Writing the Pine

Welcome to the First Annual Writing the Pine NBA Draft Awards.  We’ll be giving out a few awards today to both teams and individual players.  I know the draft was a few days ago but I couldn’t watch it as it unfolded because I was playing in a friend’s work basketball league so I had to take a few days to go over what happened.  (FYI: We got smashed harder than Bambi Woods in Debbie Does Dallas.)

BEST DRAFT – And the nominees are…
San Antonio Spurs
What I like about the Spurs draft is that they had a few opportunities to make no-brainer choices and they did. You might say, “Well, why does that mean they had a good draft if they made obvious picks?” To answer that question, I point to the six teams who did not take DeJuan Blair in the second round. (How dare they!) If the reports on his knees were actually bad that, I can understand teams not wanting to give him a guaranteed contract. But to not take a guy in the second round who absolutely dominated Hasheem Thabeet is a travesty. I don’t care if you are loaded at the power forward position, how could you pass up lottery talent in the second round? Anyway, Jack McClinton at #51 is also a great pick. The guy can shoot the lights out. Just ask Wake Forest, Duke, and North Carolina. In three consecutive games against those ACC powerhouses, he scored 32,34, and 35 respectively. He might only be 6-1 but there’s an NBA roster spot open for him and it’ll be in San Antonio. And I don’t know anything about Nando De Colo but he has a cool name and the Spurs do a good job drafting international prospects.

Memphis Grizzlies
I didn’t think Memphis should draft Hasheem Thabeet but he will clearly improve their defense. In a best case scenario, the Grizzlies will be able to play Thabeet and Marc Gasol together. I’m not sure that can happen but it would be great if it could. Despite health issues, DeMarre Carroll is a decent pick at #27 (though Blair would have been a MUCH better pick) and Sam Young at #36 is a steal, considering he was slated to go in the first round. Young can help out right away with his inside-outside game and could possibly be a SF replacement for Rudy Gay if/when he gets traded.

And the winner is…
SAN ANTONIO SPURS. The overall lack of talent in this draft made it tough to find candidates who had a good draft but leave it to the Spurs to have the draft of the night. They just got so much value for their picks. There’s a reason they’ve been so good for so long.

WORST DRAFT – And the nominees are…
Minnesota Timberwolves
You knew the TWolves would be in this category. All the negative press Minnesota and its new Team President David Kahn are getting is fully warranted. This issue has been beaten like a dead horse but tell me again why they chose Ricky Rubio if they knew he wouldn’t want to play for them? Why didn’t they just trade the pick and get some assets in return? I can’t really believe Kahn actually thinks Rubio and Jonny Flynn can be on the floor at the same time. He also says Minnesota can afford to wait for Rubio but will the other players? How will they react to their President admitting they’re not contenders? How will they treat Rubio if/when he does join the team? How the hell is Sarah Jessica Parker considered pretty? My gut feeling is that Kahn will trade Rubio – but not until he signs a contract for next year with another European team so the New York Knicks, I mean any team that trades for him, will definitely have to wait for him for another year. They traded away their starting backcourt in order to get the #5 pick and now they replaced Randy Foye and Mike Miller with Jonny Flynn and Wayne Ellington. I wonder if that really is going to be an upgrade?

Sacramento Kings
Tyreke Evans is not a point guard. I don’t know how he and Kevin Martin will be able to play in the same backcourt and if the bigs will ever see the ball. I think Evans will be one of the most productive players in this draft, but in the same vein as a Stephon Marbury. He’ll put up numbers, but no one will want him on their team. Plus Rubio was on the board and they didn’t take him. He would’ve been perfect for them. The Kings should trade Evans for Rubio and another pick/player or cash. They’ll pay Rubio less than they would’ve if they chose him 4th and they’ll get another asset in return.

And the winner is…
Minnesota Timberwolves. We’ll see what happens with the Rubio situation but I don’t see it ending nicely for the TWolves.

PLAYER MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED – And the nominees are…
Blake Griffin
Pretty obvious choice here. My feeling is that he’ll be a better version of Amare Stoudemire. He’s that good. But what scares me is that Mike Dunleavy called him a “sure thing.” That statement just might have screwed Griffin over.

DeMar DeRozan
This guy has a ton of potential. He didn’t have a spectacular season at USC but showed enough flashes of brilliance to still be a lottery pick. DeRozan turned it on at the end of the season and dominated the Pac-10 Tournament. He has Vince Carter-like athleticism and could end up being one of the best players in the draft. His game translates much better to the pros than it does the college game. He’s definitely not a sure thing (as you’ll see below) but he’s got a better chance to be great than almost anyone else in this class.

Stephen Curry
Combine Stephen Curry and Don Nelson’s system. What do you get? Rookie of the Year. That’s right. I’m calling it right now. Stephen Curry will win Rookie of the Year next season over Blake Griffin. Even if he gets traded to Phoenix, he’ll win it. Those two teams, along with New York, run the fastest and most trigger-happy offenses in the league and that suits perfectly with Curry’s game. He’s still a developing point guard but he obviously can play off the ball as well and he’ll get 10-15 shots a game. Don Nelson is notorious for playing his young guys sporadically but I think Curry will be different. He is such a high-profile name that Nelson will be crucified if he doesn’t play. Plus like I said, his game suits perfectly with the system.

And the winner is…
Blake Griffin. Curry might win Rookie of the Year but Griffin will have a better career.

FIRST-ROUNDER MOST LIKELY TO FAIL – And the nominees are…
BJ Mullens
He is pretty much a worse version of Chris Mihm. I mean, Kosta Koufos was more productive in one year than Mullens. Enough said.

Austin Daye
6-11 192 lbs. And he’s a power forward. They can put him at small forward but you think this guy can guard LeBron or even Devean George? He is an American version of Nikoloz Tskitishvilli.

DeMar DeRozan
Remember how I said this guy can be like Vince Carter? Well, this guy can also be like Gerald Green and flame out after a few years or one. (This is like a Bill O’Reilly most hated AND most loved journalist situation.) Athleticism isn’t everything in this game but it certainly helps. He’ll still have to put in the work to improve all areas of his game. The question is will he?

And the winner is…
BJ Mullens. But he’ll get a second contract just because he’s young and 7 feet tall.

MOST LIKELY TO HAVE OFF-THE-COURT SUCCESS (ENDORSEMENTS) – And the nominees are…
Ricky Rubio
He has an advantage because he’s Spanish but his affinity for the spectacular play will endear him to fans around the world. His name is already known by basketball fans and once he comes to the NBA (whenever that is) non-basketball fans will see him on SportsCenter night after night. Plus after he’s traded to the Knicks, Madison Ave. will be giving him the star treatment. And when LeBron comes to New York in 2010, Rubio will be making so much money from endorsements, his buyout amount will look like chump change.

Brandon Jennings
Like Rubio, Jennings’s flashy style will make him a mainstay on all the top play reels. But unlike Rubio, he’s got the oh-so-important street-cred. He might have played in Italy for a year after high school but the young fella is from Compton and you don’t get more street than that. Too bad he’s playing in Milwaukee.

DeMar DeRozan
Rubio and Jennings are fancy passers but DeRozan is a dunk artiste. Watch his highlight reel below and you’ll see why he can be one of the most popular players in the league for years to come. If the Nike Shox campaign ever makes a comeback, he’ll be the poster-boy for it. DeRozan is also from Compton so the street-cred is a check. Playing in Toronto might be an issue but VC played there too and it worked out pretty well for him.

And the winner is…
Ricky Rubio. Ricky + New York + LeBron in 2010 = $$$$$$$

MOST LIKELY TO HAVE “OFF-THE-COURT” SUCCESS (aka BEST LOOKING for the ladies)
Before you guys go nuts on me I asked a girl friend of mine (we’ll call her “Ashley”) to narrow the class to the top-three best looking dudes.  And her nominees are…
Wayne Ellington
Ellington seems like he is a pretty boy but he is definitely a looker.  He’s got nice eyes and nice eyelashes.  It seems like he gets his eyebrows done though.

Jack McClinton
Jack just seems like a cool dude.  Like the guy at the park that all the girls swoon over.  He just looks cool…

Tyler Hansbrough
Not only is this year’s draft weak in terms of talent, it’s pretty weak in terms of lookers for us ladies.  Hence why Tyler Hansbrough makes the cut on my list (yes despite his retard faces).  He’s not terrible though and has big arms.

And her winner is…
Jack McClinton. I mean I guess I have to agree.  Not a bad looking dude.  Although I’m not sure if I can agree that Psycho T deserves a nomination…

2ND ROUND PICK MOST LIKELY TO MAKE AN IMPACT – And the nominees are…
Danny Green
Danny Green is exactly what the Cavaliers need. As a matter of fact, every team can use a guy like Danny Green. While his ball-handling skills are suspect (and consequently, his driving ability as well) he can pretty much do everything else. He can shoot, pass, steal, and block shots. His athleticism is a bit overrated but at 6-6, he is a big guard who can defend and that is what Cleveland was missing last year. I expect him to make the team next year and if he doesn’t then I will blame the Dukie, Danny Ferry, for screwing up LeBron’s chances at a title.

DeJuan Blair
It’s been well-documented that Blair was the steal of the draft. I have to agree with it though. His numbers on a per-minute basis are ridiculous and he is clearly a lottery talent. Obviously concerns about his knee scared off every team in the league (except the Spurs) even though he only missed one game in college. But I also remember issues with Danny Granger’s health scared off a number of teams as well and look at how he turned out. Although Blair doesn’t get his guaranteed contract, I fully expect him to make the team and he’ll be a productive pro, even if he only plays three years.

Sam Young
Though undersized at 6-6, Young can score from pretty much anywhere on the court. It’s amazing a guy like Taj Gibson can go in the first round but Young can’t. He should definitely get some burn next year on Memphis and as I mentioned previously, might even take over for Rudy Gay in the event he is traded.

And the winner is…
DeJuan Blair. Tim Duncan will need more rest this season and with Blair on board, Gregg Popovich will be comfortable accommodating the Big Fundamental’s needs.