Thursday, June 4, 2009

so if you don't care about the NBA finals.....here are some thoughts on the draft by Dr. Murphy

With all but 2 of the NBA’s teams eliminated from title contention let’s shift attention to the NBA draft. The long layoff between playoff rounds has allowed the media to take over the draft frenzy. Prospect measurements, interviews, team workouts and everything else are made available for the league’s fans to scrutinize and debate. However there is one thing that reigns over all else when it comes to draft speculation…the MOCK DRAFT – everyone is doing it, we are all reading it.

Just about the only thing anyone agrees on is that the Clippers will select Blake Griffin with the first overall pick. After that, it’s a crapshoot. ESPN’s Chad Ford has picks 2 through 5 going Hasheem Thabeet, Ricky Rubio, Jrue Holiday and James Harden, respectively. Meanwhile, according to Sports Illustrated those same picks are Ricky Rubio, James Harden, Tyreke Evans and Jordan Hill. Not only are they in a different order but 2 new players have emerged!

It only seems more clueless after that. Realgm.com has Golden State taking Tyreke Evans while Dime Magazine suggests them selecting Brandon Jennings at that slot. Detroit Pistons fans looking for clarity on hoopsworld.com will find 4 different mocks with them taking 4 different players: Austin Daye, Jonny Flynn, B.J. Mullens and James Johnson – none of which even play the same position. All of the aforementioned sources can’t even agree on a consensus 2nd pick between Thabeet and Rubio. How is this helpful?

At this point the NBA media begins to lose a little bit of credibility. While good intentioned, these mock drafts only add to the speculation. So much of sports media is guessing anyways, but the NBA draft is the pinnacle of it. All you can do is make your own guess and hang on for the ride.

Mark your calendars: NBA Draft, June 25th, 7 PM EST

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