SI.com '03 Draft Predictions

[LoCo89]

Rudy Tomjanovich: I'm actually hearing from my old friends in the Houston media that the Rockets are working on some kind of trade right now. Haven't heard any specifics yet.

"BOOOOOOOOOOOoooOOOOOooOOOOoooOO!!!!"

-People in MSG waiting

[Soundwave]

Yea, I was gonna ask if you were kidding too, but I went against it in case you were and I didn't wanna ruin your joke. Indicating tone on the internet can be a *****

Would it have helped if I put a after my statement?

Of course I was joking.

[Soundwave]

Rudy Tomjanovich: I'm actually hearing from my old friends in the Houston media that the Rockets are working on some kind of trade right now. Haven't heard any specifics yet.

Ok, now people are just talking to themselves, this is getting weird.

[PrepP]

Why are you talking in 3rd person?
Who's we?
Is there more than one person running your team? I'm sure there's rules against that.

One person. Multiple personalities.

[Xist2inspire]

@JeezyF.Baby: Now the real fun begins. Word is Dalembert's on the block, so it looks like Bosh is Colorado-bound. Interesting, because I'm not too sure that the Mavs want Hinrich.

[Pelicans78]

Rudy T: Well, the Rockets got their man all along. They wanted a SF and they got one. Melo will be a great fit with this team and will be surrounded by quality guys. Trade talks actually involved Wally Z. However, I just spoke to Wally Z and he states he wants to stay in Houston even with Melo. Thinks they will push each other in practice and provide great depth at every position now.

[LoCo89]

Rudy T: Well, the Rockets got their man all along. They wanted a SF and they got one. Melo will be a great fit with this team and will be surrounded by quality guys. Trade talks actually involved Wally Z. However, I just spoke to Wally Z and he states he wants to stay in Houston even with Melo. Thinks they will push each other in practice and provide great depth at every position now.

Basically Wally's World said he's cool chillin on the bench and makin 5 mil

[Xist2inspire]

@JeezyF.Baby: Well, I was right, Dallas had no interest in Kirk....but David West? At #5? Really? Something tells me that this was a hasty pick based on name value alone. Calling all teams who need a PG: Y'all just caught a break.

[Xist2inspire]

@JeezyF.Baby: Shout out to the Hawks, Magic & Jazz for picking up Kirk, Luke & Mo. The Mavs' gamble becomes their gain. Man, the Heat have got to be sick right now. So close....

[Xist2inspire]

@JeezyF.Baby: Whoa, Kaman before Kendrick? Not sure I'd have done that, but it's the Knicks, who cares?

@JeezyF.Baby: Gotta love cprej's options right now. He can go with either Barbosa to form a nice one-two punch with Mo, or Perkins to further solidify his frontcourt. Either way, I nominate the Jazz as one of the "sleeper" winners in this draft.

@JeezyF.Baby: Daaaaaarrrrkkkooooo.......where areeee youuuuu? LOL

[c_prej]

We were very suprised who was available to us with our first pick. We decided to gamble and thankfully it worked in our favor. We are really excited about the additons to our team. We may be a yound team but are hopefully ready to compete.

[Xist2inspire]

@JeezyF.Baby: This is the part of the draft where things get interesting. Other than Barbosa and maybe Darko, all the good-potential guys are gone, nothing but role players to be had now. I wonder if somebody's gonna try to move up for Barbosa? Hmmm.....

[Pelicans78]

Rudy T: The Rockets will not trade the Mavs 2004 pick.

[Xist2inspire]

@JeezyF.Baby: What'd I just tell y'all about a possible trade for Barbosa? Savvy, slick move by the Hornets.

[speedyG]

@JeezyF.Baby: Whoa, Kaman before Kendrick? Not sure I'd have done that, but it's the Knicks, who cares?

@JeezyF.Baby: Gotta love cprej's options right now. He can go with either Barbosa to form a nice one-two punch with Mo, or Perkins to further solidify his frontcourt. Either way, I nominate the Jazz as one of the "sleeper" winners in this draft.

@JeezyF.Baby: Daaaaaarrrrkkkooooo.......where areeee youuuuu? LOL

imo the Perkins' of the league are a dime a dozen, rather have the skilled scoring C

[janjanjanjan3]

imo the Perkins' of the league are a dime a dozen, rather have the skilled scoring C

Kaman is bigger than Perkins and is better at both scoring and rebounding, Kaman is clearly the better player

[Xist2inspire]

@JeezyF.Baby:Wow, forgot that Mickael "Spellcheck" Pietrus was still around. So one of the "tank trio" made the absolute best of his situation. Too bad the other two GMs didn't do the same.

@Jeezy F. Baby: Well, since it looks like most of the drama is over, stay tuned for my Draft Winners & Losers piece on SI.com, and that's gonna be it from me for now. Looks like this article was a success, maybe SI.com will actually let me write some more......and get another "gofer." Lol

[PrepP]

Think he got a lil lucky there with a couple picks getting simmed. but def good value that late in draft.

[coltsguy510]

Think he got a lil lucky there with a couple picks getting simmed. but def good value that late in draft.

I got very lucky!!!

[PrepP]

I got very lucky!!!

good pick!

[coltsguy510]

good pick!

Thanks!! I now have three of the top defenders in the draft!!

[The JNR]

I really appreciate this predictions post. Looking forward to the winners/losers. I think I got good depth.

[Trell]

I really appreciate this predictions post. Looking forward to the winners/losers. I think I got good depth.

Very interesting, i love it so far. I have somehing coming up that will be done weekly just waiting for a partner. So be ready.

[Xist2inspire]

SI.com '03 Draft, The Sequel: Winners & Losers

And once again, it's the guy with the name but not the fame, J. Felders! There's still a nice bit of role players to be had, but for the most part, it's pretty much routine at this point. So with that being said, let me bring you the big winners and losers of the main part of this draft!

Part I: It's Human Nature
These are the teams who won by simply drafting the best player there. No slick trades, no big gambles, just doing what we all would've done in their place.

.Chicago Bulls (LeBron James)
Duh.

.Houston Rockets (Carmelo Anthony)
If Wally Z can produce off the bench, this becomes an even better pick for the Rockets. They were missing a franchise player, now they have one.

.Atlanta Hawks (Kirk Hinrich)
I tried to get their GM to comment on how they felt about Hinrich falling to them, but I couldn't find him. I called other GMs to help, and they couldn't find him. Methinks he might've wandered into the wrong section of town (Bankhead?). Whatever happens with him aside, good choice.

Part II: The Smooth Criminals
These are the guys who made clever deals to improve their squads, or made calculated gambles that paid off. Or, they just got lucky. Hats off to these guys.

.New Orleans Hornets (Leandro Barbosa)
Nice job here. A contender just picked up a nice young player who should be able to step in and contribute immediately.

.Los Angeles Clippers (Dwayne Wade)
This is not just because of the pick, because if so, they'd be in the first group. This is because Prep P made an earlier deal that gives him the best SF/SG/PG rotation in the league, bar none. T-Mac. Wade. Alexander. Butler. Jay Williams. There are teams who would kill to have just one of these guys, but Prep has them all. The Clippers are set to jam.

.Orlando Magic (Boris Diaw, Luke Ridnour, Mickael Pietrus)
Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. After the Mavs' choke left PG-drafting teams speechless, the Magic were one of the teams to profit off of it. Then, after baffling slip-ups by other teams, the Magic ended up with Pietrus, which makes their earlier trade with the Knicks a pretty darn good one.

.Utah Jazz (Mo Williams, Kendrick Perkins)
It's not often that a guy can slip to you, and you still end up with the guy you originally were projected to draft. The Jazz did just that, nice job.

Part III: Off The Wall
What. Were. They. Thinking. Maybe they got butterflies from the pressure of draft day. Maybe they just dropped the ball. Whatever it was, the result was a heartbreaker for their fans.

.Denver Nuggets
I can't fault them for picking Bosh. Not what I would've done, but that's why I'm not a GM. But RICKY PAULDING and MACIEJ LAMPE? But Nuggets fans, you are not alone in your misery because.....

.Dallas Mavericks
....The Mavs took David West at #5. Bad. Really, really bad. Now, to be fair, with picks like these, it's rarely black or white. West has talent & potential, and he could stun us all. But there were other guys *cough*Hinrich*cough* who were probably less of a reach. Keep the faith, Mavs fans. You'll need it.

San Antonio Spurs
Remember the time when the Spurs somehow powered their way into the NBA Finals? It probably won't happen again. They'd better start something in free agency, because trading that #15 pick was pretty silly, especially considering some of the players that were left.

Part IV: They Don't Care About Us
Okay, so you didn't make a flashy pick, nor did you make a bad one. The mainstream media may not care, but I'll give you some love.

.The Heat should do well this season, with their awesome depth at most positions, but the pressure's on them to prove their worth.
.New York likes bigs, and the Knicks made yet another addition to their powerful young frontcourt by drafting Kaman.
.To all the players left in the draft: Don't worry. Somebody's watching you.

And that's it for this article. Gone too soon, right? It was a thriller of a run, but I gotta move on, and thanks to everyone who took the time to read this, pay attention to my tweets, etc. The more you read, the better my chances of a promotion are! (and we're almost there....) Again, good luck to all the teams and GMs out there. Until next time, y'all.

[Xist2inspire]

@JeezyF.Baby: Chances are, you noticed a theme in that last article, it had a bit of a "poppy" feel to it, eh? I count 19 references to the other MJ, can you find them?