Lottery Mock Draft

Okay, our next Jim Rome's Silence Mock Draft will be a mock lottery. Here are the rules: You must follow the original order of the draft, however you can put in possible trades that are reasonable. No Tim Duncan to Chicago for the #9 pick trades. Other than that, you can pick any player for any team, meaning you can give the Grizzlies joakim Noah at #4 if you really want to and it's your turn. Since we don't have too many contributors to the blog, we'll say you can't make back-to-back picks just alternating.

And with the first pick of the 2007 Jim Rome's Silence Mock Lottery Draft, the Portland Trailblazers select Greg Oden.

1. Portland: Greg Oden (Justin)

First Trade of the Draft!!! Here's the breakdown (salary cap non-withstanding):
Lakers Get: #2 Pick, Tyrus Thomas, Ben Gordon
Bulls Get: Kevin Garnett, Ricky Davis, Andrew Bynum
Pacers Get: #9 Pick, Andres Nocioni
Sonics Get: Kobe MF'in Bryant
Timberwolves Get: Rashard Lewis, Jermaine O'Neal

2. LAL: Kevin Durant

Second Trade of the Draft!
Knicks Get: Vince Carter and Zaza Pachulia
Hawks Get: Zach Randolph and Nate Robinson, David Lee
Trail Blazers Get: #3 Pick, Tyron Lue
Nets Get: Josh Childress, Quentin Richardson, LaMarcus Aldridge

3. Portland - Al Horford

4. Memphis - Corey Brewer
The Grizzzzz play it safe, and get somebody better than Dahntay Jones (Dahntay Jones?!?!) to play the 2. Surprisingly, they don't take their 2nd foreign center and match some enormous Chinese guy w/Paul Gasol. The Celts are up next, God knows what they're going to do.

5. Boston - Yi Jianlian
I really wanted to give Boston Joakim Noah just to give Bill Simmons a heart attack and make it three Gators in a row. I also wanted to get Orlando to this pick so Donavon could get his favorite athlete ever (that may happen later). Yi has had some good workouts lately and his stock is rising, but is he the next Wang Zhizhi?

Third Trade of the Draft!
Bucks Get: Richard Jefferson, #17
Nets Get: #6, Brian Skinner

6. New Jersey - Brendan Wright
He's from UNC...I don't really care. Upside, blah blah blah. I'm sure JKidd will make him look good. Where will Vinsanity go now that the big3 are blown up? (Vince is actually already in New York...)

7. Minnesota - Mike Conley Jr.
First, this draft is too good for Minnesota and that's why it will never happen with Kevin McHale up there. Minnesota's team looks drastically different and so much better after this draft. Their before linup: Mike James, Ricky Davis, Trenton Hassell, Kevin Garnett, Mark Blount. Their after lineup: Mike Conley Jr, Randy Foye (great player, would start here when Ricky Davis leaves), Rashard Lewis, Jermaine O'Neal, Mark Blount. If they can add another big guy during free agency they would be contenders in the West again.

Trade #4!!
Charlotte gets: Rasheed Wallace + Nazr Mohammed
Detroit Gets: #8 Pick + Gerald Wallace

8. Detroit - Tiago Splitter
Charlotte takes advantage of Detroit's playoff implosion, while the Pistons get rid of the insane 'Sheed and choose another Euro player (one of these guys is going to pan out right? Darko, Delfino, now Tiago). Detroit gets some youthful size to move around a bit, while trying to keep Rip + Mr. Big Shot (really, that's his nickname???)

9. Indiana - Spencer Hawes
What may have been the easiest pick in the draft. With Jermaine O'Neal gone, the Pacers need someone down low who can score. This lets Troy Murphy go back to being a PF which should help and with the joining of Nocioni, Mike Dunleavy can go back to playing the 3 (What?? Mike Dunleavy was playing the 2 in a Pacer uniform??? Seriously? According to their depth chart he was...ouch).

Another Trade!! Sweet Lord this is a crazy Draft?
Sacramento Gets: Boris Diaw, Phoenix's #29 + #59 Picks
Phoenix Gets: #10 Pick, Ron Artest

10. Phoenix - Julian Wright
Thank God Julian doesn't go to Sacramento, Atlanta, or any other terrible team. The Kings unload their own nutjob, Artest (and his $$), and add some opportunities to rebuild around Kevin Martin (really?) and his flattop (really?)

11. Atlanta - Acie Law IV
It may be too early to go with Law, especially with Jeff Green on the board (he must be shwoing his Brady Quinn face with this pick) but the Hawks need a PG because they passed up on Chris Paul and Deron Williams two years ago. They cannot afford to pass up on Mr. Clutch. This pick also allows the Hawks to be contenders in the weak Southeast. Their 2007-2008 lineup: Acie Law, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, Zach Randolph.

12. Philadelphia
As the pick is about to be announced, Billy King looks especially pleased with himself, especially excited to get the player he's been dreaming about for the last 4 months, kid with local connections, kid who can be a go-to-guy, kid Billy can't believed slipped that far. Here comes the announcement.
"With the twelfth pick in the 2007 NBA draft, the Philadelphia 76ers select.....Roy Hibbert of Georgetown."
Horrified, a team exec informs Billy of the news that last month, Hibbert withdrew from the draft. Shocked and confused, Billy pulls his best Tim Duncan face and shrieks for Stern's help. After a few moments of deliberation between Stern and the rest of the NBA's GM's, they decide to have mercy on the inept Billy. Frantically, Billy stops thinking and just chooses Hibbert's teammate, Jeff Green.

13. New Orleans - Al Thornton
Chris Paul desperately needs a scorer since David West led the Hornets this past year. Thornton showed some promise against Kentucky and Florida this year. Scoring big in big games is a bonus and shows great "potential" and "upsdie". If Noah is truly a guy like Battier where he plays in postion and knows how to play the game/rebound/play defense, then he would be a steal here. However, if he's more like the Noah during and after the Championship game, then he should drop to the 2nd round. Either way, New Orleans needs a scorer, which is why they select Big Al.

Thus concludes the 2007 Jim Rome's Silence Mock Lottery.

rosters affected by this years lottery (starting lineups only)
Portland: G.Oden, A.Horford, I.Udoka, B.Roy, J.Jack (+T.Lue)
LA Lakers: K.Brown, L.Odom, K.Durant, B.Gordon, J.Farmar (+T.Thomas)
Chicago: B.Wallace, K.Garnett, L.Deng, R.Davis, K.Heinrich (+A.Bynum)
Indiana: S.Hawes, D.Granger, A.Nocioni, M.Dunleavy, J.Tinsley
Seattle: R.Swift, N.Collison, K.Bryant, R.Allen, L.Ridenour
Minnesota: J.O'Neal, C.Smith, R.Lewis, R.Foye, M.Conley
New York: E.Curry, C.Frye, R.Balkman, V.Carter, S.Marbury (+Z.Pachulia)
Atlanta: Z.Randolph, M.Williams, J.Smith, J.Johnson, A.LawIII (+D.Lee, N.Robinson)
New Jersey: L.Aldridge, M.Moore, B.Wright, Q.Richardson, J.Kidd (+J.Childress, B.Skinner)
Memphis: P.Gasol, S.Swift, C.Brewer., D.Jones., D.Stoudamire
Boston: Y.Jianlan, A.Jefferson., W.Sczerbiak, P.Pierce., D.West
Milwaukee: A.Bogut, C.Villanueva, R.Jefferson, M.Redd, M.Williams (+#17 Pick)
Charlotte: N.Mohammed, R.Wallace, E.Okafor, M.Carroll, R.Felton
Detroit: T.Splitter, C.Webber, G.Wallace, R.Hamilton, C.Billups
Sacramento: B.Miller, K.Thomas, B.Diaw, K.Martin, M.Bibby (+#29, #59 Picks)
Phoenix: A.Stoudamire, S.Marion, J.Wright, R.Artest, S.Nash
Philadelphia: S.Dalembert, J.Green, A.Igoudala, A.Miller, K.Ollie

Lottery Running Blog

(all times PST...go sonics!!)
5.12 - Dan Patrick's interview with Greg Oden, including roughly 25 3-second pauses. And not the good Jim Rome pauses. Oden uses roughly 3 words per answer. Like every senior citizen, Oden knows to save his breath. DP seems thrown off, which is an accomplishment by Oden.
5.14 - And your Kia Shootaround lineup: Patrick, the illustrious Jon Barry, Mike Wilbon, and the flashy, ageless David Robinson. Seriously, I have DRob's 89-90 rookie card, and he looks exactly the same.
5.15 - Whoa Whoa Whoa, we now switch to the Seacacus crowd of Jay Bilas, Fred Hickman and GAnthony. Do we need 2 crews for this, really? Just throw Kevin Harlan and Gus Robinson out there solo and they'd handle shit.
5.15 - Good to see J-Noah #9 in Bilas' list. Genius to stay in school that extra year. That 8-spot drop and an extra championship must have cost Billy D. his very soul. And he's ugly.
5.21 - Stephen A. looking horrendous in a periwinkle suede jacket. Funny, his mic isn't on, and you can hear him loud and clear. Rick Carlisle looks especially plastic tonight. Sweet Jesus, i think ESPN is going to be trotting Trev Alberts + Harold Reynolds out here for the parking lot-tailgate coverage. How much talent are they going to show in one night?
5.27 - Soo with all the described talent above, Fred Hickman's the best they could get to sit in Secaucus? Kornheiser, maybe...Mel Kiper? I know he's in hibernation, but we could hear upside, motor and every generic cliche that applies to bball as well as football.
5.29 - Mark Jones going over the process. Apparently they hide the GM's away in some bunker, wherein the "real" ping-pong balls (don't worry, there is a practice set), are locked away in a briefcase. Instead of doing something simple, each team has a set percentage of 4 number combinations, matching the 4 balls that are drawn out per pick. Why not just give the worst team 14 balls, and the best team 1 ball? I know that's too simple, maybe too hard for Stern to rig like the famous Ewing conspiracy.
5.31 - Bilas says that Durant and Oden have "excellent resumes" with "tremendous upside." So playing against bums in high school, and spending 1 year in college = an excellent resume? Don't get me wrong, these guys are amazing, as close to can't-miss picks since I started giving a hell about the NBA. But don't resumes include experience? Maybe that's just me.
5.32 - The best part of all the talk about the "fateful day" that the Knicks got the #1 and picked Ewing in 1985...he never won a title. Do people not remember this? Sure, the Knicks got an amazing player, and Ewing did work in the Association. And yeah, the Knicks were a consistent contender. But no title. Why is there no talk about Chicago pulling the #2 pick in 1982? That seems to be a bit more important than Ewing never taking care of bidness.
5.36 - Dominique Wilkins sighting! He was the man, I remember watching the dunk contest highlight videos, and always wondering why I hardly ever heard of him compared to Jordan. The Hawks were decent, but never really did anything.
5.37 - And we go to San Antonio with Mike Breen (Maybe? I don't remember who that guy is), Mark Jackson, and the newly single Jeff Van Gundy. Jeff's a little hard to recognize when he's vertical...
5.39 - Fred goes deep to Stern and asks about the Amare suspension...Stern avoids eye contact annnnd, takes no responsibility, saying his job is to enforce the rules. His sideburns are weird...thicker than they are long. That shouldn't happen, should it?
5.41 - FHick takes it easy on Stern the rest of the way. No surprise. Hickman's not #1 on my list of hard-hitting journalists.
5.43 - I'm a cashew. Let's do this.
5.45 - Run-down of team reps. Good to see Billy King of the 76'ers. I wonder if he's excited to ruin his team further as a result of tonight. The Bulls choose the VP of BBall Operations...couldn't get much more anonymous than this. And he has terrible posture.
5.47 - Interesting, the TWolves send send Randy Foye, and the Blazers send BRoy. Are there any two guys who will show less excitement? I'm excite to see Tommy Heinsohn blow an aorta if they pull the #1, that's way more fun.
5.48 - Here we go...I can feel the heart palpitatoins, especially thanks to Adam Silver. Announcer
5.49 - #14 - Clips
#13 - Hornets - no emotion from either rep
#12 - 76ers - Billy can't to much to wreck that
#11 - Pacers - Larry looks pissed
#10 - Kings - Maloof looks impeccably groomed
#9 - Bulls - Pretty much straight up so far
#8 - Bobcats - does anybody in Charlotte care?
#7 - TWolves - KG gets no help
#6 - Bucks - ummmm....whatever.
#5 - Celtics....the Sports Guy is going to die
#4 - Memphis - Big drop...somebody's gonna get lucky

Finally a break! that was rapid fire...and maybe the least amount of emotion ever from this Silver guy. I don't know who he is, apparently he does something for the NBA that matters.
Apparently for one of the most exciting lotteries in NBA history, they decided to get the most deathly man possible to announce. Pretty ironic...maybe the NBA is trying to go the PoMo route, you know, just for kicks. Shaq will lead the philosophical charge.
So the Grizz had a 46% chance at 1 or 2, and they blew it.
Boston fans look incredulous...i think the Masshole on the shot might have tears in his eyes.
#3 - Hawks
#2 - SONICS!!!! KEEP THEM IN SEATTLE
#1 - Trailblazers
PacNW what what!!!! Brandon Roy and his incredibly casual look pull it out. He needs a little more pocket corner showing. Good thing, too, the Blazers needed to get a little bit younger. I think Martell Webster just turned 20, so they need to go youth movement.
I'm not sure what I'm more exited for, the renewed excitement coming out of the Seattle NBA fanbase, and hope that the franchise might actually stay up here, or Simmons' article bitching about how the Celtics got screwed. Maybe if they didn't have Danny Ainge and the Doc running their squad, they'd have a little more luck. Hopefully there will be some trade craziness happening to spice things up a little bit.

Jon Barry is saying that Portland might trade the #1...he also guaranteed that the Celtics would win the lottery. He's bald and rocks the goatee, therefore, he holds no sway over me. Dipshit.

Whew, what a whirlwind of activity. Talk about the complete antithesis of the NFL draft. I'm spent. Good luck and good night.

The Stadium

In 1989, my dad told me that he needed to buy a new video camera downtown Chicago and he wanted me to go with him. Obviously, I threw a complete fit because I didn't want to waste a Sunday afternoon shopping for a video camera. He made me come and I was so upset that I didn't even notice we were exiting right near the old Chicago Stadium. When we pulled up I couldn't believe he had tickets to the Bulls-Pistons playoff game. At the young age of seven, I'd already been to about 10 Bulls games, but never a playoff game, and now a Pistons-Bulls game. I don't recall much of the game, but I do remember the feeling that this was a special game, a game that comes around once or twice in a lifetime. It still ranks up there with some all-time games.

Top 5 Games Seen (in person)
1. Chicago White Sox v. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2005 - Though it was the only loss the Sox had during the post season it was an intense atmosphere and unbelievable game.
2. Bulls v. Lakers 1991 NBA Finals Game 1: Only game the Bulls lost in the series. (recurring theme???) Watching Magic, Kareem, Worthy, Jordan and Pippen in one game. Nuts.
3. Chicago Cubs v. Atlanta Braves 2003 Playoffs Game 4: Matt Clement vs. Russ Ortiz. A win in this game gives the Cubs a playoff series win and the town of Chicago will go absolutely nuts. Down 6-3 entering the ninth, Randall Simon doubles to lead off the inning. Damian Miller then doubles in Simon. Making it a 6-4 game with Sammy Sosa coming to the plate. Sosa hits a long shot back, back, back, to the warning track. Cubs lose.
4. Chicago Bears v. Jacksonville Jaguars 2002 - Keith Traylor huffing and puffing chugging down the field after an interception giving the Bears a 20-0 lead. This game clinched their first NFC Central title since 1990.
5. Chicago Bulls v. Detroit Pistons 1989 - Truly intense basketball game and the loudest place I've ever been in my life, hands down. This game is why I love basketball.

What are your top 5 games seen in person??

Dirka Dirka Dirka

Not sure if you watched the Mavericks v. Warriors game last night. I was unable to watch the first half and got home in time to see the start of the 3rd quarter. I was so excited to watch this game and GS's fans. I half expected the score to be 56-34 Warriors but instead it was a two point game, 50-48. I was a little worried because I thought Dallas might start to turn on their "playoff gear". Backed up to elimination, Dirk was going to change personalities. Truly, I still thought Dallas would pull this out. I was hopeful they wouldn't be come on, right?

Then with 9:11 left to play, Stephen Jackson buries back-to-back threes forcing Avery Johnson to use a timeout with his team down 8. Still I thought Dallas would fight back with something, and Josh Howard hits a three and I know its on know. But then Jackson come down a buries back to back threes AGAIN! Seriously, at one point he was 7-7. Finally after Baron Davis makes a layup to go up 14, he drives the lane again and Austin Croshere fouls him hard. Honestly, why hadn't anyone fouled him hard earlier? And more importantly, why is AUSTIN CROSHERE the guy who finally does it. That stretch from 9:11 to 4:26 was one of the best runs I've seen, perhaps since Illinois erased that 15 point lead against Arizona in the sweet 16 game 2 years ago.

In case you missed it:


The point is, where was Dirk Nowtizki. He pulled a Joakim Noah. In the game that really matter he posted 2 fgs and had 10 rebounds. Need I remind you of Noah's stats in the championship game: 1 fg. 3 rebounds. And put a ratty goatee and unshaved look on top of a trimmed Noah and you're looking at Dirk. Yikes.

Golden State will now play either Houston or Utah. I'm picking Houston, and the Warriors could win that one too, considering Houston is 0-3 on the road against the Jazz. This could get interesting!