Tonight’s the night – the NBA opens its arms to the young and upcoming players, trying to make their dreams come true. Drafting a college player is like a mutual agreement between two persons to get married for strictly logical reasons. A franchise is giving its new players the stage to perform – the players commit to be the best they can.
The Draft is also a place of controversies and contradictions in terms of the strategic direction, every single team is taking. Certain teams are looking to add cheap and good talent to their roster while others try hard to shed some salary in order to be a big free agent player once July 1st kicks in.
Let’s take a look at the teams on both sides.
Talent Hunters
OKC Thunder
In the last three years, the Thunder successfully collected Draft Picks like Shaq is collecting additional weight. Last night, GM Sam Presti has proven that he is not interested in any Max Free Agent guy with an eight digit salary. Presti wants to add young talent to his squad so he traded for the Heat First Round Draft Pick (#18) and Daequan Cook.
OKC now has multiple Picks to operate with tonight. It is obvious, that the Thunder are not interested in the LeBron/Wade/Bosh/Johnson/Amar’e/Boozer sweepstakes whatsoever. By the time the new season starts, Oklahoma City could be the youngest and most unconventional team in the NBA.
Minnesota Timberwolves
All the jokes about drafting two additional Point Guards aside, the Wolves are in the same camp than the Thunder. They have cap space, but they are more interested in getting young talent and improving their team through trades. Al Jefferson rumors are floating again, so GM David Kahn has two strategies in his pocket:
1. Drafting Wes Johnson and stay put with the roster
2. Try to get a proven wing player for Jefferson and draft Favors
Washington Wizards
The newest addition to this list – the Wizards morphed from “We target a deep playoff run” into “We rebuild” within one year. The days are over where the team trades its Pick in exchange for veteran player material. Baring in mind that the Wizards are still taken hostage by Gilbert Arena’s contract, GM Ernie Grunfeld will give the keys to the franchise to John Wall and two additional Draft Picks. The team has talent, the top Pick and … oh … they have salary cap.
Clearance Sale Teams
New York Knicks
In all fairness, the Knicks were the pioneer of clearing the house from any bloated contract that has not Eddy Curry’s signature on it. Rebuilding through the Draft is nearly impossible in The Big Apple, so GM Donnie Walsh did a great job to get rid of nearly every huge contract running through 2010-2011.
New York – after a decade of darkness – is in a hit-or-miss situation now. They are able to sign two max free agents and start to become relevant again. However, the roster itself is depleted, the first round draft pick is a victim of Isiah Thomas’ brilliancy and little money is left after. So the Draft will be more of a chance to fill the roster with raw talent and bodies.
Miami HEAT
If Pat Riley will ever leave the stage of basketball, he would surely get several job offers from the economy. The way he shed the salary in order to be a big fish in the summer 2010 is pretty amazing. By trading the 18th Pick and Cook to the Thunder, he has the eyes on the big free agent prices.
The Heat would have gotten some good talent at the 18th spot but decided against it due to the cap hold and the possibility to improve via free agency.
Chicago Bulls
The Bulls are the equivalent of the Wizards on this list. Chicago wasn’t even a player in the free agent sweepstakes one and a half years ago. But they traded away many of their big contracts (e.g. John Salmons at the deadline) to be a top suitor for the stars. Rumors are whispering that Chicago is offering Luol Deng and/or Kirk Hinrich alongside their 1st round Pick, which would enable them to sign two max free agents. The chance to establish a young team with All Star Derrick Rose doesn’t seem to be the Bulls’ Plan A.
The most interesting free agent summer will undoubtedly have a huge effect on the Draft tonight. Some teams are already very active on the trade front, some try to buy or trade into the 1st round. It is clear that the clubs are divided into the two mentioned camps. Keep an eye on tonight – it can change the whole NBA landscape.
Robert Jerzy is addicted to basketball and analyzes the game beyond the usual stats and figures. Robert is a regular columnist for the biggest german speaking magazine BASKET and his own site nykjournal.wordpress.com.
