I would like to make some corrections to my last post "The Luck of the Nick". The ping pong ball that delivered the number one overall pick originally belonged to the Los Angeles Clippers. In typical Clipper fashion, things didn't turn out in the best way possible. Thoughts of Kyrie Irving and Blake Griffin pick and rolls will only be in Los Angeles's other team's faithful dreams. Bad ownership trickles its way down to its team's front office, but this time who could have imagined that such a miniscule chance of winning would yield the number one overall pick. But hey, at least you still have Blake Griffin who has turned into a marketer's dream. I cannot recount the multitude of times that I've seen BG dunking over that KIA. (see here) The ultimate irony is the Clippers sent Baron Davis, the fella throwing the alley op through the Kia's sunroof to Cleveland soon after the All Star Break.Sorry Clipper fans, no Irving to Griffin Ops either. But I feel for you guys, considering the teams I root for...
Now for our nexts bridesmaid.... the Minnesota Timberwolves
One NBA executive said something around these lines regarding the NBA draft: You can only draft the players that are available. If there's only one superstar in a draft class, and your franchise has the second overall pick, and that one superstar is taken then you're shit out of luck fella. Despite being a perennial bottom feeder of the Western Conference, the T-Wolves have never had the number one overall pick. Kevin McHale's grand plan trading KG to the Boston Celtics never panned out. What a conflict of interest. He Traded his team's best player for the last decade to his former team to put them in NBA Final contention. Thank baby Jesus that he's gone. Minnesota doesn't miss you... Digression aside, the Draft has not been kind to this team as it could have been. In 2006, the T-Wolves traded Randy Foye for Brandon Roy. While Foye has floated around the league to different teams, Roy has developed into a 20 pt and 5 assist type player. Although, his recent knee injuries may deteriorate his play in years to come. With 2007, the front office selected Corey Brewer who contributes off the bench for the Dallas Mavericks. Did the Wolves give up on Brewer a little to early? I think so. They had the chance to reclaim him off waivers after he was released by the Knicks following the T-Wolf Knick trade. Two of his fellow University of Florida college teammates have turned into all stars, Al Horford and Joakim Noah. This young man still has room to find his niche the Association.
Furthermore, Minnesota missed out on Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, the top two talents and picks in the 2007 draft. 2008 was a good year. Kevin Love has developed into a fan favorite and a double double machine. The 6 foot 10 white guy from Oregon broke the connsecutive double double streak this year. Major kudos to you, K Love. 2009 yielded Ricky Rubio who has yet to play a game in the league as well as makes Rondo look like a Ray Allen-esque shooter and Jonny Flynn who missed most of last year. In the process of all this, Washington lucked out and drafted John Wall, the one superstar in that year's draft. Will 2011 bring any luck to this hurting franchise. We can only speculate at the moment. Choosing Derrick Williams may create a jam in the front court that already consists of Michael Beasley and Kevin Love. Beasley and Williams have similiar playing styles in the sense that they are tweeners. Both have the size of a power forward yet they play like small forwards. How Williams's game will translate to the NBA is still a mystery. I guess that's why they pay those scouts a decent salary. Final thoughts for this post: David Kahn get this one right. Your franchise is heading in the right direction with K Love. Keep it that way.
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