The NBA Draft is successful
Viewers locked in as Celtics and Blazers wheel and deal
While many losers emerged from the cellar to make a couple of ill-advised trades this week, there was one overall winner from the 2007 NBA Draft: the NBA.
This year’s draft was stacked with a diverse range of players. From four-year college go-ers (Al Thornton, Joakim Noah, Al Horford) to the overseas powers (Yi Jianlang) to the young sensations (Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Brandan Wright), there was really something of everything.
And the masses responded with an unprecedented amount of interest in the context of modern NBA drafts, which used to be secondary to watching grass grow, paint dry, etc. But the 2007 edition was actually fun to watch.
Now, the faithful have begun their dissection of deals made in and around the draft. Much of the criticism has been directed towards the Boston Celtics (of course), the Charlotte Bobcats and the Seattle Supersonics.
The Celtics had the impact trade of the draft, dishing out the No. 5 pick (Seattle, which had rights to the pick, instructed Boston to draft Jeff Green out of Georgetown), Wally Szcerbiak, and Delonte West to Seattle for Ray Allen and a second-round pick.
The contingency in Boston is out for Ainge’s head and fans are wondering whether the old-time Celtic bowed at the altar of Paul Pierce and succumbed to the star’s bickering for a battle-tested veteran.
Seattle, on the other hand, made a killing. Durant was the real prize, but Jeff Green, a solid and steady college player (a somewhat confusing pick at No. 5, but still a good player) will develop alongside him and maybe Rashard Lewis if the Sonics resign him.
The Portland Trailblazers had the choice of anybody in the draft and they took Greg Oden, the obvious pick, although he might be somewhat overrated and could end up in Durant’s wake down the line. But the Trailblazers traded away Zach Randolph as soon as they secured Oden, receiving one of the most overhyped players in the NBA (Steve Francis) and Channing Frye in return.
Oden and Randolph would have been a rewarding duo, but the Blazers wanted a guard and got one – they just didn’t choose wisely.
But all of it has been interesting and bystanders who don’t care for the NBA have been locked in to who’s going where – because this draft is chock full of impact players who will be making headlines for a while.
Part of its success can be directly attributed to David Stern’s new age limit, which states that you have to be 20 years old to be eligible for the NBA draft. Oden and Durant wouldn’t have been in the Final Four and players like Brandan Wright wouldn’t even be on the radar. The year of college, while hurting their financial situations for a year or so, helped them in the long run.
Oden played for Thad Matta, Wright for Roy Williams and Durant for Rick Barnes, and everyone knows that college coaches actually coach – in contrast to the NBA’s arsenal of babysitters.
So from this week of draft nuttiness, the NBA emerged the victor, even though some of its teams might have fallen down the elevator shaft.
Latest Articles