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Thursday, May 31, 2007
Nobody knows
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ORLANDO - Nobody here has a clue as to what’s going to take place once the names start rolling off of NBA Commissioner David Stern’s tongue on June 28 (that’s draft night for all you Florida fans that will be joining us now that Billy the Kid has crossed over to the Dark Side).
Not even the assembled mass of NBA types here (for the annual predraft camp) have a good handle of what’s going to happen in the draft beyond picks No. 1 and 2.
What to do with No. 3 you ask?
My informal poll of 10 people with no affiliation with the Hawks produced six different responses - Mike Conley (three times), Brandan Wright, Yi Jianlian, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer and trades the pick were the responses tossed my way.
Many of the top prospects gathered here Thursday afternoon for a media session that allowed some of us our first up close and personal glimpse at these kids, you know, the teenagers (in most cases) fans expect to help deliver their respective teams from future draft lotteries.
I had a chance to sit down and talk with the usual suspects (add Greg Oden to the list of wish they would have been Hawks, by the way, the kid is eloquent, thoughtful, witty and at times hilarious. Oh yeah, he can play, too. That No. 1 pick would have changed things in Hawksville forever, as you well know).
Mike Conley and I discussed his future possibilities with the Hawks (stay tuned for a Sunday profile of Conley in our NBA Insider). I did the same with Acie Law, Brandan Wright, Al Horford, Joakim Noah and several other guys who could be in play with picks No. 3 and 11, provided the Hawks don’t move them for veteran help.
(My first impression, without having seen any of these guys in a workout situation, is that they’re all pretty much what you’d expect. Oden looks like a beast. Durant’s all arms and legs, Brandan Wright’s as long and lean as advertised and Jeff Green gets the no nonsense award for showing up in a shirt tie. But no one was noticeably taller or shorter than they’ve been listed previously, though Kevin Durant admitted that the 220 pounds he was listed at in the Texas media guide was a overestimated by about eight pounds.)
But back to that trade scenario, I asked as many personnel guys as I could what they thought the Hawks’ best option was and most everyone of them expressed reservations about the Hawks trading away those picks without a little more investigation. It’s still a bit murky as to who would be the best option at No. 3. Two people I asked with extensive knowledge of the international game swear that Yi Jianlian is the clear-cut No. 3 talent in this draft. But they also expressed some doubts as to whether the Hawks, and their style, would be the best fit.
Another well-informed personnel guy suggested that the Hawks don’t have the “guts” to take the third-best talent (Yi) because he’s such a mystery. He likened it to the year Dirk Nowitzki was pilfered from the Milwaukee Bucks in a draft day trade with Dallas (he didn’t say Yi was as good a prospect as Dirk, only that there was a similar mysteriousness about Dirk at this same stage of the process). Until I see Yi, I won’t dive off that cliff. But I have to admit I am sufficiently intrigued by this guy and how good he might be.
That said, I’m still convinced that the only guy that makes immediate sense for the Hawks is Conley. And while he admitted that playing alongside Oden in the NBA would be a dream scenario, he knows it’s probably not going to be realized. And he’s hardly nervous about venturing out on his own. Now is he a risk at No. 3? Sure. The list of 19-year-old point guards that have set the league on fire in year’s past is a short one, Kenny Anderson comes to mind but his limitations eventually caught up to him. But the Hawks have been fearless in their decisions in the past few drafts (the only consensus about Shelden Williams last year was that No. 5 was too high and the gamble the year before would have been to pass on the best player available - Marvin Williams, whether you remember it that way or not - for the most glaring need; point guard).
So the fact-finding mission continues for me, as I suspect it does for everyone else. There are no easy answers available right now.
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