2009 NBA Draft Winners and Losers

Last night’s NBA entry draft was exciting, and at times bewildering.

From Minnesota selecting four point guards, to Rubio slipping to fifth, to DeJuan Blair slipping to the second round, to seemingly innumerable trades, I’m here to help you sift through the winners and the losers.

The Winners:

• The Clippers. Yay, they managed not to screw up, they picked the consensus number one, yay.
• The OKC Thunder. James Harden SG (3), BJ Mullens C (24, from Dallas). OKC played this draft safe, but smart. They had good young talent already at the 1, 3 and 4, with Westbrook, Durant and Green. The added young talent at the 2 and 5, makes sense, right? Harden doesn’t have the most upside, but he’s as close to a sure thing (contributor, starter) as this draft had outside of Griffin. He’s mature, multi-capable and will fit in perfectly. The Thunder really need a center, and they acquired a project, but one with real potential in BJ Mullens. I like it.
• The Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets traded a protected first-round pick in next year’s draft for the 18th pick in this year’s. Doesn’t sound so great, except that pick was Ty Lawson, who I think might be the steal of the draft. He’s quick, efficient, and makes good decisions. He’ll learn from the best (Billups) and the Nuggets could really use an upgrade over Anthony Carter at backup PG down the road.
• The Philadelphia 76ers. Jrue Holiday PG (17). A sweet pick up for the PG-needing 76ers. Holiday fell like crazy because they were so many PGs in the draft, and because of injury concerns. However, he’s a legit top-5 talent, and incredible value at the 17 slot. Now do they let Andre Miller walk and hand Holiday the keys? He’s a bit too young, I think.
• The San Antonio Spurs. DeJuan Blair PF (37). This guy fell like crazy, he was projected mid-first round. The Spurs are always winners, it’s like the other teams conspire to make them look smart. When Blair turns into the next Paul Millsap about twenty teams will be shaking their heads and Buford will be cackling his evil laugh.
• Tyler Hansbrough. Hansbrough had a tough pre-draft, after his four-year love-fest with the Tar Heels. That being said, he handled it well and improved his draft stock, going 13th to the Pacers. I’m still skeptical that he can ever be more than a “glue” or “hustle” guy, but he’ll get his chance in Indy.
• Tyreke Evans. Evans managed to sneak up past Rubio to number four, and probably gained more from the pre-draft process than any other prospect. He’ll see a lot of action in Sacramento, but a backcourt of him and Kevin Martin seems destined for issues. Rubio would have made more sense.
• James Harden. See The OKC Thunder.

The Losers:

• The Minnesota Timberwolves. Ricky Rubio, PG (5), Jonny Flynn, PG (6), Ty Lawson, PG (18), Wayne Ellington, SG (28). The Wolves needed backcourt help, and I guess they got it, drafting three pass-first point guards that can’t possibly play another position in the first round. At least they traded Lawson for a future first-rounder, but he might have been the best of the bunch. When they made the 5 and 6 picks I assumed one of them, probably Rubio was going to be traded for sure, I mean, it makes no sense otherwise. They can’t possibly play together. But new GM David Kahn says he’s keeping them both and that they can play together. Can you imagine people asking for McHale to come back as GM. If there’s no trade, this is a travesty, a disaster. Also, Rubio is already talking about staying in Spain because he hates Minnesota so much. Wow.
• Blake Griffin. Yes, you went number one. Congratulations. Now you have to play on the Clippers, a team with a frontcourt rotation of Kaman, Randolph, Thornton and Camby. Enjoy your limited minutes and bad influences.
• Ricky Rubio. He falls all the way to number five (probably thought he was going 2-4), goes to Minnesota, a destination he actively dislikes, and then sees another point guard (not a combo, a pure point) taken with the very next pick. Very quickly he was talking about returning to Spain. If he doesn’t get traded, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it happen.
• The Memphis Grizzlies. Hasheem Thabeet C (2). I realize this wasn’t too strong a draft, and that Thabeet will be a major force on defense for a while to come, but Memphis needed serious frontcourt help and drafted three forwards. A Marc Gasol/Hasheem Thabeet backcourt is hardly going to make up for it. How are these guys ever going to score?
• Ramon Sessions. With the Bucks drafting Jennings, you have to feel like Sessions might be expendable. That means less competition for Sessions’ services and a smaller contract.
• The Toronto Raptors. DeMar DeRozan SG (9). This was a swing for the fences by Bryan Colangelo, but it’s probably strike three. DeRozan has crazy athleticism, but didn’t really show any NBA tools in his year at USC. He could be the best player in the draft in five years, but more likely he’s Gerald Green.
• The Cleveland Cavaliers. Christian Eyenga SF (30). Actually had an opportunity with the final first-round pick to get someone who could come and contribute right away. Their frontcourt of Shaq, Big Z and maybe Varejao could use some young legs. DeJuan Blair or Sam Young would have been good. Eyenga is a prospect who nobody’s heard of and won’t be in the league for a couple years. Must be a cost-saving move.
• DeJuan Blair. This cloud definitely has a silver lining. Yes he lost the guaranteed money of being a first-round pick, but now he’s playing for San Antonio, learning from the great Tim Duncan and Popovich, the best coach in the league. He’ll develop faster there than anywhere else he could have gone.