Six quick takeaways from the 2016 NBA Draft
Jun 24, 2016, 9:51 AM | Updated: 11:27 am
Prospective NBA draft picks pose for a group photo with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, center, before the start of the NBA basketball draft, Thursday, June 23, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
I have six quick takeaways from the 2016 NBA Draft.
1) Suns went deep
The question is not whether or not the Suns hit a home run on draft day. The question is how many runners were on base. Was this a solo shot or did Ryan McDonough get a granny?
Dragan Bender is a true stretch four to open up driving lanes for Eric Bledsoe and a passer that can sink in a defense to kick back out to Devin Booker. Marquese Chriss will be the Suns’ version of Kenneth Faried early in his career, but he has the basic offensive skills to develop into more than just a terror on the glass. Although he’s not a great shooter by regular standards, he’s an amazing shooter when you look at it through the prism of he just started playing basketball a few years ago. Don’t sleep on Ulis, either. He brings instant energy and defense off the bench, even though he’ll probably spend some time in the D-League.
For the first time in years, the Suns are the toast of the town. It’s time for all of us to go on a Bender!
2) Proposed trades
The NCAA Clearing House is run more efficiently than the NBA on draft night. How can a $10 billion business like the NFL announce draft trades as soon as they happen but Adam Silver announces Marquese Chriss as a Kings draft pick? Hire more accountants. Write a program that can approve salary cap issues faster. Do whatever it takes! Approve trades immediately. Your product is flawed. Fix it.
3) ESPN was terrible
Didn’t you get the feeling the panel was begging for Adam Silver to get to the podium? How do four people run out of material before every pick? Every draft should be covered by TNT and ESPN should loan Fran Fraschilla to TNT. The Worldwide Leader became a tagline last night and not a statement of fact.
4) Thunderstorm hits Orlando
Sam Presti mocked the Magic. Now, Kevin Durant is on the clock because a teammate is gone but the team got better.
5) Brilliant or idiot?
I spent the last week mocking the mock drafts. I could tell none of these people actually watch basketball with how low every mock draft had Thon Maker and Baylor’s Taurean Prince. I went into this week amazed at how under-rated these players were. I guess I’m brilliant since two teams agreed with me that these two players were extremely undervalued.
However, the catch is, they were drafted sooner than I was going to draft them and I’m the one that thought they were underrated! I went from loving Thon Maker to liking him once he was gone at 10.
6) AAU needs to wake up
American kids are not developing. The system is broken. The NBA is not becoming an international league. They’re now an import league. It’s the fault of the system of development in this country and NBA owners who refuse to stand up to agents. The NBAPA should be made to stand down and accept one-and-done is a failure. The only way that can happen is if the NBA owners give up something else (money) to get something.
