Rumors from the Ass

Past Rumors (06/27/2000):

well, draft day is 'round the corner and it's time that the picks come in. mine are all based on that there will be no trades. however, a big one in the rumour mill is that the magic will trade 2, and possibly all three, of their lottery picks so they can nab kenyon martin out of cincinatti. it's amazing, the guy hasn't played since march (hasn't even worked out for teams) but he's still number 1 in many peoples minds, including mine.

pat

1. New Jersey Nets - Kenyon Martin, Cincinatti, PF

My Take - no questions. powerful, smart and an incredible leaper. with the possible retirement of williams, the nets need some one to fill his shoes. martin does it and will do it well.

2. Vancouver Grizzlies - Stromile Swift, LSU, PF

My Take - sure they got harrington, but if you'll remember, he might be going to LA in a possible trade for rice and ac green. green'd be nice off the bench with swift starting. he'll provide the team with energy that reeves seems to eat up like those cheeseburgers he likes so much.

3. LA Clippers - Marcus Fizer, Iowa State, PF

My Take - they need to replace a departing marcus taylor and with fizer, that job is taken care of. under the tutalage of kareem, fizer will flourish into an all-star within 3 years.

4. Chicago Bulls - Darius Miles, High School, SF

My Take - with the trade last year of kukoc, the bulls hav to replace him. miles, according to one gm, will do the task with ease. according to the same gm, miles may have more talent that garnett had at the same age, which is scary.

5. Orlando Magic - DerMarr Johnson, Cincinati, SF

My Take - the magic have 3 picks in the lottery and johnson will be their first. johnson is a proven scorer and is athletically gifted. he even considered foregoing college ball and heading right for the NBA, now he's ready for it.

6. Atlanta Hawks - Courtney Alexander, Fresno St. SF

My Take - the hawks need someone to score and coming from fresno st, one of the highest scoring teams in the nation, alexander knows how to do that. with dikembe blocking shots and alexander taking those shots with jimmy jackson, look for the hawks to improve on last year's BRUTAL season.

7. Chicago Bulls - Quentin Richardson, DePaul, SF

My Take - he's got a body that's ready for the NBA now and he's gonna use it. richardson averaged 10 boards a game which is amazing for a SF. also, he's got 3-point range which will make him a force on both ends of the court. look for miles to play back up to artest @ SG and richardson to start.

8. Cleveland Caveliers - Chris Mihm, Texas, C

My Take - the cavs haven't had a force @ centre since the days of zydrunous ilgouskas. mihm has heaps of athleticsm for a 7 footer. he's also got a sweet jumper. and his name is 9 letters shorter that zyd's.

9. Houston Rockets - Mike Miller, Florida, SF

My Take - houston's got a problem. a big problem. they need to replace 3 (4 if you count clyde) NBA @ 50 players. they did well with stevie francis, and miller is a good choice too. had cleveland not selected mihm, the rockets woulda been all over him like oliver miller at a snack bar. mihm woulda learned from one of the greatest centres of all time, hakeem. now, miller will have to learn on his own, but he'll do fine. who could not benefit from a PG like francis??

10. Orlando Magic - Erick Barkley, St. John's, PG

My Take - darell armstrong is aging and orlando needs to do something about that. also, barkley will fit in with mercer, magette, outlaw, and possibly mcgrady. that'd be a hell of a line up. damn. don't forget, they still have one more pick left in the first round and a ton of money left under their cap, even if they do sign mcgrady. scary.......

11. Boston Celtics - Keyon Dooling, Missouri, PG

My Take - Boston needs help. serious help. they have 2 legit players in pierce and walker but outside of that, they have nothing. the brass in bean town want kenny anderson out like a day old fish and he may hit the trading block, soon. dooling will help distribute the ball around and keep it out of vitaly potapenko's hands.

12. Dallas Mavricks - Jerome Moiso, UCLA, PF

My Take - true, the mavs have a decent pf in cedric celballos, but this is don nelson we're talking about. the same man who thought he could build his team around shawn bradley, then saw him play and quickly changed his tune. moiso has great defensive ability (which the mavs need) but his shot needs work, but hey, they got mike finley to score (and if my prediction is right, they'll also have mercer).

13. Orlando Magic - Olumide Oyedeji, DJK Wurzburg, C

My Take - he's a 19 year old with great jumping ability (hmmm, never hear that one before). also, he's got a smooth touch around the basket and is a formidable shot blocker. him combined with bo outlaw which would make driving to the hoop against the magic a formidable task.

..........................END OF LOTTERY.........................

14. Detroit Pistons - Mateen Cleves, Michigan State, PG

My Take - if mateen is not selected here, expect a riot in the streets. the boys of motown have not had a decent point since isiah thomas left town (oh, thomas is rumoured to be the new head coach in indiana). mateen has a good shot, runs the point well. hey, he's not called 'mini magic' for nothing.

15. Milwaukee Bucks - Joel Pryzbilla, Minnesota, C

My Take - the bucks are a few years away from becoming the next dynasty (as long as they keep all their players). with shooters at three positions, they need some defensive help. pryzbilla will provide the bucks with that. hey, milwaukee had nothing for the centre position. nothing. now they'll have somthing.

16. Sacramento Kings - Jamal Crawford, Michigan, SF

My Take - sure, jamal only played about 10 games in his collegiate career, but in those games he led the wolveriens in scoring everytime. sacramento has a history of taking risks on players and have those risks pay off (see webber, chris and williams, jayson). jamal is able to shoot the jumper and drive the lane. something that the kings don't have. also, he's a better all-around player than corliss williams is.

17. Seattle Sonics - Desmond Mason, Oklahoma ST., SF

My Take - he's a great shooter and a great driver. something that seattle really needs. they have no one that can hit a shot with consistentcy. GP is good, but he's too inconsistent. also, vin sucks.

18. LA Clippers - JaRon Rush, UCLA, SF

My Take - with fizer blocking shots, rush scoring and odom doing everything else, look for la to win more than 20 games this season. maybe even 25, hell, i'll go as high as 26. rush is a scorer who can drain the open j and drive the rock to the hole.

19. Charlotte Hornets - Iavkovo Tsakalidis, Athens, C

My Take - the next arvydas sabonis, except when he was in younger days. great hands, great shot, excellent passing ability. also, i can't wait for NBC to play a hornets game so i can hear walton try and pronounce his name.

20. Philadelphia 76ers - Etan Thomas, Syracuse, PF

My Take - he'll be a good NBA PF. his range is only to about 12 feet for a shot, but he blocks shots like nobody's business and his defense is above average. which is good because iverson doesn't like to play d. actually, the 6ers don't like to play d.

21. Toronto Raptors - Craig Claxton, Hofstra, PG

My Take - with this pick, the raptors address one of their problems, the other being center. claxton's nickname, 'speedy', says it all. he's a fast little bugger who runs the point like a general. the raptors may take el-amin instead who has lost 20 pounds and is laying off the junk food. however, i still feel that grunwall will go with claxton.

22. New York Knicks - Jason Collier, Georgia Tech., C

My Take - hey, let's face it. ewing is only gonna be around one more year. collier is a versitile 7 footer who's play is similar to garnett. he can play the 3-5 positions, and all very well. silky smooth jumper. also, he can move up and down the court, unlike ewing.

23. Utah Jazz - Chris Carrawell, Duke, SG

My Take - with the retirement of one of the best shooters in the league, jeff hornacek, utah needs to do soemthing. carrawell, is the exact opposite of horny. he's got muscle, and he's fast. if given the opportunity, he could play the 1-3 positions.

24. Chicago Bulls - Khalid El-Amin, UCONN, PG My Take - the clips of the east (thanks, mike) need players, and they got one here. as i've said before, khalid has lost 20 pounds and is laying off the junk. he's quick, good court vision (essential in the NBA for a point) and can stroke the open jumper. his only downside is that he's 5-10. might have a problem guarding the likes of kidd and kb8.

25. Phoenix Suns - Soumaila Samaks, Africa, C

My Take - of course the suns need a centre, they have oliver miller and luc shlong...uh, i mean, longly playing the pivot in phoenix. this kid is raw in talent, but he shows potential to the nth degree. he has more potential than fellow africaner mamadou n'diaye from aubrun.

26. Utah Jazz - Donnell Harvey, Florida, PF

My Take - great rebounder with limitless potential. the jizz would be foolish to pass this man up. he has been compared to rodman, without the tattoos or the incredible gayness. also, the mailman won't be delivering for much longer. harvey would be a good choice now so he can, ugh, learn from malone. ew, i just thought of another mailman in the league.

27. Indiana Pacers - Mamadou N'diaye, Auburn, C

My Take - with rik smits retiring (hey, did you know that he was chosen 2nd overall by the pacers in the 1990 draft?? little trivia for ya), they need a centre now, and mamadou ain't him. however, in a few years, he could be the replacement.

28. Portland Trailblazers - Corey Hightower, Indian Hills Community College, SF

My Take - never heard of him. the blazers probably have.

29. LA Lakers - Jamal Magloire, Kentucky, PF

My Take - the lakers have 1 good power forward, if you combine the skills of horry and green. however, in magloire, you get a excellent defensive PF which'll help out shaq. also, it'll allow kb8 to be more aggressive and try for more steals when there's 2 guys behind him that'll block shots for him. his offensive game needs work, but he's got enough for him to earn respect in the league.

that's it. i've been working on this for 2 days now. stayed tuned tomorrow nite our thoughts will become reality.......keep watching the skis, uh, i mean skies.