The NBA Draft---The Day After
Entertaining as hell, all things considered. Big trades (Zip has deconstructed and correctly ripped apart the Knicks' night here) with Boston making a massive play to save the jobs of Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers. The Spurs continue to offer a clinic on how to stay on top of the world while drafting at the back of the first round. And the Hawks and Grizzlies actually made good solid picks.
The chatter:
----From the Boston Globe, Dan Shaughnessy frets that the Ray Allen acquisition was to make Paul Pierce happy. No, Dan, I think it was to save jobs. And it may yet do that, as Pierce, Allen, Jefferson et al should be good enough to threaten the second round of the playoffs next season. Then again, the Globe also has Peter May making the case that the Celtics could still make a Garnett to Boston deal palatable for Minny and for Garnett himself (Ratliff's expiring contract, Jefferson, and other pieces). A triumverate of Pierce, Allen and Garnett? That would be interesting to watch, at the very least.
---Chris Mannix at si.com flying sharply in the face of most other opinions I have read (including Zip's) actually liked the Knicks' draft night.
---Tony Mejia at sportsline.com liked Memphis' draft. Bless him. Hell, I actually did too. Mike Conley was a no-brainer there from my perspective, and I was pleased to see the Grizzlies not screw it up. Oh, Mejia also liked what Atlanta, Seattle and Portland got done too. Apparently picking early in the draft and not throwing up on yourself was huge for Mejia in his grades.
---A highlight of the draft for me last night? Mitch Kupchek's deer-in-the-headlights interview. Talk about a man not in control of anything. As for the Lakers' draft night? Horrible. A point guard? Again? And the Bryant mess continues? Less-than-swell evening for the Lakers.
