Poor Man's NBA Draft Preview: Two Knuckleheads Chat

NBA Draft - 2008

CHN's Shawn Siegel (your trusty editor) and Jason Tomassini (your sarcastic blogger) took some time out of their busy evenings of watching America's Got Talent to talk NBA Draft:

Formalities

JTom: yo shawn
Siegel: u there?
JTom: Word

Beasley vs Rose

Siegel: Why's everyone infatuated with Derrick Rose at #1? I know you're a Beasley fan as am I
JTom: well there is this character issue i dont quite understand. i am still unsure what is wrong with Beasley except that he has fun.. and is an accomplished graffiti artist
Siegel: is he really? I need to read more of the ESPN Beasley hype pieces apparently
JTom: Well the whole thing with Ty Lawson i believe in high school. They had a tagging contest around school and Beasley got the principal's car
Siegel: i respect that. Beasley should break that out in the dunk contest, jump up and tag the backboard
JTom: haha yeah, well they will probably criticize him for that as well
Siegel: or maybe tag jj redick's jersey during a game
JTom: That would require JJ Redick entering a game.... i don't really buy that his personality will affect his game
Siegel: Me neither, he seems like the real deal

Enough About Those Guys..

Siegel: Anyways, lets move on from rose and beasley.. thats all you ever hear about
JTom: agreed
Siegel: that's what kills me about the draft. You need to create some buzz, so they hype like 2 or 3 guys.. yet then in turn people treat the 4th pick or so like its crap and no one bothers watching after 10 minutes
JTom: Right, i would say the 3-10 guys are by far the most interesting
Siegel: yea, a little more risk comes into the equation
JTom: there seems to be consensus who those guys are but no way of predicting what order they go in

The Rise of Russell

Siegel: What's with the sudden russell westbrook love fest? Did anyone watch the first 70 games of his college career? or just the last one
JTom: haha well i love russ
Siegel: how come?
JTom: however, not as a point guard, but because he is real tough off the dribble and can be a game-changing defender
Siegel: if he cant play point, how will he ever make it?
JTom: i think he is a perfect combo guard.. like monta ellis style
Siegel: he's not nearly as fast though or explosive, you need to be crazy quick like ellis or devin harris to make it with that style
JTom: Well he's definitely explosive, he just needs to develop a midrange game. he isnt going to be the best player on an NBA team, but he could be your second best guy
Siegel: seriously?? mark it down now that he never averages more than 10 ppg as pro. And never starts more than 100 games
JTom: tell me where to mark this down and i will do so

More on Russell..

JTom: like he would be awful on the knicks.. but could be very good on the clippers
Siegel: even the new-age d'antoni knicks? do you expect him to start this season?
JTom: if he goes to any of the top 7 teams, yes
Siegel: I dont see it happening. if corey brewer or nick young couldn't play 20 minutes a game, there's no reason to think RW will
JTom: he is going to stay on the court with defense and will have to work on polishing his offensive game
Siegel: who needs 6-3 stoppers?
JTom: i think a decent comparison being made, defensively, is rondo

The Demise of SI and the Rise of Combo Guards

JTom: there are a lot of combo guards in this draft, and im a little weary of calling these type of players the future of the nba like i read in sports illustrated this week
Siegel: yea, the fact is that the top guys are really either pure pg's or pure sg's. Its sad SI will be irrelevant in about 3 years by the way
JTom: haha yes that is sad
Siegel: outside of rose, are there any other "true" pg's worth paying attention to
JTom: if you pay attention to fringe starters, then yes
Siegel: I loved DJ Augustin in college
JTom: yeah, i dont see that translating to the nba. how he gets a shot off is beyond me.
Siegel: its all about basketball IQ.. like Deron
JTom: deron is 6-3 220 though

Poor Man's Deron Williams

Siegel: I know, can we call Augustin a poor man's Deron Williams?
JTom: that man would have to be pretty poor
Siegel: ouch, like Jason Tomassini poor?
JTom: like, the guy who sleeps at the bus stop outside on my street poor
Siegel: damn
JTom: that guy is interested in drafting dj augustin
Siegel: I wouldnt mind starting a website that lists every poor man athlete reference ever made, there would be like 10,000 greg maddux poor men entries
JTom: haha yeah, and i think josh smith is entering that territory. basically anyone that is just an athletic freak that cannot play basketball is a "poor man's Josh Smith"
Siegel: haha, the NBA should force him to enter the dunk contest. I think an angel is born every time Josh Smith dunks
JTom: he should have to compete against all the poor man's Josh Smiths

A Little Love

Siegel: do you think Kevin Love can even jump a foot?
JTom: from what i have read kevin love has slimmed down. But he still cant jump a foot. Here's my thing with love, and id be interested to hear your take on this
Siegel: I love his game, so watch what you say
JTom: hes not going to be a star, but he is going to be a VERY good role player. Like, it's a sure thing he will be a starter that's like your 3rd or 4th best player
Siegel: true, is the question then is it worth a top 10 pick to get a guaranteed role player?
JTom: rebounds, can run a great pick and roll/pop, passes well. i think yes, you can use a top ten pick on a role player. There are only going to be like 3 franchise guys in a draft. If you dont get beasley/rose/mayo, just take a surefire, long-term contributor that fills a niche
Siegel: only other guys with all-star potential beyond those three are maybe bayless, gallinari, randolph, and gordon and those are all major risks, so Love is a sure-fire Top 10

JTom: yeah definitely top 10
Siegel: if spencer hawes went 10 last year.. that makes Love seem like a #1 pick..

Batman and Robin

Siegel: Is Lopez really any better than Love?
JTom: i dont think so
Siegel: I waver on him
JTom: totally different players but i see love helping a team a lot more
Siegel: big men are weird though.. so few decent guys out there
JTom: although im not buying this whole, "hey! robin might be better than brook!" thing
Siegel: yea, he's not. Its like suggesting robin is more badass than batman.

A Team Called Georgetown

Siegel: How bout robin versus roy hibbert?
JTom: hibbert is another guy that needs to be on the right team. A half-court team, obviously
Siegel: I agree, that team is called Georgetown
JTom: haha, maybe he is Zydrunas Ilgauskas' heir apparent
Siegel: I was thinking Cleveland too, they love to stand still in the halfcourt. Roy would be great at ogling LeBron like the rest of the Cavs..
JTom: Robin lopez will be a solid rotation guy though, no doubt. hibbert could be out of the league in 5 years
Siegel: i give him a month
JTom: haha
Siegel: nah, thats harsh.. 5-6 years seems about right

Busts of Summers Past

JTom: i think rafael araujo has the record for fastest top 20 pick to be out of the league. he lasted roughly 3 weeks
Siegel: well, at least he played a game or two
JTom: and was 8th overall
Siegel: did yaroslov korolev ever play?
JTom: i believe he was at least on the team for a year
JTom: thats an interesting question: player most likely to be out of the league in under three years
Siegel: I like that one
JTom: i think we should exclude euros though, they can just go back to play over there for equal money basically

Soon to be Forgotten

Siegel: mario chalmers if he goes that high.. darrell arthur too just to pick on kansas. I cant fathom how a team could take Chalmers in Round One by the way
JTom: haha
Siegel: jason thompson, pure bust
JTom: the easy answer for me is javale mcgee
Siegel: yea, mcgee no doubt.. a poor man's patrick o'bryant
JTom: precisely

Fatty McGee

Siegel: you ever hear the fatty mcgee bit by adam sandler?
JTom: i havent
Siegel: its hilarious

..And We Continue to Digress

JTom: javale's mom is in the wnba

Siegel: Really?
JTom: Not joking at all
Siegel: well he's got the genes then to be horrible at basketball..
JTom: yeah she was like handling his workout schedule too
Siegel: you really should listen to the fatty mcgee bit.. do a search on google. comic gold
JTom: when mcgee is drafted 10 spots too high thursday i will
Siegel: how is she young enough to be a pro athlete?

Rising to New Speights

JTom: dark horses for the bust award could be randolph or speights
Siegel: i was going to say randolph, but I like his game so didnt want to go there
JTom: yeah that will depend on his team/coach. speights might have the widest range of possible careers of anyone in the draft. he's like Mike Sweetney to Elton Brand
Siegel: I know, he seems like such an unknown.. but come on, mike sweetney was one of my favs. speights could definitely be even worse
JTom: my sixers friends (they are limited) and I are pretty set on wanting speights or arthur if he falls Siegel: in my mock on CHN, I have Speights going to the Sixers. Seems like a good fit there

Chad Ford is Dumb

Siegel: as an aside, deandre jordan will be pumping gas by next june

JTom: haha no comment... i think last question, the top 5 players from this draft in 10 years are?
Siegel: seriously, how did we not mention jordan in the bust category though? Alright, I'll say 1-Beasley, 2-Mayo, 3-Rose, 4-Gordon, 5-Randolph. Dont mark that down in stone though, only chisel in my ripping of russell westbrook
JTom: interesting. ill go...
Siegel: im guessing you got devon hardin #1?
JTom: 1) Beasley 2) Rose 3) Mayo 4) Westbrook 5) Bayless
Siegel: alright, i got nothing interesting to say about your list, except that its the same top 5 as chad fords mock draft, which means you're going to be way off
JTom: haha really? dammit