Thursday's NBA draft & trade happenings
Thursday was definitely going to be a huge day for the NBA, since the NBA Draft brought hope, if not top-shelf talent, to the most desperate franchises and depth to the others. Nothing that unfolded in the two rounds of picking previous amateurs, however, surprised me more than the two blockbuster trades.
One trade sent one of the league's (sometimes) most explosive starters, Vince Carter, from the New Jersey Nets to the NBA runner-up Orlando Magic. In return for Carter and Ryan Anderson, Orlando sends Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee and Tony Battie to the Nets. Carter is an eight-time All-Star, which means he's presumably got the talent to push the Magic over the top. He certainly gives a team filled with shooters someone capable of taking the ball to the basket. At the same time, he's nororiously selfish and a defensive upgrade over no one.
An even bigger name, albeit one well on the downside of his career, also got dealt on Thursday. Shaquille-O'Neal-to-the-Cavaliers rumors had been flying for months, but for some reason I never thought it would actually happen. Cleveland did finally get the aging center from Phoenix in exchange for Ben Wallace, who may retire, and Sasha Pavlovic. O'Neal's a shell of his former self, and he'll undoubtedly miss a bunch of games with a variety of ailments. Maybe I'm a sucker, especially since he's my favorite NBA player of all time, but I think Shaq has enough in the tank to push LeBron James and company over the top.
In the draft itself, Blake Griffin went to the Los Angeles Clippers with the first overall pick, to the surprise of absolutely no one. Joining him in the top 10 were Hasheem Thabeet, James Harden, Tyreke Evans, Ricky Rubio, Jonny Flynn, Stephen Curry, Jordan Hill, DeMar DeRozan and Brandon Jennings. The Chicago Bulls grabbed Wake Forest forward James Johnson with the 16th overall pick and USC forward Taj Gibson with the 26th.
