NBA Leeview

Alright you lucky bastards, Dlee has some brand new NBA Content for your sorry asses. Here goes:

If a 2007 NBA preview falls in the forest does anybody read it..? If DLee writes a detailed analysis of an NBA draft will a magic leprechaun appear and organize a b-ball fantasy league for Verbungleites? Who knows. Regardless, here’s the annual DLee NBA season/rookie report for those who still actually follow basketball and those who need a cheat-sheet for NBA small talk.

ROOKIES

1) Oden/P-land: for a smart & sweet kid he sure has been the subject of mad controversy. Seemingly overrated at one moment then looking like a freak with unlimited "upside" the next. After the NCAA final, where he dominated a front line of lottery picks, I felt it a no-brainer to take him over Durrant (*especially seeing as pure centers are rarer than a good Jewish deli ..and just as treasured if you find one). Is he a taller Ben Wallace or the second coming of Russell? I think probably more a newage Artis Gilmore. Guess we'll never know thanx to his bum knee...

2) Durant/Seattle: all the talks of him over Oden i think were mostly bunk (*even with the Oden knee issue). sure, he's got SICK offensive skillz but i watched him in summer league and his limitations in every other area looked significant. scrubs were snatching boards from him like school bullies vicking milk-money from a skinny freshman (*his D looked poor too). don't get me wrong he's a mortal lock as a top 10 scorer but guys like Oden make dynasties (*if healthy). Guys like Durant have great statistical careers, get sneaker contracts, make ESPN highlight reels, then look for guys like Oden to latch onto as retirement creeps close in hopes of a championship. upside: Bob MacAdoo downside: Rashard Lewis

3) Horford/Atlanta: wow. Atlanta has a more suspect draft record than Dick Cheney. Shit, they JUST drafted Sheldon Williams over Foye & Roy after taking Marvin Williams over Deron Williams & Paul. Now the table was set to take Conley and dispell all ghosts of the past and they take..wait for it...wait for it.....a better version of Sheldon Willliams! don't get me wrong ..i like Horford --but dear god… upside: Buck Williams downside: Sheldon Williams

4) Conley/Memphis: dat's my boy! if he develops a jumpshot he's an all-star for sure. more he totally has that vaunted ability to lead and run the show in conjunction with his outstanding talent level. A winner waiting to happen. Still, he's got a battle on his hand with Lowery to win the starting job outright. They should just put those two pitbulls in the Octagon and let the last man standing start the season opener. upside: C.P. downside: Andre Miller

5) Jeff Green: solid all around player. Does nothing amazing but everything well. Usually that's a bad sign but let's just say he does everything very well. Not a star but a nice complimentary player in the making for Durant. upside: Rodney McCray downside: Luke Walton

6) Yi/Milwaukee: red alert. red alert. Although he is talented I got a bad feeling here. first off let me touch off by saying this dude disgraced the humility of Chinese culture by having his handlers dictate which teams could draft him (*a la Steve Francis) and THEN he holds out until he got guaranteed top notch playing time. Man, I couldn't imagine being a coach and having to deal with that shit. Scenario: Milwaukee winning a tight game late in the 3rd quarter when...oppps!..gotta sit a good defensive player to get some PT for my skinny rook because as a coach –I’m contractually obligated to do so! upside: Van Horn downside: Brad Sellers

7) Corey Brewer/Minn: another boy of mine. Awesome defender with a very NBA game. The unsung glue to the Fla championships. Still, he had a bizzaro summer league where he shot insanely bad from the field but DOMINATED on the glass at 11 rebounds per game (*to put that in perspective Durrant averaged a pathetic 2.5 boards in the summer league). His O might take awhile but down the road he’s a gamer. upside: Josh Howard downside: Todd Day

8) Brandon Wright/GS: most likely bust in the lottery. He was high in draft boards then fell like a stone. i love UNC but never really liked this guy. Although the kid has some skills, overall he's skinny...he's soft....he's inconsistant..and worst of all he has no chin. weak chins are a very bad sign. Calvin Booth, Alan Henderson, Fred Weis --the list is endless. upside: Charles Smith downside: Mark Blount

9) J. Noah/Chi-town: from overrated to monster sleeper. Ultra bargain to get this guy at such a late spot. Hell, he woulda been the #1 pick 2 years ago and it’s not like he got any worse. Will he be a scoring phenom in the NBA? ..no. Will he be a fantastic glue guy who plays outstanding D, hustles for every loose ball/basket, and provides fans and teammates with an electric winning personality? ..NO DOUBT. (*and I don’t just say this cause I shared a drink with him and his INSANELY gorgeous sister at La Esquina.) upside: Rasheed Wallace (*sans jumper better attitude) downside: Anderson Varejaro

10) Spencer Hawes/Sac: “Avast, I be the ghost of big white centers with ‘fundamentals’ ..I appear in yer NBA lottery every year via shell of a new human host. My curse lay to scare all ye fans of whatever team dare draft me. Beware. Arghhh!” Hmmm. Actually, he’s a good passer and looked fairly decent for a tall whiteboy this summer –then he got hurt. Whatever. Upside: Brad Miller downside: take your pick ..it’s an all you can eat buffet of honky losers.

11) Acie Law/Atl: again, Atlanta passed on Paul, D. Williams, Foye, and Roy. Now they take the dreaded B.P.A. (*best point available). A college winner who doesn’t have any true point guard skills or outstanding talent = recipe for disaster. He’s been getting gobs of playing time in pre-season but longterm I got a bad feeling here. Upside: BJ Armstrong downside: BJ Armstrong.

12) Thaddeous Young/Philly: don’t know shit about him except he’s supposed to be athletic and a solid shooter. Upside: an athletic guy who’s pretty good. Downside: an athletic guy soon playing in Israel.

13) Julian Wright/NO: wow. I REALLY liked this guy in college. His jumper needs work but he runs the floor like a deer, passes, D’s up, jumps out the gym, and finishes on the break.. Rumor has it he’s a bit mentally lazy. We’ll see. Upside: Gerald Wallace downside: Hassan Adams

14) Al Thornton/LA Clips: never really saw him play but they say he’s a fearless scorer. That’s good if you’re a lottery talent. That soon the life of a NBA journeyman if you’re only mediocre. He lucked into a great P.T. situation with the loss of Elton Brand by the Clips. His rookie year will probably get him tons of buzz but wind up being the best year of his life. Upside: Eric Williams downside: Donald Royal

15) Rodney Stuckey/Det: never saw him play but he killed over the summer and everyone is ga-ga over his game. Talented combo guard will likely play a big role for Detroit this year and make rookie first team. Upside: Brandon Roy Downside: Aaron McKie

16) Nick Young/Wash: see Thaddeous Young.

17) Sean Williams/NJ: I usually like Rod Thorn’s moves but I dunno about this one. The guy is more of a head case than Eddie Griffin. Although he has tons of shot blocking & rebounding talent he has no offensive skills. In other words, he’s Josh Boone (*who they drafted last year) without the shitty attitude and the addiction to bong hits of hydro. Boone is better so what’s the point? Upside: poor man’s Ben Wallace downside: poor man’s Coolidge from the White Shadow.

18) Bellineli/GS: Don Nelson does it again. Everyone is abuzz about this guy. He’s got a super sweet stroke and some occasional freaky moves to boot. Tailor made for Golden State’s run and gun style. Dropped 35 in his rookie summer league debut. Still, the Warriors are deep at the swingman position. Where’s the playing time gonna come from? Look for a trade by the Warriors sometime mid-season to free up some minutes for this guy. Upside: Wally Szerbiack Downside: Brent Barry

19) Crittenton/Lakers: Okay, here come guys I mostly know jack shit about so I’ll give shorter evaluations. This guy did solid in summer play but doesn’t figure to be good enough to take Farmars job nevertheless keep Kobe from bitching about how much his team sux. Upside: Delonte West downside: whatever

20) Jason Smith/Philly: Tall white center who likes to shoot from outside. I’ve seen this movie –it’s a piece of shit. Still, Philly is sooooo depleted at the big man spots he’ll actually get a look from the fans. Don’t hold your breath. Upside: Rasho Nesterovic Downside: Alec Kessler

21) D Cook/Miami: Let’s see --Miami only has ONE good young player and that player (Wade ..duh.) plays off guard. So what does Miami do?? They draft an off guard. Even Riley gave his GMing skillz an F for this summer. Douche. upside: Mo Petterson downside: Mo Martin

22) Jared Dudley/Charl: gets the official DLee seal of approval. The type of guy that will do anything to win…who would get into a knife fight at w.4th street cause he clotheslined a showboat dickhead on the other team..who would bitch over the score until people walk off the court..who would punch his own teammate for lollygagging on D. Not the most talented dude but the type who takes all the BEST competitive attributes of a hardened street baller and elevates his team. In other words, a less talented Artest with a brain. He could easily signal a transfer of the Adam Morrison experiment. Upside: Shane Battier with street cred. Downside: Matt Barnes (*not that there’s anything wrong with that)

23) Wilson Chandler/Knicks: The only thing I don’t question about Isaiah is his evaluation of draft talent. Saw him play over the summer and he looked like he had a solid mid-range game and some good athletic skills. Still, he won’t do shit this year because the Knicks have 574 players under contract. Upside: Bobby Simmons downside: Monty Williams

24) Rudy Fernandez/P-land: Phoenix gave this guy away cause of cap reasons. Still, this dude has a good rep so that move may bite them on the ass in a couple years. Hmm. Upside: whatever downside: whatever

25) Morris Almond/Jazz: don’t know shit about him. Didn’t do shit at OG this summer. Seems like a desperate pick. Bad news for people who like Almonds. Upside: whatever downside: whatever

26) Aaron Brooks/Hou: a super speedy PG who wrecked shop in the summer league. I got a good feeling about this guy down the road but I’ve no idea how he’ll get on the floor this year seeing as Houston’s built a 3-headed Cerberus of PG dickwads (Francis, Alston, MJames). Upside: Jason Terry downside: Earl Boykins

27) Affalo/Det: solid but unspectacular. Plays D so he’ll probably hang in the league for 8 years averaging 5.3 points. Upside: Raja Bell downside: faces his future and quits to become a HS coach 3 years into career.

28) Splitter/SA: fuck! Another late steal by the Spurs that will help them down the road. This guy has a rep as a very good bigman banger. I guess he’s the reason why S.A. pointlessly gave up the rights to Luis Scola. Upside: PJ Brown downside: Jason Collins

29) A Tucker/Phoe: see Affalo.

Second rounders of note:

35) Glen “Big Baby” Davis/Bos: he’s so short and fat that I wouldn’t bank on him panning out. Still, considering his skill level and personality this is a great late pick-up. Should get ample PT from the thin Boston bench. Upside: Rodney Rogers downside: Tractor Traylor

45) Jared Jordan/Knicks via Clips: absolutely no room for him on the roster but Isaiah sees something in him and so do I. A poor man’s Steve Nash. Fantastic court vision. Needs to improve scoring and D and strength. upside: Jason Williams downside: Jacque Vaughn

53) Demitris Nichols/Knicks: again with the draft skillz! I didn’t like this guy in college but he looked incredibly polished in the summer league. Very nice jumper. Plays under control. Needs to teach the rest of the Knick guard corps something about fundamental offensive execution. If the roster wasn’t so insanely packed he’d be sure to get some run this year. Upside: Kevin Martin downside: Rashal Butler

59) DJ Strawberry/Phoe: some teams just know talent. He’s been getting raves for his D and some surprising offense. His ability to play both guard spots hasn’t hurt him either. Looks like he may yet give daddy Daryl SOMETHING to be proud of. Upside: T Ariza downside: Lindsey Hunter

Luis Scola/Houston: drafted years ago but Houston picked up his rights for a bag of magic beans. A TOTAL STEAL. He’s been giving team USA fits for years with his fundamental brilliance at PF for Argentina over the years. An incredible fit between Battier and Yao. I imagine him having a huge impact toward a winning year. Upside: Horace Grant downside: Kurt Thomas

Last..

DLee NBA 2007 predictions..

ROY: Durrant (*with Stucky, Horford, Thornton, Conley, & Scola making some noise behind him.)

MVP: LeBron (*despite the fact his team flames out early in the playoffs a la Dirk. Otherwise, TD and KG have a good shot.)

Most improved player: Bargnani (*I don’t like the whole second year player improved thing but this guy really started pouring it on late last year with his gobs of offensive potential. Louis Williams, Foye, Josh Smith, Ty Thomas and LaMarcus Aldridge also look primed for big jumps this year. Watch out!)

Most disappointing team: west/Warriors (*I got a feeling last year was kinda a fluke. If Baron gets hurt, as he always does, they’re toast) east/Heat (*without Wade this is the single worst roster I’ve EVER seen since the Ken Bannister-led NY Knicks). I also have a weird feeling Denver and/or Cleveland is going to combust for some reason. The Knicks go without saying.

Most surprising team: Memphis (*if Gasol is healthy, I get the feeling the additions of Navarro and Conley will really do them well. I’d have picked Houston but the health of Yao & T-mac is always a sketchy situation. I’d also have picked the Bulls but I don’t know if that really accounts as a surprise --that team is LOADED.)

Defensive player of the year: Duncan (*shoulda got it last year. D Howard may give him a run for the money. Gerald Wallace also deserves some props ..be sure to watch him when you can –he’s a freak.)

NBA FINAL FOUR: Bos vs Chicago and Phoe vs SA
FINAL: Chicago vs Phoe
CHAMP: Phoe (*if there’s any justice in the world ~fuckin’ David Stern.)

..dust.

-DLee