Official 2006 NBA Draft Thread

I was really excited when Philly picked THabo but then they said something about him going to Chicago

There HAS to be something to Rudy Gay... remember the last notable Jerry West draft-day trade: Vlade Divac for Kobe Bryant.

I think Rudy Gay will be good in the pros and he'll probably do well in Memphis, or Houston if the deal falls through. When you're that athletic and you have a somewhat positive attitude (he seem to possess a somewhat positive attitude) you're going to be successful and you're going to be able to contribute. Even Darius Miles, the headcase half effort kind of person he is, is able to contribute sometimes because he's so athletically gifted.

Yea if Rudy is coached right he should succeed. Anybody note on the steals of the draft; Marcus Williams dropped very far, Dee Brown I though would have been one of the first players to get drafted in the secondround. Can't believe Isiah made another blunder

54 New Jersey Hassan Adams SG 6-4 201 Arizona

Imagine what Kidd can make of this little kid.... And imagine Kidd, Adams, carter Jefferson and Kenyon? in one lineup .

I wish the rockets got punked instead. Giving swift and gay for battier is too much. If its one on one its fair. What were they thinking? I hate JVG.

Actually, it's even a better trade for the Rockets if Swift is included. That means they get rid of his contract and get another player instead. But an athletic PF is still needed.

I didnt see anything about Phoenix getting a first round pick in 2007 from Cleveland... does anyone have a link for this? If so, they got a pretty good deal.

The Celtics acquired that pick (Cleveland's 2007 1st rounder) last year for Jiri Welch. They traded it yesterday to the Suns for Rajon Rondo and the salary of Brian Grant.

My favourite part of the draft was when Dan Patrick got burned by Stern.

"I took so long because I was listening to your pithy comments, hoping you'd say something positive about our players," or something like that.

The "ooohs" of Knicks fans when they selected Balkman were also amusing.

Wow, Lakers got Evans basically for free. I thought they gave Farmar for him.

right now i am praying a train will hit the car shane battier is driving and he will suffer a broken pinky and not be able to pass the physical, causing the trade to fall though.

interestingly, the rockets website has reported nothing regarding the trade.. their draft coverage seems to imply they want to keep gay.. fuckin prick liars

Why all the hate for Battier? He's a winner, a good defender, can spot up and shoot and is a teriffic role player. Basically the perfect SF mate to play with Mcgrady. What's wrong with that? You'd rather have that loser with bloated contract and no heart or brains (Swift) and another guy without pulse (Gay)? This isn't Live, you know.

Why all the hate for Battier? He's a winner, a good defender, can spot up and shoot and is a teriffic role player. Basically the perfect SF mate to play with Mcgrady. What's wrong with that? You'd rather have that loser with bloated contract and no heart or brains (Swift) and another guy without pulse (Gay)? This isn't Live, you know.

still though, trading gay, someone who could have easily gone #1, as well as Swift for just another role player... i dunno. I've slowly begun to accept this...

You do realize what has happened don't you? CD and the front office have given the fans a death sentence.

The four stages that patients go thru when they learn of their terminal illness...

Denial: no f*cking way!! It didn't happen. It's just tentative...right?

Anger: Let's kill CD!!!

Depression: Oh god, it's over. The franchise is doomed. Hello lottery '07.

Acceptance: Well...it'll be ok. He could still be our third option.

CD is just another verison of isiah. Isiah rips up the Knicks within 2 years and makes it obvious that their franchise is going to hell. CD kills the team slowly, in like 10 years or so. giving us fans a slow death.

If the trade does go though, at least ask for another player from the Grizzlies. There is no way in hell Battier is worth both Gay and Swift. who's gonna backup shitty J. Howard now? Hayes? Battier is sold that is for sure, but as solid as he is, Swift at least should not be thrown in.

Winners and Losers

1. NY (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU'RE FUCKED NOW! PAXSON IS GOD!)
2. Atlanta (#5 for Williams is a reach.)
3. Seattle (You already have two centre projects and now you pick a third

If TT ends up being a stud, Isaiah is gonna be reminded of that for the rest of his life. Big "If", however.

I remember a couple of months ago posting that it looks like Sene is going to go pretty high in the draft, and got a lot of skepticism from this particular message board for some reason.

The pattern is obvious, it happens every single draft without exception. Teams will gamble on a young big man with gobs of potential but so-so "contribute right now" impact. Kwame, Darko, Bynum, Araujo, Diop, the list goes on & on.

What would Seattle draft? Would any guard drafted at #10 or lower outplay Ray Allen? Would any forward outplay Rashard Lewis? The only reasonable gamble is for a big man.

I think Sweattle should've drafted Cedric Simmons.

LOSER: Seattle SuperSonics
The Sonics are fighting fan disinterest while trying to get Washington tax payers to pony up for a new stadium. So what do they do to drum up interest on draft night with the 10th overall selection? Maybe work a trade to get hometown hero Brandon Roy? Or local favorite Adam Morrison?

No. How about pick up Senegal's Saer Sene, who they will keep overseas to save money. I can't imagine why that franchise is in trouble.

That says it all, sometimes you need to draft to get people going. The sonics do have a 10 deep rotation, but what they have is a 10 deep rotation that includes 1 C, 2 PF's, 1 SF, and a PG coming off the bench. They need a solid backup for Ray Allen or Rashard Lewis. Damien Wilkins is fantastic off the bench but he and Earl Watson have to share time backing up Ray Allen. I Think they're just showing how they have no faith in their big men by taking Sene. They could have used a solid backup for Ray.

Why all the hate for Battier? He's a winner, a good defender, can spot up and shoot and is a teriffic role player. Basically the perfect SF mate to play with Mcgrady. What's wrong with that? You'd rather have that loser with bloated contract and no heart or brains (Swift) and another guy without pulse (Gay)? This isn't Live, you know.

Well from the experts and alot more people, the trade was great for us. Especially since its confirmed now that we have Stro. Jerry West was on Sports 56 this morning and said that since we did get Stro, he wasn't going anywhere and that he missed his shot blocking ability. He also said, he thinks putting Gay, Warrick, Swift and Pau on the floor at the same time would be very dangerous. He also said he would like to sure up one position with a small move and later when asked of the pg situation he said that was the position he would want to fill. He loves Anthony Roberson (who I forgot about) and said he and Miller are the two best shooters on the team and he hopes within' a year Roberson will be able to start getting alot of PT.

He also said last night was probably the second best night he had as an executive period with the first being the Kobe deal. He said they broke out champagne and everybody feels thrilled over this draft. He says it almost worked out perfectly. It was one other player that they wanted that they didn't get. I'm assuming that's Marcus Williams. He said talking with Shane last night was one of the toughest things he had to do. He said the 2 worst things you have to do is 1. Telling a kid he's not good enough to play in the league and 2, telling a really good guy, a really good person, high character guy that you're trading him.

He said Shane said "He knew this day was coming" and also some stuff about how much he thanked the Grizz and the city of Memphis and how much he appreciated it. West acknowledges the BYC hold up but says the deal is done. He said because of that Gay may not play all of the summer league games. He jokes that if we lose summer league games we have a problem. He mentions that we now have a quick quick lineup with a lot of athleticism and excitement. SO EXCITEMENT IS BACK IN MEMPHIS, and you thought I was a Memphis fan at first? Expect ALOT OF HELL this year

The only thing I can say about that trade is what if Rudy Gay turns into an NBA superstar I am sure the Rockets would regret that decision seeing as they could've had T-Mac, Gay and Yao.

sigh... for most of last night, I was just sitting there, waiting for everything to settle in, taking in the trade at stride... reading clutchfans.net's article, I understand that getting Battier was a good asset, but I'm sure that everyone (even if you are not a Rockets fan) that the Rockets could've gotten more out of this deal than just Battier. The fact that the Rockets gave up 2 Dollars for a dollar is pretty stupid.. let's just hope that they don't tank this season

Bargnani was an obvious choice for the Raptors, but I also think that PJ Tucker was a pretty solid pick.

Even though the Raptors have a few big men now (Bargnani, Nestorvic, Villaneuva and Bosh), three of them aren't really centres. But thats why I think bringing in Tucker was a good choice for Toronto. He's a gritty player that in a way, can compensate for the Raptors lack of an inside presence.

I'm continuing to be impressed by Colangelo's off-season acquisitions. I can actually sleep well at night knowing that Colangelo is in charge of the Raptors franchise.

What are your guys feelings on the Hornets draft. I feel it was very good picking up 2 strong big men (Hilton Armstrong, Cedric Simmons) and getting Marcus Viniscus a first round talent but second round projection. He will play great alonside Chris Paul.

I agree I think they had a good draft however a little surprised they didnt draft a SG since 2 of 3 out of their guards are leaving this summer. They do need big men though. Chris Paul will help these guys offensively.

The only thing I can say about that trade is what if Rudy Gay turns into an NBA superstar I am sure the Rockets would regret that decision seeing as they could've had T-Mac, Gay and Yao.

Not if it turns out that Battier was the last piece that Houston needed, and they go deep in the playoffs.

McGrady is at SG again now. And there's no denying that the duo of Tmac-Yao is a powerhouse, they just haven't been able to win enough with the holes in their roster. Shane Battier is a glue type of guy who i think is exactly what the Rockets needed. Obviously Gay has much more upside and will most likely turn out better. But in how long? If Houston are going to win a championship, it's going to be with Ming and McGrady on the team. And their window of oppurtunity is what, 3 years? They need to win now before it's too late. Gay will need time, something Houston doesn't have.

The Swift part however, well that makes the deal puzzling, as now they've created another hole in their roster and seemingly contradicted the trade...

I don't know why people think swift was such an answer to the rockets. Sure he was a good help defender, but tmac can provide a similar defensive precense, especially now with Battier as their guy to guard the best opposing perimeter player.

Also, on the offensive end, Swift has no jumpshot. Juwan Howard does, and this makes it harder for teams to collapse on Yao.

The Rockets were dumb to trade Gay for Battier. Battier is not the missing piece to their team, believe me. Maybe once they get over Tmacs injuries, and Yao playing so soft, then they can build around them. New Jersey and Chicago had great drafts. I dont think the Hornets had a good draft, they could have taken better players. I dont know why the Blazers traded up to get Aldridge. To me he seems like a Tyson Chandler clone. Nice D, but he isnt going to be some amare stoudamire. I would rather have Tyrus Thomas personally.