Portland Trailblazers: NBA Draft

By: Jason Fleming 

 

 

 

Cheerleader of the Day

 

By: Jessica Camerato

 

Cheerleader of the Day

 

The 2008 NBA Draft is finally in the books, and most of the viewing audience are regaining their hearing after listening to four-plus hours of Stephen A. Smith, Dick Vitale and Stuart Scott. Sixty picks, a handful of trades, buckets of tears from proud mothers, some odd suit choices and A LOT of camera shots of Darrell Arthur in the green room later, it's time to see who came out ahead this year, and who will be saving seats for next year's lottery.

WINNERS

2007-08 Record: 41-41, 3^rd Northwest

Draft Picks: 13, 33, 36, 55

Key Free Agents

None

 

How they got here and what they need

 

 

FACT #1: Most homegrown 1^st round picks since 2000: Celtics, Hawks, and Supersonics with 5 each (but these 3 teams have combined for only 7 playoff appearances in 8 years)

The draft is finally upon us, which means the speculation will be swirling and may be a little more substantiated as it has been the past four or five weeks. It’s kind of strange to write a column leading up to an event that, within a span of three hours, will disprove about 90 percent of what was written in this space. But, the links are heating up and I am here to provide them. Expect everything below to change before 7 p.m. tomorrow.

Welcome to the Pacific Northwest, Mr. Oden and Mr. Durant. We’re sure you will love the nationally televised games and close proximity to Nike headquarters. Please let us know if you have any issues at all…

Yes, the basketball gods have spoken and they’ve told us Greg Oden will be a Blazer and Kevin Durant is Seattle-bound. But you already knew that. What you may not know is what the entire NBA Draft Lottery really means. So let’s start at the top…

1. Portland Trail Blazers

It’s sort of fitting the Spurs and the Cavs will be playing in the NBA Finals. For all the fans and sportswriters who love to yell about the biggest draft busts of the past, this series will feature the two most influential picks since Shaq: Tim Duncan and LeBron James. Two No. 1 picks that now represent probably the two most valuable players in the league. The draft works! … Well if you have a selective memory. Anyway, Portland and Seattle will get to witness first-hand the potential results of their upcoming draft picks and Kevin Durant and Greg Oden will watch