For those of you who are like me, summer lacks basketball. When the NBA season is over, that means no more high-flying dunks, buzzer beaters, three point bombs and most of all, no more Bill Walton quotes on television
for a couple more months. So what is the cure for this? Sure, watching ESPN Classic and NBA TV will help starve off the demons of the NBA off-season, as will some cowbell, but the NBA Draft is another alternative, as tonight, the draft selects the future talent of the association and gives fans another reason to groan or cheer for their team, depending on the type of draft they have.
The 2007 NBA Draft is the culmination of the days of trade rumors, draft player workouts, mock drafts and all the expert opinion that has been seen in newspapers, websites and on television. David Stern will take the podium in a tidy fashion, Steven A. Smith will bring his best material to the table over on ESPN, and the crowd at Madison Square Garden will let you know if the Knicks as well as other teams made a good draft choice or not.
Coming into this year's draft, Greg Oden and Kevin Durant are expected to fall one and two, as they are the main talent of the draft, while the rest of the field is up for grabs, as speculating looms as to where other picks will go. This is one of the more interesting drafts, as there is a lot of talent on the table, and NBA owners are jonesin for those lottery picks and future stars.
I myself have increased interest to the draft this year, as my Timberwolves are thinking about getting rid of Kevin Garnett and also have another lottery pick to blow with the seventh pick tonight. Kevin McHale, the Wolves GM has used high draft choices in the past to attract talent to Minnesota, that seems to die out over time (ex - Ndudi Ebi). This year could be no different, but if McHale and company do things right, this night could mark a change for the better for the T-Wolves, as they can get rid of that NBA Draft monkey they have had on their back for years. In looking at the prospects, I hope to see Joakim Noah, or his Florida teammate Cory Brewer drafted by the Wolves tonight, as they are both two quality players the T-Wolves need. In addition to this, there is word on the street that the Wolves may be trading Kevin Garnett to a contending team, so it will be interesting to see if a deal can be made for him in exchange for some lottery picks. I hope a deal is made because after this year, KG will most likely leave the Wolves to go to another team where he can actually play for a NBA Championship, rather than sit on the bench in Minnesota, dreaming of a contending team.
In addition to the Wolves night ahead, I am also curious to see how the rest of the draft will unfold. Will Florida become the first college team with three players in the Top 10? Where will Acie Law IV end up? and Does DJ Strawberry stand the chance of ending up in a city where drugs are prevalent? These unanswered questions, as wel as the many others are just some of the reasons why I enjoy watching the NBA Draft.
When looking at all the drafts that occur in professional sports, I would have to say that the NBA Draft is my personal favorite for a number of reasons. For starters, in terms of length, the NBA Draft only lasts one day, and is completed in 2-3 hours from the time it is started. Unlike the NFL and MLB, where their drafts drag on for a few days, the NBA's draft gets done in one day, rather than one week. Also, I would have to say its the most entertaining to watch from a televised perspective in comparison to other televised drafts. The picks are completed in a timely fashion, which prevents the channel from being changed, the NBA commissioner always seems to get picked on by everybody and the crowd always seems to be pretty entertaining from the first pick, all the way to the last pick (especially when the New York Knicks are on the clock).
So be sure to tune your television sets to ESPN tonight, as the NBA Draft airs from 7-10. It should be a good one!
Labels: espn, nba draft, timberwolves
