The 2007 NBA Draft Lottery Winners and Losers
Posted by Matt McCready on 05.25.2007
411mania.com’s Matt McCready takes a look at the NBA draft lottery winners and losers, the draft’s top prospects and who each team might select.
The Winners!
With only a 5.5% chance of winning, the Trailblazers are the obvious winners, but both Seattle and Atlanta jumped higher than their actual finish.
From a player standpoint, both consensus number one and two picks Greg Oden and Kevin Durant are winners. Oden gets as tapered expectations as a player as hyped as he is could get in Portland. The Trailblazers's frontcourt is incredibly deep already with youngster LaMarcus Aldridge, low-post scorer Zack Randolph and defensive specialist Joel Przybilla. Kevin Durant shouldn't have to shoulder the offensive load of his new team as he'll be playing with one of the league's best shooters, Ray Allen.
Every team in the Eastern Conference outside the lottery is also a big winner. With both consensus ‘franchise' players heading to the already superior Western Conference, the older Detroit and Miami's of the East won't have to worry about some young buck knocking them off their pedestal from this draft.
Pick #1. The Portland Trailblazers
Who'll they'll pick: Greg Oden
The chances of that happening: 95%
Why will they pick him: Surefire dominant NBA center prospects come around once every 10 years.
Will they trade their pick: No chance.
Things have finally turned around for the franchise formerly known to the creatively challenged for years as ‘The Jailblazers'.
After what seemed like an eternity of progressively worse teams and a constant stream of players being arrested for every crime imaginable (except maybe, lottery rigging) the team now has an enviable core of young players to build around in Greg Oden, rookie-of-the-year Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and Spanish sensation Sergio Rodriguez. Those four comprise every position on the court outside of small forward and Portland still employs the services of SF prospects Travis Outlaw and Martell Webster. Both were drafted straight out of high school, are improving each year and under the age of 22. And let's not forget this team also has Darius Miles. Maybe, he'll quit winning all those Academy Awards already and get back to playing basketball.
The Portland Trailblazers, formerly the collective bumwad of the NBA, could be the team to watch for the next ten years with this collection of young talent.
Pick# 2. The Seattle Supersonics
Who'll they'll pick: Kevin Durant
The chances of that happening: 95%
Why will they pick him: Most potential of any player on the board not named Greg Oden. Durant's work ethic and skillset remind scouts of a taller Tracy McGrady.
Will they trade their pick: No.
Could the Seattle Supersonics turn into the next Phoenix Suns?
It's an exhilarating question all fans of the team should be asking themselves. Already stocked with two of the premier outside threats in the league (Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis) Seattle adds a third with the sublime Kevin Durant. If KD lives up to the hype, the Sonics might have the most explosive roster devoid of Steve Nash.
The real question the Seattle front office should ask themselves is whether to retain Lewis. The small forward has a similar game to Durant, is a restricted free agent and might be expendable. Perhaps they'll do a sign and trade and improve on their point guard position where Luke Jackson regressed last year and Earl Watson remained Earl Watson. Lately this team has been drafting mediocre centers more frequently than Steve Hyland eats A&W poutine and unlike Hyland, has little to show for it. They could also acquire some size so the skinny Durant would not have to bang in the post consistently. Greg Oden would've been a much smoother fit to this roster.
But who needs Greg Oden when you have the gangliest player in the world; Saer Sene~!
Pick #3. The Atlanta Hawks
Who'll they'll pick: Mike Conley Jr.
The chances of that happening: 20%
Why will they pick him: The Hawks love taking bizarre players seemingly too early, see Sheldon Williams before Brandon Roy and Marvin Williams before Chris Paul and Deron Williams.
Will they trade their pick: Possibly
The Hawks would've lost their first round pick to Phoenix in the Joe Johnson trade had they selected 4th or lower. So while most teams are crying that they won't be going home with Mama Oden's baby boy, the Hawks are happy to have anybody they can call their own.
There are a few different interesting prospects available after the first two selections and at this point it's guesswork figuring out where they'll go. Brandan Wright is the consensus 3rd pick, he's an athletic freak with a touch around the basket that's more soft then Rafael Palmeiro without his Viagra. I don't see them taking him because Atlanta is LOADED with swingmen and with the lack of success of their last top 3 selection of a University of North Carolina freshman (Marvin Williams) there's little chance of the front office risking making the same mistake twice.
Yi Jianlian, the athletic 7 footer out of China with range, could go here but his skillset is also redundant for the Hawks roster.
That's why I'll go with the Hawks making a major reach and taking freshman point guard Mike Conley Jr. out of Ohio State. The team's signing of Speedy Claxton last year turned out as bad as it could have and Tyronne Lue should only be put in a game to guard Allen Iverson.
Pick #4. The Memphis Grizzlies
Who'll they'll pick: Brandan Wright
The chances of that happening: 25%
Why will they pick him: It's Jerry West at the helm, he'll take the best player available.
Will they trade their pick: Unlikely
Jerry West is an icon in the NBA. Literally. The NBA logo is a silhouette of the Memphis Grizzlies' General Manager. He is a man who won championships, MVP awards and gold medals as a player and was an All-Star every year. He carried over his basketball success from the court to the front office, where he achieved more success and a couple ‘executive of the year awards'. Jerry West is peerless when it comes to success in professional basketball and setting the standards for excellence in the NBA.
That said he looked like an old man who pinched a loaf in his Attends Undergarments at the end of this draft lottery.
The Memphis Grizzlies went from dreaming of finally providing star player Pau Gasol with a stud center to a stumped suspense. What should they do with their pick?
The money would probably be on Brandan Wright first and Yi Jianlian second. While Wright's combination of athleticism, length and touch around the basket would make Grizzly Hakim Warrick totally expendable (actually Wright appears to be a rich man's Warrick in every sense imaginable, except for smile). The combination of Gasol's perimeter game with Wright's full-court speed and feathery touch inside would make the Grizzly front court a threat in both full and half court situations.
Al Hortford could be another route if the team decides that it values grit more than potential and Mike Conley Jr. could help solve their shaky point guard status, but both are reaches.
Pick #5. The Boston Celtics
Who'll they'll pick: Yi Jianlian
The chances of that happening: 20%
Why will they pick him: Compliments the roster, is a ‘sexy' pick and has outrageous potential.
Will they trade their pick: 50/50
I was traveling through RealGM.com's Boston Celtic thread to look at the reactions of the team's most hardcore fanbase throughout the draft lottery.
Watching page after page of optimism and not-so-silent prayer devolve into profanity and calls for the life of commissioner David Stern immediately upon the announcement of Boston's 5th selection after being ranked 2nd is a bit hilarious in a ‘Cable Guy' dark comedy sort of way. You have to feel for them. The combination of a Greg Oden/Al Jefferson frontcourt would be the best young bigman duo in the world this side of Chris Bosh/Andrea Bargnani.
Boston can take solace in the fact that there should still be a plethora of prospects available at the 5 spot.
If he's available, Yi Jianlian makes sense for a few different reasons. He's undeniably talented, he did not look out of place against Team USA last year in international competition, his perimeter game compliments Big Al's tremendously and his seven feet of length is key for a Boston frontcourt that is undersized and unproven. Undersized power forward Ryan Gomes is a serviceable tenth man for a contending club while defensive specialist Kendrick Perkins cannot escape his tendency to pick up ridiculous fouls and has no offensive game.
Chins up Celtic fans, if Rajon Rondo hangs out with Steve Kerr in the offseason, Wally ‘broken back' Szczerbiak has a comeback year or Paul Pierce ‘d' stays healthy, the Celtics could be playing in the playoffs next year.
Then again, with the pick in the hands of Danny Ainge, I wouldn't be surprised to see him deal it for Adam Morrison. He was a good basketball player, but when it comes to managing Mr. Ainge probably should've stuck to baseball.
