Well, I failed. Failed miserably in my attempt to properly recap the bottom half of the NBA Draft in a timely fashion, at all. You have the deepest apologies from all of us me here at Mister Faded Glory. And we’re off.
15. Robin Lopez, Stanford, Phoenix. The Suns continue to disintegrate before our very eyes. I have no doubt Lopez can be an effective pro, I simply feel crestfallen at the loss of one of the most fun, aesthetically-pleasing NBA teams in recent years. Yes, right up there with the 1994 Nuggets and 1995 Sonics.
16. Marreese Speights, Florida, Philly. Nope, still don’t know who this guy is. Admit it, you don’t, either.
17. Roy Hibbert, Georgetown, Indiana. Still struggling to keep track of all Indiana’s pieces. Hibbert, Rush, Ford, Jack. Danny Granger still in tow. Paging either 2010’s Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade…
18. JaVale McGee, Nevada, Washington. Reach – no longer just a toothbrush.
19. J.J. Hickson, NC State, Cleveland.
20. Alexis Ajinca, France, Charlotte. That’s right, I had no comment about the previous pick. Live with that. I still can’t figure out for the life of me who is running Charlotte’s draft. If Souleman Sene’s 3 ppg in France is any indication, Ajinca’s in for smooth sailing in the NBA – he averaged five. Even Chad Ford hates this pick.
21. Ryan Anderson, California, New Jersey. Seems like the Nets have a whole new roster; I tried to encapsulate their draft Friday and forgot this guy. Which New Jersey might as well.
22. Courtney Lee, W. Kentucky, Orlando. Nailed this one, in case you forgot.
23. Kosta Kuofos, Ohio State, Utah. I guess when McGee was gone, this was predictably the man.
24. Serge Ibaka, Congo, Seattle. It wouldn’t be an NBA draft if the Sonics didn’t stash a crappy foreigner overseas, simply hoping we’d all forget to kill them on the pick in years upcoming. (By the way, if you’re counting, this is the third time I’ve made the same SuperSonics joke in a calendar week. Hilarious, I know.)
25. Nicolas Batum, France, Portland. Somehow involved in the seven or eight Donte Greene and Darrell Arthur trades of the night. He winds up with our new (retro) favorite team. Yay?
26. George Hill, IUPUI, San Antonio. Ewey, pewey.
27. Darrell Arthur, Kansas, wound up in Memphis. Maybe I’m an idiot, (Maybe?) but I consider Arthur one of the top five prospects in the draft.
28. Donte Greene, Syracuse, Houston. I’ve spoken my opinion about Greene, and I stick by it and wish him well. Also would like to tell him to say hi to Omar Cook.
29. DJ White, Indiana, Detroit. Call me crazy, but I don’t detest this pick. White can play; wasn’t he Big Ten player of the year? (Do I know what rhetorical means?)
30. J.R. Giddens, New Mexico, Boston. Nailed this one, not that you care. A nice reach by Boston, and the perfect use of a late-round pick.
And that’s it. Who did well? I’ve got my suspicions, as do you, but no one can possibly know. Several teams made mistakes, several players made much more egregious mistakes, but we wish all of them well nonetheless. The draft may not be as relevant and as thunderous as once before, but it is the most fun, knee-jerk, catty night of NBA fandome that exists. And until I’m rejuvenated by next year’s run of my favorite team – that’s the way it will stay. Until later.
I was more interested in your thoughts on the first D-League player to be drafted. And then the first drafted D-League player to be traded–especially since your new (retro) team traded him away. What? No room for a shoot first, shoot anywhere guard???
Doesn’t it seem counterintuitive that a D-Leaguer would be drafted? If the team holding his rights doesn’t want to call him up, or releases him, shouldn’t he be a free agent regardless of draft?