Since we’re vehemently opposed to mock drafts, we suppose we must find some way to address who gets picked where in Thursday’s NBA Draft.
(Before we’re accused of it, let’s just admit it. Yes, we’re opposed to mock drafts because everyone else does them.)
One of the big wildcard picks is bound to be Chinese prospect Yi Jianlian, who is somewhere between 18-22 years old, and somewhere between Dirk Nowitzki and Andreas Bargnani in terms of how he plays. Or will play, assuming he’s not amazing right out of the gate.
Who’s likely to pick him? Who knows – with so many potential trades of superstar players floating out there, the only lottery picks sure to stay with their current teams are numbers one and two.
One team that likely won’t draft Yi is Milwaukee, because Mr. Yi has officially refused to work out for them.
“Basically they said they can’t work it in the schedule,” [Bucks person Dave] Babcock said Friday. “We’re not a high priority for them. We’ll see what happens.”
“It’s disappointing, but I’ll tell you what. We still like him. He’s a good shooter, very skilled, runs. He’s not a thin kid. His English is good. He’ll be an impact guy in the NBA next year.”
This is a great strategy on Yi’s part, and is similar to how Boobie Gibson ended up on the Cavaliers, although that was obviously a lower-profile type of trickery.
Personally, we’d like to see more players do this – refuse to work out for any team they don’t want to play for. In fact, we’d like to see all the draft prospects just refuse to work out for anyone at all one of these years.
Just no workouts, no interviews, no nothing. Everyone is a complete wild card. Or, what if like every prospect agreed only to work out for the Grizzlies?
How long could that go on before people started talking conspiracy, or at the very least, “Hey, this is getting kind of weird, huh?”
In other news, 42% shooter and alleged All-Star Chauncey Billups has opted out as expected, making him an unrestricted free agent as of July 1. (Of this year.)
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Not a thin kid? That Photoshop begs to differ.
“Alleged All-Star Chauncey Billups”…heh. Look out for the Bonester.
I bet Danny Ferry is dialing (albeit slowly since they can’t talk until July 1st) Billups’ phone number as we speak. He will show up in Billups’ bed that night much like The Burger King in those commercials. That might be an interesting PhotoShop.
If the Cavaliers went after Billups in some way I’d be horrified.
Just like the movie, “The Transformers”, it may scare you but it’s happening soon
Cavs got bigger things to worry about than Billups, like their starting SG and 6th man rolling out. I can see Varejohn getting Jim McIlvaine money… Sasha should stay though, there’s not many other teams in the league where he could be a starter.
JTExperience, it’s no longer basketball season bro… I can’t be mad at The Cavalier or any of the Cavs’ fans. I think you and I both know that CLE would start any of Detroit’s core guys over anyone CLE has to offer outside of ‘Bron, so it’s all good. Deep down inside The Cavalier would be all smiles to see Billups in the Whine and Gold because he knows he’d be getting an All Star. It’s just a shame that a sign and trade probably wouldn’t work because there’s nothing on the team that Dumars would want in return besides LeBron, considering this year’s #1 was traded for Jiri Welsch.
On another note, I don’t know how a guy is an “alleged” all-star when he’s voted to play in the all-star game by his peers and coaches around the league 2 years in a row. It’s not like baseball where your own coach can choose you for the team. But I guess when you’re allegedly busy putting together a snake movie and you really don’t know what you’re talking about to begin with, that’s when shots at the Pistons come out. Besides, the Cavs don’t want Billups on their team when they can acquire BENO UDRIH! VIVA BENO!
Just for the record, AGAIN…I don’t like Chauncey’s game at all. IMO he’s the product of the very specific chemistry DET had when they were at their peak. I think anyone who signs him for more than 10M is gonna be really sorry in a couple years, if not next year.
You may be right!
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Billups seems to be aging fast. It can get ugly (see Jones, Damon – who wasn’t that great to begin with and Marshall, Donyell and Summers, Donna).
Actually, the guy at CNNSI.com did a breakdown of how, based on his body build and his stats, Billups will actually hold up as he gets older. I think it was Marty Burns who wrote that, maybe not.
That could be, but I just don’t think he’s that great to begin with.
comparing Chauncey Billups to Damon Jones is absolutely ridiculous, although I’m not surprised it’s even mentioned here… same goes for Donyell Marshall and Donna Summers…
yi jianlian is pwned by the pistons. why? because i said so. and because chauncey billups is the king of the universe.
I swear he’s not a Boney henchman
Just in terms of talent degradation. . . even if he was like 10% of his ability, he’d still be 1120% better than Jones – where if Jones had maintained Billups would have only been like 976% better.
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