THINKS THE EAGLES STOLE ONE
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Photos: Jrue Holiday Photos: NBA draft The Sixers were the sixth seed in the East. The conference finalists (Orlando, Cleveland) got better on draft day before anybody made a choice. When you get perennial All-Stars like Vince Carter and Shaq, you definitely improve.
Boston will get Kevin Garnett back. Atlanta got better with Jamal Crawford. Washington got a lot better with Randy Foye and Mike Miller.
The Sixers get Elton Brand and the No. 17 pick, UCLA's Jrue Holiday. A point guard, the freshman Holiday played out of position at UCLA because senior Darren Collison played point. Holiday was a phenomenal high school player who may not be NBA-ready next season.
The Sixers have to hope he gets ready as their young talent matures, if, in fact, their young talent is good enough. And they really have to hope that none of the group of point guards - Ty Lawson, Jeff Teague, Eric Maynor and Collison selected with picks 18, 19, 20 and 21 - doesn't turn out to be a star or, at the very least, better than Holiday.
Where does all this leave the Sixers in the East? Still not as good as the Magic, the Cavaliers or Celtics. Can they move past the Hawks and the Heat? Will they get caught from behind?
Given that there are still moves to be made, it is a bit early to make any predictions. However, if the goal is a championship, the Sixers still are not close. They simply don't have that transcendent player (LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade) that gives you a chance to win the last game.
Sadly, those players generally arrive in the draft with the No. 1 pick in the year when one of those franchise-changing players is available. The Sixers are too good for that, but not good enough to beat teams with that.
If I heard one more Ricky Rubio/Pete Maravich comparison, I was going to scream. There is nobody, living or dead, anything like Pete Maravich. Please consult readily available videos on YouTube. And, if you are too young to know, please understand that Maravich is the greatest ballhandler who ever lived.
Rubio, 18, looks like a fun player. The Spaniard definitely has some flair. But Pistol Pete? No.
The Knicks fans at Madison Square Garden must not have remembered what Don Nelson values. The Warriors coach loves shooters. And, with Golden State selecting just ahead of New York, there was no way Stephen Curry was ever getting to the Knicks.
Curry's range will be approximately the state of California. Every shot, no matter the distance, looks the same. Which is what separates the good shooters from the great shooters.
When Curry was selected with the seventh pick, the Knicks fans predictably booed. And then they booed Arizona's Jordan Hill when the Knicks took him. They likely have no clue that Hill is one of the most amazing athletes anywhere. In a draft with so few talented big men, only Blake Griffin has more offensive ability than Hill.
First, the Timberwolves trade two starters - Randy Foye and Mike Miller. Then, with consecutive picks (fifth and sixth), they take point guards Ricky Rubio and Syracuse's Jonny Flynn. Strange. Then, they take North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson with the 18th pick. Apparently, Lawson was dealt to Denver, where former Carolina guard George Karl runs the show. I did like the Wayne Ellington pick at 28.
I really like Minnesota big men Kevin Love and Al Jefferson, but I still am not quite sure what the plan is. I assume they will be making some more trades. Can they get Kevin Garnett back?
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