The draft was upon us and now it is beyond us. I'll be the first to admit to being a complete draft geek. I study the mock drafts and follow box scores all year in preparation for a few hours on one day in June. Let's see who had a great day and who had a not so great day.


Winners!

Portland "No Longer Jailblazers"

Aldridge was a great pick up because there was an obvious need at center with Pryzbilla taking off and Ratliff being on the decline. While Telfair has a lot of potential, any Portland fan can't complain about getting Brandon Roy. I honestly feel that either he or Tyrus Thomas will end up being the best players in this draft. To put a little cherry on top, they also snagged Sergio Rodriguez and Joel Freeland. Now if they can ship off the Cheech and Chong Darius Miles and Zach Randolph, Portland fans will have a reason to cheer and a great young team to build upon.

Da Bulls

I think that the Thomas pick is a little redundant with all the size this team already has but I can see how you can't resist someone with that much potential. If they keep Chandler around, they may have the most explosive front court in the NBA. The pick I really liked was Sefolosha. The Bulls are height challenged in the back court and Thabo will provide length, athleticism, skill and a sweet name to the team. Imagine the PA announcer bellowing "Taboooooo!" after every great play. I know you're jealous.

Memphis

The funny part is that I'm not putting them here because of the Rudy Gay pick up. The look on Gay's face as teams passed on him didn't come across as disappointment to me as much as disgust. I don't think he could believe some of the players that went before him. I'm not a fan of his heart and I'm honestly surprised that Jerry passed on guys like Brewer and Sefolosha. I also don't like that they ended up getting Swift back because I don't like his contract as well as his heart. I know this sounds like a bashathon but I really liked the Lowry pick as well as getting Johnson. To me, their most glaring need was at the one and Lowry will do great things for them. Johnson could end up being the steal of the draft due to his great size and athleticism. Teams passed on him probably due to age but you need to stop living off of potential all the time.


Losers!

Phoenix

I hate to do this and it tears at my heart like a Lifetime movie but I am very upset with how this draft went down for my Suns. Steve Nash is aging like a fine wine but great backups that you can groom for the future don't come along often either. Rando or Rodriguez would have been ideal candidates for that exact role. I don't see many great guards coming down the pipe any time soon and the Suns simply gave up on these players for money. If they don't resign the main core and bring everyone back, I'm going on strike.


The Knickerbockers

Ah, Isiah... Why this man has any power in New York still is beyond me. He goes and takes a second rounder with the 21st pick and then drafts a slow combo guard at 29. Break out your rabbit's feet and four leaf clovers New York. I'm not saying that in hope that they win this season but that Isiah is fired half way through it.


Seattle

Seattle already has an improving Robert Swift and a solid backup in Johan Petro. So what do you draft? That's right, another center! Huh? They needed rebounding and toughness at the four with the Evans trade and they passed on Cedric Simmons who could have been a great fit in their uptempo system.