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The trojan affliction of severe delusions of grandeur has struck again, this time in triplicate. Thursday's NBA Draft exposed three ex-SCum hoopsters with overinflated opinions of themselves, who all found out that they aren't as popular as they each thought.
Nick Young, whose confidence was bolstered by the media attention that accompanied the release of a documentary about his life, believed that he was a Top 10 pick. But ten picks were made with no mention of Frohawk Man. Then eleven, twelve, thirteen... Finally, it was the Clippers' turn, at #14. Young was probably imagining an ongoing rivalry between him as a Clip, and Jordan Farmar as a Laker. But the Clippers said thanks but no thanks.
Young fell all the way down to 16, which obviously isn't bad, unless you are so cock-sure about being Top 10. In THAT case, 16 means major disappointment.
Along with that depressingly stressful wait until 16, Young then gets the bad news that he's going all the way across the Country, to the Washington Wizards, a team that hasn't won jack since they were the Washington Bullets. Now with a Rookie from South Central U, maybe they should go back to being the Bullets.
Actually, the Wizards are one of the best young teams in the League, and if it weren't for a devastating rash of injuries at the end of the season, the Wizards could have challenged Cleveland for the Eastern Title. But they are the Wizards, and they DID have huge injuries, at the worst possible time, as if they were cursed. Maybe they are cursed, and that's why they selected a guy who's a potential selfish chemistry-killer. Considering that they are already led by a head case, adding Young to the mix could be explosive.
A big problem for Nick Young is that he will be playing in the shadow of that headcase, All-Star Gilbert Arenas, for a long time. One of the alleged reasons that Young left sc early is that he didn't want to play second banana to a self-absorbed O.J. Mayo. Now, it will probably be 5 years before he ever leads his own team in scoring for one game. But before those five years go by, there will probably be a fight in the locker room, and the roster will have to be dismantled.
So while Young missed the Top 10 by a mile (financially speaking), his buddy Gabe Pruitt missed his projected Top 20 by a mile and a Round.
Pruitt wasn't selected until the second round, when Boston snatched him off to the NBA's Land of the Lost. The Celtics have sucked horribly for decades now, and Pruitt is unlikely to fix that. They did however, trade for Seattle's Ray Allen, who is a stud. If Pruiit can just keep finding Allen, he might pile up some assists. But neither Pruitt or Young is likely to be a major contributor DEEP IN THE PLAYOFFS for a long time. You might say the same thing about the third trojan in this group of NBA hopefuls, but it might go without saying: Lodrick Stewart, who worked out for Seattle and thought that he would be drafted, did NOT get selected. We joke about Europe, but the truth is, Stewart might find an NBA team via Free Agency, or get on a D-League team and then find his way onto an NBA roster. But until then, bon voyage to Lod.
So that leaves only one local who not only got drafted as early as could be expected, but got drafted by a strong CONTENDER...
When the Detroit Pistons selected Arron Afflalo with the 27th pick in the 1st Round of the Draft, AA became the 101st Bruin to be Drafted, and the 28th to be drafted in Round One. Not only does UCLA lead in most players drafted since 1948, but they also hold the current, ongoing Record of having someone selected in every single Draft for ELEVEN years running. And this Record is one that they are almost certainly going to extend next year, and most likely the year after that. And the way Ben Howland has got the Program on a roll, that streak may never end.
And winners know winners. Detroit GM Joe Dumars has a Ring, as do Piston Guards Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince, and it was allegedly the two of them who told Dumars to bring Afflalo to Detroit, after they played pick-up games with AA during the Summer.
The Pistons are famous for their hard-nosed, tenacious Defense, and so is Afflalo, so it's a perfect fit. It is quite conceivable that Afflalo could be a major contributor, immediately, and that he could be participating in the NBA Finals next Summer (after beating Young's Wizards on the way).
Now if only the Lakers can get Kevin Garnett and Jermaine O'Neal, without losing Kobe -- then Afflalo could face Jordan Farmar in those Finals.
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