Barely more than a week removed from Dwyane Wade and the Heat hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy, the hoop industry is cranking up the hype machine once again for the NBA Draft.
The draft is always a tricky business. The broadcast, however, is riveting, in the same way NASCAR races are: you watch for hours as essentially nothing happens, waiting with bated breath for a potentially disastrous pick by your team.
This year's draft was the equivalent of a stock car race in a minefield. Things got so bad the analysts replaced buzzwords like "length" and "upside" with "wide open" and "unpredictable." At least in years past they pretended to know what they were talking about instead of spending weeks desperately trying to remain employed by overplaying the starless draft parity angle. In the process, they totally blew a couple of easy calls.
The most frustrating of the whiffs has got to be the failure to blast Hilton Armstrong, the F/C coming out of the University of Connecticut. He's 6'11" and is listed at 235, meaning he's probably closer to 220. He averaged under ten points a game his senior year, about six and a half rebounds, and less than one assist per game. He's too skinny, lapses under pressure, he doesn't score and he doesn't really rebound. Long story short: Armstrong is not a particularly good basketball player.
While Armstrong fails on all accounts to fit the NBA mold, the situation for the Toronto Raptors is even worse. After watching Vince Carter quit the team a year ago and the team itself falling fast and hard to the basement of the League, it seemed like the basketball gods owed Raptors fans. The number one draft pick, however, has proven to be nothing more than a cruel joke. With no real number one player, the Raptors tried in vain to trade down. Unfortunately, no one wants to trade a proven NBA contributor for slightly better odds in a draft that's essentially a crap shoot.
The best odds, according to some, are those for Italian Andrea Bargnani. The 6'11", 240 pound Bargnani plays almost like a giant small forward. But he needs to get much stronger, develop some semblance of a low post game, and learn how to rebound and play defense. Other than that, he's the next Dirk Nowitzki.
While there is certainly some facetiousness in the previous claim, if you happen to be a Raptors fan wondering why god hates you after seeing Bargnani's mug poking out from under a Raptor's cap on the cover of the Sun this morning, you can step back from the ledge a bit. Bargnani is only 21 years old and has a lot of time to grow into his body and the American game. While Bargnani may be too soft now, even Nowitzki spent his first couple of years stateside launching threes over smaller defenders.
Also firing up bombs in the NBA next year will be J.J. Redick. Redick's stock has dropped in light of his recent DUI arrest and back injury. However, Redick can shoot, which will insure a spot on an NBA roster for many years to come.
If you'd rather not take my word for it, watch some Celtics games from late this year and notice that Wally Szerbiak, despite playing significant minutes in the NBA, does not appear to possess basketball-related skills other than a jump shot and sweet hair.
By the time this article comes out, you all will know what happened. One thing is for sure -- there ain't no Bron Bron's in this draft!
