NBA Draft and Free Agency Extravaganza

But first, let me get this off my chest - Hook 'em Horns!! We're no. 2!!! Which I guess beats the hell out of number 3, right? Whatever. Unfortunate loss for the horns to close out the "best damn tournament of any sport" up in Omaha. It was nice to see them come back strong in game 2 after such a brutal first game. Give the Tigers credit though, they're a damn good baseball team and deserved that. I can't get too down on the horns either as they're a fairly consistent mainstay in Omaha and that's what you shoot for. And fear not as we've got a solid young corps back next year, including ace Taylor Jungmann. All in all a great year for the horns and a great showing in Omaha, highlighted by the 2 great wins over ASU.

NBA Draft:
So we've now gone through what has to be one of the worst NBA drafts in recent years and we're set to begin free agency this week (that's the week of June 29th in case I get this out late). Let's take a look at some of the top stories and things to watch for as the market opens.

• Congratulations Blake Griffin, on being the number one pick in this year's draft. Good luck ever climbing out of mediocrity after your stint with the Clippers. If you have any doubts whatsoever about the bad luck you are about to endure, take a look at this: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090624&sportCat=nba
• In all seriousness, there's no question that Griffin is the best *prospect* in this draft, but he needs to develop. He's got all the right parts in place (heart, hustle, great work ethic, toughness, etc.), but anyone who has watched an ounce of NBA knows that he needs to develop his "NBA game". He has no offensive game other than to over power guys to the basket - that won't fly when you're playing against Garnett, Duncan, Stoudamire, Gasol, Martin, Artest, etc., etc. I worry about this kid because as I said above, he's going to the Clippers and never once in the history of their existence have the Clippers been able to develop talent. They kill it and then ship it out of town. It took Lamar Odom like 6-8 years to get back to the level that he should have been at since he came into this league (a number 4 pick by the Clippers by the way). I'm just saying...
• Stop the presses - Shaq to Cleveland???? Well, let's just pencil these cats into the NBA champs column next year, shall we? Not so fast. I'm not positive this is going to do what everyone wants it to do for this ball club. I haven't looked at this, but were Shaq's numbers that much better than Igalskaus' last year? Screw it, I looked it up. Looks like the Big Z averaged about the same number of rebounds and 5 fewer points so a minor upgrade there. Look, we all know that Shaq is on his last leg and frankly this was the ultimate desperation move by Cleveland and it doesn't really get them to where they (I think) need to be in order to keep Lebron around. Shaq is done after this year for good and I'm not positive he can stay healthy this year. Look for them to use him sparingly until the playoffs start - after all, they had the best record in the league last year without him. I would still take Garnett and Howard over Shaq right now...in a heartbeat.
  
• And speaking of Shaq - how come you never here the "shaq couldn't win one without another superstar" talk? He wins 3 in LA with Kobe, but noooo, it was Kobe who rode the coattails to those championships. Then he goes to Miami to "win one without Kobe". Hmmm....so he trades Kobe for Dwayne Wade in D-Wade's greatest single season to date? Besides, we all know that Shaq had about as much to do with that championship as Jason Kopono did. And now he's with Lebron. Sheesh, I guess if Shaq happens to win another ring it will be because he's so much better than everyone else. Give me a break. I love Shaq, but I'm not one to believe that all of his rings were his and his alone.
  
• Just when you thought the Spurs were heading into a long, dark abyss they go and make 2 moves that gets them off the mat in the West. First, they bring in Richard Jefferson. Now I'm not in the camp of "this immediately puts them in the finals" by any means, but this is most definitely an offensive upgrade that will take some of the scoring pressure off of Ginobli and Duncan. BUT, defensively he's not really bringing anything to the table. Who knows, perhaps with the defensive-minded Spurs he can turn that on a bit, but he's been playing a while and hasn't had one yet so I can't say I see it coming. The second big move (which was as much luck as anything) was landing Dejuan Blair in the second round of the draft. Obviously he's got some knee issues that scared some folks off (like, he doesn't have any ACLs), but I'm shocked he fell this low. There could not have been a more perfect fit for this club than Blair. He's no all star, but he'll come to play and he'll play hard every night. He absolutely abused Thabeet in their regular season games against UCONN this year....and Thabeet went second.
  
• BUT, if the Spurs land Rasheed Wallace, forget about it. That will give them a starting five of Wallace and Duncan down low with Ginobli, Parker and Jefferson in the backcourt. That's a brutal starting 5 right there. Barring injuries (and given the age of 3 of those 5 it's not a stretch), this team will be very, VERY tough to beat.
• Really Minnesota? You've got two consecutive picks and you take 2 consecutive point guards???? Wow. Regardless of what I hear from you in the press, you WILL trade one of these guys - unless you're a complete idiot.
  
• Alright, I'm going to yet again buck popular belief here - I'm not sure where everyone is getting the "Ricky Rubio is the best thing since Pistol Pete" BS, but I'm not seeing it. Yes, I've seen the same 9 highlights you all have see and I even saw him play in the Olympics and I'll give him this - he didn't kill his team. But to put a blanket, "he's going to be a superstar" statement out there is a bit premature in my humble opinion. We'll see - and I hope he does well, but I'm just not sold on it.
  
• Another area where I'm in the minority is around Rojon Rondo. There was quite the upheaval with the reported offer by Danny Ainge to send Rondo and Ray Allen to Detroit for Hamilton, Stuckey and Prince. The deal itself was a tad absurd, but the idea wasn't that far fetched. This would have made Boston a MUCH better team instantly. Here's the deal for all of you Rondo sympathizers, Boston doesn't *need* Rondo right now. Let's just say that they don't make any moves, but they replace Rondo with another point guard (a serviceable point guard), how does that hurt them? What they need is a floor general who can get his scorers the ball where they are best at their game - he's a fourth option scorer. I would contend that if you had KG, Pierce, Hamilton, and Prince in the lineup, it doesn't matter who you put at PG. Hell, Stuckey would do just fine in that role as would Aaron Brooks, Mo Williams, Derek Fisher, Mike Conley, TJ Ford, etc. And if he's a pain in the ass in the locker room, dump him. He's not as valuable to the team as many are making him out to be. I'll also tell you this - if he were on a non-contender, you'd likely never hear from him again.
  
• No one is having as bad of a week as the Houston Rockets. If Yao is in fact out for the year, they are so screwed it's ridiculous. Assuming there is truth here, the Rockets now HAVE to go get an elite player somehow - something to start building around. Hell, they could even make some smaller moves (get T-Mac out), build a nucleus and then make a run at one of the top free agents next year. They'll have to mail in this coming season, but without Yao and McGrady, they have no chance to compete in the west. This is such a heartbreaker for these guys as they were able to build this team pretty darn well over the past couple of years and have that solid core of players with Ming, Artest, Brooks and Battier. Too bad -will be interesting to watch this unravel. Look for a "please God take this guy's contract" move to ship McGrady somewhere....anywhere very soon.
• Looking for some big stories to watch in free agency? Watch out for the Pistons who clearly showed interest in Rondo, but who also really like Ben Gordon (so I hear/read). Gordon certainly earned himself some dollar bills in this year's playoffs too. Will be interesting to see what they do here, but Dumars has to be feeling a bit of pressure (wait, he's the president, right? maybe not) as they had one of their worst seasons in the past 10 years last year.
  
• Another team who's been eerily quiet of late, but who has been needing to make a move is the Blazers. Portland has some cap space I believe which makes for an enticing sign and trade opportunity. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Carlos Boozer and Portland take a long look at each other this summer. Ron Artest is another candidate here as well.
• Look for Charlie Villanueva to be another name that sparks serious interest with the above-mentioned Pistons, and maybe Cavs too. He's coming off of career highs in points a rebounds, but the Bucks clearly don't want him. Weird.
• You probably didn't notice this, but the Lakers sold their number 29 pick to the Knicks for $3 million. Trust me - this will go a long way in securing Ariza and Odom for the next couple of years.
  

Other Random Thoughts Inside and Outside the Sports World:

• How about that US Soccer team? I SAID, HOW ABOUT THAT US SOCCER TEAM! Anyone?
  
• I've officially given up on A-Rod. What a weird, weird guy he is. Although not a huge baseball fan, I've always *wanted* to root for this guy, but sheesh. Steroids aside, the hitting slump followed by the needed rest, followed immediately by pics of you out partying all night. Nice, very nice way to continue to rebuild your reputation. Of course you can make all of this go away with a simple, little ring.
  
• Let me get this straight - "suspended" Manny Ramirez is still allowed to play in minor league "rehab" starts? Oh man, baseball just gets better and better.
• And speaking of MLB - nice legacy Donald Fehr....except for that whole steroid thing. My favorite recent line of his, "had we known about this earlier I think we could have done more." Oh that's rich.
• I hate to say this, but I'm really starting to dislike Brett Favre in a TO kind of way.
  
• I wish Vince Young would surround himself with folks smart enough to know when to tell him to shut his f'ng mouth. I'm as big a VY fan as the next person, but he's nothing but a spoiled, soft little brat. Hey Vince, welcome to the real world, it's called adversity. I know it's new to you, but it's common to all of us. Shut up, grow up and you had better start learning from your teammates who've been in your spot before (i.e. Kerry Collins). Very, very disappointing situation VY has put himself into. I think he's gone from Tenn after this year and likely to never be heard from again in the NFL.
• And speaking of - all of a sudden, Houston's number one pick of Mario Williams isn't such a bad idea after all. Let's look at Williams compared with Bush, Young and even Lineart at this point. Yep, looks like a good move to me.
  
• Everyone in the House of Representatives raise your hand if you read the entire "Environment Bill" you voted on last week? Ladies and gentlemen, your US Government.
• Dear Iran - we don't give a sh*t who wins your pointless little election. Therefore, we have no interest in tampering with it. Please stop blaming others for the fact that you are still about a generation or two behind the rest of the world in evolving.
• I still don't know what to say about Michael Jackson. Certainly an unfortunate turn of events, especially given he was so young. He was the shiz-nit, absolutely no questioning that, but he was a weird, weird cat and I would be lying if I told you I didn't think he ever did anything wrong with those kids. No, he wasn't ever convicted, but he did settle a suite for $27 million which is a lot of money for someone who didn't do anything. I'm just saying....Either way, Thriller is still one of the best albums of all time.
• Speaking of how efficient our US Government is, remember that Minnesota Senate race with Al Franken and some guy not named Al Franken (Norm Coleman)? Well, 8 short months later and we have resolution - Franken's the winner. Too bad no one remembers that all of this went down.
  
• Can we make a pact that politicians officially can never again throw a fit if a "competitor" gets busted cheating on his/her wife/husband? I mean, if it's not infidelity, it's not paying your taxes.
  
• And one more thing on our politicians - can we please put an age limit in the rules somewhere? I recently read that Senator Byrd was just released from a hospital stay that kept him away from his job for six weeks. Oh yeah, HE'S 91!!! Are you kidding me? I kept looking for the paragraph that said, "he was released from the hospital on Tuesday and was sent directly to the morgue....because he died.....because he was 91". Seriously, this is absurd. I know the dude's been a good public servant (regardless of your affiliation), but 91? Really? Is this the best West Virginia can do?
  
• If Federer wins Wimbledon without having to face Nadal, is he the best ever? He'll have more major wins than anyone else and Sampras never won the French so he's got that. It's hard to say, but the dude is good - Nadal or not. BUT, I would like to see him face Nadal in a US Open or Auzzie Open and beat him in a final.
  

That's what I got guys - I'll be looking to have some celebrity posters submit their musings, opinions and general dribble over the summer. Coming soon...

Tour de France preview and coverage as well as a piece on why sports stars are so "soft" these days. Stay tuned for more.