Lawson And Teague And More
The welcome mat was out for Ty Lawson in Denver and Jeff Teague in Atlanta; they were the 76ers' other point guard candidates at No. 17 in the NBA draft before settling on Jrue Holiday.
Lawson And Teague And More
North Carolina's Ty Lawson and Wake Forest's Jeff Teague were, according to 76ers' president/general manager Ed Stefanski, the runners-up at No. 17 in the NBA draft, where UCLA's Jrue Holiday ultimately became the choice.
Lawson went No. 18, taken by the Minnesota Timberwolves and immediately traded to the Denver Nuggets.
Here's Mike Bratz, the Nuggets' director of pro scouting in the Denver Post, on how they feel about that:
''We have a formula here where we track point guard efficiency. (Lawson) had one of the highest ratings in history, not just this year. And he had by far the highest rating for a guard this season. So (he's a) very, very, very efficient player. The skills he has blend in very well to this team's framework.''
And here's Teague, in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, on how he views his future:
''I feel like when you look back down the road, I'm going to be the best point guard taken in this draft. With my potential and my work ethic, I feel like I'm going to be the best.''
And while we're tracking the other point guards, Virginia Commonwealth's Eric Maynor went No. 20 to the Utah Jazz and created one of the more humorous post-draft moments when he passed on greetings to Jazz coach Jerry Sloan from his father.
Sloan, as the Chicago Bulls coach in 1980, cut Maynor's father, George, a fourth-round pick from East Carolina.
And one last item, referencing a rumor in the Sun Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale: The speculation revolved around the possibility of a deal sending Jermaine O'Neal and Daequan Cook from the Miami Heat to the Sixers for Elton Brand.
The speculation was apparently based on the fact that the Heat had signed Brand to an offer sheet several years ago, only to see the Los Angeles Clippers match. But Stefanski said ''Absolutely not.''
How about the chances that such an offer was made?
''Zero,'' Stefanski said.
More on the Sixers' summer league plans and another opportunity fot Temple's Dionte Christmas coming in tomorrow's Daily News.
Stefanski only wishes that Miami would call with that deal.— hugh
would be a sweet deal— teenwolf- Or we could maybe have just kept Cook when we drafted him— The Kid
in a heartbeat
Comment removed.- Puhleeze...O'Neal is finished, Cook one dimensional...EB will be a great player for Sixers this year!— JBP
- it was only rumors...if it were on the board,really.......i feel ed would have pulled the trigger,why else would he not?.....take o'neal,and a no1 future pick.and it would have been on.!!!— teephilly76
- dudes in here are two faced bums.. Elton Brand had two very different injuries, with the last being a injury that could happen to any player. all these fairweather fans would never pick up a basketball again if that had happened to them..— Ruiz the Great
- Wow I wish that deal was done......As Buddy Ryan said..."Trade EB for a six pack".....we can only hope!!!!— schwike
- Obviously the contract is terrible, but if Brand can play 25-30 minutes a game get 15 and 10 and stay healthy this team will be in good shape. He just needs to accept being a second or third option and get most of his points from rebounds, free throws, and his usual shooting touch we'll be fine. The problem is he will always be scrutinized for his contract, but this situation can work. Also we have Kapono so we don't need another one-dimensional shooter, and O'Neal is literally done, his knees are shot. Brand is coming off a shoulder injury so I'll take my chances with him. There was no number 1 involved so it would have been a salary dump.— ConverseB24
- on a different note how in the world could the sixers NOT draft ty lawson?— malco49
- O'Neal is completely washed up. And as for Lawson, Holiday will eventually be a much better pro.— brian2706
- i love the pictures at the top of this page. miller losing the ball, dalembert's awesome playoff mohawk from last year when we got eliminated by the pistons, brand in a clippers jersey and iguodala's face just cracks me up.— wearethechampions
Bob Cooney has been at the Daily News for more than 20 years, working in the sports department for the past 15. This is his third season on the Sixers beat. He has covered just about everything, but mostly college basketball, where he was the La Salle beat writer for six seasons. E-mail Bob at cooneyb@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter.
