[draft] PICK NOW, PLAY LATER
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PICK NOW, PLAY LATER
With the majority of the top players in tonight's draft
having little or no college expereience, most NBA clubs
will likely have to wait a while for their selections to
produce
Thursday, June 24, 2004
By Benjamin Hochman
Staff writer
"With the next pick in the 2004 NBA draft, the, uh, wait
-- who has this pick?"
NBA commissioner David Stern should probably check his
notes before each pick during tonight's draft, because
this year's lottery has become less about the draftees
and more about the drafters.
Teams are swapping lottery picks like old Topps cards. On
Wednesday, ESPN reported that the Dallas Maverics have
acquired the No. 5 pick from Washington, along with Jerry
Stackhouse and Christian Laettner, for Antawn Jamison. On
Tuesday, the Los Angeles Clippers sent the No. 2 overall
pick to the Charlotte Bobcats for the No. 4 pick.
And some NBA personnel have said more trades are likely.
The Mavericks may have been acquiring the fifth pick to
package to the Los Angeles Lakers in a trade for center
Shaquille O'Neal. Down in Orlando, where they have the
No. 1 overall pick, the reported Tracy McGrady-for-Steve
Francis murkiness could spark more movement at the top of
the draft.
Last year the top picks, except for Detroit's Darko Milicic
at No. 2, all made instant impacts -- LeBron James, No. 1
to Cleveland; Carmelo Anthony, No. 3 to Denver; Chris Bosh,
No. 4 to Toronto; and Dwyane Wade, No. 5 to Miami. This year
the projected top five picks include just one player --
Connecticut's Emeka Okafor -- who has more than two years of
college basketball experience.
"I don't think there are a lot of players in this draft --
there are a couple -- that can come in and play a lot right
away and really help a team," Nuggets general manager Kiki
Vandeweghe said. "So this is a draft of the future, and you
may see some movement of teams that want to get better
immediately."
Okafor, 6 feet 10 with a wingspan of 7 feet 4, played for the
national champions at Connecticut and has all the makings of
a No. 1 overall pick. But Dwight Howard, a 6-foot-11 high
schooler, could be a good fit in Orlando, depending if the
reported six-player trade with Houston involving McGrady
becomes a reality. Not since 2001, when high schooler Kwame
Brown went No. 1, has there been suspense with the first pick.
The Bobcats, the expansion team now at No. 2, are looking to
build for the future. But will they build from the middle out,
or from the point in?
If they want the former, the Bobcats will take whichever player
is left -- Okafor or Howard. But if they want a point guard,
they could make the intriguing move and draft high school point
guard Shaun Livingston. At 6 feet 7, he has been picked in mock
drafts as high as No. 2 and as low as No. 6. He has the size,
as well as the versatility and potential, to become an anomaly
at his position. But how soon?
"It's very risky," said Toronto general manager Ron Babcock,
whose team picks eighth. "The younger they are, they have no
track record against good competition. . . . You've got to find
out a couple things. You've got to find out if he has the desire
to learn. And if he has the ability to learn."
"I want to contribute sooner than later," said Livingston, of
Peoria, Ill. "You've got to have that confidence inside you to
do so. . . . (Not playing in college), that's definitely a
concern, but you have to take a high step, faster. There's a
lot of making up to do, but I think I'll pick it up pretty quick."
Chicago, at No. 3, has had its share of recent frustrations in
the draft. High school standouts Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry,
picked No. 2 and No. 4 in 2001, haven't blossomed into stars.
And the Bulls took point guard Jay Williams at No. 2 in 2002,
but a motorcycle injury has sidelined him for more than a year.
Arizona's Andre Iguodala, a defensive specialist, could be a
safe fit for the Bulls, but it would be tough to pass on
enticing Luol Deng, the latest Duke Blue Devil projected to go
in the lottery (six went the past five drafts).
"I would love to play for Chicago, if that were the case -- I
love the city," Deng said during the NBA pre-draft camp. "I feel
like I could help out the team a lot, the fact that I can play
small forward and I think the way I read the game. And I like
running the floor and could help a lot with those things."
What's next is a pair of point guards who will probably be taken
in the No. 5 to No. 10 range -- Wisconsin's Devin Harris and
Connecticut's Ben Gordon. Forwards Josh Childress (Stanford)
and Luke Jackson (Oregon) have also been mainstays in mock
drafts, between the No. 8 and No. 12 spots.
But after those players, it's up for general managers to decipher
which question marks can turn into exclamation points. Two young
European players -- 7-foot-5 Russian center Pavel Podkolzine and
7-foot Latvian center Andris Biedrins -- are projected lottery
picks.
There probably aren't any instant impacts like James or Kevin
Garnett, but there are many high schoolers that could go in the
first round -- as many as eight, which would be a record. Guard
J.R. Smith, forwards Josh Smith and Al Jefferson and center
Robert Swift could all go in the top 20. History says most of
these players will spend most of next season on the bench.
"The NBA has become more and more of a developmental league,"
said Atlanta general manager Billy Knight, whose team picks sixth.
"We know we're going to get young players, so it's up to us to
develop them."
"I think with a lot of the players that will be taken, depending
on a system or a team's style of play, you may have some surprise
picks in the first round," New York president Isiah Thomas said.
"A lot of players are maybe good for a system they're going to
play in, as opposed to the talent that they have."
. . . . . . .
Benjamin Hochman can be reached at bhochman@timespicayune.com or
(504) 826-3405.
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