Draft lottery
The event known as the Draft Lottery will be held May 20th. The draft position of all lottery teams will be decided on that date. Who the Lakers chose may not be decided until draft night in June. I’ve questioned “who should the Lakers draft?” If they have the opportunity to draft center Joel Embiid they cannot pass on this opportunity. Embiid is raw; it will take time to develop his game that means Kobe will be a memory by the time Embiid is ready to play. The guy is 7-feet tall and has unique offensive and defensive skill around the basket. If not Embiid the next position to consider is point guard. Steve Nash is nearly 41 and playing on one leg. Kendall Marshall has exhibited talent but the immediate fix may be somebody else and that somebody might be Marcus Smart.
Draftexpress.net and NBADraft.net have the Lakers choosing point guard Smart of Oklahoma State. 6-6 190 point guard Dante Exum is also in this draft as well. Exum appears to have the size and tools, the only downside are the competition he faced. He will have emerged from the high school ranks in Australia, that fact raises questions regarding Exum. As for Smart he’s a legitimate 6-4 and a rock solid 225 pounds. After two years at Oklahoma State the only downside might be his shot and maturity at times. Smart is not the swiftest on the planet but he’s adequate. If I’m Mitch Kupchak and Embiid is available I choose him otherwise it’s Smart even though Exum might be available.
Bits n Pieces
This bears repeating once again. The Pacers are the number one seed in the East but they certainly don’t play like a number one seed.
I’ve always liked Doc Rivers but he should quit moaning. The Clippers had game five in the bag; they let it get away from them. There is no need to blame the officials because they failed to make a call in your favor.
Have you noticed the same college teams always have the best recruiting class year after year? The teams switch positions but one through five remains much the same. Who are they, Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Louisville and Kansas?
As Gomer Pyle would say “Surprise, surprise.” Instead of heading east Steve Kerr is headed west, he becomes the Warriors coach. After missing on this one the next move is yours Mr. (Phil) Jackson.
The headline fooled me
The ESPN.com headline read; “Bulls try to lure Thomas to team.” When I first read it I immediately thought of Isiah Thomas. I read the article and it dealt with the Bulls attempt to lure Kurt Thomas out of retirement prior to the end of the regular season. Although Isiah Thomas spent his NBA career as a member of the Pistons home was Chicago. He grew up in the Windy City prior to heading to Indiana to play for Bobby Knight.
We’ve discussed issues he’s faced since he unlaced his basketball shoes. Since leaving the head coaching position at Florida International he’s loudly hinted he wants a job in some capacity. Currently Thomas serves as one of the rotating studio analyst for NBA TV. Thomas has suffered a fate similar to that of Kareem Abdul Jabbar difficulty with gaining basketball employment.
A change at the top
Oregon State chose to go another direction; they terminated the contract of Craig Robinson. No presidential pardon is forthcoming for the brother-in-law of President Obama. In six years Robinson was never able to turn the program around, his most successful team finished 21-15 two years ago. His won-loss record while leading Oregon State was 93-104.
