2009 NBA Draft

Breaking Down the 2009 NBA Draft

The 2009 NBA draft is in the books and the Pickle has the breakdown on how each team fared in the draft. Check out who the Pickle thinks got better and who could have done better.

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The Wolves Continue to Rebuild; More on the Spurs; Dalembert to Charlotte?

The Minnesota Timberwolves continue to dismantle the roster and move away from the Kevin McHale era while the Wizards get the veteran talent they wanted in return for the 5th pick in hopes of making another run at the postseason. The Spurs may bring Bowen and Oberto back and have the Sixers actually found a sucker to take Dalembert off their hands?

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NBA Draft Buzz for 6-23-09

With just days until the NBA draft the rumor mill is heating up rather quickly with who might be getting dealt, which players are rocketing up draft boards, and who is falling out of favor with scouts and teams. The Pickle is here to break it all down for you.

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NBA Draft Preview

The NBA draft is less than a week away and the Pickle is here to break it all down for you. Who is your favorite team looking at and where are your favorite players likely to end up? Read further to get the skinny on the upcoming NBA draft.

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Is it Time to Abolish the NBA Age Limit?

As we head towards the NBA draft we are starting to hear the yearly chatter about how the NBA needs to abolish its age limit for entry into the draft. The main argument against the age limit is that guys like Kobe, LeBron, and Kevin Garnett did not need college ball to succeed at the NBA level. If these players have the talent to play in the NBA then we should let them. But, the problem being and a key argument for the age restriction, is that an overwhelming majority of these kids are not ready to play in the NBA straight out of high school.

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Handicapping the NBA Draft: Picks 1-5

The NBA draft is rapidly approaching and it is time to start looking at how the draft may play out.   The one thing we know for certain is the Clippers will be taking Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin with the top pick.  They even went on record saying that they had decided Griffin would be the man if they ended up with the top pick this summer.  So barring some sort of catastrophe or the Clippers getting an offer they simply cannot refuse from another team, which I do not see happening since Griffin is not one of those once in a generation players, Griffin will be a member of the Clippers a month from now.

After the top pick things get murky and could go several different ways.  Accordin to PopPickle’s NBA Draft database the experts seem split on who the Grizzlies are going to take.  Six mock drafts have them opting for Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio while five have them opting for Connecticut big man Hasheem Thabeet while Arizona State swing man James Harden is getting some attention here.  Of the three mentioned Hasheem Thabeet fills the biggest need, Ricky Rubio has the most upside, and Harden seems the least likely to get the call unless Memphis is working a deal with another team to try and save some cash by not having to pay its top pick #2 money.

Rubio is seen by many as the top point guard prospect in the draft and many see him as #2 overall behind Griffin.  The quandary here is what to do with Mike Conley, Jr. who really came on strong after All Star Break posting 14.5 points and 5.6 assists per game while nailing 43.5% of his 3 point attempts.  Essentially, once Kyle Lowry was dealt to Rockets and it was Conley’s team his game took off and he started playing like the player Memphis thought it was getting when it drafted him two years ago.

With Rudy Gay and O. J. Mayo already in the fold there is no way Harden goes second unless the aforementioned trade comes to fruition.  The Girzzlies already have a quality shooting guard and small forward and you don’t draft a 6th man with the second pick of the draft.  Given the talent the Grizzlies currently have Thabeet makes the most sense.  Marc Gasol led the team in rebounding and block shots with 7.4 and 1.1 per game respectively while Thabeet averaged 10.8 boards and 4.2 swats per game.  Thabeet will likely never be an elite big man, he is just too soft and will get pushed around, but he should be able to give whoever drafts him rebounding and shot blocking due to his size alone.

The same three players being mentioned with the Grizzlies are all in play at number three for the Oklahoma City Thunder.  As with Memphis Thabeet makes the most sense for the Thunder as well.  The Thunder is loaded with good young talent at the perimeter positions with Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and Jeff Green all averaging over 15 points per game and entering either their second or third seasons in the league.  Taking a point guard does not make a lot of sense given that Durant handles the ball as much as he does and Westbrook proved more than capable in his rookie season.  There is little chance Harden gets the nod given scoring from the wing is a strength of the team.  What the Thunder really lacks is a strong rebounding and shot blocking presence.  If Thabeet is gone then expect the Thunder to go with Rubio since he will be seen as the most talented player available.

After the Thunder things get even murkier.  The only thing the experts can seem to agree on is the Kings will take a point guard with the 4th pick the $64,000 question is which one.  Obviously if he slides to four then Rubio will be the guy but it seems somewhat unlikely that will happen.  After Rubio, Memphis’ Tyreke Evans and UCLA’s Jrue Holliday seem to be getting the most attention.  Both are still pretty raw and have a lot to learn about running the point at the next level.  Evans started the season as a shooting guard for Memphis before being moved to the point while Holliday spent a lot of his time playing off the ball in deference to incumbent point guard Darren Collison.  Evans appears to have the slight edge amongst the experts over Holliday but I would not be surprised if Holliday ends up being the guy over Evans as he seems to be more of a pure point guard whereas Evans is more of a point guard who looks to shoot first and pass second.

With the fifth pick the Wizards are likely to settle on either Jordan Hill or James Harden.  The two biggest holes on the Wizards are the lack of a rebounder/shot blocker in the middle and someone to fill in for Gilbert Arenas.  I would not be shocked if Arenas’ career is done for all intents and purposes and the Wizards need a back court player to take his spot.  The Wizards floundered all season due to his and Brendan Haywood’s absence.  Arenas is the team’s primary ball handler and go-to-guy while Haywood takes some of the rebounding pressure off of Antawn Jamison’s shoulders and provides a shot blocking presence on defense.  Harden would give the Wizards that additonal explosive scorer out of the backcourt but he does not yet have the handle to be a primary ball handler in the NBA.  He does not have a strong handle and is not a terribly explosive athlete.  Hill, on the other hand, would give the Wizards some added size in the middle and can block some shots for you.  However, he is still very raw offensively and his post game is still developing at the very least he would help pick up some of the slack under the boards for the Wizards.

Churning the NBA Rumor Mill

It is quickly approaching that time of year where the NBA rumor mill starts up in full effect. Who are the Cavs looking at to help LeBron get to the Finals next year? Is Andre Miller fleeing Philly or is he interested in coming back? Who are the Kings looking at to lead the team next season? Continue reading for updates on those stories and more.

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