Jack Bauer's 2007 Draft Reactions

Wow, what a night. Several big trades and a lot of stuff to talk about.

1. Sonics trade Ray Allen to the Celtics for Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak and Jeff Green (who Boston selected with the No. 5 pick). The Celtics also received Seattle’s 35th pick (Glen Davis).

Jack Bauer's thoughts: This isn't the same Ray Allen who starred as Jesus Shuttlesworth in the Spike Lee movie "He Got Game." It really is a bad move for Boston unless there is a KG trade brewing for Jefferson, Ratliff, and change. Either way, the Celtics gave up the 5th overall pick in one of the strongest drafts for a guy that is about to turn 32 years old.

Allen is a very good player who makes the Celtics much better right now. Still, this makes no sense for the Celtics long-term. Danny Ainge had a ton of pressure on him to add a star type player to appease Pierce and he caved. Boston was better off keeping the 5th pick and trading Pierce for rebuilding pieces because this roster isn't good enough to make noise in the playoffs right now.

The one good thing about this deal for Boston is Glen Davis. "Big Baby" is a very skilled bigman with soft hands (thats what she said), quick feet, and an excellent post game. He is a steal in the 2nd round and with his work ethic, could make a lot of teams regret passing on him.


2. Knicks trade Channing Frye (aka French Fry) along with Steve Francis to Portland for Zach Randolph, Dan Dickau, and Fred Jones.

*crickets*

*Jack Bauer sighs deeply*

Ok, maybe this trade isn't THAT bad. The Knicks easily win this trade based on talent. Anytime you add a power forward that can average around 24 ppg and over 10 rpg, it can't be a bad thing...can it?

Here's the problem, Randolph and Curry are essentially the same player. Both are very high skilled low post players. Both average over 3 turnovers per game. Neither player can't play a lick of defense. A frontcourt of Curry and Randolph is very scary for the opponent because of their great offensive skills. However, its equally scary for the Knicks on the defensive end. Both of them average under 1 bpg!

Isiah Thomas reasoned this morning on ESPN radio that the guards just need to keep their players in front of them. The problem with that is we don't have guards that can even do that!

The Knicks will be better this season. Hell, they should be a lock for the 8th seed in the playoffs at the very least (key word is should). Lets not forget, we were awful at the PF position last season. David Lee played very well off the bench but adding Zach is still a huge upgrade at the position. If this Zach/Eddy project fails as badly as the Marbury/Francis backcourt though, we are in big trouble.

Mr. Randolph will make over $13 million this upcoming season and he still has 4 years left on his contract (he'll make a disgusting $17.3 million in the final year of his contract).

The Knicks absolutely NEED to make the playoffs next season and they can't be swept in the first round. If the team performs well next season, then all of a sudden, we'll have the necessary pieces to make the big move (trading for a Kobe, or a KG, etc), which is most likely what Isiah is banking on.

Its a big risk. I'll give Isiah credit in that he has the balls to do something like this. Randolph will help in the rebounding department, but other than that, him and Curry don't complement each other at all. It will be interesting to say the least.


3. Charlotte Bobcats trade rights to PF Brandon Wright (8th overall pick) to Golden State for SG Jason Richardson and #36 pick Jermario Davidson.

Good trade for the Warriors. Richardson is a good player but he's not a franchise player (even though he's getting paid like one). On a sidenote, I just agreed with something that Screaming A. Smith said last night... forgive me.

The Warriors will have no problem replacing J-Rich's production. They have plenty of quality guards to pick up the slack like Monta Ellis, Mickael Pietrus, Stephen Jackson, and of course, Baron Davis.

In the process, they get a top-notch prospect in Wright. I do get the feeling that Wright won't play a game for Golden State though. Golden State also got a $10 million trade exemption in this trade. Consequently, the Warriors are reportedly trying to enter the Kevin Garnett sweepstakes. If they can't get Garnett, expect them to chase Yi Jianlian who might try to force his way out of Milwaukee (more on that later).

As far as the Bobcats go, you know Michael Jordan is back in an NBA front office after seeing a bad trade like this. Welcome back Michael!

Note: The bastard deserves that cheap shot after what he did to Ewing and the Knicks during the 90s.


4. Blazers clean up on talent

The Portland Trailblazers were unquestionably the big winners on Thursday night. Not only did they draft a guy in Oden who will help them win championships, but they essentially gave him a solid supporting cast for the future through this draft alone.

With owner Paul Allen to back them up financially, the Blazers took advantage by purchasing draft picks and selecting talented prospects (why the Knicks don't do this puzzles me).

The Blazers first bought the 24th overall pick in the draft from the cheap Phoenix Suns (who always sell picks). The pick there was guard Rudy Fernandez, a high-IQ baseketball player that can shoot, move well without the basketball, and get above the rim. Portland will likely keep him overseas for a year before they bring him to the States.

The Blazers were then able to trade #42 pick Derrick Byars along with cash to Philly for #30 pick Petteri Koponen, a classic pass-first point guard from Finland who has great court vision and loads of potential. Like Fernandez, Koponen likely will play overseas next season.

With the #37th pick in the draft, Portland got a steal in former Duke player Josh McRoberts. I'm not too high on McRoberts because of his inability to be "the man" on a team, however, getting him in the 2nd round is great value.

Portland wasn't done though, with the 52nd pick in the draft, they took point guard Taurean Green from Florida. Can't really go wrong with drafting a PG that led his team to back to back NCAA titles in the 2nd round. A very good pick again for the Blazers.


5. Milwaukee takes Yi Jianlian with the 6th overall pick

And with the 6th pick in the draft, the Milwaukee Bucks select..... Yi Jianlian... *insert David Stern's "What the fuck is this team doing?" face*

One of the big stories leading up to this draft was how the Chinese government wanted Yi to be drafted by a team with a big market. From a business standpoint, several owners were pushing their GMs to trade into the top 10 to have a shot at Yi.

So when the Bucks took Yi despite everyone from his camp making it very clear that he did not want to go there, it made for hilarious comedy.

There is talk already that Yi's camp is trying to get the Bucks to trade him....classic. First, they ruin the 6th season of 24 (don't worry kids, Jack will be back and better than ever next season), and now they are trying to screw over the Bucks.

If Yi gets his way, this is where the Warriors could potentially come in with Brandon Wright and try to get a deal done.


And there you have it. Some of Jack Bauer's reactions about the 2007 NBA draft. Look out for my next article which will be about the Knicks' two new rookies (Wilson Chandler and Demetris Nichols).