Official 2011 NBA Draft thread

Mitch Albom has already written that you've taken Mateen Cleaves in your top five from that draft. Don't screw it up for him again.

 

A bunch of shitty contracts being shuffled around, including Stephen Jackson to the Bucks, Corey Maggette to the Bobcats and John Salmons to the Kings.

The Bobcats also get the No. 7 pick and the Kings the No. 10 pick.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2011/news/story?id=6697545

 

I was watching the 1987 draft on TV the other day (a then-TBS production) and it had so many folks in it that weren't good enough to play in the League.
Some made it out of that class but many, many, many more didn't.

 

Agree, but Minnesota does stooopid consistently.

 

Re: Midmajors and the NCAA tournament. Butler isn't just making deep runs because other people's seniors aren't as good as they used to be. They're also doing it because they have talent. Hayward came out early as a lottery pick, Shelvin Mack is coming out early as a low first-round pick, and while Matt Howard might not be picked, he's been making good impressions in pre-draft camps and could stick as a free agent.

Butler's got its own version of Moneyball going on -- recruiting players ignored by bigger schools because the players weren't all-world in high school. Granted, Howard had some big-time feelers, but Hayward was a state tennis champ and, as such, not sufficiently dedicated to basketball, apparently. Shelvin Mack grew up in Lexington but didn't get a sniff from UK. Heck, Butler is now getting players from Florida ticked that the Gators wouldn't go after them.

 

Can't believe someone actually wants to pay Maggette. Watched that ballhog play for 3 years here in Warrior land and it was painful.
What are the Kings doing? Salmons for Udrih to slide back 3 picks?

 

Big men picked after #5 tend to have a horrific track record. I can think of Andrew Bynum being one exception, and Brad Miller was an undrafted free agent. But besides them, it's full of guys like Diop and Rafael Arujoaaojaakj (that stiff for the Raptors) and Chris Mihm.

 

Only reason this shouldn't be surprising for Charlotte is that the Bobcats have long majored in baffling with a minor in cheap.

 

The Bobcats have Cho in control now, and assuming Jordan doesn't try to manage things too much from the golf course, they should at least be respectable in the East. Meanwhile, someone should start finding a nursing home for Petrie. That trade is absolutely insane for the Kings, since Salmons is 1) older 2) has a longer contract and 3) is worse than Udrih.

 

First surprise of the draft, as Thompson goes #4 to the Cavs. Not a bad pick or anything, but pretty much no one had him going there.

EDIT: Although, never a great sign when in one breathe, Bilas says you need to improve your back to the basket game, and then the next sentence is, "His face-up perimeter games needs work."

 

Comment from Fran Fraschilla on Jan Vecely: "First off, he's got great taste in women." Had a complete smokeshow stand-up and kiss him right after he got selected.

 

Suck it, Brandon Knight!