2008 NBA Draft

[Precious Roy 0]

Between this trade and just giving away Gasol like they did, Memphis' GM is almost begging for the axe. Mayo should be good, but WTF? They go from Jerry West to this asshole?

[alfdogg 0]

Following the Batum trade, Darrell Arthur is now headed to Memphis for Donte' Greene and a second-rounder next year. Traded three times in one night, that's rough.

[Guest]

Memphis picked up Arthur, btw, for Donte Greene and next year's second. Making this trade make more sense.

 

Memphis will be better in the future as a result of this trade than Minnesota will. Miller ain't gonna stick around, and Minnesota ain't going to make the playoffs with him. Memphis was never going to get more than cap relief for Miller anyway. Meanwhile, Memphis picks up Mayo, who's going to put asses in the seats, bring lockdown defense, and put up more scoring than anyone else in the draft. Even in Mayo's rookie season, he's the best scorer out there, and with age and maturity, he'll improve. Memphis is going to have a kick ass young starting lineup next year. But they're eating a LOT of money.

 

Minnesota fans are pretty pissed about this. I don't know what you mean about Jefferson and Love being able to play together. Those guys are out-sized by EVERY Western Conference team! They're going to spend all their fouls every night and get abused. They can't guard anyone.

[Gert T 0]

I really love Joe Alexander, his attitude is awesome. The level of intensity he has is going to be really good for him.

 

The problem I have with that pick, is that he plays the exact same position as Richard Jefferson. Alexander needs to be playing 30 minutes a game so he can improve, he's not the type of guy who's going to magically get better on the bench. It's a wasted pick, and a waste of a really good player.

 

 

I DVR'ed the Draft, so I just got done. That was the thing that surprised me too once I heard of the trade. Neither really plays a lick of defense and like Ripper said if Charlie V is your starting PF to go along with that.....

 

 

[Precious Roy 0]

Memphis picked up Arthur, btw, for Donte Greene and next year's second. Making this trade make more sense.

 

Memphis will be better in the future as a result of this trade than Minnesota will. Miller ain't gonna stick around, and Minnesota ain't going to make the playoffs with him. Memphis was never going to get more than cap relief for Miller anyway. Meanwhile, Memphis picks up Mayo, who's going to put asses in the seats, bring lockdown defense, and put up more scoring than anyone else in the draft. Even in Mayo's rookie season, he's the best scorer out there, and with age and maturity, he'll improve. Memphis is going to have a kick ass young starting lineup next year. But they're eating a LOT of money.

 

Minnesota fans are pretty pissed about this. I don't know what you mean about Jefferson and Love being able to play together. Those guys are out-sized by EVERY Western Conference team! They're going to spend all their fouls and get abused. They can't guard anyone.

 

I think you might be underrating Jefferson a bit as far as being able to hang with and outplay bigger opponents, he's a fucking beast. Jefferson and Love will get abused at times, no doubt, but on the flipside they will create mismatches on the other end and should be able to exploit bigger and slower defenders. It's a gamble, and there's absolutely going to be games where it doesn't work to the Wolves benefit, but as a duo they can be productive and offset the size issue, IMO. Obviously they're going to need a bigger body or two to stick in there and mix and match with Love/Jefferson, Al should play at the 4 in stretches, and Love should play at the 3 a bit if matchups dictate. They don't have that size off the bench right now, which has to be a priority over the rest of the offseason.

 

As far as Miller goes, I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that he won't stay in Minnesota, they should have the money to keep him when his contract is up, and it's a good situation for him where he's basically the #2/1 option on offense. And seriously, right now Mike Miller is a much better player than OJ Mayo. Mayo has a high upside, but he is not going to be as good as Miller is this year and probably not next year or the year after either. Miller is fucking awesome, people sleep on the dude, but he's got crazy shooting range, handle, passing ability, size, rebounds well from the perimeter, and he's a competitor, he'll match up with anyone.

 

I really like Mayo, like I said I wanted to see him in NY and he's got the potential to be the best player out of this draft, but when you factor in the contracts and the fact that Miller is basically an all-star talent in his prime I'm not seeing much downside for Minnesota here.

[Just John 0]

Of all the weird trades in this draft, the move I'm most confused about is New Orleans giving away Darrell Arthur for nothing (well, cash considerations). The big knock on them last year was poor depth, they really have no natural PF on the roster back up West, Arthur can play the pick and roll, and they just piss him away. Maybe it's a money issue, because from a talent standpoint, he was as a once-in-a-lifetime steal at 27.

 

And poor Darrell is gonna wake up tomorrow and find out he was traded twice while he was asleep. The guy was on 4 teams in like 6 hours... That has to be some kind of record.

[Guest Vitamin X]

N.O. had already given up that pick to Portland for cash considerations before the draft.

[Just John 0]

I guess that makes it not as bad. Although for a team that needs bench players, I still don't get giving up a late 1st rounder in a draft like this.

[Damaramu 0]

Maybe NO was hurting for cap space and couldn't afford whoever they were going to draft?

 

Poor Arthur. I hope he has a monster rookie season. He was the best player from the national champions in the draft, and he gets shuffled the most out of all of them.

[Ripper 0]

You guys are really rating Mike Miller up there pretty high, huh?

 

 

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

So the Blazers come out of the night with Diogu, Bayless, Batum, and 4 future second round picks. Not bad for a team that already had plenty of players.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I'd trade those 4 second round picks in a heartbeat for having Arthur back. I'm just glad Pritchard wasn't really thinking about keeping Dorsey around.

[bob_barron 0]

I'd trade those 4 second round picks in a heartbeat for having Arthur back. I'm just glad Pritchard wasn't really thinking about keeping Dorsey around.

 

While Dorsey is insane, when he's on, he can be great. I just hope he keeps his head together in Houston

[Damaramu 0]

These trades are making my head hurt. Hopefully it'll all be sorted out so I can read about it in the morning.

 

I like what the Celtics did in this draft, they got backup help where they needed some.

 

So I was a little drunk when I posted this last night. I just saw the Celtics drafted a SG and the name didn't register with me till this morning when I was sober. JR Giddens!? F'n JR Giddens!? Boy better get his head screwed on straight and not underachieve like he did when he was at Kansas. How did he do after he left Kansas?

 

Damn 5 Jayhawks taken. I know my KU grad friend will be happy about that. I'll be rooting for Arthur this year, but he'll be on a pretty crappy team.

[alfdogg 0]

Bilas tells us Beasley "knows how to operate in a crowd." You mean, like Suge Knight knows how to operate in a crowd?

[Rendclaw 0]

Oh, that wacky Bill Simmons.

[Ripper 0]

What the fuck does that even mean.

[MFer 0]

It was a pretty uninspiring draft for the Pistons, especially considering the talent that was still out there in the 2nd round, but I think their big moves are gonna come in free agency so things could still work out alright.