The Little Papi Urban Achievers

Draft Review

2007-07-02T22:04:00.000-07:00

In my first blog entry, the night before the NBA draft, I said that if the Celtics could acquire an all-star caliber veteran without giving up Al Jefferson, they should jump at the chance. On draft night, they did just that, landing Ray Allen and the #35 pick in the draft in return for Wally Szczerbiak , Delonte West, and the #5 pick. Consider me unimpressed.

For the second straight year, Ainge, whose greatest strength as a GM has been drafting, has forfeited a top 10 pick in an ill advised trade. Unless this move is coupled with another acquisition, it simply isn't enough. When Ainge took over the franchise he blew up a squad that had just appeared in the Eastern Conference final, rightfully stating it was not good enough to win a championship. Unless Wyc Grousbeck is willing to pay the luxury tax to bring in another veteran, we're again stuck with an entertaining but flawed team that isn't good enough to win a championship. Packaging Theo Ratliff's expiring contract with Gerald Green and a future #1 may be enough to bring back a veteran such as Andrei Kirilenko. The team could also improve by making an offer of Allen in return for Kirilenko and Ronnie Brewer. I believe this is an offer the Jazz would be forced to accept as Kirilenko's value to them is greatly diminished by the fact they play him out of position at small forward and Allen's shooting is exactly what the club needs. In contrast to Allen, who duplicates many of Pierce's skills, Kirilenko would bring much needed defense to the team. In Brewer, the team would receive a talented young player to replace the wasted #5 pick. As for the rest of the draft, Ainge nailed the second round, with the selections of Gabe Pruitt and Glen "Big Baby!" Davis. Pruitt is a tall combo guard, who may be able to replace the production of Delonte West, an underrated talent who never should have been included in this deal. Big Baby, has the could be a real contributor if he doesn't eat himself out of the league. Landing a big man this talented in the 2nd round, is well worth the risk. Additionally, Davis may be the most entertaining big man since Shaq, and yelling Big Baby! in a Dick Vitale voice is unbelievably fun.

As for the rest of the draft, the top 4 teams all made the right selections. Seattle made an odd choice, using the #5 pick on Jeff Green. Seattle's 3 best players, Durant, Szczerbiak and Green all play small forward, as does restricted free agent Rashard Lewis. I believe Durant will eventually be a power forward, but until then it's going to be hard for Seattle to maximize the talent they have on the floor. Milwaukee's pick of Yi Jianlin, which is reminiscent of the Chargers drafting Eli Manning, can't be fairly assessed until he agrees to suit up for the team, or they see what he commands in trade. Special recognition goes to New Jersey, who are a perfect fit for Boston College's Sean Williams, and Charlotte, who selected my favourite sleeper, in his former teammate Jared Dudley. The Spurs also stole Tiago Splitter a big man who was originally projected as a lottery pick and fell to to the hefty buyout in his contract.

In addition to the Allen move, there were two other major deals on draft night. The first had the Warriors sending Jason Richardson to the Bobcats in return for Brandon Wright, who was the #8 pick in the draft. Wright has tons of potential, and Golden State saved itself a ton of money by not taking back any big contracts. However, the last time the team swapped a proven shooting guard for young size, they exchanged Mitch Richmond for Billy Owens. This deal could end up looking similar. From the Bobcats perspective, this is a good move, as long as they continue to invest money in the team and resign Gerald Wallace. Richardson is talented, but overpaid, so if his acquisition means the notoriously cheap Bobcats are done, then this move no longer makes sense. The other major trade of the night was a steal for Isaiah Thomas. This may sound unbelievable, but Zeke managed to turn a terrible contract and a decent prospect into a 20/10 guy. Zach Randolph may come with risks, but the cost wasn't very high and with the Knicks roster, risk taking is necessary. From Portland's side, I'm surprised they didn't get more and shocked they didn't move Randolph for a starting small forward. Channing Frye is solid, but will spend the next 10 years backing up Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge. The Blazers seem to have decided that ensuring Greg Oden never met Zach Randolph was more important than finding a deal that truly met their needs.

The first blog promised The Little Papi Urban Achievers would focus on sports and entertainment. So far I've only discussed the NBA, but I promise that will change. As a start, here are a couple links I found interesting. http://www.bobharris.com/content/view/1406/1/ is a fascinating interpretation of the final scene of the Sopranos. It's been pretty widely distributed online, but if you haven't read it, it's well worth the time. I am now firmly in the Tony is dead camp. At least, I believe that's what David Chase wanted to portray. Five years from now, they'll probably decide he's alive and come out with some sort of Soprano's movie. If they really want to make a Soprano's film, the opening scene should pick up where they left off and have Meadow walking in as Tony gets whacked. http://tastybooze.com/2007/04/the-origin-of-boggs is an incredible story about Wade Boggs. If you thought his hitting was incredible, and his sex addiction legendary, you should see the man drink. Years ago, I heard Steve Lyons tell a similar story about Boggs, so this actually may be true.
Were two posts in, and I want to thank you for reading. In fact, if you just read that, there is a legitimate chance you are the first person to ever read this blog. Congratulations. Please do not hesitate to respond to anything on here, I'd like this to be as interactive as possible. I assume this page can handle multiple postings, so if you're interested in posting, let me know.
-Bodner

Draft Day Blueprint

2007-06-27T23:46:00.000-07:00

Hello All. Welcome to The Little Papi Urban Achievers, a sports and entertainment blog with a Boston slant. The first item to addressed is my plan to revive the mighty Boston Celtics.

Step 1-Name Jeff Bodner GM. Danny Ainge has done a good job drafting, and despite last year's record, the team does have more talent than when he took over. However, his trade record is bad enough that he can clearly be upgraded. While I'm sure many of you out there can do better than Danny, I'm making the decision and I'm naming myself. For those of you who doubt me, please review my comments to the Boston Globe following last year's draft.

JEFF BODNER San Diego Two disappointing seasons have elevated [Sebastian] Telfair from a controversial No. 13 pick to someone worth the No. 7 pick? The Celtics didn't want more youth, but Brandon Roy is older and more experienced. [Theo] Ratliff may have one year less on his contract than [Raef] LaFrentz, but that relief is two years down the road and Ratliff can't stay healthy. We traded a first-round pick in 2007, which is supposed to be the strongest draft in memory, for a first-round pick in what has been deemed the weakest. The only way this day is saved is if we use the pieces to get [Allen] Iverson. Is it only logical that if we've got The Truth, we must have The Answer?
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company

As you can see, I advocated one of two moves. Plan A was keeping the pick, which would have netted the team reining Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy. Plan B would have been to acquire AI, in a rumored deal that would have cost the team the #6 pick and Wally Szczerbiak. Add either Iverson or Roy to the current roster and the Celtics become a legitimate threat to win the East.

Step 2- Try and trade for an all-star caliber veteran. The most cost effective option I've heard is Andrei Kirilenko, who supposedly could be had for Szczerbiak and Gerald Green. If this is true, the team should jump at this. Kirilenko would bring much needed defense and would thrive if he was moved back to his natural power forward position with Al moving to center. The team could then use its first round pick on Corey Brewer. A Starting lineup of West or Rondo, Brewer, Pierce, Kirilenko and Jefferson would be nasty. This is the exact plan endorsed by the Sports Guy, who is dead on with this one.
If this trade is just a rumor, any of the names that have been linked to the team (KG, Marion, Jermaine O'Neal) would be worth giving up the #5 pick for as long as the team does not part with Jefferson. Any of these three paired with Pierce and Big Al would make the team contenders in the East. I would also consider a similar deal for Rashard Lewis. Assuming the team does not move the #5 pick, step 3 becomes obvious.

Step 3-Draft the best player available. The Celtics are much better than they appear, if healthy, last year's team would have flirted with .500, add a successful lottery pick into the mix and the team should surpass 45 wins. If I were GM, I would rank the draft as follows.

1)Gregg Oden-A franchise big man. The Celtics could have competed for a title this year if they had landed pick #1.

2)Kevin Durant-Should be one of the top small forwards in the league and will average over 20 ppg his rookie season.

3)Al Horford-A beast inside who drains the 15 foot jump shot. Would look perfect paired with Jefferson for the next decade.

4)Mike Conley Jr.-Incredibly quick, and a great decision maker. He gets knocked for being 6'1", but he has a 6'5" wingspan and a 39" vertical. He will be an all star some day. (That said, I could see passing on him for one of the next two guys due to the presence of Rondo/West. Not sure I would pass on him, but I could see it.)

5)Yi Jianlin-I will admit I've never seen this guy play, but he's supposed to have huge upside and he has wowed with his skills and athleticism in workouts. Additionally, he averaged 24 pts and 11 reb in China's top league. The foreigners who have panned out (Nowitzki, Gasol, Ming, Parker, Ginobli, Bargnani) were all players with real experience in their native countries. The busts (Darko, Tskitishvili, etc.) tend to have been workout wonders.

6)Corey Brewer-Give Tayshaun Prince shooting guard skills and you've got Corey Brewer.

7)Jeff Green-A do it all small forward who contributes across the board. Would fit in great with the current roster.

8)Brandon Wright-In a few years, I may look foolish for putting him this low. However the fact that his effort has been questioned, means I may look foolish for putting him this high.

9)Joakim Noah-A proven winner, who will bring enthusiasm, defense and leadership. Too bad he can't shoot.

Top Sleeper-Jared Dudley-If he falls to the 2nd round, the Celtics need to pounce. This guy will be a valuable player for the next decade.

Anyhow, thanks to anyone who read this. I'll be back soon with my opinions on the Celtic's moves tomorrow and promise future posts will not be so self aggrandizing. My hope is this blog will develop into a community, or at least a forum for discussion, so if you have any feedback, please don't hesitate.
-Bodner