I’ve never been one for speculation. Spending hours wondering who will go where in drafts is only interesting to me if I personally know someone who is trying to get drafted. Draft night itself, however, is one of my favorite nights in sports. And I will defiantly spend hours of my time afterwards analyzing each team’s picks once they’ve been made.
Here are the teams that I feel did the best in this year’s NBA draft:
1. New Orleans Hornets — duh.
The Hornets could have taken Anthony Davis, then selected my two uncles, and still would have had the best draft of 2012.
Davis is the kind of player that only comes around once or twice a decade. If you are reading this column, I am assuming that you already know how incredibly talented Davis is at the game of basketball. He’s got the agility of a 6’3” guard in a 6’11” body. And unlike most centers in the NBA, he tries 100% of the time, listens to coaches, and doesn’t throw a fit when things don’t go his way. He’s a defensive nightmare and he’s still getting noticeably better.
But the Hornets won huge with Davis for another reason too: he’s the most marketable first round draft pick since LeBron.
Sports marketing professionals will tell us that big men don’t sell. Kids on playgrounds imagine themselves being Kobe Bryant or Derrick Rose, breaking ankles with their crossover and making that game-winning three. Kids don’t imagine themselves being 6’10” and grabbing rebounds. It just isn’t relatable.
But Davis has something better than relate-ability. He’s got character.
That eyebrow is going to be worth more money than Heidi Klum’s legs. The t-shirts, the jerseys, the endorsements, the fake brows – the ensemble is going to sell out merchandise faster than most teams can sell tickets. The Hornets will be raking in cash from this kid and his unibrow all around.
New Orleans had other picks as well, and they used them on shooting guard (whoops, I mean point guard) Austin Rivers at number 10, and Kentucky sixth man Darius Miller at 46.
Although I’m not a Rivers hater like some that are out there – I actually like his confidence on the court, and I think that he will be a better pro than college player if he continues to be coachable – this pick puzzles me a little.
If the Hornets are serious about keeping Eric Gordon, why draft a player who basically plays the same position? Gordon and Davis both need the ball in their hands, and Rivers is not the guy to get it to them. Continue reading
