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2009 NBA Draft Recap

It's not the most exciting draft in the history of the NBA.  But there are always stories coming out of the draft.

Minnesota - The Timberwolves traded away all of their guards before the draft, so it stood to reason that they'd be drafting some guards tonight.  Still, it raised more than a few eyebrows when they took Ricky Rubio at five, Jonny Flynn at six, and Ty Lawson at 18 - all point guards.  Lawson has already been traded to Denver for a first rounder next season, and they may also be looking at dealing Rubio.  If they don't, can Rubio and Flynn play together?  Maybe - Rubio can probably defend the two, but it's hard to see how either of them is very effective on offense without the ball.  Still, if they actually get a real starting point guard out of this draft, it will be the first time they've had one since they traded Sam Cassell to the Clippers.  So it's a start.  For Clipper fans, the Wolves machinations are of interest, because they only have to suck for a couple more seasons before the first rounder from the Cassell trade becomes unrestricted... If they keep continually rebuilding, it bodes well for the Clippers.

Rubio slipping to five is a story in and of itself.  The Kings were crest-fallen when they didn't have a top two pick after the lottery, because they loved Ricky Rubio as their future point guard.  Then, lo and behold Rubio was available at 4, and the Kings took Tyreke Evans instead.  I really don't think that Rubio is going to leave an excellent situation in Spain, making a lot of money and being a national hero, to go to Minneapolis.  His buyout alone is going to be tough on fifth pick money instead of second pick money.  So it will be very interesting to see what happens with Rubio.

The scuttlebutt among the old NBA hands here is that Stephen Curry may not stay in Oakland.  Some have him swapping places with Jordan Hill, but if that were happening, it would seem like it would have gone down by now.  The other rumor has him being part of a deal with the Suns for Amare Stoudemire.  That deal, if it's real, won't happen until July because it involves Andris Biedrins, who is a base year compensation player for another couple of weeks. 

From 22 to 30, as we suspected, there were quite a few teams who were looking to avoid the immediate expense of a first round draft pick with a guaranteed contract.  So the Lakers sold their pick at 29, and meanwhile four foreign players were drafted in that range - Victor Claver (22, Portland), Omri Casspi (23, Sacramento), Rodrique Beaubois (25, OKC traded to Dallas) and Christian Eyenga (30, Cleveland).  Of those four, only Casspi is likely to be in the NBA any time soon. 

DaJuan Blair had the biggest drop, but it may work out for him.  He ended up with San Antonio in the second round, and the Spurs just traded away most of their front court depth (Kurt Thomas and Fabricio Oberto) in the Richard Jefferson deal.  The Spurs will try to add a big in free agency (they'd love Rasheed for the mid-level, and they may make a play for Marcin Gortat as well), but Blair will get a chance to make the team and contribute. 

Although the Clippers said that they would be active and try to acquire another pick, it didn't happen.  One wonders why not, especially when you look at all the second round picks that did get moved - Houston alone bought three of them!  Did DTS veto buying picks?  Did Houston just act faster?  Are teams not taking MDsr's phone calls?  It's more than a little disappointing that with all the trades in the second round, the Clippers did nothing.  Sam Young might have been a nice pickup.

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"Rubio is going to leave an excellent situation in Spain, making a lot of money"

By all accounts that I can recall, I believe Rubio is making somewhere between 75 – 90k a year. (I’ll try to search for references – pretty sure ESPN showed a graphic during the draft that showed his buyout being 6 to 8 million and him only earning 95k last year and even less the year before so he had to go to court to ask for the buyout to be lowered because NBA rules only allow teams to contribute $500k towards his buyout – something like that…)

Are you saying he’s making a lot of non bball money in Spain? Sponsorships and such?

I know that 90k is pretty good money for any 18 year old especially in this economy but I don’t think it’s a lot of money in terms of NBA money, no? I think some guys can make that much in two 10 day contracts….

by moKi on Jun 25, 2009 10:45 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Rubio Likely To Stay In Europe?

I looks like Rubio doesn’t want to go to the T-Wolves.
http://www.clipsnation.com/2009/6/25/925882/rubio-likely-to-stay-in-europe

What will it take for the Clippers to trade for Rubio?

by ClippersSec116 on Jun 25, 2009 11:18 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

how did we not trade for ty lawson?!

next years 1st lottery protected? c’mon, thats worth it….and 2nd rounders like danny green, sam young, derrick brown, and dajaun summers could’ve filled the hole we have at the 2/3 back up, especially when our current back ups dont really play much defense(except mardy collins)…

by krapper11 on Jun 26, 2009 2:24 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

As a Mavs Fan

I know Dallas is going to bring Rodrique Beaubois over to work as a PG, in case J-Kidd leaves.

by tomkanti on Jun 26, 2009 7:09 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Cost of a pick...

When I saw the Knicks pay $3M for the Laker’s pick I thought the Clips wouldn’t go there. In a draft everyone thought was shallow but long the price of picks was apparently high. But how many of those 20 through 60 picks are actually going to stick? Historically, not many. And though the price for a pick doesn’t count against the cap, the price comes directly off your bottom line. If the Clips net $10 million profit in a good year, and this is a down year, you’ve reduced your bottom line by $3 million, and that’s before you pay a guaranteed salary. Is there a point guard in the late first or second round who’s going to play ten seasons or is ready to back up Baron Davis tomorrow? Is there a better small forward than Mardy Collins or a better shooter than Steve Novak? For three million plus salary? And that salary’s guaranteed for three years.
   
And, yeah, the Rockets picked up a bunch of 2nd rounders but they didn’t have a first round pick at all.
When the Knicks overpaid for the 29th pick (there’s a reason the price of picks is capped… to keep high revenue teams like the Knicks from buying up the late lottery) it froze lower revenue teams out of the market. It’s a little disappointing to see the Clips sit on their hands after they told us they were going to be players late in the draft, but, would it have been money well spent?

by swamigusto on Jun 26, 2009 8:44 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Upon further reflection

As I think about the roster more, I agree with you that it would likely have been foolhardy to buy a later pick. By my count, there are already 12 guaranteed contracts on the team (that’s assuming Brian Skinner exercises his player option, which seems a safe assumption, and assuming they keep Taylor and Jordan which of course they will). So you’re looking a two roster spots (MDsr likes to carry 14 into the season) – and given that Fred Jones and Steve Novak played well and may come cheap, it’s unlikely that anyone was going to make the squad. And that’s before free agency. So, without making any moves prior to the draft (something that might have cleared a roster spot like a 2 for 1 trade) it probably didn’t make sense to take a flyer on a second rounder.

In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. - Elwood P. Dowd

by Steve Perrin on Jun 26, 2009 9:21 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Interesting Stuff

If we were really looking at PG, Maynor would’ve been my guy but he went somewhat high at #20. As for SF, Sam Young would’ve been great and he dropped a few picks into the 2nd round. At least they didn’t do anything marginal or foolish.

How the roster will shake out is definitely fascinating. Agree that Davis can be used as trade bait, and who knows, maybe if BD is motivated, this guy follows suit and becomes productive? He’ll also be playing for another contract if he knows what’s good for him. As far as Skinner goes, it’s hard to see him making many 12-man rosters this year if there’s not a trade. Even if there is, he may not be needed until there’s an injury. If we keep Novak, he’ll only be able to play the 3, so it’s probably not worth it to keep him…Taylor & Collins should get minutes…and don’t see what’s wrong with a little Fred Jones in the mix backing up EJ, but that’s probably not gonna happen.

by ghost_ride on Jun 26, 2009 11:40 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

We should try to dump Skinner and Ricky Davis

We would free up some cap and 2 roster spots for free agent signing.

by LJ Hann on Jun 26, 2009 9:37 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Hmm...

I was going to agree in that if you’re gonna drop some spare millions (on a late first or a second) you might better spend that dough buying out Ricky Davis. But you probably want to keep Davis because he’s an expiring contract and a trading chip to balance salaries (as is Skinner). And the Clips are in good shape since they’re over the cap and have the mid-level exception to spend on a free agent. Skinner gives you some decent depth on the bench as well.

by swamigusto on Jun 26, 2009 10:04 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Trade Stackhouse

For Ricky Davis, Skinner, and DeAndre Jordan. Mavs throw in $2 Mil. For buyout befor Aug.1

by tomkanti on Jun 27, 2009 9:15 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Why would we do that?

we can waive Davis and Skinner and we aren’t going to trade DJ just to gain one roster spot.

In Gordon we trust

by bestclipfan on Jun 27, 2009 11:12 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

As much as it would have made for a more interesting draft

the Clippers did the right thing in sitting on their hands. No way Sterling was going to shell that out once we heard what the Lakers got for their pick.

Interesting listening to VG on the show. He said the Clippers need to move some bad character guys but in his next sentence he said their best configuration would be Griffin and Randolf on the floor at the same time spreading the offense. Am I to infer from that, that Randolf was not one of the bad characters guys he was mentioning?

Can someone update me one more time on the Timberwolve pick? I keep thinking that 2010 is the last protected year. If so I’m liking the trade up they did more and more. Four number one picks and they have Flynn who replaces Foye. Rubio who probably goes back to Spain. Lawson is gone for a pick next year. Seems possible they could still be bad by 2011.

by meercatjohn on Jun 26, 2009 11:01 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

I believe it's unprotected in 2011.........

…and the Wolves will continue to be bad for a while. To me this is a very valuable pick. Not sure why so many people want to include it in trades.

by hip2clip on Jun 26, 2009 11:55 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

For me

it’s cause to make a trade, we don’t have much to offer. Let’s face it our “top guys” and that are tradeable (in our terms) are Kaman, Randolph, Baron, and Camby.(we can throw in Ricky Davis if you like.) Our medicre trade baits that we wouldnt wnat to trade but would if a good one came up or Al Thornton.. and thats about it. The untouchables are probably EG and Blake. That leaves players such as DJ, Mike Taylor, Mardy Collis, and Fred Jones who really doesn’t have much value at all. Let’s say if we were to trade for a changing player, we’re going to throw in Randolph or Kaman or Camby and one of our players that don’t have much value yet. It really wouldnt work out. I think the 1st round Minny pick is just a bait to have other teams consider more often. Plus, we never know what the 2011 draft will look like.

With that said, I don’t mean to say DJ, Taylor etc etc is useless. But I do mean that many teams probably won’t praise them as highly as us Clippers fan do. With Deandre raw as hell (and even average roughly 4 points a game) and Taylor average rougly 4 also, there isn’t really a big reason for scouts to believe that they are as good as prospects as us Clippers fan see. (They both went pretty far into the draft also.)

Mike Smith on Eric Gordon: "The Clippers may have found their go to scorer."
On a second note, I want Novak back!

by JackduhSun on Jun 26, 2009 12:23 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

*franchise changing player

Mike Smith on Eric Gordon: "The Clippers may have found their go to scorer."
On a second note, I want Novak back!

by JackduhSun on Jun 26, 2009 12:24 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

on a related topic....

I just read that the Jazz own the Knicks’ 1st round pick next year – UNPROTECTED!!!

by hip2clip on Jun 26, 2009 3:36 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

According to NBADraft.net

The pick in top 10 protected through 2011 and then unprotected. There’s no reason Minny can’t still be bad in 2012, but that’s still a long time to wait.

by ClipCat on Jun 26, 2009 12:24 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Hm, I hope

we get the pick in 2012 then, AND i hope its the #1 pick also. Boy will Twolves really kick themselves in the groin.

Mike Smith on Eric Gordon: "The Clippers may have found their go to scorer."
On a second note, I want Novak back!

by JackduhSun on Jun 26, 2009 12:26 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Also of interest

The TWolves are owed three future protected 1st rounders, more than any other team.

From Miami – Ricky Davis trade
From Boston – KG trade
From Utah via Philly – Rodny Carney trade (via Kyle Korver trade)

by ClipCat on Jun 26, 2009 12:31 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I believe that happened to us once

I can’t remember what team it was but I believe we lost a #1 pick because of similar circumstances between us and mini.

In Gordon we trust

by bestclipfan on Jun 26, 2009 12:51 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I'm trying to remember back in the Bill Simmons

article about the open letter to Blake, and a name that constanly pops up in my head is Charles Barkeley, (but Barkeley was a #5 pick) so I’m not too sure right now.

Mike Smith on Eric Gordon: "The Clippers may have found their go to scorer."
On a second note, I want Novak back!

by JackduhSun on Jun 26, 2009 1:11 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Do Nothing

Core Philosophy holds through the draft.

by citizen zhiv on Jun 26, 2009 11:49 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

How about a move with Houston now that Ming's status is uncertain?

Kaman or Camby for Artest or Battier? They picked up Budinger and were already fairly deep at the three.

by Jerdog on Jun 26, 2009 12:15 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Intresting call

Artest is an FA this year, but I assume he wants back.

And ios Budinger really a “replacement” if they trade away Artest or Battier?

I personally would prefer Battier. Dont need Randolph and Artest together.

Mike Smith on Eric Gordon: "The Clippers may have found their go to scorer."
On a second note, I want Novak back!

by JackduhSun on Jun 26, 2009 12:27 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Battier is wishful thinking

Houston would be foolish to trade Battier after he almost helped them knock off the Lakers. He’s a reasonable contract on a very expensive team. Even if Artest returns, the Rockets need both of them to start since McGrady is always hurt. If McGrady can’t play, then they aren’t deep at the 2 and the 3 with only Brian Cook and Budinger in reserve. McGrady is the guy they need to move. He’s a big lump of dead money on a contender, but he’s only a salary dump to us.

by ClipCat on Jun 26, 2009 12:57 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Ha

with his contract, their gonna need a superstar and somebody or atleast 4 players. I don’t think anybody really wants to take on McGrady’s contract and his injury prone abilities.

Mike Smith on Eric Gordon: "The Clippers may have found their go to scorer."
On a second note, I want Novak back!

by JackduhSun on Jun 26, 2009 1:13 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

but of course

when he’s not injured, he’s a beast… or was. I have not watched him play in a while.

Mike Smith on Eric Gordon: "The Clippers may have found their go to scorer."
On a second note, I want Novak back!

by JackduhSun on Jun 26, 2009 1:14 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

rubio

let him go back to spain,he’ll change his mine when he thinks about the money and if he stays for a year the t-wolves will still owen his draft,that means he’s still going to have to deal with them

by wopp22 on Jun 27, 2009 10:21 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

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