Seeing as I’ve been calling Ekpe Udoh a “poor man’s Serge Ibaka” for a week now, I can’t say the Warriors totally whiffed yesterday. Golden State doesn’t have one guy on their roster (besides maybe Kelenna Azubuike) who’s a consistent defender and rebounder. Anthony Randolph has the potential to do that, but too often he’s either a victim of Don Nelson’s whims, his own youthful exuberance or lately, injury.
And to be frank, the 2010 NBA Draft (after John Wall) was dookie. It was so boring that I actually went to a work happy hour after watching the first seven picks at my desk — and not just because my manager forced me to. Out of the top 9 picks (more on the 9th and 10th picks later), only Minnesota surprised anyone with their selection, and that’s only because choosing a third-banana type like Wesley Johnson makes no sense for a team without a star. If there was any team that should be gambling in the NBA Draft it would be the Wolves, but David Kahn apparently fills up on Jim Beam and Quaaludes before every NBA Draft.
But enough about the only team that will finish below the Warriors in the Western Conference next season. Even though Ekpe Udoh makes Adonal Foyle look like Kevin McHale in this clip, there isn’t a franchise player in this draft after the first five picks. Which is why it was almost poetic that the Warriors, with the 4th-worst record in the league, somehow ended up with pick No. 6. Something tells me they’ll have a few more ping-pong balls in the hopper next year.
Warriors break their addiction to lefties
– I thought the Warriors would take Udoh, then I remembered that Greg Monroe is left-handed, which would have given the Warriors four lefty bigs on their acid trip of a roster.
– Here’s the video of the Warriors unveiling their new floor at Oracle Arena, which looks almost disturbingly like the Lakers’ old floor at the Forum. Lots and lots of yellow.
– I projected that my sleeper of the draft was Quincy Pondexter, so it was like an affirmation of my basketball scouting prowess when Sam Presti chose him with the 26th pick overall. Then I saw Pondexter was traded by Oklahoma City along with Craig Brackins to New Orleans for Cole Aldrich and Morris Peterson. Still, I feel like it’s a small victory that Presti thought enough of my sleeper pick to snag him before the first round was over. OK, I’ll stop now.
– How long until Omar Samhan becomes the first undrafted free agent the Warriors call? Tomorrow? Monday? And they should, really. What have they got to lose?
– On KNBR this morning with Gary Radnich, Ric Bucher said that Chris Cohan’s words to Larry Riley were pretty much, “Any deal that puts money on my pocket, I’m good with.” But you already knew that.
– If what people think is true and choosing an offensive project with the No. 6 pick proves that Larry Riley and Don Nelson actually are trying to sabotage the Warriors before they get dismissed, wouldn’t it make sense to trade Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins for Gilbert Arenas and Al Thornton? If you’re going to suck, you might as well set the records for games lost due to injury, fights on the team plane and fewest team assists in an NBA season.
– Most predictable selection: “With the ninth pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, the Utah Jazz select … Gordon Hayward, Butler University!”
– Followed by the least predictable pick of the day, the Indiana Pacers going with Paul George (super athletic swingman from Fresno St.) over Cole Aldrich, the big white guy with a heart of gold from Kansas. I would have lost money on that bet.
– Especially since Jay Bilas’ scouting report on Aldrich leading up the draft included the phrase, “Outstanding wifeability.”
– Self-promotion alert: I’ll admit it, after being a holdout I’m officially addicted to Twitter (as opposed to Facebook, which for me consists of the same 20 people making status updates about how cute their pets are or how annoyed they are that some airline lost their luggage during their trip to Ireland). I responded to a certain well-known Cohan-basher who pondered the possibilities if DeMarcus Cousins became a Warrior: “If that happens, I can’t wait until Cousins and Anthony Randolph get into their first brawl at Crogan’s.” For those who don’t know, Crogan’s is a vile “sports bar” in Walnut Creek that continues to pretend that acting like a Jersey Shore character is neither ironic nor uncool, a place that might have the first Yelp average score of under 2 stars I’ve ever seen. And yes I am proud to have worked Crogan’s into the NBA Draft conversation. And yes, I am easily amused.
– Turned out Cousin’s agent let the Warriors know he didn’t want to go there anyway — and he was OK with going to Sacramento. Think about that. Is there anybody in the Bay Area, who if they had the choice, would choose Sacto over any town in the Bay Area not named Richmond. Maybe Cousins did his homework and wants to avoid Oakland during the inevitable fallout from the Oscar Grant trial.
