Time to do a rough run down of what happened in the draft:
WINNERS
Milwaukee Bucks
Hard to argue against what Quail did. At the beginning of the draft when it got rolling, the Bucks sent shocks to the league by trading Shaq for Horry, Manu, and the #6 pick. Horry comes back home to the Bucks and they secured a young developing asset in Ginobili. Instead of taking the pick at 6, he ended up trading that pick for 3 extra picks and only had to drop 2 spots to pick up an extra 2 picks at 15 & 16. They ended up with Troy Murphy, Chris Anderson, and Brendan Haywood, all who should develop into viable players. While none of those players screams ALPHA, together they will be a nice core to build around and have a stable of young talent.
We'll see what happens with Jalen Rose. Quail wants to make this a complete rebuild I've been told and Jalen can still make this team competitive. He still has Piatowski and Eisley as well.
Orlando Magic
I love what the Magic have done. I can't believe Richard Jefferson dropped down to the 5th pick, because I think he has as good a chance as anyone to become one of the top players in this draft with an all around game. His one weakness I saw was his lack of quickness at the SG spot, but with a few training camp improvements he can get all the way up to 83 in quickness if the Magic really invest in him.
To balance out the pick, coltsguy "reached" for Tyson Chandler it was said. I don't think it was a reach as others have said. Chandler will be a monster on the boards and is one of the strongest and explosive centers to come in as a rookie that I can remember since Shaq. He can't and won't be a creator on offense, but talk about a guy that can scrap for second chance points and defend. Interestingly enough, coltsguy also selected Eddy Curry, an all-offense and nothing else kind of center. It's a little odd to pair him and Chandler up, but as a sixth man it will definitely have teams on the ropes to go from Chandler to Curry.
ON THE FENCE
Seattle Supersonics
Talk about a team that made a lot of noise through the whole first day of the draft, and I can say that from first-hand experience. With the 2nd pick in a loaded class, the Sonics first trade Redd and multiple picks for the Knicks #3 pick without giving up #2 to drop back. It caused chaos, as the Grizz had also then traded for the #1 pick. The Sonics selected Arenas with the 2nd pick and Zach Randolph with the 3rd pick. A few think ZBo is a reach, but I compare him with a less OP Karl Malone (he wasn't OP, though). That's a hell of a draft already, but they then traded with the Kings 12 hours later and sent Arenas packing and welcomed Marcus Camby and multiple picks to reload. Sonics were publicly not excited about Arenas, and some feel that the 2003-04 season is when we can look back at these moves and grade the Sonics.
If the gamble works, the Sonics will have one of the most dominant frontcourts in the league and have multiple 2002 draft picks that can be of good value. Right now, I have to put the Sonics on the fence.
LOSERS
New York Knicks
I hate to use the term "Loser" here, because honestly Snug is taking big gambles with Darth over their trade. It was the moves after the trade that have me thinking "What is he thinking? Where is he going with this?"
Don't get me wrong, Jones is great. He is expiring, though, and will be 30 next offseason. Are the Knicks planning to keep him long-term? The Nuggets own the Knicks pick if I remember correctly, so added pressure could have played a part here. I just don't know what to think when a team has a top 3 pick in a draft like this, and could have selected Richard Jefferson or Tony Parker to add youth. Luckily, he gets the Bulls 02 and Sonics 03, and maybe Redd turns the corner and becomes more efficient. It's a gamble more for the Knicks than the Sonics I believe.
Philadelphia 76ers
Again, I don't know what happened here. The 76ers won the coveted #1 pick and had what I thought was an easy decision of taking either Pau or Arenas. Then hell broke loose when the owner put the pick on the block. Suddenly, the race for Pau was on. I think the 76ers rushed trading their pick. The draft didn't start until the next morning and could have fielded offers up to 11:50 comfortable I believe. The biggest tell was with the Sonics trade with the Knicks, where the owner publicly stated he would have accepted another offer if he knew it was available. Sonics responded by saying a lack of communication was the problem.
I get why the 76ers did it. They are already nearly $2 million over the cap, but instead of Phils they should have tried to dump Peeler more than anything. He is taking in more money and more years than Phils and is on a fast decline, especially in athleticism.
The positive is they got Baron Davis and Juwan Howard for the #1 pick, but was that all Pau Gasol was worth? Hopefully this doesn't bite the 76ers on the ass down the road, but they desperately need to cut salary in the worst way.
