Ok, forget the five players involved in the trade. Randy Foye, so what. Mike Miller, likes to shoot. Etan Thomas, can rebound a little. Think more on the picks. Minnesota now has both the 5th and 6th pick in the upcoming NBA draft 2009. Think about the possibilities.

For the Timberwolves, they now own both the fifth and sixth picks in Thursday’s draft. With Foye now on his way to D.C., it’s safe to assume Minnesota will likely draft a point guard with at least one of those two selections.

Multiple sources have indicated that Wolves are very high on combo guard Tyreke Evans. However, there have been questions as to whether or not Evans will be a true point guard in the NBA. With the fifth pick now in their back pocket, the Wolves could now potentially draft Evans along with another “true” point guard should they so desire. The Wolves could also package the fifth and sixth picks in an attempt to try and move up in the draft, possibly as high as #2 if the Grizzlies are willing to pull the trigger.
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Will Ricky Rubio be a Timberwolf?

Timberwolf fans have to be loving the new GM David Kahn. He has put the team in position to land two great rookies or even trade up and get a possible franchise player like Rubio or Thabeet. This was an excellent trade.
Image: Zuma Press

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It is the consensus of the experts that Blake Griffith will be the number one pick in the draft, because he has it all, size, speed, talent, and strength. After Blake, the draft in the NBA for 2009 will get a little dicier.

Blake Griffin will fall to the top of the NBA draft

There’s no consensus. Some are pining for Spanish guard Ricky Rubio [above], who has a huge buyout from his Spanish team, Jovenut, to work out before he can come across the Atlantic . Others seek Connecticut’s 7-foot-3 junior center, Hasheem Thabeet, who has not yet formally decided whether he’ll skip his senior season and enter the draft. If Rubio and Thabeet are in the Draft, they’ll probably go No. 2 and No. 3.

But which one goes two or three depends on who’s picking. And, seven weeks before the Draft, the rest of the top half of the first round is equally unknowable. The difference between this year and previous years is we still may not know the complete top five well into June — perhaps into the final week before the draft.

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The NBA draft is so different from the NFL draft in that there are only 2 rounds in the NBA draft and the first rounder’s are guaranteed 3 year contracts. The players drafted in the second round usually don’t even make a roster.

One big surprise in the draft might be from Ohio State. Their freshman center, B. J. Mullins, has declared for the draft. He played against my MSU Spartans and was quite impressive for a freshman. Excellent footwork and great size. Is he NBA ready? Probably not, but there is a dearth of 7′ centers, so look for him to go high in the draft.

Photo source Newscom

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Hasheem Thabeet was showing off his big game in the NCAA tournament. As Tom Izzo said, “Until you are on the court and have to face him, you cannot believe how tall he is”.

Special Tom Izzo timeout: A big shout out to my MSU Spartans in the final game of the NCAA facing everyone’s favorite the North Carolina powder blue. May my Spartans rule!

Thabeet behind Kalin Lucas of MSU. It looks like he is playing with a bunch of 8th graders.

7′ 3″ tall and with a build that says he is strong, instead of tall. If you were in the stands watching him play, you might think he was a shorter player playing on a shorter rim, in other words he is not some bean pole.

And Thabeet has skills.

Now, less than three years removed from his days at Cypress Christian, Thabeet has plenty of reasons to smile. A junior who is still considered a raw talent by N.B.A. standards, he has developed into the Big East’s co-player of the year and the league’s back-to-back defensive player of the year. He is expected to be a top-five pick in the N.B.A. draft in June.

His shot-blocking and rebounding have been instrumental in the run that Connecticut (31-4) made to Saturday’s national semifinal against Michigan State (30-6) in Detroit.

This season, Thabeet is averaging 13.5 points, 10.9 rebounds and 4.28 blocks. Not bad for a player who had to be prodded by his high school coaches to dunk in layup lines.
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Hasheem is raw talent in a very tall body and the NBA needs him now.

Why? Will he begin to dominate the NBA?

No, Hasheem is not skilled enough to dominate, but he can begin to bring back the athletic big man to the NBA. It is a league that has oddly grown shorter at the center position and opted instead for speed. Hasheem can bring speed with tall, an odd mix of words, but you get it.

With Shaq on the way out, there are few big physical centers in the league left, maybe Oden or Howard. The NBA has always had big physical centers. We love to watch them play and smash against each other underneath the basket.

Yes, Hasheem wants the NBA and the NBA needs Hasheem.

Photo source Newscom

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