I really wanted to write a running diary on the 2009 NBA Draft. I really did. Thursday night I sat down with my notebook, flipped on ESPN, and began recording my thoughts on the festivities.
And at the beginning, there were some great moments: David Stern looking a little tipsy but unafraid to play around with the crazy New York fans, the awkward kiss/hug James Harden received from a sleazy agent-looking guy, Hasheem Thabeet's platinum-colored suit.
But after a while, something happened - it got kind of boring.
After Stephen Curry was picked by the Warriors at no. 7, the talent level seemed to drop off, and I had a hard time finding any enthusiasm to muse about Gerald Henderson to the Bobcats or Terrance Williams to the Nets. The weakness of the draft class became more evident after the Curry pick, and you found yourself wondering if most of the guys would even make an impact next season.
The league was grasping at straws trying to hype the Draft anyway. Blake Griffin is a great player, but he has the personality of a two-by-four and his selection at no. 1 by the Clippers was more ho-hum than exciting (mostly because Griffin seems like a guy Zach Randolph will turn into a wingman when he goes out to Club Exotica). Ricky Rubio is a young kid who might not even come over to the US. Other than those two and Curry, there wasn't much to be excited about, and it finally became apparent as the Draft went on.
Overall, this will be a forgotten draft in a few years. We all knew there wasn't much star power going into it, but it's hard to see some of these guys even contributing in the future. Rubio might be something, Griffin and Curry will be something, but other than that, most of the rest of the field will probably become fringe role players or out of the league altogether.
DeMar DeRozan and Terrance Williams can't shoot; Jonny Flynn is too short for a legit point guard, let along a shooting guard like Minnesota plans; and I don't know why, but Jordan Hill seems like the type of player who will become mediocre simply because he plays for the Knicks.
The analysis of the picks further showed how weak they were: Shooting guards were being described as needing to improve their shooting. Big men were needing to improve their rebounding. I don't remember the last draft where so many players who averaged less than 10 points a game were picked in the first round.
And on top of that, many teams were picking international players simply to stash them overseas, just so they wouldn't have to pay money to a weak crop of American players. That has to say something.
It was stronger than the 2000 Draft, but not by much.
So eventually, I abandoned my plans for a diary due to boredom, laziness, and my desire to not seem like a Bill Simmons rip off (his diary is better, anyway). But along the way, there were a few entertaining moments.
-When the Kings took Tyreke Evans at no. 4, I wrote "looks like the race for Rubio is wide open!" In my mind, there was no way that Minnesota was going to take Rubio, because he would have no one outside of Al Jefferson to pass to. Who else is there, Ryan Gomes?
The Wolves has just traded their only perimeter threats in Mike Miller and Randy Foye, so I thought that it was a no brainer that they would take Stephen Curry and either a big man or swingman with picks 5 and 6. Curry would've easily be an upgrade over Foye because he is a better shooter. Either way, though, I thought Minnesota was in great position with two consecutive picks.
Then they picked Rubio.
Who was he going to pass to? Unless they traded for a scorer, Rubio's talents would go to waste. Rubio even knew it, too. The way he looked as he walked across the stage, you know he was thinking "hell, Memphis doesn't seem so bad."
Then they picked Jonny Flynn.
"What???" I wrote at the time. Who was running the show in Minnesota? The Wolves were trying to be clever and original, it seemed, but in reality a team cannot be successful when both players in their backcourt are 6-foot or shorter. I think Flynn got too much hype because of the big multiple-overtime game for Syracuse, but he especially won't be able to score with NBA 2-guards on him. Minnesota screwed up two consecutive picks as badly as they could have.
- David Stern was at the top of his game that night. Sure, he was sloshed, but he didn't seem to care at all, which made it even better. He bantered a little bit with the crowd, screwed up the same pick announcement cadence he's been using for 25 years, and I think he even hiccuped once.
He's also stil trying to link the NBA and WNBA, stating that Madison Square Garden was the "home of the Knicks and Liberty." Oh David, you keep trying so hard...
- Tyler Hansbrough had the look of a man who had just pulled one over on the entire country when he was picked by the Pacers at no. 13. He just duped a franchise into paying him 1.5 million guaranteed while be slaps, claws, and bites ankles in garbage minutes. He should feel proud.- Brandon Jennings! I knew one of the kids from "Hoop Dreams" would make the NBA someday!"
- Austin Daye ended up being the only Zag drafted Thursday, which was expected. In retrospect, I, like every other Zag fan, overvalued the other Gonzaga entrants in the draft. Micah Downs really didn't have the talent to compete, Josh Heytvelt lacks the toughness of a true post and the athleticism of a perimeter big man, and Jeremy Pargo was low on the totem pole in a point guard-heavy draft.
Somewhere out there right now there's a Zag fan throwing a fit on an online message board because he thinks Heytvelt would be a sure thing, and he knows for sure that he'll make a summer league roster and find his way to the NBA. But I just don't see it happening for him or the other two. Pargo doesn't give you anything different from any other point guard in the draft, and Heytvelt would be eaten alive by the big, strong, athletic bigs in the NBA. Omar Samhan is not good practice for the NBA.
- Poor Knick fans. They miss out on Rubio, they miss out on Curry, and they're stuck with a guy in Jordan Hill who isn't going to make the team all that better next year. I don't blame them for getting drunk and heckling Adam Silver. He seems like the type of guy who needs to be heckled, anyway.
There were plentyy of quality moments this year, but nothing that is going to stick in fans' minds for years to come. There was no Penny Hardaway and Chris Webber switching hats, no bold statements in the interviews, no crying (sad or happy), and really, no personaloty. Like the draft class itself, the moments won't be leaving any lasting impressions.
By the way, myself and Kevin O'Brien of The Ex-Call Taker were going to team up for a live draft chat, but those plans fell through. Instead, he sent me 10 questions to answer about the draft, which you can check out right now over at his site.
