NBA Draft

[JackTheRipper]

Cupcake needs to be fired already, what a ****ing moron. Caron was our only trade bait and he goes and waste it on Kwame Brown. Uggg.

[svosen]

I was more impressed with Butler last year than I have been with George over the past few years. Neither of them seems to be particularly "great."

I really don't mind the Atkins trade at all; I never really saw that he was that helpful last year.

I'm quite glad that Walton is still there. Hopefully he'll turn into a nice role player this year.

I don't know what to think about Kwame. I honestly haven't really followed him that much, other than to read a couple of anit-Jordan articles talking about how Mike failed to properly develop him (ie - bashed too much, nurtured too little).

There is always the possibility that the change of scenery will work wonders. Just look at Carter in New Jersey. Hopefully this will turn out in a similar fashion.

I'm glad Lamar is still around. I'm just really hoping Phil figures out how to get Kobe to play well with him. They're both really good players.

[Cowboy22]

Phil should use Odom like he did Scottie Pippin, in a sort of point forward role. He's got a pretty similar skill set; let him set up the offense and take advatage of his passing skills and all around game, especially since they don't have much in the way of a point guard.

[svosen]

Agreed. And Luke Walton would be a nice backup to that position, although I suppose he'll need some more polish in several areas, including actually bringing the ball up through traffic.

I anxious to see how it pans out. And I wonder if Vlade will play.

[Lefty Grove]

Originally posted by Cowboy22

And Andrew Bynum's myspace account has been canceled . Someone on the Lakers must have gotten wind that their top ten pick had a web page where he responed to the question about his favorite book with: "Books? lol i haven't read a book since third grade!" and listed his desired future occupation as "NBA balla/entrapenour".

Are you guys sure it wasn't faked? It seemed a little unreal.

[JackTheRipper]

Vlade has already hinted he is retiring this year so he probably won't be playing. And the Andrew myspace account was real because it was almost like a year old, back then he wasn't even known. He also seemed to have his high school buddies on there.

[svosen]

Quote from a Dime Magazine article I read on FoxSports:

Oh how we¹ll miss the flop. We reported it the other day, but it is official, Vlade Divac has announced his retirement from the NBA. Vlade's career numbers end at 11.8 points, 8.2 boards, and 3.6 flops per game. We'd be lying if we said we wouldn't miss the classic Vlade exasperated face. Come on, you know the face.

So there you have it.

I'm not horribly disappointed. I think he's got positive things to offer most teams (I hear he's quite a team player and an inspiring factor in the locker rooms), but he drove me nuts back in the Kings' hay day...

[JackTheRipper]

Yep I called it woo! Oh there are rumors going around now that Antonio Daniels is probably coming to the Lakers. In other news Andrew Bynum is averaging 15 Points 10 Rebounds a game in the summer league.

[svosen]

A nice scenario would be:

Mihm plays as big all this coming year as he played in the opening game of last season; and,

Bynum give them some semi-product minutes while Mihm is resting.

[Cowboy22]

Summer League games can be wildy misleading but I just got back from catching two days worth of games in Minnesota. The teams there were the Rockets, Knicks, Bucks, Timberwolves, Pacers, and Raptors. Of the draft picks that actually played, (those for the Wolves, Pacers and Raptors didn't) I was very impressed with all three of the Knick's first rounders and Luther Head of the Rockets. 5'9 Nate Robinson was especially impressive, he was probably the best player there other than Ron Artest. He's quick, shoots well, and is insanely athletic, he threw down a put back dunk in traffic that might be the best in-game dunk I've ever seen. Andrew Bogut, on the other hand, looked pretty average to me, I think he'll be a decent center but he's didn't do anything to really impress me for the two games I saw him.

If anyone lives near somewhere where they're playing summer league, I encourage you to go, it's a cheap ticket and a really good time. You get great seats and a real up-close and personal feel with the players (Artest seemed pretty calm; he got heckled a few times but managed to laugh it off and joke back with the fans). I got a several autographs from players and from Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, who were there watching there teams play. I also sat near, and briefly talked to, Jeff Van Gundy, which was awesome.