Fan Duel Toronto Raptors

Live Draft Night Bloggin’ (Alabi and Davis are Raptors)

Live coverage of the 2010 NBA Draft.

Raptors have acquired Alabi.

Starting tonight at 6:45pm I will be providing pick by pick coverage of the 2010 NBA Draft. The live chat will also start at 6:45PM, check back at that time for the link.

Chat is now closed.

Dont forget that Raptors Republic is hosting a Draft Night Party if you are in the GTA.

Can’t make it to the party and wont be online? Why not follow the pick by pick coverage of the draft via RR at Twitter.

6:51- Im here! Let the live bloggin’ begin!

Dont forget we also have live chat going on….here

more to come….

7:19- we are minutes away from the start of the draft…let the John Wall count down begin.

7:29-…its show time! – hey why dont we just start the draft at #6? we already know who the top 5 players are AND with GS thats where its going get crazy!!!

FIRST ROUND NBA DRAFT ORDER

1. Washington Wizards
John Wall- was this really a surprise? The best player in the draft going to a team in need of a superstar. Lets hope that he is not only talented but also patient- because its going to be a while.

2. Philadelphia 76ers
Evan Turner- I understand that he is a top notch talent, but why draft a wing when there are so many good bigs out there and you already have Iggy? This is still a good pick but you have to think that there is a deal coming soon.

3. New Jersey Nets
Derrick Favors- This is the right pick for this team. I know that they had talked about Johnson to try and smokescreen the TWolves into buying their pick, but a front court of Favors and Lopez should be fun to watch!

4. Minnesota Timberwolves
Wesley Johnson- even Minnesota couldn’t mess this pick up! He’s the next best wing available for a team that badly needs a wing. I thought that Cousins might be the pick here, especially with all the talk of trading Al Jeff, but 5 years from now, a team that includes Johnson, Love, Rubio is going to be fun to watch! And dont forget that Minny plays the triangle. A great pick!

5. Sacramento Kings
DeMarcus Cousins- a great pick for Sacramento. For the second straight year, Sacto gets one of the most NBA ready players. He will come in and compete big time! Sacto now has a serious front court of Dalembert, Cousins, and Carl Landry! Oouch- somebodys gonna get a hurtin- that is a serious rebounding team!

6. Golden State Warriors
Ekpe Udoh- sigh* I cant help but feel bad for my man. GS, where good talent goes to die, a slow and painful death. Great shot blocker, rebounder, and an excellent help defender. At RR, we had really hoped he would fall to us at #13. Whats funny is that when we started the big board over a month ago and put Udoh at #13- most sites didnt even have him in the lottery. He’s a good kid and we wish him luck.

7. Detroit Pistons
Greg Monroe- This is a good pick for Joe Dumars. He needs a big and a guy like Monroe is smart, skilled, and ready to go. Ed Davis may have a bigger upside, but Monroe is the better pick for this team: today, tomorrow, and 10 years down the road.

8. Los Angeles Clippers
Al-Farouq Aminu- So wait a second….LAC now looks like this:
Baron at the 1, Gordon at the 2, Aminu at the 3, Griffin at the 4 and Kaman at the 5…and dont forget they still have the cap space to sign a max free agent (or a couple of guys for the bench). Next year may be a fun year for the Clips.

9. Utah Jazz (From New York via Phoenix)
Gordon Hayward- oooh we have our first big surprise! Really thought Babbit would be the pick here, but you have to like not only the idea of Gordon going to Utah. This is a great pic both for the franchise and for Hayward. In fact, it may be the best place he could have ended up. Deron Williams and Jerry Sloan are going to make him look great!

10. Indiana Pacers
Paul George- WHAT? It appears as if the entire Raptors Big Board may be gone before the team even picks! The fact that he plays the same position as Granger suggests that either: Indy made this pick for someone else OR. Granger is on the move. Either way, Larry Legend has at least one more move up his sleeve. But with George we are looking at boom or bust. Either this pick is a home run or a disaster.

11. New Orleans Hornets
Cole Aldrich- Predicted this one here at the draft party. Maybe its part of a larger deal that will now see Okafor and Collison on the way out. But it may just be more of the fact that NO was one of the worst rebounding teams in the league. A safe pick for a franchise that needs security.
UPDATE: Ric Bucher reports that Aldrich is heading to OKC for #s 18 and 21

12. Memphis Grizzlies
Xavier Henry- Stat wise, he is a monster. Most of the stat geeks think he can be a top tier player. Either way, you pair him up with OJ Mayo and Rudy Gay and wow! you have talent. More than anything else, he is a great insurance policy in case Gay leaves but Memphis would rather have George.

13. Toronto Raptors
Ed Davis- Colangelo has won the lottery! He would have gone top 5 in last years draft and was actually’ in the discussion of the #1 overall pick early on in the season. Rebounder, shot blocker, explosive…this is a home run at 13. Way to go BC. But don’t stop there- get us 1 more pick and get us Bradley!

14. Houston Rockets
Patrick Patterson- Houston was doing cartwheels when he dropped. They love guys like him. Think Shane Battier 2.0. Adelman is going to love having him in Houston. He also measures out well with the stats geeks and there is no stat geek more revered than Daryl Morely in Houston.

9: 02-Done live bloggin with the end of the lottery.

9: 07- Will be back later in the night with an article on Ed Davis and any other Raptors related news that transpires.

9: 11- But real quickly:

This is a HUGE opportunity for the Raptors.

If at #13 you can draft a guy who can crack your rotation off the bench, you are doing well. If you can draft a starter, you have done real well. If you can draft an all star, you have won the draft. Ed Davis has all star potential.

Going into this past season Davis was #1 on most big boards, and if NC hadnt had such a horrible season, he would have gone top 5. Couple the poor season for the Tar Heels (who lost 3 starters to last years draft) with a wrist injury, and Davis saw his stock drop from top 5 to top 7 or top 10 at worst! To get him at 13 is actually hard to believe. Is still think Im dreaming.

Lastly, if the Raps are able to go out and land one more pick and get a player like AVery Bradley, then mvoing forward even without Bosh, you would have a core of Davis and Bargs (with Amir) in the front court and DeRozan and Bradley (with Weems) in the backcourt. And that is not including what you might be able to get for guys like Turk, Calderon, Jack or Bosh in a S&T. Talk about an awesome draft and a quick start for the rebuild.

9:14- Be back with more later, peace.

phdsteve