Obligatory NBA Draft report

Ever since The Sports Guy started his running NBA Draft diary and Mel Kiper, Jr. made drafting a serious topic of debate, it has been a federal law that every person with a blog MUST post an entry about the NBA draft. So here goes. Law and order every time, that's me.

I was pretty freaking underwhelmed by the Bullets' draft picks, despite the fact that this draft was short on big names and they didn't pick until #18. Ultimately, the Bullets drafted two forwards - Ukranian Oleksiy Pecherov in the first round and Belarusian Vladimir Veremeenko in the second. Both are viewed as projects. Meh. Word was they were going for N.C. State big man Cedric Simmons, but he went 15th. Had this been the Redskins, they would have given away all their 2007 picks so they could move up. Sometimes, doing nothing is something. And I think Ernie Grunfeld knows the best way to improve the Bullets this offseason is on the free agent market (Jamaal Magloire?).

[Insert dorky-Eastern-European-white-guys joke here.]

Hey, maybe Vlad and Olek can get a pick-up game going in whatever black hole former overseas Bullets picks Peter Jon Ramos and Juan Carlos Navarro exist in. Maybe they can practice boxing each other out on free throw misses, or setting really killer screens, or fouling out. }crickets{

At least the Bullets weren't the laughing stock of the draft. For that, I give you YOUR New York Knickerbockers. With the 20th pick and in desperate need of talent, any talent, they went for Renaldo Balkman. Six-foot-five FORWARD Renaldo Balkman. This will be review for all you NIT fanatics out there, but Balkman won the 2006 NIT MVP Award after leading the South Carolina Cocks to their second consecutive NIT Tourney victory. Man - that's some rarefied air. The ESPN talking heads were in consensus for once. Jay Bilas said he was "stunned." Greg Anthony called the pick "befuddling." Stephen A. Smith said he was "almost speechless," which I think is about as close to blessed silence as he gets. Dan Patrick was actually giggling.

(Now, though, of course everyone's making their own "Who's Renaldo Balkman?" jokes. A word to the wise: that joke is not 24 hours old, and it is already dead. Dead. Dead as a doornail. It was funny exactly zero times. It's always hilarious when writers and bloggers suddenly act like they're these big-shot power brokers just because they have a blog or write some column. Awwww, snap! Geno Blazinski.geocities.blogger/shitbag said he had never heard of you, dog! How does it feel to get dissed like that? He was all like, 'who's Renaldo Balkman,' man! Dag!)

With their next pick, the Knicks took Mardy Collins, a decent point guard out of Temple. But if they wanted a point guard, why didn't they take Marcus...Williams...who was available...with...their first...pick, and taken Balkman later? Damn, Isiah. I think you and your delicate misunderstood genius just made my brain bleed. Of course, due to a Thomas-brokered trade from a couple years ago, the Chicago Bulls got the Knicks lottery pick - number 2 overall - and ended up getting LSU force of nature Tyrus Thomas. But it's all part of Isiah's plan, people. It sucks for you that you just don't understand basketball the way he does.

But going back to the rarefied air of the NIT, the Maryland Terrapins - who were knocked out early in that tournament each of the last two seasons - did not have any players drafted. Can you believe it? Must have been some kind of clerical error. Moving on.

Congrats, though, to GW standout J.R. Pinnock on going in the late second round to the Mavericks. Could be a good situation for him.

Anyway, go Bullets, and congratulations to Knicks fans everywhere.

Hyperlinks:
- Washington Post story on Pecherov
- Predictably flippant New York area column on Balkman
- Washington Post story on Simmons and Magloire

Technorati tags: NBA, NBA draft, basketball, Sports, Washington Wizards, New York Knicks