| Bill Simmons from ESPN.com has put up his annual draft diary...some fo the highlights:
7:39 – We just learned that Bogut's favorite food is "soup." That choice narrowly edged "bread."
7:57 – The following exchange about the Paul pick just occurred:
– Stephen A. Smith: "If you're the New Orleans Hornets, you could pick Winnie the Pooh and you would have improved."
Portland GM John Nash (looking grim and nervous) just explained the pick by saying, "First of all, we think we took an outstanding young man, he's a terrific character, somebody that the community of Portland can be proud of, in addition to a very good player." Translation: Don't worry, this guy may stink down the road, but at least he won't end up in jail.
8:14 – Remember my running joke about Charlie Villanueva looking like the lead singer of Midnight Oil? Well, Charlie has a new claim to fame – he just became one of the top-five worst picks in the history of the NBA draft. Toronto took him seventh. Seventh! Seventh! Rob Bab**** just drafted Rafael Araujo and Charlie Villanueva with back-to-back top-10 picks when he already had Chris Bosh! And he just left Green and Danny Granger on the board! Throw in the Carter trade and are we absolutely sure that Bab**** isn't Scott Layden using a fake Canadian passport? (sorry Pink...)
8:55 – Hoping to replace Latrell Sprewell's scoring, explosion and overall insanity, Minnesota takes Rashad McCants at No. 14. This leads to the funniest moment of the draft – McCants taking so long to hug his family and posse that Stern zoned out on the podium, followed by McCants having to tap him on the shoulder for the obligatory handshake. Fantastic. That could have earned this telecast "Save Until I Delete" TiVo status for at least three weeks.
2. E-mail of the night from Florida reader Frank Kosher: "Was I the only one expecting to hear, 'With the 27th pick, in the 2005 NBA draft, the Portland Trail Blazers select … Carlton Dotson, from Baylor University."
4. Frenchman Ian Mahinmi (who went to San Antonio at No. 28) received the unprecedented thumbnail scouting report blurb: "Must Improve: Overall Skills." Probably not a good idea to invest in his rookie cards any time soon |