I am a good friend with bad habits??

So its been a few days since the flurry of wheelin' and dealin' of the NBA draft so without further ado, I will try to recap and analyze what happened.

The Sonics had the second pick and "cornerstones" of Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis to make a final attempt of keeping the Sonics in Seattle. I had a few ideas back when the Sonics miraculously received the second pick on what they could try the following season http://talkinboutbanter.blogspot.com/2007/05/youve-got-to-be-kidding-me.html.

However, I had no idea that our new 30 year old GM, Sam Presti, with no head coach, would have such cajones. Don't get me wrong, I totally disagree with some of the personnel decisions he made but he still traded Ray Allen, Seattle's only bottom-line type of asset. That's either gutsy or just plain dumb. I'm hoping its just part of this big vision he's got for this team.

Around 8:20 am PT, there were two proposed trades that had been rumored with the Sonics.
Atlanta's 11th pick straight up for Luke Ridnour.
Delonte West, Wally Szcerbiak, and the Celtics 5th pick for Ray Allen.

I was definitely excited for the Atlanta's 11th pick because dumping Ridnour wasn't a bad idea. Ridnour was also a lottery pick (or he might have been 14th) and hadn't really shown marked improvement year upon year. He was awful on defense, too streaky of a shooter, and overall not a good team manager. With the 11th pick, I (as were the Sonics I believe) was thinking the Sonics were going to pick up Rodney Stuckey, local boy out of Eastern Washington, 6-5, a combo guard that was regarded as the best passing 2-guard in college and a "poor man's Dwyane Wade". The way I saw it was, with Durant in the mix, we didn't need the reincarnation of Dwyane Wade. As you can see, pretty pumped about that rumor.

Both rumors never materialized during the time I was being taught microtubules and actin filaments.

So around 4:15 pm PT, I'm driving in my car and Portland, not surprisingly, taken Oden. As I'm waiting for David Stern to go to the podium and say "Kevin Durant, University of Texas", I hear ESPN breaking the news that the Sonics had indeed acquired the 5th pick along with the others for Ray Allen. Honestly, I wasn't actually pissed off about Ray Allen leaving. He was a good player and all but we made one fluke playoff appearance with him around. I'm sure he'll be fine in Boston as well. The thing that really irked me was that the position of the pick was AWFUL. Figuring Luke Ridnour was expendable, I really really wanted Mike Conley Jr. More than his quickness or athleticism was the point guard IQ that he had that I thought Ridnour lacked. If you did watch Ridnour play in college, you would have seen that he was more a scoring point guard. Conley could impact a game in so many other different ways. Well, Memphis was going to take him and took him.

So who were the Sonics going to draft? Was I going to see Yi Jinlian jerseys at the team store? I would have killed something. Like an ant or a fly. Well, the Sonics said they would draft Jeff Green, Big East Player of the Year. So team the National Player of the Year with the Big East Player of the Year, good idea? We'll see but initially I thought no. I thought maybe this is the foundation Presti wants with Durant being Jordan and Green being Pippen but seriously what are the chances of that? They play virtually the same position, same height, Durant has a more diverse skill set. So who's playing the 4 and who's playing the 3?

I thought Green was a reach at five, I preferred Corey Brewer because he is just as tall but projects as 2, making the two lottery picks completely distinct commodities. Nonetheless, from watching Green, I definitely thought his basketball IQ was excellent and had the potential of being an even better pro than college player because of the Princeton offense he played in at Georgetown. He seriously would have been a great pick for ANY OTHER team.

At this point, I was pissed off beyond belief. The Sonics had compiled a stable of small forwards (Kevin Durant, Rashard Lewis, Jeff Green), no Ray Allen, no big man, and point guard issues. If according to Presti, was begged by the Celtics for Allen, why wasn't a young prospect like Al Jefferson taken? I know he's an up and comer but I would at least have been pleased with Rajon Rondo. But instead, a 2-guard trying to play point, and a 2 guard with spot up 3 ability. Rajon Rondo, you could have been a Sonic.

But hope springs eternal, and I thought the Sonics would get rid of Ridnour and draft Stuckey. Nope. The Hawks draft Acie Law. Hmmm...could work. Is Presti trying to assemble the 2007 NCAA All American team? Well, that was squashed as well. So at the end of the day, Ridnour is still a Sonic, we have a stockpile of small forwards, no Ray Allen, and Stuckey is a Piston. Wow.

The Sonics also held the 31st pick which meant first round ability availability. Gabe Pruitt, projected as a top-20 pick, point guard sitting pretty. No go says Presti. What is he waiting for?

Well, Rashard Lewis was given a max-deal by Orlando. Good Riddance. That opens up cap space for the 2009 season and gets rid of the one of the three small forwards. Rashard is definitely that second or third player every playoff team needs but definitely does not merit a max deal.

I don't really know where Presti is taking this team. Even amidst no Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, I am relatively calm. I guess that's what Kevin Durant does for now. But I expect the point guard, head coach issues to be dealt with soon.

Final Thoughts:
Tae, do you want Kobe or not? Drafting Javaris Crittendon was not the answer. Sure he's a 6'5 point guard that plays above the rim but not ready to contribute immediately. So what? You need triangle offense guys. Like Jeff Green possibly? Unless the Lakers miraculously get KG, the Crittendon pick was the dirt on the coffin being buried. He's good as gone to Chicago. Don't know when or how but he'll be there, trying to claim the glory in the arena the Great One had.

Mike Hargrove effing resigned during an eight game winning streak. Ok. The Sonics are stressing me out enough. The Mariners were a .5 game out of the wild card and he does this? One ridiculous Seattle sports event at a time please...

Riley, I have no idea how you actually feel about this but there's this thing on ESPN called who's now and its a bracket pitting the great athletes of our time against each other NCAA tournament style. Well...the Babe Ruth region has Tom Brady as the one seed and Roger Federer as the two seed. I expect you to make the right decision and vote accordingly...

Wow, Riley you better start posting like crazy. That took A LOT of time.