NBA draft 2004-both of them - Page 2

Dallas took devean with no. 5...looks like Cuban is serious about the shaq deal

A *tough* European import, why don't I have much confidence in Andris Biedrins' inside game?

the raptors reached for araujo. they coulda traded down and still got him. i guess nobody wants to move up though.

the raptors reached for araujo. they coulda traded down and still got him. i guess nobody wants to move up though.

I think that only surprised you guys on the West Coast. Everyone here knew that Howard would go #1. The only question was whether anyone would trade to move up there for him.

Anyone think that 7'4 South Korean guy is going anywhere?

The draft is no longer worth watching because you only know 8 of the 30 people in the first round. Plus, it is not like half the first round picks (or a fifth of them) are going to even contribute in the next two years.

It looks like Orlando just picked up Jameer Nelson, too. Does this mean that the trade with Houston has collapsed?

Kinda funny how the Baseball draft was far more interesting. Hell, you even got to see a lot of those picks play on national TV afterwards.

Then again, I'm not one for High School sports.

The baseball draft is not attempting to be a Prime Time event, taking up a huge chunk of Thursday night.

The basketball draft, at least the lottery portion, used to be full of people that people actually could recognize.

No longer.

You obviously don't know much about Howard, then. He downright dominated the competition (offensively AND defensively) throughout his entire High School career.

And you shouldn't hold him against him that he wasn't as "touted" (.i.e, HYPED) as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, et al. Because NO ONE in this draft was. He's also has a much more down to Earth and laid back personality than those guys.

A 7"3 guy from PR? Whaaaa?

Anya, I realize this is a message board, but consider your fucking spelling and grammar at least a DASH before posting. You come off like a third-grader.

Well said this is easily the worst draft ever.

Good work Utah. You needed a center, and you got jack squat. Bravo.

Poor Sorro I feel for ya. At least you got a hard working skinny european on your team.

Actually, the worst draft ever was 1991:

1 CHA Larry Johnson Nevada-Las Vegas
2 NJN Kenny Anderson Georgia Tech
3 SAC Billy Owens Syracuse
4 DEN Dikembe Mutombo Georgetown
5 MIA Steve Smith Michigan State
6 DAL Doug Smith Missouri
7 MIN Luc Longley New Mexico
8 DEN Mark Macon Temple
9 ATL Stacey Augmon Nevada-Las Vegas
10 ORL Brian Williams Arizona
11 CLE Terrell Brandon Oregon
12 NYK Greg Anthony Nevada-Las Vegas
13 IND Dale Davis Clemson
14 SEA Rich King Nebraska
15 ATL Anthony Avent Seton Hall
16 GSW Chris Gatling Old Dominion
17 GSW Victor Alexander Iowa State
18 MIL Kevin Brooks SW Louisiana
19 WA1 LaBradford Smith Louisville
20 HOU John Turner Phillips
21 UTA Eric Murdock Providence
22 LAC LeRon Ellis Syracuse
23 ORL Stanley Roberts Louisiana State
24 BOS Rick Fox North Carolina
25 GSW Shaun Vandiver Colorado
26 CHI Mark Randall Kansas
27 SAC Pete Chilcutt North Carolina

I should follow that up by saying that 88 to 91 were ALL terrible draft classes.

I disagree.

Yeah, I love the current 1-4 makeup of the team. Kirelinko, Harpring, Giricek, and Lopez or Arroyo is a pretty solid combination. The problem the Jazz have is the same one that they've always had - they're a donut. There's nothing in the middle. I mean Mark Eaton, Luther Wright, Olden Polynice, Greg Ostertag, Some black dude with a goatee, and probably some others too - that's been the missing link.

Not a problem that your team has specifically. The NBA is full of teams without good centers. Indiana has Jeff Foster, Ben Wallace is 6-8 etc etc. Sad really i'd like to see a new badass in the middle that'd give Shaq a run for his money but it isn't going to happen. When the best player in the middle is a 6-8 guy (Okafor) its pretty disheartening as a hoops fan.

the draft has become too much like the mlb draft. most of these guys are gonna do jack shit for a few years atleast. anyways i was pissed how the heat passed on nelson. anyone know anything about dorell wright? during the draft they were saying how he feared he wouldn't even get drafted in the 1st round and then out of nowhere the heat selected him. they claim he has a boatload of talent though.

Name one that was good in those years.

Foster's obviously not a marquee talent but he's a solid player. He's not called upon to score so you don't see his name in the box, but he plays tough defense and rebounds.

Larry Johnson was a terrific player before his back injury. Kenny A was also a solid PG who played great until he left NJ. Mutombo helped Denver singlehandedly beat Seattle in the playoffs in 95 thats was at the time a record an 8th seed beating a no.1. He is still a solid center today. Steve Smith was never a scrub. Always a player who played hard every night. Michael Jordan himself even said he was one of the most underrated players he ever played and one of the toughest defenders.

Longley was a key role player for the Bulls and played for them after da Bulls tho... Augmon and Greg Anthony were both solid defenders and staples at their positions. Terrell Brandon was one of the best PG's in basketball and with his great play moved Allstar Mark Price off the roster.

Dale Davis remains to this very day a rock on the inside. A Charles Oakley battler who'd play hard D and rebound with the best of em. Gatling for over half his career was a solid scorer at the 4. Rick Fox is hard working SF who has always been an invaluable role player. See his 3 championship titles with the Lakers. Thats 12.

Deke was the only one of those that ever turned into anything more than a semi-solid player. That was a horrible draft. So many busts in that draft, Smith never did anything to deserve the #4 spot, Johnson as a bust at #1, same with Anderson who never became more than a decent starter. Most of that draft was plagued with career-shortening injuries.

I'll give you that it was a weak draft but not the worst that title i'll gladly proclaim for this year. So many high schoolers 1-20 many that won't pan out right either. You're right about the injuries but those guys could play.