What I Think Series: What Becometh Of The Phoenix Suns Draft Picks?

Annually, the NBA Draft brings together the best crop of collegiate and international talent into Madison Square Garden in New York City. Prior to this momentous occasion wherein young aspirants take their first step to earning millions of dollars, NBA teams spend months and sometimes years scouting and assessing talent across the United States, Europe, and even Asia.

Some teams have a knack for assessing good talent like the Golden State Warriors (Latrell Sprewell 24th pick in 92’; Gilbert Arenas 30th in the first round of 01’; and Monta Ellis 40th selection in 05’) and San Antonio Spurs (Manu Ginobili 57th 2nd round pick in 99’ and Tony Parker 29th selection in 01’).

Another team with what I would like to call, “a great draft sense” (along with superior scouting and assessment skills) is the Phoenix Suns. They were able to draft a number of solid NBA players over the last 20 years (“Thunder” Dan Majerle (1st rd; 14th overall in 88’); Steve Kerr (2nd rd; 50th overall in 88’); Former New Jersey Nets’ All-Star F/C Jayson Williams (1st rd; 21st overall in 90’); Cedric Ceballos (2nd round; 48th overall in 90’); Michael Finley (1st rd; 21st overall in 95’); 2-time MVP Stephen John Nash (1st rd; 15th overall in 96’); their lone choice the following year named Stephen Jackson (2nd rd; 42nd overall in 97’); Shawn Marion (1st rd; 9th overall in 99’); Amare Stoudemire (1st rd; 9th overall in 02’); traded for San Antonio Spurs draft choice Brazil’s Leandrino Barbosa (1st rd; 28th pick in 03’).

Not bad right?

Well, with “new” Phoenix Suns’ owner Robert Sarver’s mandate to tighten his squads spending, first round draft picks since 04’ were traded elsewhere in order to avoid paying them since 1st round picks are guaranteed a two-year rookie deal under the new NBA collective bargaining agreement.

From 2004-2007, there are the players that the Suns virtually gave away. Luol Deng (1st rd; 7th overall in 04’) was sent to the Chicago Bulls in a prearranged deal. Lil’ Nate Robinson (1st rd; 21st overall in 05’) was traded to the New York Knicks along with guard/forward Quentin Richardson for F/C Kurt Thomas and the rights to 2nd round pick Dijon Thompson (2nd rd; 54th overall in 05’).

2006 didn’t shine any brighter for the Suns who owned two 1st round draft selections (#21 & #27). The Suns drafted Rajon Rondo (1st rd; 21st overall in 06’) and traded him, along with a broken down Brian Grant to the Boston Celtics for their 2007 1st round draft (a picked conveyed to the C’s by the Cleveland Cavaliers who got guard Jiri Welsch in a prior deal) and cash considerations. With the 27th selection, the Suns drafted promising Spanish guard Sergio Rodriguez (1st rd; 27th overall in 06’) but traded his rights to the Portland Trailblazers for cash considerations.

The 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers 1st round selection turned out to be Spanish sensation Rudy Fernandez (1st rd; 24th overall in 07’) who was subsequently dealt again to the Portland Trailblazers along with shooting forward James Jones for cash.

Ouch.

Can you imagine if the Suns kept half those guys?

Can you fathom the team not signing Marcus Banks to a five-year $21 million dollar contract in 06’?

And how can we all forget the greatest crime of all?

Absorbing Shaquille “The Big Cactus” O’Neal’s $40 million dollar deal for the next two years.

*sigh*

So much for Sarver’s belt tightening mandate.

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Gift wrapped for Brooklyn: The 2008-2009 New Jersey Nets

I have always been resistant to change.

Even if I knew it was coming a mile away.

Last February, I got the opportunity to see the Nets at their best for what turned out to be their last time together against a major opponent.

And with the trade deadline looming, there were already some notable changes on their roster as the Nets shipped forward/center Jason Collins to Memphis for underachieving forward Stromile Swift. A few days later, team captain Jason Kidd followed suit when New Jersey sent him back to the very team that drafted him (Dallas Mavericks) for Devin Harris and other players.

Change was coming.

I just didn’t know how fast.

Nets Team President Rod Thorn and the rest of the Nets brain trust have been very busy this off-season. Having traded away their franchise’s second all-time leading scorer—Richard Jefferson to the Milwaukee Bucks for China’s Yi Jianlian and underachieving forward Bobby Simmons.

The Nets also did very well for themselves in the 2008 NBA Draft after they bagged Stanford’s 7’0’’ center Brook Lopez at #10, 6’10’’ forward Ryan Anderson at #21, and arguably the steal of the draft at #40—Memphis scoring guard-forward Chris “CDR” Douglas-Roberts.

Rod Thorn didn’t stop there as he also allowed forward Bostjan “Boki” Nachbar to sign with a Russian team and sent guard Marcus Williams to the Golden State Warriors for a future lottery-protected 1st round pick.

With that said, the only Nets left from last season’s roster are Darrell Armstrong, Josh Boone, Nenad Krstic, Sean Williams, Vincent Lamar Carter and his $61.8 million dollar extension. Of those five players, only Boone, Williams, and Carter are certain to make the final roster.

The New Jersey Nets have certainly positioned themselves well for the unrestricted free agent boon of 2010 that will feature the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr., Steve Nash, Joe Johnson, Walter Ray Allen, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Manu Ginobili, Tracy McGrady, and for what it’s worth, Shaquille O’Neal. This list can further increase if players who hold Early Termination Options (ETO) in their existing contracts decide to exercise them. They are Amare Stoudemire, Michael Redd, Tyson Chandler, Richard Jefferson, Yao Ming, and Dirk Nowitzki.

If the Nets don’t land LeBron James in 2010.

They are not short on alternatives from the wealth of talent on that list.

Kudos to the Nets brain trust on their foresight.

Brooklyn may not only be getting a team two years from now.

But a solid contender.

Addendum:

- DeSagana Diop and the Dallas Mavericks agreed on a five-year, $31 million deal (the team’s full midlevel exception) last July 9, 2008. It will be Diop’s second stint with the Mavericks after being a part of the Jason Kidd-Devin Harris deal six months earlier

- What exactly did the Nets get in the Marcus Williams deal? Fred Kerber of nypost.com shares that “if the Warriors are in the playoffs in 2011, the Nets get their first round pick. So it’s lottery-protected in 2011.

He adds “if the Nets are still waiting for the pick in 2012, they get G. State’s first rounder, as long as it’s not 1-through 11. If they’re still waiting in 2013, they get the first rounder as long as it’s not 1-through-10. But 2013 is the cutoff. If they haven’t gotten the pick by then they get two second rounders, in 2013 and 2015.”

Sounds as shady as Marcus Camby being dealt for a 2nd round pick, if you know what I mean.

- Lastly, at the age of 40, guard Darrell Armstrong won’t be back with the Nets for the upcoming 2008-2009 NBA season.

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It is on YouTube! (Shaq takes out Przybilla) And Barkley says his peace!

I knew it! I knew it! Someone did post Shaq's Attaq on poor Joel Przybilla over at YouTube.com.

However, since embedding the said video to other sites has been disable by the YouTube user, the link is the next best thing.

Recap:

Portland Trailblazers center Joel Przybilla basically got hurt in the second Heat possession of the game! It's an amature video from the bleachers section, but you can still make everyone out on the court (well, at least you can tell who Shaquille is among the group...he is pretty hard not to miss).

Well, at the possession goes, Shaq received the ball on the right block and turns right into Przybilla--BAM! Offensive foul. Everything seemed to be ok at first with almost everyone running down court with an exception of a few Trailblazers.

Then looking at the instant replay up in the Jumbo Tron, the ground must have been the last place that Joel Przybilla wanted to be in as Shaq seemed to get entangled with his feet and did one of those wrestling kamikazi dives towards Przybilla and bore down his full weight (well most of it) and the basketball on Przybilla's face--effectively knocking him out of commission for the next few minutes.

Of course, that is not end of it as there are reports that Charles Barkley had said that if that had ever been done to him, he would have had executed some swift retribution.

I'll leave it at that.

You can see the first two minutes of the Miami Heat at Portland Trailblazers match up in the aforementioned video.

And I am glad that Joel Przybilla is ok.

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The Shaq Attaq!!!

Now I've heard it all (wish I could say that I saw it...maybe YouTube has it somewhere)...

Here is what Sun-Sentinel columnist and longtime Miami Heat beat writer Ira Winderman wrote about the Heat's recent match up against the Portland Trailblazers:

Portland center Joel Przybilla said he still doesn't know what hit him when O'Neal stumbled into him during Thursday's first quarter, knocking him out when the force of the ball and O'Neal's 325 pounds hit him in the face.

"He apologized for it several times during the game," Przybilla said, "but I told him I didn't remember."

The Shaq Attaq!!!

This certainly beats Shaquille taking down a backboard (April 23, 1993):

Sports Illustrated wrote:

Shaq strikes again! O'Neal sends home a dunk so powerful it rips apart the backboard's support braces, causing the Nets-Magic game at Meadowlands Arena to be delayed more than 45 minutes. The backboard, stanchion and base all have to be replaced. "I just went up and dunked and it broke," O'Neal said. "It really came crashing down. The shot clock hit me in the head. It hurt a little bit, but not that much. I have a hard head. It could have been serious, but it wasn't."

Or somebody's teeth (it was that particular player's fault...he tried to take a charge on The Shaq). The name of the player escapes me at the moment (I think it was A.C. Green...can anyone verify this?), but I do remember that player losing two of his teeth and then scampering on his knees trying to recover them underneath the goal support. After collecting his fallen white pearls, the player then sought immediate dental attention.

Man! I love the game of basketball. But at 5'10 1/2, if I see The Diesel coming straight at me--common sense dictates (as well as a need for self-preservation) to run the other way.

Sorry guys, just threw that last part in there. It's my little attempt at humor :)

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Yi Jianlian--NBA All-Star?

The proud city of New Orleans. 58 Days to go. NBA All-Star 2008.

The annual (a.k.a. "most likely") West starters most likely Yao Ming at Center (no contest here with an entire country voting for him); Tim Duncan (which was sketchy at first since he was initially listed as a Center. But now since he was able to sequester a reprieve on his All-Star ballot position listing (which would have most likely taken him out of the West starters if he didn't get it since Yao Ming has owned the Center slot since he entered the league in 03') and last year's league MVP Dirk Nowitzki at Forward; and Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady at Guard.

While the annual (a.k.a. "most likely") East starters would be Shaquille O'Neal at Center (no doubt moving to East to South Beach really helped in this department); newcomer Kevin "KG" Garnett and LeBron "LBJ" James as the Forwards; and Dwyane Tyrone Wade, Jr. and Gilbert "Agent Zero" Arenas at the Guard positions.

That is "most likely" and probably how the vote will turn out. New Jersey Nets point guard Jason Kidd (who currently has three triple-doubles this early into the 07'-08' season) should be the most viable replacement for the injured Arenas.

As for the West, I am not a big fan of Tracy McGrady and in all honesty, a natural point guard should start for the West and my vote goes to 2-time MVP Steve Nash (which won't happen because of McGrady's popularity).

Now to the main topic.

Question: Will Milwaukee Bucks forward and China's own Yi Jianlian make the NBA All-Star team?

I say YES!

Not because I'm a fan of Yi (which I am not), nor because the NBA seemingly decided to leave the 20 year-old Jianlian off the All-Star ballot.

Yi Jianlian will make it with his countrymen backing him up via the NBA's online All-Star voting system. They may have taken Yi off the ballot but NBA fans are more educated these days as there is always the "write in player" option.

Yi won't surpass "The Chosen One" LeBron James but he has a shot at Kevin Garnett's starting slot.

Yahoo Sports wrote:

China's basketball press lamented Friday (November 16, 2007) the absence of rookie Yi Jianlian from the 2008 NBA All Star ballot, reporting that the world's top basketball league may fear the voting power of Chinese fans.

Yi's name was absent from the ballot released Thursday (November 15, 2007) in the United States, making it much more difficult for Chinese supporters of the Milwaukee Bucks power forward to vote for him to start in the annual All Star Game.

The 20-year-old rookie has impressed in his first month in the NBA, averaging 11 points and 6.9 rebounds a game and replacing Charlie Villanueva, who is on the ballot, as the Bucks starter.

Yi's absence dominated the sports pages of many Chinese newspapers on Friday.

"The NBA does not dare to put Yi Jianlian on the ballot because the voting power of Chinese fans is too big," Titan Sports Weekly said in an editorial.

"If the NBA put Yi Jianlian on the ballot without careful consideration ... he would surely start for the East.

"The NBA fears that if a guy like Yi becomes an All Star and only scores two points in the game, they would lose the meaning of the All Star (game)."


Wouldn't it be fun to see the system work against the NBA?

So what are you waiting for?

Click here and vote today!

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Penny Hardaway: A perfect game

November 15, 2007

That's exactly what Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway, the Miami Heat's free agent acquisition, did the other day against the New Jersey Nets wherein he and former Orlando Magic teammate Shaquille O'Neal sealed the Heat's victory (91-87) with "strong fourth quarter play" in East Rutherford, N.J.

AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney wrote:

"The Heat were up five with less than 9 minutes left when Hardaway made a 3-pointer. He knocked down another one about 1 1/2 minutes later, giving Miami a 75-66 cushion with 7:22 remaining.

Sean Williams' bucket cut it to four with 4 1/2 minutes left, but Hardaway answered with another 3 with 4:09 to go. Hardaway hadn't scored more than eight points in a game this season, when he returned to the league after not playing since the 2005-06 season because of leg injuries."

Sun-Sentinel and Miami Heat beat writer added:

"And Hardaway finally made shots, going 6 for 6 (4 for 4 from downtown and 3 of the 4 in the 4th quarter), the first time he played without a miss in his career."

Even with D.Wade back, Penny Hardaway's stellar play (as of late as there have been a number of occasions this year wherein the Heat have had to beg him just to shoot the basketball) might actually score some more points with stern taskmaster and Heat coach Pat Riley.

Ricky Davis, watch your back!

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Shaquille: "I don't need earthlings respect"

Despite averaging less than 20 ppg for the first time in his 14-year NBA career, nothing can be said of the effort that Shaquille O'Neal brings every night.

Let's face it folks, we've all been spoiled.

With career averages (including the 6 games he has played in this season) of 25.9 points, 11.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 2.5 blocks per game; a lot is expected out of the man who calls himself, "The Diesel."

True, he has slowed down (in 6 games he is averaging career lows in points (15.0 ppg) and assists(1.8 apg). And to some extent--dunks--of which, he only has two as of the recently concluded match up with the San Antonio Spurs) but his presence alone still commands a double-team or two. And let's not forget, even at his depleted state, Shaq is still better than half the starting centers out there in the NBA.

Miami's new starting small forward and former Orlando Magic teammate Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway had this to say about the Big Aristotle.

ESPN's Marc Stein wrote:

"He didn't play in a lot of preseason games. He got injured twice with little injuries to his leg [in October]. And he really didn't practice that much. So I don't see him in any kind of rhythm right now. People on the outside can look at it and say, 'Maybe he getting slower, maybe he's getting older.' But when you're on the inside, you know what's really going on.

"I think [the criticism] hurts him, because he's a guy that's won championships and has been at the top of this game for a long time," Hardaway continued. "But I know he's going to do something about it."

Stein added:

"I'm still the baddest [expletive] in the world," Shaquille O'Neal said. "Yeah, I'm getting older, but Kareem got older. Hakeem got older.

"I don't need earthlings' respect. When it's all said and done, my name will be there and it will be mentioned ... unless you earthlings try to erase it."

That's telling them Shaq!

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The reason why Shaq didn't wear #34 in Miami

Saw this little tidbit of information in the April 23, 2007 issue of Sports Illustrated

NBA Back Stories

The Numbers Game

Shaquille O'Neal
Heat Center

"In college (LSU) I wore 33 for Patrick Ewing," says O'Neal. "I wanted it in Orlando, but Terry Catledge wanted to sell it for $50,000. I was not paying that. So I went with 32. With the Lakers, I couldn't have 32 because of Magic, or 33 (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). I took 34. Here (Heat), I wanted 33, but Zo" -- center Alonzo Mourning, who also wears 33 for Ewing -- "was coming back. SO I took 32." Why not stay with his Lakers digits? Shaq, bitter at being dealt by L.A., says, "I didn't go with 34 because 34 was stabbed in the back in Los Angeles."

Yet another classic Shaq story.

Who would have ever thought that both he and Mourning idolized fellow alum Patrick Ewing.

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Barkley on Heat "A bunch of Tito Jackson's without Shaq, while Wade is considered "a Janet"

December 14, 2006 - TNT's Charles Wade Barkley has been known to say what's on his mind from time-to-time. Wait! make that all the time, as The Montana Standard.com had quoted him saying that the Miami Heat's lineup without the injured center Shaquille O'Neal was just "a bunch of Tito Jackson's without Shaq. Except for Wade — he's Janet, he can survive on his own."

You just got to love the repertoire of Sir Charles.

Pondering the future of the Big Aristotle

As the NBA season draws nearer, one has to wonder how much Shaq Diesel has left in his proverbial “tank.” At 35, maybe he has one good run left in him considering that he will most likely be his team’s primary option until Dwyane Wade returns from injury and “hopefully” O’Neal would also not forget the bashing his Heat team took at the hands of the Chicago Bulls during their first round match up last year.

However, the O’Neal run seems to have taken a turn for the worst over the last few days. The signs are there…one just has to look.

A comment by longtime Heat beat writer Ira Winderman initially got me warmed up when he noticed that during a recent Heat loss to the Orlando Magic, that O’Neal “spent the night on (or near) the stationary bike, because, well, he could.”

Not long after, Heat coach Pat Riley (who probably at this point wishes he had not comeback after winning the title in 06’) eventually made calls for O’Neal to play in their succeeding games, which Shaquille did against the Charlotte Bobcats and played a grand total of 10 minutes and 29 seconds, all in the first quarter.

It turned out that Shaq suffered a left quadriceps contusion brought about by a freak offensive play against Bobcats big man Emeka Okafor.

Michael Wallace of the Miami Herald quotes O’Neal:

After the game, O'Neal said he didn't believe the injury was serious. He seemed more frustrated that he had another "freak injury" despite his wearing padded protection.

"The crazy thing about it is, I've got pads," O'Neal said. “I've got kneepads. I've got quad pads. I've got shin pads. And the place it's not padded, [Okafor] got me.

Man! I ranked The Daddy really high in my Yahoo! NBA Fantasy Leagues (and got him).

Here’s hoping that the O’Neal experiment does pan out.

Back to the Mint

When I first heard that Miami Heat coach Pat Riley was considering giving 36-year old Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway another chance at the big leagues after almost two years of shelf time – I was ecstatic! Ecstatic because I grew up watching the duo of Shaq and Penny strut their stuff for the Orlando Magic in the early 90’s. Now, more than a decade later, I’d get to see them again…

But based on the observations of Miami Heat insider Ira Winderman (http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_basketball_heat/), it looks like it may not happen.

Winderman wrote:

"Hardaway, though, is different. He is not assured a spot and still must play his way onto the 15-man regular-season roster. His quadriceps soreness not only opens more playing time for the likes of Jeremy Richardson, Devin Green and even Marcus Slaughter, but makes one wonder how much longer Riley can justify the comeback bid by the 36-year-old who has been out of the league for nearly two years."

And to think I was looking forward to a picture with Shaq, Penny, and D.Wade.