May 19th (long). -- insidethegreenroom.com Message Forum

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 13:41:07 05/01/02 Wed
Author: exhaust pipe
Subject: May 19th (long).

The draft lottery in Secaucus, NJ will have more drama this year than in some past years. Usually the draft is caregorized as with or without a surefire superstar as the #1 pick (i.e. Shaq or Duncan). This year, it appears that every team in the NBA will have serious interest in at least one of the top 3 prospects.

Those three players are Yao Ming, Jason Williams and DuJuan Wagner. Each one of them has almost two months to erase the question mark or two about their games that pro scouts and GMs might currently have. Ming is doing that today by working out for virtually the entire league (a workout that is as much about relations with the Chinese government and his club team, the Shanghai Sharks, as it is about seeing the 7-and-a-half footer's skills).

Teams have seen enough of Williams at Duke in the past three seasons to know what he can (and can not) do on the court. So he will need to concentrate on his interviews to let teams know he is a leader that will do whatever it takes to win and not the selfish shoot first pointman that he has sometimes appeared to be.

And talent wise, Wagner is a bit less of a known commodity than the other two, but I think he has the chance (and ability) to wow the scouts. There should be strong interest for him at the #3 pick. The answer to "Is he a 1 or a 2?" should be a resounding "Who cares!".

So, given the circumstances, Chicago, Golden State and Memphis have a very good chance of improving their teams in this draft, either by drafting one of those top 3 players or by trading down (as the LA Clippers successfully did last year). And if any team is able to jump up into one of those top 3 slots, they should be as pleased as some teams who won the lottery in years past.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]