One of the signs of the apocoylypse?

Hell, let’s just trade for Curry and re-sign Khalid El-Amin and Sweetney and open a fat camp while we’re at it.

I was hoping that could be Boylan's first inbounds play ever.

Williams went #3 and Paul went #4.That was 2005, and it wasn't as if the entire draft went that well for lottery PG's. Raymond Felton went #5, and he's nowhere near the level of Williams and Paul.

In '04 Ben Gordon went #3 and Devin Harris went #5. They're good but also nowhere near Williams and Paul (and BG was listed as a PG coming out of college).

For PG's selected top 5 before those two you'd have to go back to '02 with Jay Williams, and the jury is out as far as how good he could have been.

And before that you're looking at Bibby in '98.

Out of all these guys, it's really only Williams and Paul who have been pretty much surpassing expectations year after year.

Rose definitely seems like an impact player, but even if he's as good as Derron Williams (who is also listed as 6'3), Derron had to wait until his second year before really taking charge.

It would be nothing less than a dream scenario for the Bulls to get this kid, but I'd bet money against it, unfortunately.

My question is I don't know if that translates for a (likely) 6' 7 1/2" PF in the NBA.  Yes, some guys have done it, but if he were 6' 10" or even a legit 6' 9" I'd feel more confident in his ability to impact the NBA.

Rose, on the other hand, has relatively more dominant physical tools for the position he'll play at the next level.  With the rules changes freeing up perimeter play, Rose will come in Day 1 as possibly the biggest athletic mismatch among NBA PG's.  

I was going to type this up, but I'm lazy, and I couldn't "figure out" exactly how the future would work out. I know you and hot shit believe in the "good players make a good team make champions" theory, but I'm less convinced of that than ever. I'm on the big-risk, huge-reward mission of getting James. It's lame and difficult, and I know for a fact won't happen (also why I decided not to type it up as a diary), but it is:

Re-sign Deng and Gordon. Trade down and draft Darren Collison. Trade Nocioni and future picks for ability to draft Brandon Rush*. If they're never able to get LBJ, then I think it still ends up being an above-average team w/ some, but limited, "greatness" potential.

In the huge 2009/10 off-season, they'll have Huges coming off the books and will also have Hinrich, Deng and Gordon available for sign-and-trades for James. If they get James and keep enough of the good stuff around, I think Collison, Gordon/Rush in the backcourt and Thomas and Noah in the frontcourt is the absolutely perfect complement to James. Another good ball-handler, two great shooters, all good-to-great defenders, all the same age.

And if they don't get James, I still think this team is good enough to compete and with the right coach could get back to "being one of the better teams". And in the end, I think that's all you can ask for. You get young, above-average players, hope you can develop them into either great players or assets to be traded for great players. I don't think it's so risky that it risks falling completely apart.

Anyway...

*If they draft Rush, Thabo would hopefully become redundant and they'd be able to trade him for assets. Nocioni plus future picks for Rush AND THEN Thabo for ____, I think would be greater than what they have now. Maybe not.

What’s better: elite or stellar?

I agree that whatever Charlotte does will be dumb anyway.

No thanks.

a disaster.

C’mon, dude, they’re worth like a bazillion dollars, and everyone talks about them. It’s a really good search engine. You should google “google”.

I really just meant that deandre has gotta be the most athletic center in this draft, and i think (from waht ive read) he is far more athletic then joakim noah. I expect that he is stronger, he is a hella lot faster, he can jump out of the building….err…i believe he is a 7ft version of tyrus thomas. And eventually he might be one of the few centers who could somewhat guard Dwight howard. I wouldnt really want to get him if we had a coach like avery or carlisle or even Thibadeau, since he would be a project and i think this team wont have time to really develop him. However if d’antoni was leading the pack, i think the run and gun style would fit in with a guy like deandre, moreso then noah. (i expect noah to start and deandre to come off the bench). Also aaron gray wouldnt be able to run enough to keep with the run and gun tactic, so deandre would be a good center to give noah a rest without sacrificing size.

Because Aaron Gray wouldnt be able to run it. Its better then having tryrus or gooden play center, and i cant think of many centers available that can run. Defensively his hops could equal blocks and rebounds.

I really think well need another center who could run, joakim got tired this season in games quite alot, and i dont know how a run and gun system will affect him. I do know its impossible to be running at that pace for and entire game, so having another center with speed and stamina would really help us out. This is only if we get d’antoni though. Picking up Alexis might not be bad, and use our first round pick for something else like a pg (that everyone wants)

I’m trying to determine if he’s going to play for France in the Olympics.

Really though, 7 footer, blocks shots, freakish arm length, 19 years old, how does he get past the Sonics?

the next Glen Davis?

to run the high screen and roll that D’Antoni loves so much?

This can help disguise conditioning as well. You’re only running roughly 70-75 feet instead of a full 94 if you’re always coming up court to set up at the top of the circle.

BORN WINNER?

Thornton’s not that great for a 24-year old rookie.

neither is Nocioni (at any age). I’m not sure they’re adequate replacements for Deng.

Yes, they’d have Gasol, but dealing Deng for him is far from the greatest mistake. Is Gasol+Thornton that much better than Deng+Noah?

than Thornton

That’s a disastrous trio

what is it with the bulls not playing the players they drafted together? a few years back the best lineup wouldve been curry, chandler, deng, gordon, and hinrich. but no, ben and tyson came off the bench, and those players never really got to play together. then curry had his heart thing, so he left. then chandler got traded. so they replaced them with tyrus and noah (wallace from free agency). i dont see why they cant just play hinrich, gordon, deng, tyrus, and noah together; with noc, gooden, thabo, and hughes coming off the bench and duhon and gray getting in sparingly. i realize that this team sucked, but there’s a lot of players on this team with talent. not much needs to be done to make this team a contender in the east. how that relates to tyger’s comment i dont know, but i think its because he listed that lineup.

one more thing: that “guard logjam” that was a big problem this year was all larry hughes’ fault. if u just hav kirk, duh, ben, and thabo playing the guard spots then its a pretty good backcourt. but hughes sucks and got more playing time than he deserved (any). i think they should e-rob his ass and just cut him.

the bulls have 9 decent players, and the starting lineup should just be all the first round draft picks from the past few years.

and he plays beyond his age in terms of bball IQ. Thorpe talks about Noah’s mind as a tremendous asset. He thinks unlike a lot of similarly skilled players that just go out there and try to do.

Koufas wouldn’t be terrible. He likes the shoot. Big deal. Put him on the high post screen and let him work. At number 9 he’s too high, but maybe down a few spots at 13-17 he gets better.

Also, Durant needs a partner in Oklahoma. Everyone else can pretty much go to hell. Maybe we can get the guy everyone is comparing to Toni Kukoc.

if we draft him. He’s going to be REALLY pissed when Reinsdorf doesn’t pay him as much as he made in college.

You must not have followed his progress at USC. By all accounts, he was a great teammate with his head on straight.

OJ Mayo evil!!! The audacity of him to act like a cocky kid when he’s gasp a kid! The guy was an asshole in high school, as most kids who realize they are 100 times superior to anyone else on the court would be. He matured a lot after 1 year at USC.

you admitted to watching a ton of college hoops.

I look forward to you sharing these scouting reports with the class.

In a genuine way actually. But does this mean a guy who doesnt watch college hoops isnt allowed to have an opinion? Of course all i have is what other people tell me and what i can see for myself. Isnt that what this diary was about? But i suppose you are right, i am clueless on everybody in the draft, i just had a thought and put it out here. If it disrespected you then again sorry, ill keep my thoughts to myself i suppose.

Don’t be jealous. The Boston Celtics have the greatest chemistry of any team ever because James Posey gives everyone a hug during the starting lineups. No one else does that in the NBA!

Thanks, Matt.

expect Kirk to be traded.