And the Winner Is...

Congratulations Toronto you have the #1 pick that nobody wanted

This was supposed to go up a week ago but I haven't had time to finish it up. Am I the only one that remembers the ping pong balls actually being televised on TV? I could have sworn growing up that is how I saw the draft lottery but the NBA says they never broadcast that portion of the lottery, maybe I was just dreaming of things when I was younger. It was a weird draft lottery as the perennial hosts of the lottery the Los Angeles Clippers were not in attendance. The Toronto Raptors get the #1 pick in one of the weakest drafts in recent memory. There are so many potential names as to who may be drafted #1 so we shall see how this shakes out in the next month until the draft.

Once again some Euro that most have never heard of is at the top of the list and Toronto has already gone to do some research on him. Ever since Dirk came in and blew up a lot of teams are taking gambles on these European players, most of which have not panned out. Only Pau Gasol has contributed, all the others haven't produced much, although I may be missing one or two.

If I had the #1 pick in this draft there would be a number of players I would be looking at but Bargnani would not be one of them. At the top of my list would be two players from the Pacific Northwest, Gonzaga's Adam Morrison and Washington's Brandon Roy. In addition to them I would take looks at LaMarcus Aldridge from Texas and Tyrus Thomas from LSU.

Dependent upon the team's needs I would make the choice from this list of 4. For the teams in the lottery though I would probably move Thomas out of consideration first. His claim to fame is the couple of games he played great in during the NCAA Tournament. I don't think he has shown on a consistent basis like the others that he is deserving of the #1 pick. He also is still very small to play the 4, much like most kids coming out into the draft now, and it isn't known how adding bulk to him will affect his game which is his agility and leaping ability.

There are rumors that the Lakers may want to move up, rumors that occur every season, but if they actually come true this year I would love to see Brandon Roy in a Lakers uniform. Many people don't realize that Brandon Roy was one of the first players to take advantage of the league allowing HS players to declare for the draft and then withdraw. Roy declared out of HS, which was a surprise to me considering he was on the Rivals 100 list at around #50. When he didn't get the feedback he liked he went to college and developed into the player that he is today.

Realistically with the Lakers at 26 there's a number of players that I would like to see, just depends on who falls. This list includes Rajon Rondo, nbadraft.net has him projected to the Lakers at this spot, but I highly doubt he'll still be on the board at that point. In addition to Rondo, Maurice Ager, Quincy Douby and possibly Leon Powe are players I would want to see suit up at Staples Center next year. Sure Ager is a Sparty but he is a player and would be a great addition to the Lakers as would Douby, who I've seen light it up for Rutgers the past few years. Powe is a big body that could be a very good NBA player but there are injury concerns as he has missed a lot of time due to his knees and who knows if the next one could end his career?
Miami ended up advancing last night to the NBA Finals so Shaq and D Wade has taken South Beach to the promised land, can they now bring it home? I love D Wade, he is one of my favorite players, but I cannot root for Miami as long as Shaq is there because it would make the Lakers trade of him worse than it already was and after all that trash he talked on LA I do not want him to win another championship.

The Mavericks have a chance to end the series tonight in Phoenix and I hope they do. Phoenix is the new version of the Sacramento Queens. I haven't seen a team complain and whine about calls since Vlade and co were up in Cow Town. Doesn't help that their owner acts like a douchebag as well. I really want the Mavs to win the championship since I don't want Miami or Phoenix to win. I hope Dallas can get it done tonight, I am a Nowitzness.