2012 NBA Draft and Offseason Blog

Written by Paul Banks of the Washington Times, and David Kay of the The Sports Bank.
Send Paul an e-mail here: paulb05 AT hotmail DOT com.
All other e-mail, including advertising and link proposals, send to: wpc112@gmail.com



2012 NBA Draft Winners - June 30


New Orleans Hornets:
The Hornets won the draft lottery and then ended up winning on draft night as well. Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers should be instant game-changers for the Hornets, helping them with their re-building effort. Add Eric Gordon into the fold, and that's a solid young nucleus moving forward - assuming Rivers and Gordon can coexist in the same backcourt. It will be interesting to see if the Hornets move forward with trying to have Rivers play the point when he is not a true distributor. I also love the Darius Miller selection in the second round and expect him to be an immediate role player earning minutes at the three to help replace the traded Trevor Ariza.



Sacramento Kings:
I had Thomas Robinson as the second-best player in this draft, so for him to slip to five should have Kings' management absolutely getting hammered at the Palms tonight. Robinson and DeMarcus Cousins are going to be a terrorizing frontcourt for years to come with their combination of size, strength and ability to score the basketball in a variety of ways. Things played out perfectly for Sacramento, as landing Robinson is a far, FAR better result that having to choose between Andre Drummond and Harrison Barnes like many expected them to have to do. It's a good thing the Kings held on to this pick rather than trading it like was being rumored.

Boston Celtics
With only Greg Stiemsma and JaJuan Johnson as frontcourt players under contract for next season, the Celtics needed to upgrade their depth inside. Free agents Kevin Garnett and Brandon Bass could still re-sign with the team, but in case one of them leaves (more than likely Bass; not Garnett), the Celtics added some quality depth. Sullinger's injury concerns dropped him from out of the lottery to 21, which is a terrific value, as he could end up being the steal of this draft in a few years. Taking Fab Melo at No. 22 provides Boston with a big body inside and gives them someone who hasn't even scratched the surface on how effective he could be. Kris Joseph was also a solid get at No. 51.



Oklahoma City Thunder
General manager Sam Presti does it again by making an incredibly intelligent decision in taking Perry Jones 28th overall with Oklahoma City's lone pick of the night. Sure, Jones has some injury red flags and there are questions about his overall toughness, but getting somebody that late who last summer would have been a top-ten pick is a mighty smart investment. Jones will go to a young team where he will have no immediate expectations so he can spend time learning under guys like Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka. The reward far outweighed the risk at this point, especially when anybody the Thunder would have drafted at No. 28 was unlikely to be an immediate contributor anyway.



Recent NBA Draft and Offseason Blog Entries:

James Harden Trade Analysis - 10/29
What Will the USA Basketball Team Look Like at 2016 Summer Olympics? - 8/15
Dwight Howard Trade Analysis - 8/10
Restricted 2013 NBA Free Agents - 7/29
Unrestricted 2013 NBA Free Agents - 7/28
2012 NBA Offseason Winners - 7/23
2012 NBA Offseason Losers - 7/21
2012 NBA Free Agent Recap - 7/13
Outstanding 2013 NBA Draft Trades - 7/12
2012 NBA Free Agent Recap - 7/10
2012 NBA Free Agent Recap - 7/6
2012 NBA Free Agent Recap - 7/4
Atlanta Hawks' Trades Recap - 7/3
2012 NBA Free Agent Recap - 7/2
2012 NBA Draft Winners - 6/30
2012 NBA Draft Losers - 6/30
NBA Trade Analysis - 6/28
NBA Trade Analysis - 6/27
2012 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Perry Jones - More Risk or Reward? - 6/26
2012 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: John Henson One of NBA Draft's Most Overrated Players - 6/25
2012 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Vanderbilt to See Three Commodores Taken in NBA Draft - 6/22
Wizards-Hornets Trade Analysis - 6/21
2012 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Doron Lamb: Stepping out of Kentucky Shadows into NBA Draft - 6/20
2012 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Can Memphis' Will Barton Sneak into 1st round of 2012 NBA Draft? - 6/19
2012 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Baylor's Quincy Miller Made a Mistake by Entering NBA Draft - 6/16
2012 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Can Duke's Austin Rivers live up to the hype in the NBA? - 6/15
2012 NBA Draft Combine Coverage: Can Kansas' Tyshawn Taylor Be a True NBA Point Guard? - 6/14
2012 NBA Draft Lottery Odds Breakdown - 5/30
2012 NBA Trade Deadline: Winners - 3/19
2012 NBA Trade Deadline: Losers - 3/18
2012 NBA Trade Deadline: Five Players Likely to Be Traded - 3/8
2012 NBA Draft Outstanding Trades - 12/25
NBA Offseason and Draft Blog - Home

Leave a comment Name Comment Verification: click on image to refresh it   Fitz 06-18-2011 01:51 am xxx.xxx.xxx3.52 (total posts: 3) 29     23 Well the Tristan Thompson article is good. The Hamilton Article has one mistake.In the 1st paragraph it says, "there are concerns about him about him being dialed in..." You put "about him" twice. Walter 06-17-2011 01:52 am xxx.xxx.xxx4.88 (total posts: 10) 20     22 Haha thanks for that. I definitely won't hate you for it. It's hard to proofread at 2 am. Fitz 06-16-2011 03:46 am xxx.xxx.xxx3.52 (total posts: 3) 17     20 Yea i understand. Gotta make that paper ha. Btw, in the last paragraph of the Singleton article it needs to say, "never will BE a star". Right now its says, "never will a star". I decided I'm gonna keep gonna keep correcting your articles until you start hating me Walter 06-14-2011 01:28 am xxx.xxx.xxx4.88 (total posts: 10) 20     29 Haha definitely not my morals. It's what the advertisers and Google want, and since this is my main source of income, I have to do as they say. Fitz 06-13-2011 02:17 pm xxx.xxx.xxx3.52 (total posts: 3) 23     22 Yea I figured it was probably just bad grammar on Liggins' part but I figured I would correct it just in case. You cant say anything with a** in it or sh*t and a few others such as d*ck and so on and so forth. I understand if you have to do it because of advertisers and things like that, but I hope it's not because of your morals haha Walter 06-13-2011 01:42 am xxx.xxx.xxx4.88 (total posts: 10) 17     20 Thanks, Fitz. I made some of the corrections. Two of them were wrong though because that's how the quote was said. You should never fix the grammar in the quote if that's how the player said it. What specific filter are you talking about? Fitz 06-11-2011 11:55 pm xxx.xxx.xxx3.79 (total posts: 3) 22     19 *Hands instead of hand. Haha i f'ed up while correcting your f ups. And you need to get rid of the bad language filter on here imo. It's annoying Fitz 06-11-2011 11:52 pm xxx.xxx.xxx3.79 (total posts: 3) 26     19 Walt- Well the first sentence did say Every year i scratch at instead of scratch my head at, but i guess u just fixed that recently. In the 3rd paragraph you say "the extremely talent bunch of recruits coming to Kentucky...". It should be TALENTED bunch 5th paragraph- "We had other guys who more highly recruited than me..." Should be "other guys who WERE more highly recruited than me" 7th paragraph- "but he never showed a consistency in attacking the basket." you need to take out the A. 8th paragraph- Hands instead of hands in " I didn't have the ball in my hand a lot" I'm not trying to be a grammar nazi btw. Just trying to help out. JimB 06-11-2011 09:13 am xxx.xxx.xxx1.14 (total posts: 1) 17     23 I believe he'll get drafted. His offense has improved year after year, he keeps improving his all around game and is reasonably athletic. I watched him play a lot at KY and his D is top notch. What team wouldn't want a wing player to come in off the bench and defend tirelessly and well, rebound, scrap for loose balls, and score if left open. He's the perfect player for that role, and a team first player as well. 2nd round to the Knicks or Celtics.... Walter 06-11-2011 01:15 am xxx.xxx.xxx4.88 (total posts: 10) 18     18 Where are the errors? Fitz 06-10-2011 03:30 pm xxx.xxx.xxx3.79 (total posts: 3) 20     23 Walt, did you really edit this? Because there are still a ton of errors. If you ever want someone to proofread your stuff I'll be more than happy to. It's part of my job so I know what I'm doing. And trust me, you need it ha. Walter 06-07-2011 01:28 am xxx.xxx.xxx4.88 (total posts: 10) 27     25 LOL nice pick-up, Jay. I didn't notice that when I edited it. Jay 06-05-2011 02:51 am xxx.xxx.xxx.226 (total posts: 1) 18     23 Lol "an honest guy without an honest opinion,". Was that a typo or just a hilarious flub by Morris? nycsportzfan 05-28-2011 01:57 pm xxx.xxx.xxx7.20 (total posts: 1) 22     25 Faried Sucks??LOL ya, the all time college rebounder, really sucks..lol Good analysis, moron. vbsiena 05-21-2011 09:48 am xxx.xxx.xxx9.94 (total posts: 2) 18     18 Faried sucks. A one trick pony who is on 6'6". Way to undersides for the 4. He's no Ben Wallace or Dennis Rodman. I don Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 67

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2013 NBA Draft Prospect Rankings: C | PF | COMBO-F | SF | COMBO-G | SG | PG

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2011 NBA Mock Draft - Walt's (June 21)

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2009 NBA Mock Re-Draft

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NFL Picks - Feb. 3