A few thoughts on Draft Night

-I am a Brandon Jennings fan. Not because of his game, since I have not seen much of it, but because he came to Madison Square Garden after he was drafted because he wanted to shake the Commissioner’s hand and have that photo. I understand why he was pulled. Nobody likes being the guy sitting in the room with everybody talking about your decline. It’s embarrassing to the player and agent. Most experts were expecting this to happen to Brandon Jennings. Brandon Jennings, however, came back when he was picked, which shows me that he didn’t want to be robbed of the draft experience. I like somebody who savors important moments in their lives.

-I’m not sure how good this draft class is. Last year’s draft was thought to be terrible, but turned out to be pretty good. Derrick Rose was amazing. Eric Gordon, O.J. Mayo, and Russell Westbrook also showed future all-star potential. Kevin Love, Brook Lopez, and JaVale McGee all look like long-term front court starters with the potential to be borderline all-stars. Last year, however, nobody thought any of this was true. In contrast, the 2007 draft has turned out worse than expected. Greg Oden looks like a bust. Mike Conley, Jr., Yi Jianlian, and Acie Law have been giant disappointments. I think the one major difference between this draft, 2007’s, and last year’s is that last year players ended up in places where their playtime and roles were well-tailored to where they were drafted.

-I’m not a huge fan of drafting two players in the top 10 because of salary issues. Assuming they both work out, you still have issues resigning them. The best example of this is Ben Gordon and Luol Deng. It will probably happen be easier with Jeff Green and Kevin Durant, since Green hasn’t developed into a top tier talent. Minnesota had this problem this year. They put themselves in an awful position with the 5th and 6th pick, but there’s no guarantee that Ricky Rubio will be willing to play for them, and the fact that he’ll have to fit with another top tier PG is a disincentive.

-The best teams in the NBA usually have the best GMs. The Spurs, for instance, added Richard Jefferson and picked up DeJuan Blair. The Magic added Vince Carter. Both GMs earned their pay. Houston also bought several 2nd picks who could turn out to be solid reserves: Chase Bundinger, Jermaine Taylor, and Sergio Lull.