Impressions of the NBA draft.

The NBA draft was both exciting and frustrating. The excitement came from many things, like how would the picks fall, who would the Sixers take and where would Sam Young and DeJuan Blair go. Some things went as expected, like Blake Griffin to the Clippers, Tyreke Evens to the Kings and Hasheem Thabeet to the Grizzlies. Other things were rather shocking, like the Timberwolves taking every imaginable point guard and our Pitt stars falling so far. When DeJuan Blair decided to forgo his final two years of eligibility, he had no doubt he was a mid 1st round pick. Blair was projected to have a ceiling of 10 and a floor of 22. What DeJuan didn't realize was that it was a retractable floor that would drop him all the way to the Spurs with the 37th pick in the draft. Although DeJuan will have to compete to make the team, once he does land on the roster, he should have no problem garnering significant minutes alongside four time NBA champion, Tim Duncan. The Spurs also traded some of their front-court depth in a deal with Milwaukee for Richard Jefferson. Many "expert" site Blair's knee problems as a reason for him dropping so far, even though Pitt coach Jamie Dixon talked to all 30 teams and told them there have been no problems during his Pitt career. I still don't understand this explanation. Didn't Portland draft a "franchise" Center a few years ago #1 with a history of injuries? If you have no problem taking a guy #1 with all those injury problems, why even think about it at 22? One thing i know about DeJuan Blair is that every time someone doubts him, he proves them wrong. The Spurs got themselves an angry beast. Sam falling was also pretty surprising. Although he was not expected to be a high draft pick, almost all publications had Young as a first rounder. Ironically, Sam will be playing with DeJuan's bitch (Hasheem Thabeet).

Some people see this year as a weak draft because of the lack of superstar talent, with only Griffin and Rubio as future standouts, I see it more as a draft with lots of huge bust and many late sleepers. I think several 2nd rounders could contribute early in their NBA careers; some of these guys include Jeff Pendergraph, Jon Brockman, Derrick Brown, Marcus Thorthon, Jodie Meeks, Patrick Beverly, Danny Green and Amhad Nivins. I think Sam Young will be the 2nd or 3rd best player on the Grizzlies. That leaves two more guys; DeJuan Blair and Patty Mills. Both players have lottery talent but fell much later in the draft. I would rate Mills behind only Ricky Rubio and Eric Maynor. These two guys have all-star potential. As for the busts, i feel like there are five sure-fire busts in the top 15. Hasheem Thabeet, DeMar DeRozen, Brandon Jennings, Gerry Henderson and Jonny Flynn (solid player, just not for where he was drafted). If you have a lottery pick, you should be taking a guy that will definitely improve your team, not a project that might work out. We'll see how this draft ends up looking, but my guess it's going to look upside down.