Draft Review

In what could possibly be our last year, or at least the last year before we reset keepers (or evaluate and see what we'd like to do), the draft ended up being full of upside and speculation. We introduce Jimmy (an old Slamnation champion from an earlier incarnation) and say good bye to Ping. Off season trades shook up the league a little but not as much as the previous summer. On the eve before the season kicks off, let's take a look at how each team did in the draft.

(1) 100AcrePoohBears
Another season spent struggling in the Toilet Bowl for J's team -- at least they won it all this time. The good news is that last year's team who picked first vaulted all the way to the top and took the championship. So there's a good chance J's team can do the same based on, um, history. Last year's mid-season trades really shook the Bears up. Mike Bibby to Atlanta, Shawn Marion to Miami, and Pau Gasol to the Lakers. Those probably translate to slight statistical decreases across the board. Bibby will garner more AST but Marion won't have Steve Nash anymore and Gasol has to compete for REB/BLK with Andrew Bynum. Plus, Josh Childress jumped ship for Europe.

Having said all that though, number one overall pick Michael Beasley could be an immediate double-double contributor. Last year's draft pick, Rodney Stuckey, looks ready to increase his numbers and this year's second round draft pick, fellow Piston Amir Johnson, has been elevated to the starting lineup. This team is still intriguing on paper with a good mix of big and small and could easily do better than their 8-12 record and make it out of the Toilet Bowl.

(2) Fobsters
Another Toilet Bowl veteran, Ping's team is loaded with big names but few successes. With new management stepping in, the hope is that a steady hand and a new outlook will give Paul Pierce, Vince Carter, Lamar Odom, and the rest of this stellar cast a chance to get to the playoffs. The off-season definitely helped out Vince Carter, who will probably be a monster now that he's the only real player on the Nets. The Fobsters also own Richard Jefferson, who will be basically the same player in Milwaukee. Marcus Camby is grumbling about being shipped out to the Clippers for pennies, but he'll still put up REB and BLK.

The biggest problem for this team is the same as last year: guards, specifically point guards. Earl Watson, Luke Ridnour, Marcus Williams (now in Golden State), and Mike Conley are all pretty mediocre. Watson might get some big AST numbers, Ridnour should do better than he did in Seattle, and maybe Conley will emerge in his sophmore year, but it's all a bit of maybe's. The draft didn't add a point guard but rookie OJ Mayo will be an excellent all around fantasy player and maybe Darko Milicic will put up 2 BLKs a game in support of Camby. Jimmy will have to make some moves to get his team squared up but he's got quite the mouthwatering supply of talent to do it with.


(3) Funk Coalition
The bottom fell out for the Funk last season. Working with a bunch of point guards, most of them underachieved or simply fell apart. TJ Ford, Randy Foye, Jameer Nelson, and Raymond Felton all did worse than the previous year. Big scorers Carmelo Anthonoy and Michael Redd dipped in the PTS department, and that's pretty much all she wrote for a team that was already jettisioning four categories. The good news is that Ford has been moved to the Pacers and will get a chance to play full time. Randy Foye is finally healthy and ready to contribute, and the team still has Lebron James.

Curiously, GM Jon took Kevin Love in the first round, and he obviously doesn't fit the needs of this squad. Does this portend a shake up? With their second rounder, they picked up Eddie House, who will be a sparkplug off the bench for the defending champs. The question will be if this team has another run in it, or if it's back to the drawing board with the (bad) point guards strategy.

(4) Jedi Knights
New owner Chris had a rough go of it in his first year. It's always tough to inherit a team and he did the best he could but that only amounted to three wins (and one tie) on the season. However, Lum showed that he had the savvy to see his team's weaknesses and moved quickly to address them with his draft by selecting two rookie point guards, Portland's Jerryd Bayless and Seattle's Russell Westbrook. This team was desperately hurting for some AST and guards, and now Sam Cassell and Steve Francis will either be cut or related to the glue factory.

Last year found Al Thornton emerging as a nice surprise alongside the already huge lineup of Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Emeka Okafor, Brad Miller, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. The off season yielded good results for Mike Miller (ready to fire it up in Minnesota), Matt Barnes (now starting for the Suns) and Nate Robinson (now playing in a Suns style offense). What the Jedi Knights really need to unleash the force though, is a return to form by Luol Deng and maybe a move or two to move away from their core strength of big men.


(5) Human Amoebas
The Amoebas finally made a waiver move or two last season and slipped into the playoffs with a 9-11 season. There was a lot of fall off from their previous season as Jarrett Jack and Andrea Bargnani really underachieved. The good news is that Amare Stoudemire became a force next to Shaq and Marvin Williams emerged as a good PTS-REB option. Plus, the decline of Jason Kidd is really only in real life as his fantasy value remains consistent. The big question for Eric-A is how to get his team to perform better all around.

It looks like there's enough talent on-hand to get to the playoffs again, especially if first rounder Derrick Rose can carve out significant minutes and if Quentin Richardson flourishes again under Mike D'Antoni. Last year's second round pick, Spencer Hawes might become a viable big man option but that's a long shot. Another option might be this year's selection, forward Donte Green, but he's possibly trapped behind Ron Artest and Shane Battier in Houston. I guess the key to this team's improvement will be centered around Derrick Rose and his highly anticipated rookie season.

(6) Fat Jubas
A deep team on paper, the Jubas took a step back last season under the weight of hefty injuries. Coming off a 16-4-1 record in 2007, they fell to 11-8-1 due to long term injuries to Dwayne Wade and Jermaine O'Neal. This season, both are healthy but it's Tracy McGrady's turn to start the season dinged up. But it may not matter because this team has talent coming out of its pores. Corey Maggette will be the man in Golden State, Al Jefferson has emerged fully as a force, and Andre Iguodala and LaMarcus Aldridge will probably be better too.

A pair of point guard picks in this year's draft, Rudy Fernandez and Chris Duhon, could both pay big dividends if given time. Rudy was a highlight of the gold medal game and Duhon can run and gun in the Knicks' new up tempo attack. And let's not forget Yi Jianlian, who might be in line for some sophmore improvements. Or, um, maybe not. In any case, look for the Jubas to vault up the standings if two out of three of their big guns can stay healthy.

(7) Chunky Monkeys
The Monkeys found themselves in a similar situation to the Jubas. A stellar 2007 and a run to the Finals followed by a lackluster 2008. Losing Gilbert Arenas for most of the season didn't help matters and the team might have to move on without him this season too. Luckily for Evan, his team is still full of talent. Danny Granger emerged as the new Shawn Marion and is now a top fantasy player, taking a lot of the pressure off. There's a good mix of young and old and fine team balance but it'll be tough without Arenas and Manu Ginobili to start the season.

New center Andray Blatche could be a BLK machine, on a team already armed with Tyson Chandler, Josh Smith, and Andris Biedrins. It wouldn't hurt for the Monkeys to look for some point guard help, especially if Mo Williams can't replicate his outstanding numbers beside Lebron and Co. The sleeper on this team is Charlie Villanueva, who is now the starting PF for the Bucks. Second rounder Paul Millsap is injury insurance only and probably won't see significant time. The Monkeys are still loaded and ready for a return to the Finals and we predict that they'll do signifcantly better than last year if they can find some guards to hold out until Manu and Gilbert come back.

(8) The Poobic Heirs
Oliver's team may have fallen early in the playoffs but that's probably not a sign of their decline. In fact, the one time champs are one of the favorites for the championship this year. The only reason they fell out of contention was because of a hole at center late in the year (Yao Ming and Samuel Dalembert were both hurt), but that situation may have been rectified as GM Oliver might win GM of the Year for drafting Greg Oden last year and then sitting on him. If Oden is as good as advertised defensively, Yao's frailty won't be as big of an issue.

The Heirs have a stellar scoring backcourt in Kobe Bryant, Kevin Martin, Devin Harris, and Monta Ellis (out to start the season). There's a distinct lack of true point guards on the roster, aside from possibly Kirk Hinrich, who will probably be pushed aside by Derrick Rose at some point. That's why first round pick Ramon Sessions might be important. The second pick brought in crowd favorite Chris "The Birdman" Andersen, who probably won't get much play behind Rasheed Wallace and Andrew Bogut but could be useful if either one of them goes down. The Heirs are going to be a much tougher out this year, there's no doubt about it.

(9) MoRRie's Pogiboys
The team that took out The Poobic Heirs had a true Cinderella season. From worst to second place in the East behind the heist of 2007 -- acquiring Chris Paul for Elton Brand, who subsequently got injured. Now that CP3 has emerged as an astounding fantasy force, the Pogiboys have taken their game to another level. Another huge factor in their drastic improvement was the emergence of Rudy Gay as a franchise player, along with the solid play of rookie Al Horford.

Alvin is hoping for more of the same from the young trio and must be delighted that Andrew Bynum is healthy and looking very bulked up. Guard depth is a slight issue with the team, as there isn't much behind Chris Paul or Chauncey Billups. The draft brought in college hero Mario Chalmers, who has an outside chance of playing lots of minutes for a rebuilding Miami squad. Now that first round pick John Salmons has a starting gig, he's likely to put up drool worthy numbers on the Kings, which will really help round out a team that is sneaky deep.

(10) Buffy
How was it possible for Buffy to essentially give away Chris Paul (Elton Brand was injured all season, Stephon Marbury was useless) but still handily win the West? Welcome to a team loaded with impact players at every position. Roger's team can go big or small and they were buoyed by career years by Jose Calderon and Mike Dunleavy. Now that Brand is back, he'll join Tim Duncan, Antawn Jamison, Rashard Lewis, Eddy Curry, and Kenyon Martin (plus Shaquille) on a versatile front line. Hell, Stephon Marbury might even have a decent 2008.

There's a good chance first round pick Marc Gasol could make a quick impact in Memphis but the same can't be said about second rounder Eric Gordon, who will have a hard time getting shooting guard minutes behind Cuttino Mobley and Ricky Davis. There's no reason to believe that Buffy won't be dominant in the regular season again, not with Elton coming back at full strength. The question will be if they can follow their success through to the post-season.

(11) Squirtle Squad
The Squad has won fourteen games in consecutive seasons and have taken the East two years running. However, they've had the unfortunate experience of losing to the champion in both seasons. The big Celtic trade last off-season ended up hurting both Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen's numbers, and the awesome depth that this team once had is dipping a little. At the end of the year, they were using Jeff Foster, Josh Powell, and Rasho Nesterovic on the frontline.

Still, it's not like they're bereft of big men as Garnett, Carlos Boozer, and the awesome David Lee will grab REBs by the bushel. JR Smith is looking to have a breakout year and his shooting will mitigate Ray Allen's declines. As long as Deron Williams and Brandon Roy keep improving, Brian's team won't have much to worry about and first round pick Wilson Chandler is being praised by Mike D'Antoni and praised as similar to Shawn Marion. Look for the Squad to really pull it together and make a big push for that elusive championship.

(12) Sour Snails
As KG said in June, "Anything is possible!" The league thought the Pogiboys had a Cinderella season but that's hardly a fairy tale compared to Trieu's 2008 season. They went from worst in the West (by a long shot), all the way up to second, and then upended powerhouse Buffy and Squirtle Squad on the way to a championship. The Sour Snails had the Midas touch with the waiver wire, firing through a league leading number of transactions, and played all the right notes.

The strange thing is that outside of adding Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant, the roster looked very similar to the year before. The emergence of Hedo Turkoglu as an all around force was huge, as was the return to form by Jason Richardson. With gunners at every position and Steve Nash and Allen Iverson leading the charge, the Snails really hit their stride late and started to blow people off the floor. Who says offense can't win championships?

This year's draft picks, Mickael Pietrus and Brook Lopez, don't seem to fit the team's current makeup but they'll have no problem sitting on the bench and cheering on their more decorated teammates. The Snails don't have any red flags or off-season changes and will be in contention for a repeat.

Think Big!

With a highly anticipated kickoff to the 2007-2008 season, SlamNation endured quite the exciting summer. For one, how about defending champion Poobic Heirs having their best player, Kobe Bryant, demand to be traded? Perhaps he’s unhappy sharing the limelight with yet another dominant big man, Yao Ming. Kobe is an all world player but his selfishness is uncharted and unparalleled. Will he sit out the season and force a trade? Let’s hope so.

A few other big trades shook the off-season, none bigger than Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joining forces with The Truth in Boston. Can Garnett and Ray-Ray still put up their stellar numbers? Heck, can Zach Randolph co-exist with Eddy Curry anywhere except the buffet table? The biggest impact from the off-season may have been an injury to Elton Brand. Roger’s Buffy team is deep but losing the equivalent of their first round pick for most of the year could really hurt. With that setting the stage for our new season, let’s take a look at off-season changes and additions for each team.

(1) Sour Snails
It wasn’t easy but somehow Trieu’s embattled team took the Toilet Bowl Championship and earned the right to draft first. As it turned out, this was the only no-brainer pick of the supplemental draft. Adding the ultra-talented Kevin Durant will surely lead the Snails to bigger and better days. To be honest though, the draft day move with the biggest impact for the Snails might have been Jason Richardson’s trade to Charlotte. He’ll become the offensive cornerstone and could easily set career marks in many categories.

Wally Szerbiak, Mark Blount, Jason Kapono, Ime Udoka, and Ryan Gomes also changed teams this summer but their fantasy values should stay about the same. Adding Juan Carlos Navarro, “La Bomba,” could give the Snails yet another shooter to compete with this season. Hopes are high for a stellar year.

(2) MoRRie’s Pogiboys
Turns out losing out on the number one pick had huge repercussions for the Pogiboys. Instead of being able to draft Durant or Greg Oden, Alvin was forced to go another direction after Oden’s season ending knee surgery. Ouch. The good news is that rookie Al Horford has a big butt and will likely start at power forward for the Hawks. If he can produce a good number of REB and a BLK or two, Alvin will be satisfied.

Not a lot more changes affected Alvin’s roster, unless you count Chucky Atkins, Steve Blake, and Darko Milicic moving teams big news. Growth for this team will have to come from Rudy Gay, Hakim Warrick, Darko Milicic, Tyrus Thomas, and Andrew Bynum learning fast. Second round pick Derek Fisher should provide plenty of 3PTs but probably not much else. Point guard is a strength with the C+C Assist Factory, Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups.

(3) Phanatics
Nobody knows where on Earth Ping is but his team is geared up and ready to play this season. Paul Pierce may have added two Hall of Famers on his team over the summer but he’ll still get his. Vince Carter re-upped with the Nets, and more importantly, Jason Kidd. This team is deep all the way down to the core. Lamar Odom, Richard Jefferson, David West, Marcus Camby, and Al Harrington all have significant fantasy value.

There is a lack of serviceable point guards on the roster so Ping’s hoping first round pick Mike Conley will be able to contribute soon. If Travis Outlaw can get more playing time in Portland, he should be able to average 1.5 STL/BLK per game and help the Phanatics round out their strong PTS/REB/3PT game.

(4) 100AcrePoohBears
Despite entering the Toilet Bowl as the best (worst) team, the Pooh Bears were dispatched quickly and even lost the consolation game to the Phanatics. That meant they would have to settle for the fourth pick in the draft. Drafting rookies Jeff Green and Rodney Stuckey might be more useful next year than this year. Green has a chance at lots of playing time but all scouting reports indicate that he’ll be Shane Battier-lite, and maybe not this year. Two of J’s top players went through a summer of discontent, as Shawn Marion and Andrei Kirilenko adamantly wanted out of their current situations. In the end, both will stay with their NBA teams and play out the season. Currently, Anderson Varejao isn’t even signed and is holding out. Point guard Mike Bibby is injured and out for up to ten weeks so the Pooh Bears may be in for some tough times in the backcourt unless Brevin Knight can take over point guard duties in Clipperland.

(5) Human Amoebas
Unsure of how his fully stacked team didn’t win the whole enchilada last year, Eric-A has redoubled his efforts and promises to make at least one roster move this season. Last year, Eric-A didn’t have one waiver move or trade on his way to an 11-9-1 season. With no big changes from the off-season, Eric-A can look forward to the growth from Andrea Bargnani and Marvin Williams.

Supplemental draft picks Luis Scola and Spencer Hawes are both big men who should be able to contribute down the line. Scola is a bulldog and will get lots of REB next to Yao. Hawes is more of a project and will likely learn from Brad Miller this year. The key to the team will be simply filling out the middle of the roster as Dirk, Amare, and Kidd cover all the basics. Can Raja Bell, Quentin Richardson, and Jarrett Jacks continue to produce?

(6) Funk Coalition
With a roster full of point guards, Jon surprised no one by drafting two more, rookie Acie Earl IV and sophmore Kyle Lowry. Both will be involved in time shares but could provide the essential AST and STL needed to power the Funk engine. With Rafer Alston and Smush Parker now solidly stuck in a double (or triple) point guard situation, Jon will need his young guys to step up quick. The biggest question may be how many minutes Randy Foye will receive in Minnesota and what kind of stats he can put up. Aside from that, it's more of the same from a thin squad beyond Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Michael Redd. Here's hoping Jameer Nelson, Raymond Felton, and even TJ Ford step it up another notch.

(7) Jedi Knights
With DJ Reno stepping down due to personal reasons, we welcome his replacement owner, the ultra-competitive and knowledgeable Superlum! With a roster that leans toward huge (C Bosh, D Howard, E Okafor, B Miller, Z Ilgauskas), Chris wasted no time adding to his strengths by drafting Al Thornton, who should get plenty of time with Elton Brand out for a significant stretch of time. Looking to open up the floor with some shooting, Lum also drafted Morris Peterson, who should have plenty of chances to fire it up on New Orleans. Indications are that Nate Robinson could be in for a big year so as long as Luol Deng and Mike Miller continue their success from last season, Chris' team will be in good shape.

(8) Buffy
There's no way around it, the loss of Elton Brand hurts. Having traded away Chris Paul for Elton late last season, Buffy won't have much to show for the exchange until after the All Star break. Then again, Stephon Marbury isn't a bad point guard himself so there's a chance Roger's team will remain competitive throughout the season even without Brand. Drafting Kenyon Martin could prove to be a savvy move and if he and the team's other draft pick, multi-talented rookie Corey Brewer can step in, this team will still challenge for the deepest in the league. Rashard Lewis moved to Orlando and will probably set career highs in PTS and 3PT alongside Dwight Howard. The key will be if Baron Davis can stay healthy, as always.

(9) Squirtle Squad
The regular season Eastern Conference champion hasn't changed much over the off-season. Ray Allen may lose some numbers by being in Beantown but Kevin Garnett and Carlos Boozer form one of the best frontcourts in the league. Point guard Deron Williams is a full fledged fantasy star and Brandon Roy will emerge as one also (if he can ever stay healthy). The big question is if Boris Diaw will contribute anything this season with Kurt Thomas' departure from the Valley of the Sun.

By drafting Ronnie Brewer and Martell Webster, Brian is hoping that he can get some additional shooting to shore up his lineup. The sleeper here is Jason Maxiell, who scouts say could be ready for a big role in Detroit. The return of Nenad Krstic will help this team too and there's no reason why the Squirtles won't be a formidable opponent this year.

(10) Fat Jubas
Here's the regular season champion (16-4-1 record) back for another shot at glory after underachieving in the post-season. Last year, the Jubas were derailed by injuries to Dwayne Wade, Jermaine O'Neal, and Tracy McGrady. This time around, Wade's still hurt but the talent level has probably increased. Power forward Al Jefferson is now the man in Minnesota. Lamarcus Aldridge will become a scary fantasy force. The addition of the mysterious Yi Jianlian could pay big dividends later this season. Burly sophmore Rashad McCants might emerge as a sleeper also. All in all, with Wade, McGrady, J O'Neal, A Igoudala, T Parker, J Howard, L Barbosa, and Corey Maggette in a featured role, Eric-L's team will still be the favorite to win the West.

(11) Chunky Monkeys
The Monkeys made the Finals last year but had a backcourt that included the likes of Mardy Collins and Allan Ray. Not good. Suffering from significant injuries all around even as they pushed to the last week of the season, the Monkeys are looking to stay healthy this year in order to put up a real fight on their way to a championship.

With Gilbert Arenas, Joe Johnson, and Josh Smith anchoring a nicely balanced team, Evan is hoping that young guys like Danny Granger, Rajon Rondo, Andrei Biedrins, draft picks Marco Belinelli and Craig Smith can step up to the plate and hit their some fantasy home runs. Last year's revelation was guard Mo Williams and he'll probably put up similar numbers as he re-upped with the Bucks.

(12) Poobic Heirs
What do you add to a championship team? How about the number one pick in this year's NBA draft? Okay, okay, Greg Oden won't be available all of 2007-2008 but next year, he could turn out to be a tremendous value selection for Oliver. If any team can have the patience to wait on Mr.Oden, it's this one. With good players all the way to the bottom of the roster, the Heirs passed up on their second round supplemental pick as they elected to hold onto everyone from last year's team, save Jeff Foster.

It's hard not to argue with a starting lineup that features an underrated Kirk Hinrich, all world Kobe Bryant, monster thief Caron Butler, mercurial Rasheed Wallace, and Yao Ming. With a second five that consists of Ricky Davis, Andrew Bogut, Kevin Martin, Monta Ellis, and Shane Battier, Oliver's team should be stacked once again. After spurting through the playoffs despite a barely over 0.500 record, nobody will take the Poobic Heirs lightly again.

2006 Draft Look: Part 2

What a draft for Brian. Kevin Garnett slips to 7th overall, then Ray Allen falls into his lap in Rd2. Check out picks four through six: Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, and Brandon Roy. We would name this the best top of the draft if not for Boris Diaw in Rd3. That's one pick Brian would probably like back. Jamaal Tinsley in Rd13 has proven to be great value too.

Roger had quite a few excellent picks. Rashard Lewis in Rd3, followed by Baron Davis in Rd5; but we like Tyson Chandler in Rd9 for the true steal. You realize he's the mini-(healthy)-Camby right? With double doubles and 2 BLK a game? Oh wait, is the steal in Rd11? With Chandler's ex-teammate Eddy Curry (20 PTS and 7 REB)? JR Smith in the 13th was looking like a genuine steal until the whole Iverson thing happened. The one misstep might have been Chris Webber in Rd6, but that could still work itself out even if C-Webb is no longer a 20-10 guy.

Here's a team whose best pick is, by default, Chauncey Billups in Rd2. Here's picks five through fifteen for Alvin: C Kaman, C Frye, T Murphy, S Telfair, V Radmanovic, D Fisher, I Diogu, J Williams, K Brown, J Pryzbilla. See a single pick you like there in hindsight? And picks 3 and 4 (G Wallace and S Marbury) have had their ups and downs too. Seems like Alvin had the anti-Midas touch this year.

Ping had a pretty good draft, selecting exactly the best player left on the board in most instances. The multi-talented Lamar Odom returns nice value from Rd3 but there's no true steals here, unless you think Desmond Mason in Rd13 was a gem. Al Harrington in Rd7 is pretty good, but aside from that, Ping took the most logical player available so no big surprises or disappointments.

It's hard to pick out a great pick for Trieu. Ron Artest has been on fire lately, so his selection in Rd3 looks pretty good, but Artest comes with his issues. The best pick was probably getting Steven Jackson in Rd11, but that hardly qualifies as a steal. Biggest whiff? Morris Peterson in Rd5. Trieu's waived the two highest draft picks so far this season -- Morris and Mike James, selected in the fifth and sixth rounds respectively. Nobody else has outright cut anyone above an eigth rounder (Troy Murphy by Alvin).

Reno had two picks that have turned out great; Luol Deng in Rd6 and Mike Miller right after him in Rd7. Surely those two picks beat out the injured Brad Miller in Rd4 and the fading Zydrunas Ilgauskas in Rd5. Both big men are still not too bad, but they're clearly on the slide. There's no pick after Rd 8 (Steve Francis) worth noting, or still contributing to the team.

2006 Draft Look: Part 1

As we near the end of the regular season, let's take a look at our 2006 draft again and identify some great picks, some steals, some bad picks, and some terrible picks. In order of the draft #1-12...

Jon took Carmelo with his third pick and it can be argued that Melo is now a solid second round selection. Of course, would you rather have some of the picks post-Melo -- Josh Smith, Jason Kidd, Jermaine O'Neal, Joe Johnson, Andre Igoudala, Rashard Lewis or Lamar Odom? The pick of Jameer Nelson in the fourth hurt pretty bad as Jameer is returning none of the value expected of him. The Funk had no picks that can now be considered steals.

Eric-A exhibited savvy draft day foresight, stealing a resurrected Amare Stoudemire in Rd2 and getting value on the dollar for Zach Randolph in Rd6. Raja Bell (7), Jarrett Jack (10) and Andrea Bargnani (11) will all turn out to be good picks, but hardly true steals. A diminished Ben Wallace in Rd4 now looks a bit early.

The other Eric, Eric-L, made a fantastic grab of up-and-comer Andre Igoudala in Rd4 and that turned out to be an amazing pick -- along with Josh Howard in Rd7. He also nabbed Leandro Barbosa in Rd9 and Al Jefferson in Rd12. The mistakes? Maggette in Rd 6 or maybe Darko in Rd8. Lots of hits for a very few misses however.

Jose took the risk on Pau Gasol in Rd6 and got back second round value pretty quickly. Which is good because their actual second round pick, Andrei Kirilenko has been the biggest bust so far this season. Acquiring the streak shooting Ben Gordon in Rd7 seems to be quite a coup too.

Oliver unearthed two of the biggest late round gems -- Kevin Martin (Rd10) and Monta Ellis (Rd14). In addition, they got Caron Butler's career year at Rd5. The only semi-miss? Rasheed Wallace in Rd4, which isn't even too bad considering what Rasheed had -- and might be still be -- capable of.

Evan got a block and rebounding machine in Rd7, Emeka Okafor, for cheap; which came right after his now ugly looking selection of Charlie Villanueva in Rd6. The best pick might have been committing to Josh Smith in Rd3 however, as Josh is now putting up outstanding, ridiculous, numbers. Then again, maybe it's mighty Mo Williams in the 9th that deserves best pick honors.

The "Fantasy" Draft: Part 1

If we conducted a fantasy draft of anyone in the world right now, who would each team select? Welcome to the world and wacky world of "What If?!?"

What do you get the team that is chock full of shooters and passers? Why, the greatest shooter and passer of all time of course! Larry Legend, welcome to the Funk Coalition. With the Quicken Arena rocking with chants of "Le-Bron, Le-Bron" and "La-rry, La-rry" this is place where (fantasy) banners will be raised. Larry Bird can do it all -- shoot the three, fight for rebounds like a 12th man, make free throws lefty, and even get a few steals with his amazing anticipation. His one "weakness" is a lack of BLK ability but really, this team can't BLK for shit anyway.

The Human Amoebas have just about everything on their team; a studly front line (Dirk-Amare-Big Ben-Zach Randolph), a versatile point guard in Jason Kidd, and some shooters to spread the floor in Rip Hamilton and Raja Bell. The Amoebas do need some more leadership, passing ability, and scoring punch. Welcome hometown hero Isiah Thomas -- the player not the general manager. Not only is Isiah a part-way inspiration for Eric-A's first son (Isaiah), he's a feisty leader who can dish and score with the best of them. Plus, he's used to the Pistons jersey, and new-classic Pistons like Ben Wallace and Rip Hamilton will instantly bond with him. Isiah may be charming on the outside with his cutesy smile, but he's really a ruthless assassin at heart. Perfect for this team.

Eric-L needs a healthy dose of.....well, health. While his team has a number of outstanding players, they do tend to get hurt quite a lot. Dwayne Wade is a high flying bulldozer and that puts him on the bench quite a bit. Tracy McGrady is constantly hurt and hasn't played a full season in forever. Jermaine O'Neal has suffered from shoulder injuries -- although his fist seems to be fine. Corey Maggette is not exactly the invulnerable man-stud he looks like. Even Josh Howard gets dinged up once in awhile. What this team needs is a doctor. And who better to draft than a wrinkly, sub-five foot healer who possesses magical powers? No, not Dr Ruth, we mean E.T. -- the Extra Terrestrial! With just one touch of his magical finger, E.T. would heal all and get the Fat Jubas on the court in no time flat in order to soar to a championship.

With the intriguingly lanky duo of Shawn Marion and Andrei Kirilenko covering every statistical category on the planet, who better to add to that odd combo than our favorite Sudanese basketball "star," Manute Bol. The original air up there, Manute is versatility personified. He can be tall, he can be thin, he can block shots, he can be a humanitarian, and he can box -- beating Refrigerator Perry in an unanimous decision. Plus he can drain threes at an amazing rate (during blowouts) with an unorthodox shot that is similar but completely different than Marion's. What more could you want for your team than a 7'7", shot blocking, slingshot shooting center?

What do Lorraine Bracco and Nicole Kidman have to do with basketball? Well, as Kobe knows, behind every strong man is a beautiful woman -- or two, or three. Lorraine Bracco is the acclaimed psychologist on the Sopranos who helps Tony with his issues. And to say that this team has issues is an understatement. Ignoring Kobe altogether, we still have nut cases Rasheed Wallace and Ricky Davis on board. You know, Rasheed, he of the anger management problems and Ricky D, the player who once tried to create his own fake rebound in order to secure a triple-double? And let's not forget, Caron Butler used to play side by side with Kobe, and he undoubtably has some latent emotional issues to deal with. So what is Nicole Kidman around to do (aside from tempting Kobe)? Interpret of course! Yao is Chinese; Rasheed and Ricky are crazy; Kobe is Italian, an asshole, and stand-offish; Bogut is Australian; and Hinrich is white; they're gonna need some serious help communicating and coping. Plus, two chicks are always better than one. Arguably.

With the next pick in the 2006 Fantasy Draft, Chunky Monkey's GM Evan selects...Barry Sanders. Finally, an unrequited love affair consumated; even if Barry is retired and originally a football player. Barry is a freak of nature like Josh Smith, a solid citizen like Tim Duncan, and crazy motivated like Gilbert Arenas -- well, up until he suddenly retired in 1999. Barry's back and Evan finally has him on his fantasy team. A dream come true. Can Evan break through and win a championship now? Most certainly. Old Detroit saying: "Where's there's a Barry there's a way."

The "Fantasy" Draft: Part 2

Talk about classy, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen are two of the nicest guys in the league. Almost too nice in fact. Some say that they lack a killer instinct and would serve better as second bananas on a championship caliber team. So here's who we got for the Squirtle Squad -- Dr J. The face of the ABA, the slam dunk king, and one of the classiest (and most iconic) athletes to grace the planet. Dr J had to face some adversity in his career and critics said he was too nice also. But Dr J has won quite a few titles in both the ABA and the NBA. His swooping athletic style of play would fit right in next to KG and Ray-Ray -- and he could take the spotlight off of them. The Doctor, with his 70's flare pants, and Boris Diaw, with his European fashion sense, could go shopping for tight pants together. In addition, with a backstabbing bastard like Carlos Boozer on your team, you're gonna need a true ambassador of basketball on your side if you want to win the fans over. Julius, the Doctor, Errrrvvvviiiiiiinggg!!!

Buffy is stacked. Young leaders like Chris Paul and Joe Johnson are ready to take veterans like Chris Webber, Baron Davis, Antawn Jamison, and Shaquille O'Neal to the promised land. Well, the Diesel has been there four times, but of late, he's needed some help. While Shaq has always been a powerful leader, his ability to galvanize and influence will fade with age. If you notice, Buffy is composed of players who have never had success in the playoffs -- outside of Shaq. Who's gonna take this team to the next level? Rashard Lewis? C Webb -- the unclutchest player ever? Very doubtful. This team needs some magic, or more accurately, they need Big Game James. Mr Worthy has won championships at every level of basketball and his nickname says it all -- he's big game. And he's exactly what this team needs to bring home the trophy.

Another team looking for a little motivation is Morrie's Pogiboys. While Alvin's team already has a great leader and clutch performer in Chauncey Billups, everyone else on the roster is just promise. Elton Brand and Chris Kaman are a (very) promising front line. Gerald Wallace and Channing Frye have promising futures ahead. Stephon Marbury -- a native New Yorker who desperately wants to bring a trophy home to Madison Square Garden -- has always been about unfulfilled promise. This team desperately needs some inspiration and motivation. So we go back to 1970, Game 7, Knicks versus the Lakers. An injured Willis Reed walks out of the tunnel, hits his first two shots, and the Knicks run away to their first championship. Willis can walk out of that tunnel again...April 2007. Slow-motion shot on Pogiboy trophy ceremony, cut scene, roll credits. Video edited and produced by Matrix and Porta.

What to buy for the team that has four multi-talented swingmen (Pierce, Vince, Jefferson, Odom)? How about one of the greatest swingmen ever? Scottie Pippen! Sure Scottie was a bit of an insecure malcontent but Vince Carter needs a drinking buddy right? And Paul Pierce is man enough for both of them. A migraine? Try coming back after getting stabbed a bazillion times Scottie! And we're not talking stabs of the verbal variety either. Despite his sometimes delicate mental makeup, Pippen was the ultimate player. Dominant on defense, great on offense, and athletic as hell. He's what Pierce, Vince, Jefferson, and Odom wish they could be. Scottie never got to lead his own team to a championship; but with Ping's team, he will.

Trieu started off his draft with two of the most exciting players of the current era -- Steve Nash and Allen Iverson -- so it makes sense for him to continue that trend and draft the original flash and dash point guard, Pistol Pete. Trieu's focus is clearly on small ball -- scoring points, jetting up and down the court, and entertaining the fans (to fill those luxury boxes). The magical Pete Maravich will fit right in. With his floppy hair and saggy socks, Maravich might not be hip hop, but here's betting that Iverson and Artest can get him to enjoy the vocal stylings of our current generation. Thug life indeed. Where's John Stockton when you need him?

And last but not least, who would Reno take in our fantasy fantasy draft? With a plethora of big men, Reno needs a big man to tutor his big men. While Pete Newell is available (during summers anyway), why go with one crotchety old guy when you can take his contemporary; one who just happens to be first dominant big man ever? That's right, we're talking about George Mikan people. And if you don't know who that is, you are no true basketball fan. George Mikan was the first superstar of the NBA and while his goofy goggles and straight edge appearance won't win him any Mr Cool awards, he knows more about basketball (presumably) than even Tex Winter or Pete Newell. He'll pass on all his tricks and some fatherly advice to young studs Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh while giving some nice tips on how to be a dominant white center to Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Brad Miller. It's George Mikan (and his protégés) versus the league!

Draft Diary - Day One

October 12, 2006 - For an early review of the 2006 SlamNation draft, we bring to you live from a small living room just south of the great city of San Francisco...the first three rounds. Before we start you off, we must mention that this draft is sponsored by bubble tea, the official drink of the 2006-2007 SlamNation season. Marketing folks are putting together the Yao Ming branded packaging now.

In what many have already provocatively implied is the greatest basketball related conspiracy since Ewing went to the Knickerbockers, co-commissioner and draft arranger Jon "somehow" ends up with the number one pick. How convenient. Amid hisses and boos, Jon steps up to the podium and says that he'll renounce his throne if it pleases the fans and his fellow owners. A special presidential committee consisting of the late Richard Nixon, the wholesome Bill Clinton, and straight talker George W Bush has been convened to look into this matter. Michael Moore will release the results in a documentary entitled "Lebron & Me: Balling for Championships" -- look for it in theatres everywhere in 4-6 months.

Pick #1-4
Hurrying to make his pick, GM Jon decides to go with the obvious choice here, young sensation Lebron James. After fielding a few calls about trading down, it was decided that it would be better to stay put until cooler heads prevailed. Draft commentator and general nosy guy Isiah Thomas immediately says this is the worst pick of all time and says that he would have parlayed the #1 overall pick into Eddy Curry, Michael Olowankandi, Joe Smith, and a free trip to Vegas.

Eric-A, whose eye for talent rivals that of both Joe Dumars and Red Auerbach combined, immediately picks the most skilled white guy available, which turns out to be 7-footer Dirk Nowitzki. The other draft commentator, Dennis Rodman says, "Dirk's white like Larry, they're both overrated. If I were a few shades lighter and had less tattoos, I could shoot too." In the hopes of cloning Nowitzki, Eric-A has had two babies in the past few years, one destined to shoot like Dirk, the other fated to grow to 7-feet like him. Should Eric-A's young sons, Isaiah and Ethan, make it to the NBA, they could be collectively known as "IE" -- which would immediately give them both geek and grammar street cred.

Moving right along, Eric-L, he of no children but multitudes of Magic cards, decides to draft last season's playoff giant killer, Dwayne Wade. Cunningly re-nicknamed "The Ring" this year (in reference to Lebron's "The King"), Wade will bring his usual clutch play as he tries to acquire a shiny fantasy ring for Eric-L. ...You know, the Heat's team colors (red-black) make for quite a "wrecking ball." Perhaps Eric-L is looking to "destroy target creature or land?" Haha, um, bad Magic joke.

Jose, known otherwise as the more mysterious "J," is in the envious position of selecting the free-falling Kobe Bryant. Of course, Kobe is a punk so nobody really wants him unless a gun is put to their head so J decides to take the multi-faceted Shawn Marion instead. Despite not possessing the scoring ability of Kobe -- not with that shot certainly -- Marion is a coveted commodity for his all-around abilities and superior defensive skills (2 STL, 1.7 BLK). More importantly, as spokesman and protector of the 100-Acre Woods, what does J feel about Disney's dastardly plan to bring a girl into the world of Winnie the Pooh?

Pick #5-8
Speaking of Pooh, what about those Poobic Heirs? Sinking down to depths he never imagined he would, Kobe Bryant is taken reluctantly by Oliver, who isn't exactly a fan of Kobe but given the choice between Kobe and the now 40-year old Vlade Divac, he took Kobe. Very Jerry West-ian of him; could turn out to be the absolute steal of the draft. Speaking of Oliver, the best email address I've ever seen was that of another Oliver I know. His email address was: oliverclothesoff@aol.com, which may still be available at other email providers just in case you needed a new email. Not safe for family email groups though.

In somewhat of a stunning move, young buck Gilbert Arenas gets snatched off the board by savvy Chunky Monkeys GM Evan. Arenas seems like the next Kobe mixed with a bit of the next Artest, but that could mean great things ahead. It's hard to argue with 29 PTS, 6 AST, 4 REB, 2.5 3PT, 2 STL, and still more upside. Many an owner was hoping Arenas would fall to them in the lower half of the first round but Evan decided to preempt any fantasies by taking Gilbert at number six. Savvy, just like Captain Jack Sparrow...

It wasn't that long ago when Kevin Garnett was the best fantasy player in the land. "The Kid" is now 31 and has seemingly lost his luster. Perhaps doomed to crap teams his entire career, KG is still a one man show. His stats have "dipped" in the past few years but 21-13-4 with 1.5 STL and BLK still covers alot of a team's needs. Rumor has it that GM Brian has won 4 out of 5 fantasy football championships in the East Conference's 16-team league. That's insane. Think about it, 4 out of 5. Rumor has it that Brian also has the same magic with fantasy basketball teams. Should we really have given this man KG?

Roger, who I just found out is himself 6'1 and over 200 pounds, has been seen on the courts of UCLA playing with some of the local pros (Baron Davis to name one). Forget fantasy basketball, we need to draft Roger to come play regular basketball with us. Eric-A and Alvin, what do you think? Could the Jedi use a big guy who can run the break and drain the three? Just maybe right? Seeing as Roger might be the promised one, he understands the value of having a great point guard on the floor. The next great point guard is here, and his name is Chris Paul. After just one year in the league, Paul is already putting up 8 AST, 2 STL, and 5 REB a game. Plus, his scoring and shooting are bound to improve with age. Maybe Roger can help him out with that.

Pick #9-12
One of the owners who lusted after Arenas was Alvin. While he missed out on one of his preferred candidates, he was able to get the steady Elton Brand, which seems like a great pick at #9. Elton is essentially a Karl Malone-clone with added BLKs. While leading the Clippers back into the playoffs, Elton had an MVP type year and will probably duplicate his numbers this year with a well stocked Clipper team. That just sounds funny doesn't it?

With the 10th pick in the draft, Ping goes for the ultimate alliteration and takes Paul Pierce. I can't wait for Ping's first article to come out, which will read something like this "Paul Pierce, of Ping's Phanatics..." Oh, fun times ahead. We thank Ping for coming to American soil during our draft time. We know it was a long journey from China, but it sure makes it easier to draft for the rest of us. A big thank you for coming all this way. Ni hao ma! Xie Xie!

Newcomer Trieu (pronounced "tree-you") brings his on-court game to the fantasy world by selecting Steve Nash. Nail the three, pass the rock, cut for a nifty lay up, get the key steal, he has it all -- and Stevie's not too bad either.

I'll leave Reno's team for the next post, since this one is running way the hell too long and I lost the point of a "draft diary."

Draft Order: 2006

1. Jon - Funk Coalition
2. Eric A - Human Amoebas
3. Eric L - Fat Jubas
4. Jose - 100AcreWoodPoohBears
5. Oliver - The Pub1ic Hiers
6. Evan - Monkeys
7. Brian - Squirtle Squad
8. Roger - Buffy
9. Alvin - Morrie's Pogiboys
10. Ping - Phanatics
11. Trieu - Sour Snails
12. Reno - Rhythm Drive