By Paul M. Banks and David Kay
5:28 (PMB) Welcome to our 2009 NBA Draft Live Blog. Dave and I will be commenting all night on every pick as it comes through, we request, no require that you add your commentary in the threads below. There will be also be added commentary from time to time by my ESPN.com buddy West Lamy, who accompanied me to the Chicago Bulls practice facility in beautiful Deerfield, IL. Yes, this blog will indeed be brought to you live from the HQ of the league’s most dynastic franchises. I’m excited! I know a lot of people are bummed out about Farah Fawcett’s death, and the critical condition that the King of Pop Michael Jackson is reported to be in. But let’s not let that spoil our fun. Happy Draft Day everyone!
5:46 (DK) I’m nervous Paul… like butterflies in my stomach nervous… I just want to beat ESPN’s Chad Ford. That’s all. We tied last year each picking nine right in the first round… this year something crazy is going to happen and one of us will be broke with our picks… BTW, I am setting an over/under of 25,000 words for this exchange.
5:59 (PMB) I might have to take the over on that! I’m a little nervous about it too, but Christmas is here. I don’t want to be too much of a buzzkill, so I’ll just post the link to Michael Jackson’s “Jam,” the video he did in ’92 with the other MJ, Michael Jordan. Since it’s basketball related. Again, it’s too sad to really go in-depth on here, but I wanted to pay my respects….To move on to something more light hearted. Take this quiz of NBA Draft night suits.
6:03 (PMB) Everyone is familiar with Jo Noah’s “Dean of Clown College” ensemble from ’07, but you’ll see plenty of other suits that look like they belong on one of the gangster villains in the early 90s live action “Dick Tracy” movie
6:11 (DK) Paul, why won’t Jay Bilas return my calls? He could be the blonde-haired guy to my Paul Rudd in “I Love You, Man”
6:15 (DK) Stuart Scott just put Anferne Hardaway in the same sentence as LeBron, Kobe, and D-Wade. Really??? Ok, gotta go anchor the 6:00 sports. See you for the start of the draft.
6:30 (PMB) Wow! that was a horrible “observation” like my opinion of Stu Scott could go any lower….I guess it just did. On the other side of the spectrum, Paul Schmidt made a keen insight below- Ricky Rubio is indeed the man you want to be right now. As Nate Dogg would say “gets more ass than a toliet seat”. BTW, West, who’s sitting across from me right now loves my 2 laptops going at the same time, just in case one fails. He said “I’m in the matrix”
6:33 (DK) It’s go-time… Thank goodness David Stern mentioned that New York is the home of the Liberty.
6:36 (DK) If I could punch Stuart Scott in the face and not in trouble for it, I would totally do it… Why is it taking the Clippers so long to write Blake Griffin’s name down?
6:39 (DK) Like Q, I LOVE Rubio. Q just likes him because of his sweet hair though. The Griz will be kicking themselves in three years for drafting Thabeet over him.
6:44 (DK) Blake Griffin definitely got stuck with his mom’s looks…
6:48 (DK) Grizzlies are dumb. Kevin Durant is popping bottles of Cris like he’s Diddy right now since he’ll be playing alongside Ricky Rubio.
6:56 (PMB) First surprise of the night! Kings will likely get what they want. Kendall Gill in the house, other end of media table. Can he be “KG” as well? is there only one? Kings take Tyreke. Ricky Rubio’s stock falling like Brady Quinn in ’07 NFL draft.
6:58 (DK) WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! James Harden… REALLY??? Kevin Durant just shattered the bottle of Cris over his head. The Kings just pee’d themselves a little bit… If I’m Minnesota I’m trying like hell to get to #4 and take Rubio… or what if Rubio falls to 5??? My head is spinning… and my mock is trashed!
6:59 (DK) LOVE Tyreke Evans… have been saying it all year… don’t love him on Sac-town though… I think Peter Christian is crying in realizing that the T-Wolves landed Rubio at 5!!!
7:05 (DK) HUH? Rubio AND Flynn??? Aren’t they both point guards?? One of them has to be getting traded… right? maybe?
7:23 (DK) Hey, Dell Curry and I share the same birthday. The Curry-Hill combo at 7 and 8 gets me back in the race vs. Chad Ford. Current count, Me: 3 Ford :4
7:24 (DK) AHHHH!!!!!!!! Rachel Nichols. Why? WHY? WHY RUIN MY FAVORITE EVENT OF THE YEAR BY HAVING HER COVERING A TEAM???? DAMN YOU ESPN!!!!
7:27 (DK) DeRozan was pretty much a gimme.
7:32 (DK) Bucks last 2 first round picks: Yi Jianlian and Joe Alexander.
7:35 (DK) I don’t see the Jennings-Scott Skiles relationship going well. I think Fran Fraschilla jizzed his pants a little bit.
7:39 (DK) Bilas’ boy!!! I like T-Will a lot. Of course I do, he is from the Big East. By the way, Chad Ford is OWNING me right now. FORD: 7, ME: 4
7:45 (DK) Anyone from Duke who gets drafted seems like such an anti-climactic pick. Cue Dickie V. in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…
7:50 (PMB) THANK GOD THE BULLS WON’T GET HANSBROUGH. As much I hate to see him drafted this high, I’m so glad he wont be in Chicago…Hallelujah
7:53 (PMB) I guess my hate for Indiana teams…Colts, Hoosiers, ND, now the Pacers are very much a part of that too. I like the guy picked ahead of him a lot, Henderson simply because he once bloodied Psycho T.’s nose
7:57 (PMB) cue the Bill Rafterryism Clark BARRRRRRRR! SEND IT IN!
7:59 (DK) I thought Jennings wasn’t in the “green room.” That was bizarre. Especially him praising the going overseas experiment. I would have set the odds at 1-1 that a “Clark Bar” reference would come about from Banks when Earl was pick. By the way, COMPTON!!!!
8:04 (DK) With Daye going to the Pistons, I will now prepare my speech conceding this race. Shocker, Dickie V. praising Hansbrough AND Curry… No way…
8:06 (DK) A Dickie V rant on proven college players is as predictable as Brett Favre retirement/un-retirement rumors every off-season.
8:06 (PMB) Straight outta Compton! Here we go Chicago…they’ll take the player in this draft most likely to win the Shawn Kemp award…for having the highest number of illegitimate children.
8:11 (DK) Steve Kerr pretty much just admitted Steve Nash and Amare are going to be traded. Let the bidding begin.
8:16 (DK) Don’t mistake Jrue Holiday for Dru Hill… If B.J. Mullens goes to the T-Wolves at 18, I wouldn’t want to be near Peter Christian.
8:21 (DK) I’m baffled. There has to be a trade coming. Right? Or is David Kahn truly Kevin McHale part 2. Ok, Lawson to Denver. I can calm down now.
8:25 (DK) HEY! Teague to Atlanta! I picked that! Ford is still embarrassing me though. I owe him an apology. Even though he updated his mock like 10 minutes before the draft started and my last update was at 4:00. Yes, that was an excuse.
8:30 (DK) Is it wrong that I am really happy B.J. Mullens is sliding?
8:31 (PMB) Jay Bilas said earlier “there’s not a lot of low post talent available in this draft” UNDERSTATEMENT of the century! if BJ Mullens is an actual 1st rd prospect
8:32 (PMB) They handed out sheets profiling James Johnson here. Love what it says under Personal: “Father is 7 time world champion kick boxer. Is middle child in family of nine children, six brothers and two sisters.”
8:34 (DK) I love when late first round picks come to the draft and walk out of the crowd onto the stage. Collison is a bit of a reach at 21.
8:37 (DK) That whole “Blair having no ACL thing” really did hurt his stock huh?
8:38 (PMB) DID YOU HEAR ME ON THE MORNING BREAK TODAY?! WHEN I SAID JAMES JOHNSON WOULD BE A GREAT FIT FOR CHICAGO AND EXACTLY WHAT THEY’RE LOOKING FOR? I KNOW I SHOULD TAKE A BOW…SERIOUSLY. Guess we’re not going to reach 25,000 words…but it might be close
8:41 (DK) Fran Fraschilla is to foreign players what Dickie V. is to Duke/UNC/upperclassmen.
8:42 (DK) Shaq is great! How can people not like this guy?
8:43 (DK) “I came off the bench behind the great Stanley Roberts”- Shaq. GOLD JERRY, GOLD!
8:46 (DK) Seriously, is there any foreign player Fraschilla doesn’t love?
8:54 (DK) Bulls fans are relieved B.J. Mullens is off the board. DeJuan Blair?? Sam Young??
8:55 (PMB) Mullens’ upside= Yinka Dare
8:58 (DK) Peter, I had Beaubois going 42 to Charlotte… so he was on my board. Gibson to the Bulls. Another post player. Can’t believe Blair is falling this far. WOW!
9:03 (PMB) Taj Gibson, Chicago takes two prospects to play the four? ARE YOU LISTENING TYRUS THOMAS?! Time to obtain an actual post move.
Blair’s stock is falling worse than General Motors…za-zing!
9:04 (PMB) They should have Shaq on again “I had a mental conversation with them” LOVE IT!
DaMarre Carroll! The man no journalists seemed interesting in talking to at Combine Media Day…He was nice though. good man
9:05 (PMB) This NBA Draft has convinced me where I need to go this summer on vacation….Spain!
9:08 (DK) Wayne Ellington would be a great fit with ‘Sota.
9:12 (DK) Hey, saved a little bit of face with that call. David Kahn may know what he is doing after all…
9:15 (DK) Darko for Q-Rich. Remember how sweet Q and D-Miles were with that antenna on the head thing. I used do that in intramural hoops with Q.
9:17 (DK) Young, Blair, Budinger, Mills, Brown… a lot of solid players on the board.
9:18 (PMB) Can Stu Scott at least PRETEND not to have a boner over his alma mater UNC having so many guys drafted? This is why I hate the “Boo-Yah Network” and Eastern Seaboard Programming Network so much
9:23 (DK) WOW… DeJuan Blair doesn’t get picked in the first round. I’m stunned. Has been seen in a wheelchair or something? Are his knees that big of a red flag?
9:24 (DK) Final tally: Ford: 13 Me: 6 I’m embarrassed. I need to start cold calling NBA GM’s.
9:27 (DK) Hey, thanks for coming. I have a sportscast to produce. Check back here or at www.walterfootball.com for more Draft analysis. Good luck to Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews getting drafted.
9:46 (PMB) I’m back. James Johnson was on conference call…seems like a nice dude. Was a more interesting interview at the draft than here. I guess Tyrus could be on the way out? I haven’t heard anything concrete but what I’ve heard I guess they’re shopping him.
9:50 (PMB) Got a chance to look around this place. Lots of Bulls bling. The title trophies are encased near the practice court and there’s a little hardwood indoor track around the court. All the banners are up too.
10:05 (PMB) In case you’re new here and wondering what this site is all about….this email from Amanda H. in Seattle sums up TSB best….
You said it perfect when you said something along the lines of it being the place to find the info/access of a reporter & the passion of the die-hard fan! It’s like that buddy we all have, the one you watch football with every weekend (college & NFL), the guy you go to Opening Day with every year.. It’s like that guy somehow got into these places/events, met these people and is telling you about it.. Mind you that “buddy”of mine cannot write quite as well as you Paul, but the wittiness and passion is there, along with the occasional hilarious, BAD joke! (I mean that as a compliment!)
10:28 (PMB) Well, this was fun everyone wasn’t it? Stay tuned for NBA Draft grades and much much more on Walter Football.com I got a few candid questions in just now during the press conference with Bulls GM Gar Forman and Coach Vinny Del Negro. Look for more Bulls offseason analysis, with insights from both men soon. Both at Walter Football and here at TSB. It’s been fun! See you soon
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Sounds like Mike didn’t make it. It nearly crashed twitter.
Don’t bring MJ into this.. It’s too sad.. Let Draft Day continue!
When I was in line for food. I heard the awful news…I’m going to post one link as as a tribute…and then we can move on
I was debating dressing in my Michael Jackson costume and driving to
Gary but I’d rather read this blog.
Glad you paid your respects Paul.. Very appropriate..
Now, do it guys.. Crush Chad Ford!!! :)
In all honesty, is there a bigger rock star than Ricky Rubio right now? He looks like a 12 year old skateboarder, he owns a silver medal…I mean sure, being Blake Griffin would be great but if I could be anyone in that room I’d be Ricky Rubio….
Stephen Curry looks like a younger Harold Ford….sports and political geekss? you agree with me? right?
Do I even need to mention that I love Rubio?
Curry almost seemed to be hinting that the Knicks gave him word he’d be their pick…rare to see an athlete actually give an opinion of where he’d want to go
Most underrated part of the draft — The Knicks fans!!! Stern’s comical reaction to them is always fantastic.
Paul, you can’t be serious. It’s NY, nothing about it is underrated when they already think they rule the Earth
Is Taylor Griffin an actual prospect? Might he still be sitting there when the draft ends?
Here is the truth nothing but the truth. With Rose, the Bulls are set at point guard. With Noah and Ty Thomas in the post, they should be set down low. They have Salmons on the perimeter and veterans in Hinrich and Miller off the bench…HOWEVA..The biggest question will be whether Gordon can find a team and a deal to his liking. He has said he wants to be in Chicago, but he’s turned down deals worth $54M (six years) and $50M (five years). Chicago can go over the cap to sign him, but there are few teams (Detroit has been mentioned as a potential destination) with enough room to fit him in. If Gordon leaves, they can use Rose and Hinrich in the backcourt. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Bulls hedge their bets with a shooting guard in the Draft.
Taylor to Utah at 50 is a possibility… a mistake, but a possibility
Hey, Dave, it’s never a mistake for Utah to draft big white centers.
West, I love how I’m having this discussion with you here, when we’re actually sitting across the way from each other in person. I agree with you about the Bulls likely taking a SG, I DO NOT AGREE abt them being set in the post. Ty has no post moves? he’s useless down low- he does a have a decent mid range jumper
agreed about utah, ostertag! they should have had shawn bradley too- he was Mormon
I cant wait for the Knicks to get on the clock. I am hoping my boy Spike Lee is in the house. HOWEVA..there have been sightings of Spike in LA rooting Kobe on. Spike! Do the right thing!
Memphis has had 4 winning seasons? Surprise of the draft!
Wait, West is the mouth of the south?? That doesn’t make sense…Hi West!
Is it just me or is Thabeet the poster boy for this draft being a little weak? His upside is Shawn Bradley in the NBA, right?
EH, Mark Jackson….Bryan Westbrook, Russell Westbrook, same difference….:P
The hair, the accent, the boyish good looks (can they be boyish if you’re still actually a boy?)…
HOLY CRAP! If I can identify that James Harden is going to be a bust, how in the world can’t NBA people??
I don’t think Harden becomes much of anything, just saying
JAMES HARDEN..SWAGGA on a hundred trillion!
Wow, the Timberwolves just had Ricky Rubio drop in their laps…Dave, is this how they drew it up in their war rooms? And do they even wait for Tyreke Evans to get off the stage before they get the pick up there?
Oh my GOD! Ricky Rubio is going to be a T-wolf! Excuse me while I get a clean pair of pants
my mock is SOOOO F’d…
Ricky Rubio!!..dropping like current citibank stock. No body wants a point guard. So far the chicks dig the down low offense and shooting guards.
Memphis is nuts for wanting the 5th and 6th pick from MN for the 2nd. Thabeet is a 1 dimensional player right now, even though that size is very enticing.
My man Ricky got banished to Minneapolis…gonna need a new wardrobe.
Hey mouth of the south, “nobody” is one word!
Herbs the word… welcome sir…
WHOA…there’s good trivia — First NBA player to be born in Spain, Wally Szcerbiak???
Pretty Ricky can shoot.
It’s official! I could hang an entire suit from a hanger below my waist. True story.
I’ll nominate that for most disturbing visual of draft night. Stephan Curry is really a good pick here if they make it.
Those two in a row. Que interesante. There must be a trade on the way.
BACK TO BACK Point guards? why!
Well that’s interesting. Why not put two point guards out there, hell, could be interesting.
why do the ESPN guys refuse to acknowledge there’s a trade coming?
Thanks David K. I am not the expert in mock drafts and whatnot, but I am guessing that we take Tyler H. It would seem to be par for the course for the franchise, but I guess maybe I can’t say since it’s new management.
Q — maybe a trade isn’t on the way. I mean, they could try and run two PGs, couldn’t they?
Funny, after that 6OT game, I don’t remember anyone talking about how amazing Jonny Flynn was. Not that we’re rewriting history for the sake of “interesting” television…
Back to back point guards Minnesota!..P.Herbert it is hard to type while watching the draft in HD. Thanks for the correction.
They certainly could run 2 PGs, but to not even mention that a trade was possible? Seems asinine
Of course, tomorrow morning when nothing has happened, then I’ll be asinine.
Wow, Davidson isn’t even a University I guess. It was funny when I saw an interview with Curry on PTI and he said that a member of the media asked him who his father was. I hope that it wasn’t anybody from thesportsbank.net
Alright mouth of the south. I don’t know you so that was out of line. You should have it on the radio like I do. It makes it much more functional.
In keeping with the inappropriateness, Peter’s gonna have racquetballs in his pants by the time this night is over…