2007 NBA Mock Draft:

No. 1 Portland Trailblazers

Greg Oden C Ohio State

The conservative approach calls for 35 year old center Greg Oden. Although he’s clearly not the more polished of the top two players in the draft, Oden appears to be the consensus No. 1 pick. Personally, I’d take Kevin Durant, who’s proven that he can carry a team on his back and has an NBA ready arsenal of moves with a nasty competitive streak Oden has yet to show. If the Blazers bomb this pick, the Sam Bowie blunder will come back to life. At this point, it’s hard to imagine they can go wrong with either Oden or Durant. It feels similar to Olajuwon/Jordan in 1984. There’s a good chance both of these players barring injuries will be Hall-of-Famers.

Best case scenario: David Robinson

Worst case scenario: Sam Bowie

No. 2 Seattle Supersonics

Kevin Durant F Texas

The long line of great Seattle Centers includes Ervin Johnson, Jim McIlvaine, Patrick Ewing (right before his knees buckled and he fell over), Vladimir Stepania, Johan Petro, Robert Swift, and of course the great Saer Sane.

There’s no way Seattle can screw the draft up this time, luckily for them. There are no awful centers to choose from because Durant will drop into their lap. Even if Rashard Lewis leaves, which he will, considering he will eventually be a poor man’s Durant, Seattle’s lineup may look something like this.

PG: Luke Ridnour

SG: Ray Allen

SF: Kevin Durant

PF: Nick Collison

C: Insert terrible past draft pick

Even with no one at center, that’s a formidable scoring lineup that can shoot and run the floor. Defense, of course is a whole different question.

Best case scenario: Dirk Nowitzki

Worst case scenario: Lewis or Glenn Robinson

No. 3 Atlanta Hawks

Al Horford F Florida

With the No. 3 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, the Hawks select Chris Paul. Wait no, do over, the Hawks select Deron Williams. OK, can’t do that either anymore. In Billy Knight’s defense, maybe he didn’t know they needed a point guard. I mean Tyronn Lue defended AI in the 2001 NBA Finals, although AI famously stepped over him and glared at his body on the ground. If the Hawks could work out a deal for Luke Ridnour, they’d finally make a good move, but I can’t figure out why the Sonics would want to trade Ridnour and leave Earl Watson as the starting pg.

Best case scenario: Elton Brand

Worst case scenario: Drew Gooden

No. 4 Memphis Grizzlies

Mike Conley G Ohio State

As great as Jerry West is as a GM, he did inexplicably reach for Troy Bell and Dahntay Jones. Even with West gone, the Grizzlies will reach for Mike Conley, who will be a decent but unspectacular NBA point guard. On the bright side, he’s a pass first guard who can get in the lane and can finish with floaters. On the down side, he has to drive because he can’t shoot. With great shooters on the perimeter and Greg Oden down low, Conley’s job at Ohio State was significantly helped.

Best case scenario: Tony Parker

Worst case scenario: Eric Snow

No. 5 Boston Celtics

Yi Jianlian F China

The knock on Yi: experience. So he didn’t play at the college level, but he held his own at the World Championships, drawing praise from Dwight Howard. This kid is not just a workout wonder. He’s actually played in big games unlike Darko or Skita. The key for the Celtics will be, can they provide the right support group to make Yi feel comfortable? Why not take a page out of the Red Sox book and bring one of Yi’s teammates from China along and make him the 12^th man? Okajima has proven to be not just Dice-K’s boy but also a reliable bullpen presence and that might not happen in Yi’s case but his production will increase. Remember how homesick Dirk was at first with the Mavs?

Best case scenario: The small forward version of Yao

Worst case scenario: Skita

No. 6 Milwaukee Bucks

Jeff Green F Georgetown

Assuming the Bucks resign Mo Williams, they’ll be looking for depth and athleticism. Bobby Simmons will be returning from injury, while Charlie Villanueva and Andrew Bogut continue to develop nicely. Jeff Green’s numbers at Georgetown don’t do justice to how good he really is because of the Hoyas style of play. He’s a do it all kind of player and will be able to contribute right away.

Best case scenario: Antawn Jamison

Worst case scenario: Jared Jeffries

No.7 Minnesota Timberwolves

Brandan Wright F North Carolina

Let’s assume for the purposes of my happiness that KG is traded to the Lakers and the T-Wolves are in full rebuilding mode. Wright’s tremendous upside potential is as high as anyone else’s in the draft. So what if he can’t shoot from past 5 feet and looks skinnier than Tyson Chandler. Kevin McHale will have all the time in the world to wait since he’s not looking at another playoff run for the next decade. Now that they finally have a draft pick, there’s nothing else to do except draft a bust.

Best case scenario: Chris Bosh

Worst case scenario: Keon Clark

No. 8 Charlotte Bobcats

Joakim Noah F Florida

How much pull will Michael Jordan have in regard to who the Bobcats choose? Let’s hope for the Bobcats sake, Jordan will be gambling on something other than the NBA draft. If I were Bobcats management, I’d buy him a plane to ticket to Vegas for Thursday night at 7 Eastern. If they follow the trend of their recent drafts, you can bet they’ll take a proven college player off a winning team. Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer both fit that philosophy. If Gerald Wallace resigns, Noah is the pick, if he leaves, they go with Brewer.

Best case scenario: Dennis Rodman

Worst case scenario: Stromile Swift

No. 9 Chicago Bulls

Spencer Hawes C Washington

If any team needs to trade their pick, it’s the Bulls. With a young nucleus of Hinrich, Gordon, Deng and Thomas, along with Thabo Selafosha and Chris Duhon, and a solid role player in Andres Nocioni it’s time to trade Ben Wallace for a proven veteran to put this team over the top. Subscribing to the theory that teams get better the longer they play together might actually be a good idea in this case as well. If they must draft Spencer Hawes would be a good fit. He’s a little soft, but his post moves are as developed as any big man in a long time.

Best case scenario: Rik Smits

Worst case scenario: Joel Przybilla

No. 10 Sacramento Kings

Julian Wright F Kansas

Wright’s stock has been plummeting recently, but his versatility and energy could provide a spark for a team desperately in need of one. If they move Ron Artest, Wright could be in the starting lineup before long.

Best case scenario: Andre Iguodala

Worst case scenario: Josh Childress

Food for thought:

Eight freshman left school early for the NBA draft after the first full year of the minimum age rule in the NBA. It’s safe to say that the majority of those eight would have left after high school. Kevin Durant, Greg Oden, Brandan Wright, Spencer Hawes, Thaddeus Young would all have left and Mike Conley, Dequan Cook, and Javaris Crittendon would all have considered leaving as well.

By comparison, only two freshman, Tyrus Thomas and Shawne Williams left after their freshman year in last season’s draft.

Think the Darko and Skita have scared off suitors. Only one international player is projected to go in the top 15 picks and four or five are projected to go in the first round.

Three went in the top 13 last year and six in the first round. Ten more went in the second round.

Three also went in the 2005 draft (including Andrew Bogut) and six in the first round.

It's nervous time

I'm officially scared.

A few days from now I might be waking up in a cold sweat from a nightmare that goes something along the lines of: The Los Angeles Lakers trade Kobe Bryant to the Chicago Bulls for Ben Gordon, Luol Deng and insert long European name here.
I'm the last person to think Kobe will actually be traded.

A. Jerry Buss might not know basketball, but he knows entertainment. There is a reason he's riding around with 23 year old girls. There's no way he'll take away Hollywood Kobe from the best place to take advantage of his recently increasing mouth, his superstar status, and his on court dominance.

B. As Bill Simmons would say, the Lakers can't get much more than 60 cents on the dollar for Kobe right now. Other teams know that he wants out and that Mitch Kupchak has been heavily criticized for constantly not pulling the trigger.

C. Most of the Eastern Conference teams just don't have the assets to make the kind of deal LA is looking for. Aside from Lebron (not gonna happen) D. Wade (ditto), and Gilbert Arenas (intriguing but unlikely). Paul Pierce is past his prime, so I won't include him in the discussion.

But here's what got me thinking. Stephen A. Smith was on SportsCenter and was asked if it would be better for the Lakers to trade Kobe before or after the draft.
Either before or during, he said.

Since the NBA draft is one of my favorite, if not favorite, days of the year, I can only imagine David Stern walking up to the podium, and announcing with that sly grin he always wears on his face: "There has been a trade..."

Then he waits the obligatory five seconds for the New York crowd to gasp, hoot, and holler, after which Stern leans back from the mike, leans back in, and goes, the Los Angeles Lakers trade...
At that point, I'll be either knocked unconscious from leaping up and hitting the ceiling on my garage, pissing in my pants, or reaching for the knife.

What if Bill Plaschke is right? (He's just not that into you)

What if Kobe doesn't love us anymore? What if he's tired of LA, tired of the losing, tired of having to carry a team on his shoulders as he once wanted to do?

What if he's just gone off the edge like some of the other stars in this city?

What if he does actually get traded. We will miss him. We've known him since he was a teenager, watched him grow up in front of our eyes. We watched him airball key shots against the Jazz in the playoffs, then grow up and drop 28 on the Pacers in the Finals with an injured ankle, score 81 against the Raptors, and do things no other player in the NBA could do.

The thought of seeing Kobe in another uniform is flat out scary.

Let's just hope that when Stern says the Lakers have made a trade, the first words out of his mouth will be Andrew Bynum and Kwame Brown.

Hate em or love em

You know those players who make you clench your fists or wrinkle your forehead in anger. The ones who make your blood boil because you just hate them so much. Maybe one season, they killed your fantasy team. Maybe they are archenemies of the real team you root for. Maybe you have no real reason, but the mention of that player's name or his appearance on your TV screen make the obscenities come rushing out of our mouth.
Thanks to Big Softie's question, here is my list of players (non-Lakers, Dodgers, Cowboys) I hate and love the most.


NBA:
Hate
1. Rasheed Wallace
2. Ricky Davis
3. Ruben Patterson
4. Sebastian Telfair
5. Tim Thomas

Love
1. Derek Fisher
2. Robert Horry
3. Gilbert Arenas
4. Baron Davis
5. Manu Ginobilli

Baseball
Hate
1. Barry Bonds
2. Milton Bradley
3. JD Drew
4. Kenny Rogers
5. Gary Sheffield

Love
1. Paul LoDuca
2. Mike Piazza
3. Jimmy Rollins
4. David Ortiz
5. Alex Cora

NFL:
Hate
1. PacMan Jones
2. Michael Vick
3. Jeff Garcia
4. Mike Vanderjagt
5. Corey Dillon

Love
1. Brett Favre
2. Matt Leinart
3. Reggie Bush
4. Warrick Dunn
5. Marvin Harrison

Is Jermaine O'Neal the answer for the Lakers?

It is now safe to say that the majority of Laker fans have thrown in the towel on Andrew Bynum and his "tremendous upside potential" as well as his knack for picking up two fouls in two minutes.

Lamar Odom and his errant outside shooting has turned off a lot of people recently as well, despite his pre-injury dominance early in the year.
So the answer to Kobe's pleas and the man who will bring the Lakers back to a championship contender is Jermaine O'Neal.

Right?

Here's what you should know about JO before we anoint him the savior to the Lakers woes.
For a man who stands 6-11 and weighs 260 pounds, he doesn't exactly get easy baskets. His shooting percentage last season was a horrible 43.6 percent. By contrast Odom shot 46.8 percent.
Even in 2003-04 when JO averaged 20 and 10, he shot under 44 percent, making JO very AI like. As for my preconceived notion of JO being a complete black hole when he gets the ball, the assist numbers back it up. Among elite power forwards JO’s assists per 40 minutes (2.7) are frankly terrible (see Tim Duncan 4.0, Kevin Garnett 4.2, Dirk 3.7, Carmelo 4.0, Elton Brand 3.1, Pau Gaso 3.8, Boozer 3.4). Aside from averaging 3.0 in that category two seasons ago, his assist numbers are even worse (2.1, 2.4, and 2.2 in the 3 previous years).

In addition JO’s PER (Player efficiency rating according to ESPN’s John Hollinger) was 18.86 was 45^th in the NBA.

Just so you don’t completely dismiss Hollinger’s ratings, the top 5 in PER were Dwayne Wade, Dirk, Yao, Tim Duncan, and Kobe.

Odom by contrast was 89^th at 16.20 but had a PER of over 20 in the playoffs.

So what the Lakers would be getting is an inefficient power forward who hogs the ball and can’t shoot straight, but he’d be taking shots away from Kobe.

And all we have to give up is the guy who defers to Kobe (maybe too much at times) but is a good passer, plays defense, hustles, and hasn’t complained about anything except being traded out of LA.

Plus a 19 year old 7-footer who’s only played 2 years in the NBA and maybe a first round pick.

Let’s hope Mitch Kupchak looks at the fine print before making a rash decision on getting Kobe a sidekick.

I’m all for making a deal and helping Kobe, but the last time the Lakers rushed to make a trade for a power forward, they got Kwame Brown, and we’ve all seen how that’s turned out.