All in all, a fun draft, with lots of trades, and plenty of movement. A few comments:
- Either the ESPN bosses are very much aware of Sports Guy, or they were otherwise informed of the draft's reputation for silly cliches, because there was considerably less of the usual words we hear over and over again from the men at the table("upside," "long," "wingspan," "motor," "bigplayability," etc.) than in any other year. Most have been an edict from on high. As opposed to last year, when literally every one of the first 15 picks was described as "long" by Jay Bilas.
- I had enough trouble telling Brandon Roy and Randy Foye apart, even before they were traded for each other. I even had a Simmons-esque moment, trying to explain the situation to my dad on the phone, and having him not understand me. I was happy to see the Wolves get Roy, and was hoping they'd keep him, but then Foye's not so bad either. We'll just have to see.
- It was Portland's "president/interim general manager" who made all six of their trades last night. If they knew they were going to be so active in the market, why didn't they, uh, hire a general manager before the draft?
- I still can't believe Kevin Pittsnoggle went undrafted. That's probably only because West Virginia doesn't have an NBA team.
- Anyway, here's the annual Bill Simmons draft diary, his tenth. Enjoy.
Posted by Stephen Silver at June 29, 2006 09:02 AM"I can't wait for the Knicks' 29th pick -- at the rate we're going, Isiah could draft Barbaro and we wouldn't be surprised."
Now, that's funny. Of course, I'm not a Knicks fan.
Unfortunately, a casaualty of marriage and fatherhood was the loss of watching a lot of non-big ten college basketball, so I no longer really care as much about the draft. I generally know who Foye and Roy were, but could not tell you much about them, but when I saw that McHale traded Roy to get Foye, I knew immediately that Roy was the better player.
I think this quote from the Sports Guy probably says it all.
8:35 -- Tony Bennett reports that Minnesota and Portland are swapping draft picks -- Roy to Portland, Foye to Minnesota. That's it? That's the trade? None of the ESPN guys seem remotely fazed. I knew Kevin McHale couldn't just pick the best guy in the draft without somehow screwing it up. I would have bet my Ndudi Ebi rookie cards on it.
Posted by: J. Lichty at June 29, 2006 01:09 PM