5:07 p.m. ET -- I’m here at the Cavaliers state-of-the-art training complex – Cleveland Clinic Courts in Independence – where we media members will take in the 2008 NBA Draft. I’m going to be blogging from here as the Wine and Gold work their way towards the No. 19 pick.
This is one of the most wide-open drafts in recent memory. And it’s a deep draft.
As many as six point guards – Derrick Rose, O.J. Mayo, Jerryd Bayless, D.J. Augustin, Eric Gordon and Russell Westbrook – could be lottery picks. The entire first round is deep with big men – even in the bottom half and past where the Cavaliers select. Quality wing players like CDR, Bill Walker and Courtney Lee should be, as well.
The story going right now is that the trade winds are beginning to blow. And all the action has been in the East.
Pending physicals ...
Jermaine O’Neal got shipped to Toronto to shore up their frontline. T.J. Ford got sent to Indy to shore up their backcourt. Each player was on the clock with their former teams, so the fact that both moved is no surprise. And it puts an end to the rumor that O’Neal might wind up in Cleveland.
The second big deal also involves a Central Division and Atlantic Division team with the Bucks sending Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons to New Jersey for Richard Jefferson.
Yi moves to the big market, which his people wanted the entire time. And Bobby Simmons ends a snake-bitten stay in Wisconsin. New Jersey has now shipped out two-thirds of their Big Three and continues to get younger.
Boston’s Championship is already having ripple effects across the league, and it’s certain that the complexion of the East is going to be dramatically different between now and October.
And we haven’t even seen the first pick of the Draft yet. Stay tuned …
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