Many teams participating in the draft were hoping to land a franchise player who will someday bring them a title. Others decided to make some noise by completing some big time deals. Whatever the case my have been the NBA draft placed many teams under the microscope as GMs had to do something because being proactive is the only way to be able to compete with the likes of the San Antonio Spurs in the West and the Detroit Pistons in the East.
Certainly there were some no-brainers on draft day. The debate over taking Oden or Durant for Portland was not that hard of a decision, reason being that one may be better than the other, but Houston most definitely did not kick themselves for taking Olajawon over Jordan. Will "Big-O" or "Killer Kevin" be the greatest to ever play their position, probably not. However, time will only tell how good these teens will be. All one can say is that Oden will be Blazing in Portland, while Durant leaves nobody sleepless in Seattle.
The Hawks are now flying high as Atlanta landed two big time players in Al Horford and Acie Law IV. There is no question that these two lottery picks will fit in nicely for a team that already has a good young nucleus.
Staying down south, Michael Jordan, part-owner of the Charlotte Bobcats was left with an easy decision taking Brandon Wright at number eight overall from UNC. Another Tar Heel selected makes three in the last two years, however unlike everyone loving Raymond and a big pay day for May, the Bobcats and His Airness did not wait long to ship off their lottery pick to Don Nelson and the Golden State Warriors for none other than high rising Jason Richardson. This was certainly an excellent move by the Bobcats who picked up an ALL-Star in exchange for a very good and very young prospect.
Many had thought that Boston was in bad shape after not being able to sign the "Big Ticket" Kevin Garnett. However, draft day was extremely productive for the Celtics as they got Lucky striking a pot of Gold by acquiring sharp shooter Ray Allen from the Seattle Super Sonics. The deal sent Jeff Green the fifth pick overall, in addition to Wally Szerbiack and Delonte West to Seattle. Boston got a whole lot better in an instant by tacking on the UCONN Huskie Product in Allen onto their roster. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen should combine as a lethal duo in the East, probably even better than the more recent playoff days when "The Truth" was lighting it up with Antoine Walker. Lastly, the deal shows the commitment of the Sonics to rebuild, but in better terms reload quickly with some young Guns, as Durant will be complemented Nicely by Jeff Green. Remember, Seattle will now have enough cap room to keep All Star Rashard Lewis as well.
Finally, the New York Knicks made a great move which will improve their franchise exponentially. Isaiah Thomas said happy trails to "cap room clogger" Steve Francis and so long to Channing Frye. The Knicks, much to the approval of Spike Lee, received perennial All Star power forward Zach Randolph and a scrapy point guard in Dan Dickau from Portland. Last evening New York also acquired Wilson Chandler with the 23rd pick, getting a player with athletic ability and a promising future. The next question that comes to mind is when will the Knicks send Stephon Marbury and the other baggage the team has when it comes to non productive players with huge contracts.
The last question which the days leading up to the draft have caused many to ask is how will Amare Stoudemire and KG react to their teams basically selling them out trying to cut deals, when currently we know that neither big man has changed uniforms. It could be very possible that Garnett and Stoudemire take a page out of Kobe's book in demanding that they want out. Will any of these three stars sit out, who knows. However having an unhappy player on your team could be carcinogenic and cause the Sun to go down on Phoenix or trees to fall on the T-Wolves. And as for LA, Bryant feels he has been thrown under the BUSS, as the organization has led him the wrong way.
Draft day 2007 was thrilling. There are now many new faces in new places. However, still is much to be determined as the off season has just begun and 30 Teams will start the '07-'08 campaign with a clean slate and a hope of winning an NBA championship come next June.
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