Draft Busts and Steals

So this time of year seems to call to attention a lot of question as to which teams got steals in the draft and which teams got busts. A lot of people are focusing on the real obvious ones, “the safe picks,” but here are five steals and five busts that maybe you haven’t heard about. Yet…

→ Chicago Bulls sign Eddie Basden
Basden, the CUSA player of the year and defensive player of the year, went undrafted. Bulls GM, John Paxon jumped at the opportunity to sign a player of this caliber. Basden is already lighting up the summer leagues and should be just the big guard the Bulls need to compliment Gordon, Hinrich and Duhon. He’s drawn comparisons to Eddie Jones and Doug Christie. It looks like John Paxon has come through yet again. Maybe Elgin Baylor and Rob Babcock should look at the kind of player that Paxon drafts and then aim to select players like that.

→ LA Clippers pick Daniel Ewing
The Clippers needed a solid point guard and in Ewing, they got just that. He’s got all the skills needed to be a solid point. Look for him to be another Chris Duhon. He plays good defense and can knock down shots. He should be a good compliment to Shawn Livingston. Despite their best efforts the Clips might find themselves in the playoffs next season.

→ Minnesota Timberwolves pick Rashad McCants
A lot of people dislike Mccants because of his attitude. You know what though? A lot of guys in this league have attitude problems. Hell, a lot of people alive have attitude problems. There aren’t a lot of people alive or in the NBA that are going to put up the numbers McCants will. Think Sam Cassell. Mccants should be a great replacement for Cassell.

→ Golden State Warriors pick Chris Taft
This pick is a pretty obvious steal but I can’t leave it out. At one point Taft was projected top 10. The Warriors got him at 42. Enough said.

→ Toronto Raptors pick Roko Ukic
Let me preface this by saying Rob Babcock, the Raptors GM, is an idiot. He’s not the worst gm of all time, but if you made a list of the 15 worst he’d be on it. His only good move before this was selecting Chris Bosh and that was a pick so obvious that even Elgin Baylor would have made it. That being said, this pick was brilliant. Ukic is a euro point guard. He’s just what the raptors needed. He does everything well and should learn a lot from Jalen Rose and Alvin Williams. Like those two, he is a big guard (6’5”) and should be ready to play some serious minutes before too long. Ukic should learn a lot from Rose like the english for "Where is my paycheck?" and "I have 25 points, how can I be shooting too much?" He might not be a starter yet, but he’ll definitely be a great sixth man.

And now for the busts….

→ Charlie Villanueva to the Toronto Raptors
I have a riddle that maybe Rob Babcock can answer for me. Why would you use the seventh pick of the draft to select a player who will likely only be able to play the same position as the best player on your team? I understand that he needs to clean up his mess from last years draft but this was not the way to do it. He’s not going to be as good as Chris Bosh at four and he’s not going to be able to bang with the big guys at five. The Raptors may be able to work a three-man lineup in the front but any legit big man will drop 40 every time they face this lineup. Look for Villanueva to head out of town with Jalen Rose as the upside part of a trade.

→ Antoine Wright and Sean May to the Nets and Bobcats respectively.
These players will actually both be good players so they’re not busts in that respect but the wrong teams drafted them. The Cats and the Nets should get on the phone right now and work out a trade for these two guys. It only makes sense. The draft is over and the Cats still need swingmen and the Nets still need big men. Both picks were for good players, just the wrong players.

→ Luther Head to the Houston Rockets
Head may be a solid NBA reserve some day but again, wasn’t what the Rockets needed. He was the product of playing on a good team where the zone enabled him to get open looks because of his speed. He’s not the slasher that Dee Brown is and he’s not the passer that Deron Williams is. On the Rockets he won’t be any better than John Barry or David Wesley. The Rockets could have helped their frontcourt or picked up a better shooter with several of the players still available. Head was not a terrible pick, just not the right one.

→Johan Petro to the Seattle Supersonics
How often does a guy this big with this many physical attributes come along? Well it seems that lately several come along like this in a draft. Just because a guy is big and strong doesn’t mean he’ll be a good player. Petro is an under-prepared center with an NBA body. He’ll be lucky to be as good as Jerome James was and will likely find himself fighting with Robert Swift for garbage minutes. The Sonics are only a few pieces away from being a great team. Petro will likely turn out to be a poor mans Darko. Teams this good shouldn’t blow picks on twelfth men. Just ask Larry Brown.