It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. After the NBA’s draft lottery last night, it looks like Blake Griffin will be taken by the Los Angeles Clippers first overall. The sad-sack Clips “overcame the odds” and moved up from third to first in the draft. The Sacramento Kings, who came into the lottery with the best shot at landing the No. 1 pick, actually fell to the fourth spot after both Memphis and Oklahoma City moved up to 2 and 3, respectively.
There is a silver lining to the Clippers taking the lottery, though; It saves Ricky Rubio. Could you imagine the Italian kid coming over to play in North America and being forced to learn the culture and the game from players as crazy as Zach Randolph and the Davises? Not to mention he would be coached by arguably the worst mentor in the league? It would have done irreparable damage to the guy and might’ve made him the biggest bust since Darko. Now, the interesting matter is where will he fall to?
The second-picking Grizzlies were so loaded at the point this season that they essentially gave away Kyle Lowry to stick with Mike Conley and Jarvis Crittendon. Oklahoma City drafted Russell Westbrook last year and that turned out stunningly. There’s no need to have two young potential superstars at one position when there’s clearly other needs. That leads us to Sacramento, who, while falling from the one spot, still could land Rubio, the second best player in the draft. Maybe it wasn’t so bad for Sacramento losing the lottery.
As for Lakers-Nuggets Game 1, well, I knew that Denver would give them a good game, but that was even closer than I would’ve imagined. But really, the story should be how bad that turnover was in the last 10 seconds that ultimately cost the Nuggets the game. If you can’t inbound a ball properly in clutch time, how much of a chance do you realistically have of taking a series?
Original post by mattusximus
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