Rough Draft

I feel cheated. Usually the NBA Draft is one of my guiltiest sports pleasures, with it's breathlessly hyped prospects, ridiculous fashions and air of universal optimism. Every fan has the gift of hope after the draft: This kid was a stud in college/the AAU circuit/the French league- he could really be a sleeper for us! But this year, I just didn't have enough time to get excited about the draft. Given that it took place a mere five days after the Finals ended, I was somewhat blindsided and didn't have nearly enough time to get psyched up, scour every mock draft and make predictions. To top things off, I didn't even get home until after the last lottery pick was made. Sigh. I did have a few observations on the coverage that I did catch:

* My favorite quote from last night was from Gerald Green. He was telling Stuart Scott why his contract includes clauses about obtaining a degree while he's in the NBA. "Education man, that's my main thing." Really? Your main thing? Is that why you decided to forsake college and hire an agent?

* My best-dressed award goes to Julius Hodge, who channeled LeBron last night. I'm a sucker for those white-on-white ensembles.

* Am I the only one confused about the Suns-Knicks trade? This is an awful move for Phoenix- it makes no sense to give up the league's most prolific three-point shooter plus Nate Robinson, a guy who's perfect for your system. And in return they get Kurt Thomas, an undersized center who's never even sniffed an All-Star game. The league's unwavering fascination with getting "size" at the expense of talent is absurd.

* I hate it when draft picks are graded without looking at the overall market. For example, I heard a lot of people praise Houston for picking Luther Head with the 24th pick. Head is a good player who may turn out to be one of the 24 best players of this draft. But the fact remains that the Rockets could have gotten him much lower than that spot. I didn't see a single mock draft with him in the first round. Good drafting is about getting the maximum value for your pick. Why not just trade down ten spots and get the guy you want plus a 2007 second round pick?

* When the Bobcats drafted Raymond Felton, the analysts praised the pick because the consensus was that they really needed a point guard. But there's the little-known fact that their '04-'05 point guard, Brevin Knight, was second in the league in assists last year. The guy led the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio. No love for the Stanford grad?

* The Sports Guy touched on this in his annual diary, but the "wingspan" epidemic is out of control. According to Jay Bilas, Cincinnati's Jason Maxiell is 6' 5" with a 7' 4" wingspan. I guess the only downside must be that his knuckles are bloody from being dragged on the ground.

* Pat Forde's scathing article on undrafted early-entries is quite eye-opening, if harsh. The SEC was particularly hard-hit, with undrafted guys like Randolph Morris, Matt Walsh and Kennedy Winston. This is an example why the movement to ban high schoolers from the draft is mis-guided. No matter how high you set the limit, there will always be misinformed players who enter the draft too soon and wind up getting burned.

* As for my Warriors, I am quite pleased with their draft. The Ike Diogu pick reminded me of when the 49ers drafted Alex Smith-- not the guy I wanted, but I can convince myself to jump onboard. I would have preferred Hakim Warrick or Danny Granger, but Diogu is nothing to sneeze at. I've watched him torch the Pac 10 the last three years and he clearly has a nose for the basket. More impressively, he's a free throw machine-- he made more free throws than any other Pac 10 player attempted last season. I'm fine with the Monta Ellis pick- he's low-risk and low-expectation choice. I was thrilled with the Chris Taft pick- big body, very athletic and an excellent value at #43. He's got tons of (dare I say it?)... upside!