H o o p s C o r n e r . c o m
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February 23, 2005
By Tyson Wirth
New Orleans Hornet’s fans have endured their share of torture this season. Losses, injuries, losses, trade demands, and still more losses have plagued the team. Even the most hardcore of fans (all twelve) are disheartened, and in the ultra-competitive Western Conference New Orleans’s playoff chances are as healthy as Dick Cheney’s heart.
The Hornets aren’t the only shipwreck this season; they’ll be competing with the Bobcats, Warriors, Bucks, Hawks, and entire Atlantic Division for the title of League’s Most Painful to Watch.
Do not despair, Hornet’s fans! Hope springs eternal in the wishing well that is the NBA lottery, where just the right ping pong ball can deliver a Duncan or a Lebron. No-assembly-required superstars such as these two are the exception, not the rule, however, and general managers are much more likely to have to wager on diamonds in the rough during draft day.
So who are the best and worst drafters of the last five years? Is Jerry West really a relative genius? Do the Clippers deserve to be the butt of all those draft day jokes? The truth about who finds jewels and who finds jokes is drafted out below.
GOLD DIGGERS
- San Antonio has been among the luckiest lottery franchises for years. In 1987 the stars aligned for them to draft David Robinson first overall. A decade later they struck gold again with Tim Duncan. These, of course, were I’d-rather-be-lucky-than-good type picks.
However, over the last few years the Spurs management has proven to be both, finding stellar starters and suitable subs well after the sexy picks were taken. In 2001, after 27 other players were drafted, they pounced on a young Frenchman whom few had heard of and whom fewer could guard. Two years later Tony Parker had been named to the NBA All-Rookie team and was an integral part of a Championship squad.
In 2002 they turned used parts (Mark Bryant, Randy Holcomb) and their 26th pick into the electric Speedy Claxton via a trade with Philadelphia. In 2003 they squeezed a future first rounder out of the Phoenix Suns for their 28th overall pick. And in 2004 they found another seldom-known foreign guard in the late first-round, a sharpshooter named Beno Udrih who will play in this year’s Rookie Challenge despite being passed over by almost every NBA team on draft day.
There is only one conclusion; San Antonio’s lottery-luck and eye for talent makes them as formidable on draft day as they are the rest of the year.
- As formidable as the Spurs are, however, it is the Seattle Supersonics that are on the tip of everyone’s tongue this season. Why? Dead-eye shooting, defined roles on the court, and dazzling moves on draft day.
In 2000, the most sickening draft in recent memory (the top seven picks were Kenyon Martin, Stromile Swift, Darius Miles, Marcus Fizer, Mike Miller, DeMarr Johnson, and Chris Mihm), the Sonics were actually able to nail Oklahoma State star Desmond Mason with the 17th pick, a key component in the trade that brought Ray Allen to the Space Needle City.
In 2001 when players like DaSagana Diop, Rodney White, and Kedrick Brown were flying off the board, Seattle was able to land Vladimir Radmanovic with the 12th pick. Radmanovic has become one of the most unheralded role players in the league, averaging 13 points a game and presenting match up problems a la Nowitzki every night. In 2003 the Sonics took Nick Collison with the 12th pick (jury’s still out due to injuries) and then grabbed a point guard out of Oregon with the 14th pick who most thought was too small, too slow, and too soft to ever succeed.
Apparently, what most thought meant little to Luke Ridnour; he’s currently averaging over 30 minutes a game, is fourth in the league in free-throw percentage, and has led a surprise Sonics squad to a 10 game lead over Minnesota in the tough Northwest Division. That type of lead might become the norm if GM Rick Sund and the Sonics draft as efficiently in the next five years as they have in the previous five.
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