Well apparently Bill Simmons took a break from making out with Ronald Jenkees and sounding like a 20 year old on podcasts to write about the draft. Mr. VP of Common Sense himself tackles the touch decisions of the draft. Now I am reading this article as I type so I can get a more genuine reaction. Sometimes this works out (like on almost every Jemele Hill article) but other times it backfires because there is only one dumb thing in the whole piece. Only time will tell.
Simmons goes through the lottery, starting with the Blazers. Simmons is already on red alert with me when it comes to Blazer talk ever since his Karma piece but we will see what he has to say.
“We know who they’re taking because it’s the No Balls Association and nobody would ever dare pass up a franchise center with a ceiling (Greg Oden) for a franchise forward with no ceiling (Kevin Durant). That lack of originality explains why the league is so screwed up and a limited team like the Cavs could become the worst Finals team since the ’59 Lakers.”
Whoa there. Let’s rewind for a second all the way back to say…um…April 3rd 2007. That was the day when Bill Simmons said the following quote on his blog:
“1. Greg Oden is the No. 1 pick in the draft. The debate is over. He pulled a Private Ryan and earned that spot.”
Need I say more? Bill, Bill, Bill…you gotta remember what ya said man. How can you say Greg Oden is the #1 pick in the draft but then call it the No Balls Association for taking him #1? And what was the frustrating thing about Oden all year? Is that we never knew how good he could be and that he never showed his true dominance. Until the national championship game when you yourself Bill Simmons said he had his “Oden Game”. How can you say Oden has a ceiling when we haven’t seen 100 percent of his game? If anything, Kevin Durant has a ceiling. There are precedents for Kevin Durant in the NBA…Tracy McGrady? There will be another Kevin Durant in the next 5-10 years, he may not garner all the accolades and have as great of a season but there will be another guy who can play like that. Freak of nature seven footers do not walk through the door every day. Why do you think a guy like Spencer Hawes (my candidate for ‘staying in the Green Room too long’) can leave after having a mediocre freshman year? Because he is big. You yourself said Oden is the #1 pick, don’t go back on your own words. You know you can’t pass up on a guy like Oden…if Pritchard takes Durant he loses his job and the trust of the Blazer Nation. Or maybe Vince McMahon is behind all of this and Pritchard is going to show up at Oden’s press conference in Seattle wearing Sonics gear. Oh wait he’s dead nevermind.
Also on that first quote, do some research Bill. The 59 Lakers went from 19-53 in 58 to 33-39 in 59. You want to know why? A man by the name of Elgin Baylor went off and carried them to the Finals that year. They couldn’t have been that bad, none of us were really alive to see it. You wanna talk bad Finals teams….how about the 76 Suns or the 81 Rockets?
Simmons tries to use his “common sense” to say that we already have two good post players in LaMarcus and Zach Randolph so why draft Oden? This is his word on Zach:
“Yeah, he’s a loon, but he’s a superb low-post scorer who would thrive with Durant spacing the floor for him.”
This is proof that Simmons has watched 2 Blazer games over the last two years. Zach Randolph doesn’t post in the low-post anymore. This is what he does…he stops in between the post and the three point line, dangles his left hand out asking for the ball, turns and faces and everyone watches. He either jabs and takes a bad mid-range shot or he attacks the basket. The key is…EVERYONE STANDS AND WATCHES. He’s not making anyone better and Kevin Durant would be standing there just like everyone else has. Plus we already have a pretty good forward by the name of Brandon Roy. Why Mr. Common Sense would we have Durant and Roy?
On to the Sonics where Simmons drops this gem:
“Offer Ray Allen to the Clippers for Corey Maggette, Sam Cassell (expiring in 2008) and the No. 14.”
Why on earth would the Clippers even think about doing that? For Ray Allen they are giving up their starting point guard, their x-factor and their lottery pick which would be their point guard of the future. But it would all be worth it for Ray Allen. The Clippers would really make that deal. Has someone killed Bill Simmons and replaced him with Peter Vescey?
He finally makes some sense when talking about picks 3 through 5 I will give him that. For Boston to even think about trading all of that for Kevin Garnett is just dumb. At this point, to be completely honest and I know this is going to sound dumb but I would not trade Al Jefferson straight up for Kevin Garnett. I wouldn’t do it. Al Jefferson is a low-post monster and he has youth on his side. He is still getting better. Why would you give that up for a guy whose tank is bordering on E? And if you’re Minnesota…WHY DONT YOU DO IT?
Remember people…I called the whole Bobcats making the playoffs thing on May 24th 2007. Here is the link. Stop stealing my thoughts Simmons.
So in the end…despite his completey idiocy regarding the Blazers, he wasn’t TOO far off. Maybe a slight overreaction but I get a little riled up when people say dumb things.