not thay far away from building a serious contender. If I am Washington I take Marcus Willams or Shannon Brown,someone that can help them NOW especially defensively.
Dishonorable Mention- A lot of people didnt like what Phoenix did by basically putting their picks up for sale but if you look at that roster there are young core players that need to be locked up contract wise and the money needs to be there for them so in a supposed weak draft I dont have a problem with that, although I thought a run in the second round for Dee Brown wouldve been nice. That said, Golden State is another loser in my book. I'm not the biggest O'Bryant fan I think he capitialized on a great NCAA tourney game and has a lot of potential bust in him. Since they decided to go big with the pick I thought Hilton Armstrong or Cedric Simmons wouldve been better selections.
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