I was just talking about that the other day. Al Jefferson went a mere 5 picks after the cavs took Jackson

Well, in 1996, the Cavs drafted both Vitaly Potapenko and Zydrunas Ilgauskas in the first round. Potapenko went 12th...right before Kobe. No guarantee they keep him, I guess, but man...two big Russkies within eight picks? Imagine Kobe with a prime Terrell Brandon in the same backcourt. Yeesh...

Subtle, I like it. The first draft pick after a superstar is drafted is critical, it’s likely the last chance to get another star before superstar starts making playoff appearances.

Would love to re-do Cavaliers taking Luke Jackson at 10 after LBJ’s rookie year.Paxsom was the WORST GM.I’d have rather had the blind owner making the picks.

I remember watching one of the last press conferences Lebron had when he was a senior in high school. (Ha ha. Think about the statement I just typed—how fucking awesome has this guy’s life been?) So a reporter tried to zing him by bringing up the fact that it was a little suspicious a kid “from your background” was…

For the Bucks: As much as I loved the Big Dog, Glenn Robinson over Jason Kidd and Grant Hill in ‘94 ended up a bummer. Jason Kidd to Ray Allen would’ve been fun.

2003 is obviously the first draft that comes to mind, but its also interesting to look at 2008. Rose going number one to the Bulls, and Westbrook staying till 4. obviously no way to predict the injuries, but if Bulls take Westbrook at 1 I think that would have won a championship.

In 1998 the Sixers took Larry Hughes one pick before Dirk. Reversing that would have prevented Sam Hinkie from ever being born.

Well I’m a Blazer fan, so fuck this question.

Taking any one of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, or Dwyane Wade over Darko, obviously. That pick had the potential to be a “James Worthy to the Lakers” kind of dynasty maker. Instead, the Pistons took a player whose greatest career accomplishment is getting a blog named after him.

INTERWEBZ JUSTICE WARRIOR WHO DOES NOTHING TO HELP SOCIETY!

Thanks for the heads up! I think I will sit out the draft this year and test the waters next year. By then I’ll have cycled through four or five more workout routines from Men’s Fitness and I feel like my draft stock will really be at its apex. (Apex is the good one, right?)

The only way they could have been boned worse is if they continued going to school and tried to get a job with a degree they’d receive in 4 -6 years.

Really great work here by WFAA on actually looking into and reporting out the agreement. So many local news outlets are usually just cheerleaders for stadium deals.

Note Steph could have chosen to go by Love on his first possession, but saw LeBron lurking as free safety underneath. Surely his anxiety spiked after getting owned by LeBron all series, and he decided to take his chances hoisting a contested 3 over Love instead.

I went back and watched the last 4 almost scoreless minutes again, and while everyone else is just watching the long threes flat-footed, Kevin Love is sprinting in from three point line, positioning himself for a rebound. Good for him.

This might have been my favorite tweet from last night.

Story that I heard is that JR was smoking cigars in the GSW locker room with a wrestling championship belt over his shoulder. The security guard told him to put the cigar out and you can’t smoke in there.

In early 2003 I got back into NBA ball after a long hiatus (I’d spent my childhood watching Bird’s Celtics but fell out of sports fandom in my teen years and into my early twenties). That spring, I saw an ESPN Magazine cover with some dude on it, labeling him the future of basketball. Curious, I picked it up, and read…

Last night was amazing. I went downtown to watch the game. I’ve never been with a more electric crowd and when they won it was louder than any place I’ve ever been.