Shut up Stephen A.

The NBA draft on Thursday went according to plan for the most part, here are a few thoughts...

• Seattle--GM Sam Presti and crew get an A+ for their work on draft night. They get a franchise player in KD, another stud in Jeff Green, and two solid bench guys in Wally and Delonte West. However, where does Rashard Lewis fit into this team now? He and Durant are both natural SF's and are very similar in body type. If Durant is quick enough to guard 2's than it works, but I don't think he will be able to now, if ever. So we'll have to see what happens, it seems to me that it would have more sense to move Lewis than Ray Allen, and than KD could step into that SF role immediately.
  
• Portland--Oden was obviously the pick at #1, but what the hell happened with that Zach Randolph trade?! Channing Frye is decent and still improving [11 ppg, 5.5 rbs/gm], but Steve Francis? The guy is 30 years old, scored 11 points and dished out 4 assists a game, while shooting 40% from the field last year... those stats don't exactly jump out at you. Zach Randolph on the other hand, is a stud who averaged 23 and 10 last year, and while he has had off the court issues the Blazers should have gotten a ton more than Frye/Francis.
• Probably the funniest pick--Yi to Milwaukee! I can picture him right now sitting around Milwaukee in the freezing cold wondering what they hell he's supposed to do.
• Chicago--Uchhhh. That was my first thought when I heard all the talk about how the Bulls and Noah were a great fit and that at 9 he would be available. I'll give you the story from the beginning; I've never thought Noah was anything other than a player who hustles extremely well. He can't shoot--his form looks like one of those old two-handed set shots, except he's clearly not trying to shoot a two-handed set shot. He won't be able to handle the league physically yet as he's rail thin, and he doesn't even fit the bill of a "back to the basket" player that the Bulls are sorely lacking. He's an energy guy, not a low post scorer. Why not deal that 9 pick and one of your assets for a low post guy? Like say, Zach Randolph! Now if you're Kevin Pritchard, would you rather have the 9 pick and say, Ben Gordon or Channing Frye and Steve Francis? I would have loved Randolph here, that would have been a great fit--a proven low post scorer, not Noah.
• How much Oden and Durant are we going to see next year on TV? Being stuck out in the Pacific Northwest will be tough in terms of publicity, but with enough nationally televised games hopefully the east-coast media will get enough coverage and we'll be able to see them play plenty next year [even if the games aren't on until 10:30pm]
  
• I feel bad for Jason Smith. The center from Colorado State gets picked by Miami at 20--great! He's thinking "I'm gonna live down in South Beach, hang out with D-Wade and Shaq and live the life down there, awesome!" A few minutes later he is traded to Philadelphia for Daequan Cook. Philadelphia...were there's...um...jeez...that Rocky statue?
• Yi's interview with Stu Scott. I actually stopped listening half way through because I was so embarrassed for Yi. The time I was listening I couldn't understand a word he said--talking to Stu Scott makes it that much more difficult. He and blowhard Stephen A. Smith need to be locked in a barrel and sent adrift on the Atlantic.
  
• The dinner bet between Stephen A. and Dickie V. WOW, can we get Pay-Per-View for that? I don't think there's enough space in any one restaurant for ONE of those guys, let alone both at the same table! I would advise the people sitting near them to bring some foam earplugs.
• Stephen A. is out of control. Does he have voice-immodulation disorder, like Will Ferrell in that SNL skit? The guy can't speak under 75 decibels. Every time he talked I literally turned the volume down on my TV so it would be as if someone were speaking in a normal tone of voice, unbelievable. Besides that, he doesn't even make sense half the time, why does he have a job? I would like to nominate Jim Rome as a third party for the 'barrel in the Atlantic' as well.
• Greg Oden is great, he's my new second favorite player behind Nash. Go to Youtube and watch some interviews with him, he's a legitimately funny guy. He's gonna be great for the league.
• I have to go now, but I want to talk about the Celts trade later

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