http://www.nola.com/hornets/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/108806484867980.xml PICK NOW, PLAY LATER With the majority of the top players in tonight's draft having little or no college expereience, most NBA clubs will likely have to wait a while for their selections to produce Thursday, June 24, 2004 By Benjamin Hochman Staff writer "With the next pick in the 2004 NBA draft, the, uh, wait -- who has this pick?" NBA commissioner David Stern should probably check his notes before each pick during tonight's draft, because this year's lottery has become less about the draftees and more about the drafters. Teams are swapping lottery picks like old Topps cards. On Wednesday, ESPN reported that the Dallas Maverics have acquired the No. 5 pick from Washington, along with Jerry Stackhouse and Christian Laettner, for Antawn Jamison. On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Clippers sent the No. 2 overall pick to the Charlotte Bobcats for the No. 4 pick. And some NBA personnel have said more trades are likely. The Mavericks may have been acquiring the fifth pick to package to the Los Angeles Lakers in a trade for center Shaquille O'Neal. Down in Orlando, where they have the No. 1 overall pick, the reported Tracy McGrady-for-Steve Francis murkiness could spark more movement at the top of the draft. Last year the top picks, except for Detroit's Darko Milicic at No. 2, all made instant impacts -- LeBron James, No. 1 to Cleveland; Carmelo Anthony, No. 3 to Denver; Chris Bosh, No. 4 to Toronto; and Dwyane Wade, No. 5 to Miami. This year the projected top five picks include just one player -- Connecticut's Emeka Okafor -- who has more than two years of college basketball experience. "I don't think there are a lot of players in this draft -- there are a couple -- that can come in and play a lot right away and really help a team," Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said. "So this is a draft of the future, and you may see some movement of teams that want to get better immediately." Okafor, 6 feet 10 with a wingspan of 7 feet 4, played for the national champions at Connecticut and has all the makings of a No. 1 overall pick. But Dwight Howard, a 6-foot-11 high schooler, could be a good fit in Orlando, depending if the reported six-player trade with Houston involving McGrady becomes a reality. Not since 2001, when high schooler Kwame Brown went No. 1, has there been suspense with the first pick. The Bobcats, the expansion team now at No. 2, are looking to build for the future. But will they build from the middle out, or from the point in? If they want the former, the Bobcats will take whichever player is left -- Okafor or Howard. But if they want a point guard, they could make the intriguing move and draft high school point guard Shaun Livingston. At 6 feet 7, he has been picked in mock drafts as high as No. 2 and as low as No. 6. He has the size, as well as the versatility and potential, to become an anomaly at his position. But how soon? "It's very risky," said Toronto general manager Ron Babcock, whose team picks eighth. "The younger they are, they have no track record against good competition. . . . You've got to find out a couple things. You've got to find out if he has the desire to learn. And if he has the ability to learn." "I want to contribute sooner than later," said Livingston, of Peoria, Ill. "You've got to have that confidence inside you to do so. . . . (Not playing in college), that's definitely a concern, but you have to take a high step, faster. There's a lot of making up to do, but I think I'll pick it up pretty quick." Chicago, at No. 3, has had its share of recent frustrations in the draft. High school standouts Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry, picked No. 2 and No. 4 in 2001, haven't blossomed into stars. And the Bulls took point guard Jay Williams at No. 2 in 2002, but a motorcycle injury has sidelined him for more than a year. Arizona's Andre Iguodala, a defensive specialist, could be a safe fit for the Bulls, but it would be tough to pass on enticing Luol Deng, the latest Duke Blue Devil projected to go in the lottery (six went the past five drafts). "I would love to play for Chicago, if that were the case -- I love the city," Deng said during the NBA pre-draft camp. "I feel like I could help out the team a lot, the fact that I can play small forward and I think the way I read the game. And I like running the floor and could help a lot with those things." What's next is a pair of point guards who will probably be taken in the No. 5 to No. 10 range -- Wisconsin's Devin Harris and Connecticut's Ben Gordon. Forwards Josh Childress (Stanford) and Luke Jackson (Oregon) have also been mainstays in mock drafts, between the No. 8 and No. 12 spots. But after those players, it's up for general managers to decipher which question marks can turn into exclamation points. Two young European players -- 7-foot-5 Russian center Pavel Podkolzine and 7-foot Latvian center Andris Biedrins -- are projected lottery picks. There probably aren't any instant impacts like James or Kevin Garnett, but there are many high schoolers that could go in the first round -- as many as eight, which would be a record. Guard J.R. Smith, forwards Josh Smith and Al Jefferson and center Robert Swift could all go in the top 20. History says most of these players will spend most of next season on the bench. "The NBA has become more and more of a developmental league," said Atlanta general manager Billy Knight, whose team picks sixth. "We know we're going to get young players, so it's up to us to develop them." "I think with a lot of the players that will be taken, depending on a system or a team's style of play, you may have some surprise picks in the first round," New York president Isiah Thomas said. "A lot of players are maybe good for a system they're going to play in, as opposed to the talent that they have." . . . . . . . Benjamin Hochman can be reached at [email protected] or (504) 826-3405. --

※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 218.166.77.113