2013 NBA Draft Recap

Knicks Pick a Rival

As a recent University of Wisconsin graduate (wow, still not used to that), I am horrified at the thought of watching a Michigan man wear a Knicks jersey. As a Knicks fan, I am very happy with Tim Hardaway Jr. as the 24^th pick in the 2013 NBA draft. As a Badger, I was able to watch Hardaway Jr. play many times throughout his career at Michigan and I think he fits in very well with the Knicks. Hardaway Jr. seemed to drop in this draft because he was overshadowed this past year by his Wolverine teammate Trey Burke, the national player of the year, but Hardaway Jr. is a very good player who clearly has no problem deferring to a better player (something he will have to do as a teammate of Carmelo Anthony).
 

Hardaway Jr. is a very solid scorer who can make spot up shots as well as create off the dribble. He does need to work on his defensive game a little bit but he has shown signs of great defensive intensity. For a team that desperately needed offense outside of Carmelo Anthony, Hardaway Jr. provides that scoring prowess.

Most importantly, Tim Hardaway Jr. may save the Knicks from paying way too much to re-sign J.R. Smith. Smith won 6^th man of the year this year and then completely disappeared in the playoffs. In 80 games off the bench during the regular season Smith averaged 18.1 points per game on 42.2% shooting from the field and 35.6% from 3-point range. During the playoffs his scoring did not dip a whole lot, 14.3 points per game, but he shot an abysmal 33.1% from the field and 27.3% from three. Smith opted out of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent, hoping to sign a bigger, multi-year contract. With Hardaway Jr., the Knicks can afford to let Smith go if a team offers him too much. One thing the Knicks have done right over the last couple of years was not grossly overpaying to keep some of their players (a la Jeremy Lin and Landry Fields). Hopefully that trend will continue with Smith. Hardaway Jr. may not have the same experience as Smith, but he is much more cost efficient than Smith will be.

Top Moments of the Night

The first event of the night that gave me a big smile during the draft was watching Lucas “Bebe” Nogueira from Brazil get drafted and put his team’s hat (albeit a Celtics hat) on top of his big afro, a wonderful sight that can be seen here: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/first-round-pick-lucas-bebe-nogueira-puts-draft-015532728.html

The second was everyone, from the fans to the NBA, honoring David Stern before he made the 30^th and final pick of the 1^st round; he only announces the picks in the 1^st round. Stern, commissioner of the NBA for 30 years, is retiring in February so this was his last pick that he would ever announce, after announcing 838 picks prior to it, starting in 1984. The entire night, the fans in the crowd, for reasons I absolutely cannot understand, were booing David Stern every time he came out to announce a pick. But when he came out for the final time, everyone in the audience gave him a well-deserved standing ovation.

         Once the pick was announced, current Deputy Commissioner and Stern’s successor Adam Silver, who announces the 2^nd round picks, came out before Stern left the stage and revealed a surprise for Stern, that the first player who Stern ever announced on draft night was backstage. And then, out walked Hakeem Olajuwon, the 1^st overall pick in 1984, wearing a suit and bowtie similar to the one he wore in ’84. Olajuwon and Stern embraced in a big hug and Hakeem said some affectionate and respectful words before one of the best commissioners in sports history walked off of the draft stage for the final time.

Winners

Minnesota Timberwolves

For a second I thought the Timberwolves were going to have another one of their point guard-happy moments, like in 2009 when then-General Manager David Kahn drafted point guards Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn 5^th and 6^th overall, respectively. With the 9^th pick in this year’s draft the Timberwolves took point guard Trey Burke out of Michigan, a player who I think will be very good in the NBA but is the last type of player Minnesota needed. As it turns out, the Timberwolves traded that pick to the Utah Jazz for the 14^th and 21^st overall picks. With the 14^th pick the Timberwolves got shooting guard Shabazz Muhammad out of UCLA and with the 21^st they drafted forward Gorgui Dieng from the national champion Louisville Cardinals.

Muhammad, before his freshman year in college, was considered a potential #1 overall pick in the draft, but a selfish attitude, poor commitment to defense, and an inability to use his right hand saw teams run away screaming. I think the lefty can be a real threat for a team that needs scoring. Rubio is the kind of pass-first point guard who can create shots for Muhammad and coach Rick Adelman is the veteran coach who won’t accept a selfish attitude and will definitely keep Muhammad in line. The issue is he somehow only tallied 27 assists in 32 games for UCLA, an average that has to change regardless of the role he plays in the NBA. But I see no reason why Muhammad can’t be a poor man’s James Harden in the league. Both are lefty scorers who can shoot and use their big bodies to get in the lane and finish. Everyone complains that Muhammad has no right hand and all you have to do defensively is force him right. Well, Harden only uses his left hand too and people still can’t seem to stop him. Muhammad seems to understand what he did wrong at UCLA, which is the first step towards fixing those problems. He can easily crash and burn in the NBA, but at 14^th overall I think he was worth the risk. He will provide the Timberwolves with a much-needed scorer.

Gorgui Dieng is a high energy, do everything player that every team can use. The Timberwolves may lose a couple of big men to free agency, but Dieng fills those gaps without any problems. One of the most impressive stories I hear about Dieng that makes me believe he will stick in the league is that his college coach, Rick Pitino, told Dieng at the start of last season that he is going to push Dieng as hard as he has ever been pushed. The result? A national championship that had Dieng playing a vital role on both ends of the floor. This shows to me that Dieng is a hard working player who is ready to listen to his coach and do what he is told for the betterment of the team. Dieng is known for his rebounding tenacity and shot clocking ability, both of which are very impressive, but he has the ability to knock down mid-range shots as well and his passing as point-center was the reason why Louisville was able to stage an improbable comeback win against Syracuse’s zone defense in the Big East championship game.

I am more than impressed with what Flip Saunders did in his first draft as General Manager of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The idea of a team that could potentially have a starting lineup of Ricky Rubio, Shabazz Muhammad, Gorgui Dieng, and Kevin Love should get Timberwolves fans hope for the first time since the Kevin Garnett days in Minnesota.

Philadelphia 76ers

There definitely was no consensus #1 overall pick coming into the draft, but most mock drafts had Nerlens Noel in that position. Well, Noel somehow dropped to the New Orleans Pelicans at #6 and he was then traded to the Sixers along with a 2014 1^st round pick for Jrue Holiday. Given the likely departure of free agent Andrew Bynum, who thanks to a knee injury never even stepped foot on the court for the 76ers, Philadelphia needed a center. Not only did they get a great shot blocker in Noel, but they also got a highly coveted extra 2014 1^st round. Multiple teams were looking to trade for an first round pick next year but few teams were willing to give one up, the now-rebuilding Sixers got one.

At first I thought that the trade was pretty much a push. Sure they were getting a great defensive center as well as an extra draft pick next year, but they were giving up an All-Star point guard in Jrue Holiday who was just starting to get in a groove. However, they still had their own 1^st round pick from this draft, #11, and with it they chose Holiday’s future replacement, Michael Carter-Williams. Carter-Williams is a pass first point guard who helped lead Syracuse to the Final Four this past year. He needs a lot of work on his jump shot but he is not expected to replace Holiday right away. This team is in the rebuilding phase and therefore Carter-Williams has a few years to develop into a point guard who can threaten defenses with both his passing ability and shooting skills.

Anthony Bennett

Nerlens Noel, Alex Len, Victor Oladipo, Ben McLemore. Those were essentially the four players that people thought the Cleveland Cavaliers were thinking of taking with the #1 overall pick in this year’s draft. The Cavs surprised everyone and picked freshman forward Anthony Bennett out of UNLV, even Bennett himself looking surprised when he heard his name. I don’t think Bennett is going to live up to the play of a #1 overall pick, nor do I think he will be a bust. I think the Cavs tried to trade back in order to draft Bennett at a more appropriate position but when they couldn’t they decided to take the man they wanted anyway. I respect that and I do think Bennett has the ability to average a double-double in a few years after he loses some weight, he is 6’7” and 239 pounds, but Bennett is not a #1 overall pick. People had him projected to go anywhere from #3 to #10, he went first, and Bennett sure is not complaining.

Canadian Basketball

The neighbors to the north saw two natives selected in the lottery of this year’s draft: Bennett 1^st overall and Kelly Olynyk 12^th. Next year everyone will be praying to get the number one overall pick to use on Andrew Wiggins, also from Canada. Wiggins, had he been allowed to declare for the draft right out of high school, would have more than likely been the first pick this year. Wiggins will play a year at Kansas before, more than likely, declaring for the 2014 NBA draft where as of now, and I know that a lot can change from now until the 2014 draft, he is the consensus #1 overall pick. Canada is churning out more than maple syrup and hockey players up there.

Sacramento Kings

In my opinion, Ben McLemore from Kansas is the most talented player in this draft. I thought he was going to get drafted first or second by the Cavs or Magic, at the very least I thought he’d go 4^th to the Bobcats. But the Kings drafted 7^th and McLemore fell to them. The Kings just changed owners and were extremely close to relocating to Seattle. They managed to stay in Sacramento and the team needs to give the people of Sacramento a reason to show up. Tyreke Evans hasn’t really turned out the way they thought, but McLemore seems to be the one who can replace him. McLemore is a prolific scorer from all over the floor. He needs to work on his ball handling a bit but was a very pleasant surprise in his one and only year in Lawrence, Kansas. If the Kings can manage to keep the erratic DeMarcus Cousins, he and McLemore can become an entertaining and dangerous inside-outside, 1-2 punch.

Losers

Phoenix Suns

The Suns are in a very weird stage right now. They seem to want to rebuild but in order to do so, they need to get rid of some of their veterans, like Marcin Gortat, who are about to come out of their prime. Phoenix needed a centerpiece in this draft but ended up drafting Alex Len 5^th overall. Len, a center from Maryland, was a potential number one overall pick, but he never sold me at Maryland. Len, in his sophomore season at Maryland, did not even make 3^rd team All-ACC this past year. People went crazy over his performances against teams like Kentucky and Duke, where he went up against Noel and Mason Plumlee respectively, but seemed to want to ignore his less than average performances against much lesser opponents. For a team that desperately needs to start bringing in talent, the Suns failed that goal by drafting Len. Noel or McLemore would have been a better fit here for the Suns to build around.

Oklahoma City Thunder

If Russell Westbrook had not gotten injured in the playoffs, this could have been a championship team. There is not much more the Thunder need, but they could have added something extra to an already championship-caliber group with the 12^th overall pick that they obtained in the James Harden trade. Instead, they decided to pick freshman Steven Adams from Pittsburgh who may be able to bring some energy off the bench right away, but still needs a couple of years to develop his game. If they are looking for an immediate replacement for Kendrick Perkins, they did not get one. The Thunder is ready to win a championship right now, they should have drafted someone who has three or four years of experience in college and who is ready to contribute right away. If they were looking for a big man, I thought available players who would have been a better fit would have been Kelly Olynyk out of Gonzaga (who went 13^th), Gorgui Dieng from Louisville (21^st), or Mason Plumlee from Duke (22^nd).

This is a very young team and Durant and Westbrook still have a lot of time together while in their primes, heck, they may not have even reached they primes yet, but this team wants to win now. They were the best team in the West this year after losing in the Finals last year. Wasting time having to develop a player who is still relatively new to the game of basketball is not what the Thunder should be doing.

Sleepers

Rudy Gobert

Like Jay Bilas, I am a big fan of wingspan. Gobert from France has as big of a wingspan as you can get. He is 7’2” with a 7’9” wingspan and a 9’7” standing reach. That means that he can almost touch the rim without jumping. He may not come over to the NBA right away, and that may be a good thing. He is still young and raw but with his wingspan can become a nightmare for offensive players who try to get into the paint. Gobert has a long way to go, but with discipline and the right coaching, he can become a top-notch defender for the Utah Jazz.

Jeff Withey

The big man reminds me a lot of Roy Hibbert. Both have the ability to play the old school style center, with his back to the basket, as well as play defense without fouling. Withey and Hibbert are two of the best at staying straight up when they jump to block shots. Withey averaged about 4 blocks a game his senior year at Kansas, holds the record for most blocks in an NCAA tournament, and set the Big 12 career blocks record. If he can make sure that he stays vertical when he contests shots, and maybe develops his post game a little bit more, he’ll find himself on an NBA team for years to come.

Pierre Jackson

This kid has something to prove, and I like that. He is listed generously at 5’10” and obviously the knock on him is that he is too small. At Baylor, Jackson led the entire Big 12 conference in scoring and assists this past season. He is extremely athletic, quick, and now has a chip on his shoulder given that he was picked in the 2^nd round because of his height deficiency. Nate Robinson busted the door wide open for players like this to make a name for themselves in the NBA. I think Jackson’s tenacity will make up for his lack of height.

My pick for rookie of the year: Ben McLemore (Victor Oladipo will be in contention but I don’t think he has a strong enough offensive game to garner votes)