10 Topics the NBA Lockout has put on Hold….
ONE-HUNDRED Days and counting.
Disappointingly for fans of the NBA it seems as though no ‘quick-fix’ resolution has yet been found to solve the sport’s lockout situation which began on July 1st.
Claims, and counter-claims over what is currently holding the deal up can easily be found throughout the media, but for anyone involved physically, or spiritually as we the fans are, the current situation is depressingly bad news.
Commissioner David Stern announced last week that “games through November 30th” would be cancelled, and although basketball followers hoped for a speedy resolution, it seems as though there may be no NBA games before Christmas Day, which may now becoming the opening day of the 2011/12 season. Reported decertification of the union may mean that there are is no season what-so-ever.
As well as denying us of our basketball needs, the lockout has prevented the NBA from building off large amounts of success and a huge following, which the 2010/11 season brought with it.
Were the season to begin on November 1st, here are ten of the topics we would find ourselves in the midst of discussing…
1. Dallas Defends their Title
Off the back of their first NBA Championship in franchise history, the Dallas Mavericks were due to begin their title defence against the Chicago Bulls and last season’s MVP Derrick Rose.
Not only are we denied a great opening night match-up, the Mavs will now have to wait for their opportunity to raise their title banner, and see how it feels to be the chased, rather than the chasers.
Momentum (and a united hatred against the Miami Heat) helped carry Dallas to a deserved title, and there is little doubt that they will certainly be one of the teams to beat when/if the season gets under way.
Injury to Dirk Nowitski saw the Mavs fly somewhat below the radar and into the 2011 playoffs, and although they were expected to be ousted by the Trail Blazers in round one, they outlasted Portland in six, before sweeping LA thanks to an almost perfect shooting performance in the clinching game.
Dirk helped his team past OKC in the conference finals, before leading them to the NBA Championship, taking the MVP award and with a number of majestic performances he made amends for his 2006 Finals meltdown against the same opponents.
Will Dallas feel the pressure? And can they pick up where they left off with Dirk putting up incredible numbers, particularly in the fourth quarter?
2. LA Rebuilds Without Phil Jackson
Perhaps aided by the way that the Lakers were swept out so badly, Phil Jackson’s retirement from coaching was an almost un-noticed moment of last season’s playoffs.
The Zen Master had already announced his decision to call time on his career whenever the Lakers season ended. After the Dallas Mavericks advanced to the conference finals, Jackson’s coaching career seemingly came to an end, and the next time we hear from one of the greatest coaches of all-time may be after his name is announced as an inductee into the Hall of Fame.
With eleven rings to his name as coach of both the Lakers and the Bulls it is doubtful that we will ever see another coach who is successful as Jackson was throughout his career.
The Lakers will look to take the first steps on from Jackson’s reign and get back to winning Championships under the stewardship of Mike Brown as the former Cavs coach was installed as the team’s leader following the end of the playoffs.
Brown’s potential to succeed with the talents of Kobe and Gasol is un-doubtable, but the Lakers’ stars support for him is still very much unconfirmed.
Mike Brown had much success in his time as a coach in Cleveland, but with many expectations surrounding Lebron rather than his methods, there is sure to be far more scrutiny on him in LA, especially after the Lakers poor run in 2010/11.
3. Lebron Seeks Not Four, Not Three, Not Two, Just One Championship
There was little doubt that Lebron’s ‘defection’ from Cleveland last summer sparked much of the anti-Heat storm which appeared to be whipping up last season.
Whilst they didn’t achieve their aim of winning a Championship with the three freshly signed superstars, there were moments after they went 9-8 in the first month of the season when Miami looked destined to help Lebron win his first Championship.
Comments in the wake of his move to Miami about how many Championships he would win became fuel in the critics fire as Dirk and co. stormed off with the NBA title and the game’s biggest villain was once again left empty handed.
Miami will no doubt start the new season as one of the favourites to claim the Larry O’Brien trophy and although they were able to secure three of the biggest free agents last summer, Miami are a team who have admitted that they will be stronger with time when cap worries ease up and they are able to claim some new pieces through trades.
The beginnings of a Miami dynasty may be about to begin if Lebron, Wade and Bosh can mesh themselves into a successful unit, but first they must overcome 82 (or however many games are played) Finals as teams give the ‘Dream Team’ their all every night.
4. Orlando Tries to Convince Superman Not to Fly Away
A year on from ‘The Decision’, several NBA superstars will have to evaluate their next move as 2012 sees a number of high profile players heading into free agency.
Arguably the biggest catch of all is Orlando franchise center, Dwight Howard, who has already admitted that he is ‘torn’ about whether to stay in the sunshine state or move on elsewhere.
Howard has always said that his decision will be made by the potential to win Championships, and after being out of the playoffs in the first round last year it seems as if the Magic are heading in the wrong direction after a Finals appearance in 2009.
The Magic’s owners are now stuck in a difficult situation; do the trade Howard whilst he still has some value and receive some pieces for him to help them re-build? Or do they make a final push to surround Howard with talent and convince him to stay? The former assures they will be picking high in the 2013 draft lottery as without Howard they would be a long way from competitors. The latter means the Magic run the risk of any moves backfiring and affecting their franchise for a long period of time.
5. New York Big Apple Dilemma
Just for a change the Knicks are in the midst of dealing with off-the-court issues that threaten to hamper their on-court progress.
For the first time in a number of years more positive than negative column inches have been written about the New York’s basketball club.
A successful season in 2010/11 saw the Knicks secure a playoff spot, their first since 2004, and allowed the Madison Square Garden crowd to revel in their team’s first .500 season in eleven years.
Despite missing out on signing Lebron James, their backroom staff managed to secure the signing of A’amre Stoudamire through free agency, and in February long running saga ended as the Knicks made several moves to trade for Carmelo Anthony. A big time scorer and second threat in the front court, Anthony gave the Knicks a good foundation and the opportunity to become a threat once more.
Although he helped significantly with their rebuilding efforts, Donnie Walsh will not return as Team President and GM whenever the first tip off is thrown up, and this has led to uncertainty surrounding Mike D’Antoni’s future as the team’s head coach.
Rumours continue to swirl around MSG linking the club with a move to return Isiah Thomas to some kind of role within the organisation. Although many Knick fans may be against a comeback from a large part of the reason they had bottomed out, it may be out of their control.
Stability on and off the court is hugely important for one of the game’s most influential franchises, and significant changes off-the-court for the Knicks may also harm their chances of securing the signing of this year’s marquee free agent, Chris Paul.
6. Memphis Hoping to Follow-Up Overachievements
2011 was the year in which the Memphis Grizzlies ended a streak of futility which had them as the NBA franchise with the longest playoff-less streak in the sport.
Whilst many people saw eventual Champions Dallas as the most likely high seeds to be making an early playoff exit, the Grizzlies surprised everyone by ousting the Mavs Texas neighbours, the San Antonio Spurs, in round one to secure their first ever playoff series win.
Led by the performances of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, who earned cult status throughout the season, the Grizzlies became only the fourth number eight seed to oust a number one ranked team in the history of the playoffs.
The Grizzlies progress was even more surprising considering an injury to Rudy Gay which seemed to have doomed Memphis to another season in the lottery.
The signing of seasoned veteran Shane Battier from the Houston Rockets gave Memphis some experience as beat out the Spurs in six before taking part in an epic seven-game series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Although they were eventually beaten, Memphis were without doubt one of the stories of the season.
The question remains how they will the Grizzlies be able to move on from this? Gasol becomes an unrestricted free agent the moment the lockout is ended, and there is still uncertainty about the future of Randolph. Should Rudy Gay come back into the fold, and all their free agents be re-signed then Memphis will be expecting to make the playoffs once again. The big test may be how they cope with those expectations.
7. OKC Looks to Take the Next Step
With the Lakers beaten and having overcome the rising threat of the Grizzlies, the Oklahoma City Thunder needed to get past the Mavricks to make their first NBA Finals since their move from Seattle.
With the duel threat of Kevin Durrant and Russell Westbrook it seemed a question of how many games they would take to win out, rather than if they would or not.
It wasn’t to be for OKC however as Dirk firmly established himself as the West’s alpha-dog with the game on the line, and the Mavs went on to win the series against the Thunder 4-1 before advancing to the finals.
Coming so close to their ultimate goal, many people look at OKC as a champion in waiting with a young core of players who finished the season as the fourth seed.
During the playoffs it became obvious that there are still a few kinks that the Thunder need to work out, particularly the obvious leadership issues in the team between their two superstars.
It seems unlikely that the Thunder will make any drastic moves to secure success, but bringing in Kendrick Perkins seemed to add little to OKC’s defensive presence.
More help should be offered to Durrant to help him succeed, but they may be left with few parts to change in order to do this unless they decide that Westbrook/Durrant combo does not work.
Durrant is the face of the franchise and therefore unless Westrbook shows himself to be willing to do equal amounts of supplying as he does scoring then the Thunder may decide to cut their losses and move the talented point guard on.
Other options have been mentioned including a trade for Chris Paul or a move for Monta Ellis, but when the season starts it appears that Sam Presti and Scott Brooks will be hoping their team once again ranks as on of the West’s leading teams.
8. Clippers Continued Route to Relevance
A debut season to remember for Blake Griffin helped the LA Clippers to begin a long road back to playing a significant role on the NBA landscape.
A return from injury helped give Clips fans faint hope of reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2005/6.
Not only did Griffin’s explosiveness give his team hope of success, but his high flying performances reminded us what an exciting spectacle basketball can be. A highlight reel on his own during every game of the season, Griffin was ably assisted by Eric Gordon and Barron Davis before the latter was traded for Cleveland.
Going 9-4 in January, there was real hope that the Clippers could break out of their five-year funk and make the post season, but their hopes were essentially over within a month when dreadful combined records in February and March sunk all hopes of them finishing in the top eight.
Although they were the west’s 13th best team, their resurgence to relevance was noticeable as the Clippers became a team that people wanted to watch, and thanks to Griffin they gained much more exposure throughout the season.
The Clips will be hoping to ride a wave of momentum post-lockout and stop the Lakers from stealing all the limelight in LA.
9. Kings and Hornets Hope to Avoid Re-Location
Whilst a couple of the teams in the NBA, namely Memphis and Oklahoma City were overachieving in small-market locations, two other franchises experienced the polar opposite in terms of success, and spent much of he season fighting for their very existence.
Part of the reason for the reason for the lockout is a disagreements over the way in which the likes of Milwaukee, Charlotte, Sacramento and New Orleans can be placed on an even playing Kiel against huge market cities such as LA, New York and Chicago.
Both the Kings and the Hornets faced tough battles last season, and whilst neither was the NBA’s worst in terms of their playing record, it seems as though both franchises are staring down the barrel once the season tips off again.
Sacramento looked certain to be deprived of the Kings after a frantic finale which saw them win their final regular season game of the year, but talks of a move were averted after ownership appealed to the NBA to support their bid to keep the franchise in the area.
New Orleans faced a similar battle with NBA chiefs as the control of the team was handed over to the league due to concerns over the financial position, and although unlike Sacramento no alternate location has been mentioned for the team, there is only so long that the league can persist with five out of its 30 teams in financial danger each season.
The dreaded word “contraction” was put out in the public domain last season as David Stern weighed in on Lebron James’ thoughts on the subject. The Heat star made news for saying that perhaps it was time for the NBA to consider this most drastic of steps. Whilst the commissioner seems set against losing any of his 30 teams, there is a real feeling that contraction would be a way to ensure the remaining franchises financially and improve the overall product of the NBA.
10.Rookies Looking to Make a Name for Themselves
With so many things having happened since the end of last season, and with the lockout dominating so many of our thoughts, it is easy to forget that a new batch of rookies have entered the league looking to make the impact that Griffin, Wall and Rose have made in recent seasons.
Although highly regarded Ohio State forward Jarred Sullinger decided to remain in college for an extra year, there were some extremely talented players drafted by NBA teams in June.
The Cavs chose to select Kyrie Irving with the number one selection this year, and whilst the Timberwolves took Derrick Williams at two, there was much intrigue as picks three, five, six and seven were used to selected foreign players.
Utah took Enes Kanter at the third spot, Toronto picked Jonas Valanciunas at five, a selection which was then followed by Jan Vesely for the Wizards, and rounded out by Bismack Biyombo who was chosen at seven by the Kings.
As always teams further down he ladder were forced to bide their time when they were on the clock, but a number of interesting selections went almost un-noticed. Kemba Walker, UConn’s star of the NCAA tournament was taken at nine by the struggling Bobcats, Jimmer Fredette was selected tenth by the Bucks (then traded to the Kings), and Shelvin Mack who performed so well for Butler was the 34th selection by the Wizards.
Whether any of the players drafted in 2011 can have a big impact remains to be seen, but teams coming out of the lockout will be hoping that their draftees adjust quickly with few opportunities for training camp and pre-season games.
Disappointingly for fans of the NBA it seems as though no ‘quick-fix’ resolution has yet been found to solve the sport’s lockout situation which began on July 1st.
Claims, and counter-claims over what is currently holding the deal up can easily be found throughout the media, but for anyone involved physically, or spiritually as we the fans are, the current situation is depressingly bad news.
Commissioner David Stern announced last week that “games through November 30th” would be cancelled, and although basketball followers hoped for a speedy resolution, it seems as though there may be no NBA games before Christmas Day, which may now becoming the opening day of the 2011/12 season. Reported decertification of the union may mean that there are is no season what-so-ever.
As well as denying us of our basketball needs, the lockout has prevented the NBA from building off large amounts of success and a huge following, which the 2010/11 season brought with it.
Were the season to begin on November 1st, here are ten of the topics we would find ourselves in the midst of discussing…
1. Dallas Defends their Title
Off the back of their first NBA Championship in franchise history, the Dallas Mavericks were due to begin their title defence against the Chicago Bulls and last season’s MVP Derrick Rose.
Not only are we denied a great opening night match-up, the Mavs will now have to wait for their opportunity to raise their title banner, and see how it feels to be the chased, rather than the chasers.
Momentum (and a united hatred against the Miami Heat) helped carry Dallas to a deserved title, and there is little doubt that they will certainly be one of the teams to beat when/if the season gets under way.
Injury to Dirk Nowitski saw the Mavs fly somewhat below the radar and into the 2011 playoffs, and although they were expected to be ousted by the Trail Blazers in round one, they outlasted Portland in six, before sweeping LA thanks to an almost perfect shooting performance in the clinching game.
Dirk helped his team past OKC in the conference finals, before leading them to the NBA Championship, taking the MVP award and with a number of majestic performances he made amends for his 2006 Finals meltdown against the same opponents.
Will Dallas feel the pressure? And can they pick up where they left off with Dirk putting up incredible numbers, particularly in the fourth quarter?
2. LA Rebuilds Without Phil Jackson
Perhaps aided by the way that the Lakers were swept out so badly, Phil Jackson’s retirement from coaching was an almost un-noticed moment of last season’s playoffs.
The Zen Master had already announced his decision to call time on his career whenever the Lakers season ended. After the Dallas Mavericks advanced to the conference finals, Jackson’s coaching career seemingly came to an end, and the next time we hear from one of the greatest coaches of all-time may be after his name is announced as an inductee into the Hall of Fame.
With eleven rings to his name as coach of both the Lakers and the Bulls it is doubtful that we will ever see another coach who is successful as Jackson was throughout his career.
The Lakers will look to take the first steps on from Jackson’s reign and get back to winning Championships under the stewardship of Mike Brown as the former Cavs coach was installed as the team’s leader following the end of the playoffs.
Brown’s potential to succeed with the talents of Kobe and Gasol is un-doubtable, but the Lakers’ stars support for him is still very much unconfirmed.
Mike Brown had much success in his time as a coach in Cleveland, but with many expectations surrounding Lebron rather than his methods, there is sure to be far more scrutiny on him in LA, especially after the Lakers poor run in 2010/11.
3. Lebron Seeks Not Four, Not Three, Not Two, Just One Championship
There was little doubt that Lebron’s ‘defection’ from Cleveland last summer sparked much of the anti-Heat storm which appeared to be whipping up last season.
Whilst they didn’t achieve their aim of winning a Championship with the three freshly signed superstars, there were moments after they went 9-8 in the first month of the season when Miami looked destined to help Lebron win his first Championship.
Comments in the wake of his move to Miami about how many Championships he would win became fuel in the critics fire as Dirk and co. stormed off with the NBA title and the game’s biggest villain was once again left empty handed.
Miami will no doubt start the new season as one of the favourites to claim the Larry O’Brien trophy and although they were able to secure three of the biggest free agents last summer, Miami are a team who have admitted that they will be stronger with time when cap worries ease up and they are able to claim some new pieces through trades.
The beginnings of a Miami dynasty may be about to begin if Lebron, Wade and Bosh can mesh themselves into a successful unit, but first they must overcome 82 (or however many games are played) Finals as teams give the ‘Dream Team’ their all every night.
4. Orlando Tries to Convince Superman Not to Fly Away
A year on from ‘The Decision’, several NBA superstars will have to evaluate their next move as 2012 sees a number of high profile players heading into free agency.
Arguably the biggest catch of all is Orlando franchise center, Dwight Howard, who has already admitted that he is ‘torn’ about whether to stay in the sunshine state or move on elsewhere.
Howard has always said that his decision will be made by the potential to win Championships, and after being out of the playoffs in the first round last year it seems as if the Magic are heading in the wrong direction after a Finals appearance in 2009.
The Magic’s owners are now stuck in a difficult situation; do the trade Howard whilst he still has some value and receive some pieces for him to help them re-build? Or do they make a final push to surround Howard with talent and convince him to stay? The former assures they will be picking high in the 2013 draft lottery as without Howard they would be a long way from competitors. The latter means the Magic run the risk of any moves backfiring and affecting their franchise for a long period of time.
5. New York Big Apple Dilemma
Just for a change the Knicks are in the midst of dealing with off-the-court issues that threaten to hamper their on-court progress.
For the first time in a number of years more positive than negative column inches have been written about the New York’s basketball club.
A successful season in 2010/11 saw the Knicks secure a playoff spot, their first since 2004, and allowed the Madison Square Garden crowd to revel in their team’s first .500 season in eleven years.
Despite missing out on signing Lebron James, their backroom staff managed to secure the signing of A’amre Stoudamire through free agency, and in February long running saga ended as the Knicks made several moves to trade for Carmelo Anthony. A big time scorer and second threat in the front court, Anthony gave the Knicks a good foundation and the opportunity to become a threat once more.
Although he helped significantly with their rebuilding efforts, Donnie Walsh will not return as Team President and GM whenever the first tip off is thrown up, and this has led to uncertainty surrounding Mike D’Antoni’s future as the team’s head coach.
Rumours continue to swirl around MSG linking the club with a move to return Isiah Thomas to some kind of role within the organisation. Although many Knick fans may be against a comeback from a large part of the reason they had bottomed out, it may be out of their control.
Stability on and off the court is hugely important for one of the game’s most influential franchises, and significant changes off-the-court for the Knicks may also harm their chances of securing the signing of this year’s marquee free agent, Chris Paul.
6. Memphis Hoping to Follow-Up Overachievements
2011 was the year in which the Memphis Grizzlies ended a streak of futility which had them as the NBA franchise with the longest playoff-less streak in the sport.
Whilst many people saw eventual Champions Dallas as the most likely high seeds to be making an early playoff exit, the Grizzlies surprised everyone by ousting the Mavs Texas neighbours, the San Antonio Spurs, in round one to secure their first ever playoff series win.
Led by the performances of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, who earned cult status throughout the season, the Grizzlies became only the fourth number eight seed to oust a number one ranked team in the history of the playoffs.
The Grizzlies progress was even more surprising considering an injury to Rudy Gay which seemed to have doomed Memphis to another season in the lottery.
The signing of seasoned veteran Shane Battier from the Houston Rockets gave Memphis some experience as beat out the Spurs in six before taking part in an epic seven-game series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Although they were eventually beaten, Memphis were without doubt one of the stories of the season.
The question remains how they will the Grizzlies be able to move on from this? Gasol becomes an unrestricted free agent the moment the lockout is ended, and there is still uncertainty about the future of Randolph. Should Rudy Gay come back into the fold, and all their free agents be re-signed then Memphis will be expecting to make the playoffs once again. The big test may be how they cope with those expectations.
7. OKC Looks to Take the Next Step
With the Lakers beaten and having overcome the rising threat of the Grizzlies, the Oklahoma City Thunder needed to get past the Mavricks to make their first NBA Finals since their move from Seattle.
With the duel threat of Kevin Durrant and Russell Westbrook it seemed a question of how many games they would take to win out, rather than if they would or not.
It wasn’t to be for OKC however as Dirk firmly established himself as the West’s alpha-dog with the game on the line, and the Mavs went on to win the series against the Thunder 4-1 before advancing to the finals.
Coming so close to their ultimate goal, many people look at OKC as a champion in waiting with a young core of players who finished the season as the fourth seed.
During the playoffs it became obvious that there are still a few kinks that the Thunder need to work out, particularly the obvious leadership issues in the team between their two superstars.
It seems unlikely that the Thunder will make any drastic moves to secure success, but bringing in Kendrick Perkins seemed to add little to OKC’s defensive presence.
More help should be offered to Durrant to help him succeed, but they may be left with few parts to change in order to do this unless they decide that Westbrook/Durrant combo does not work.
Durrant is the face of the franchise and therefore unless Westrbook shows himself to be willing to do equal amounts of supplying as he does scoring then the Thunder may decide to cut their losses and move the talented point guard on.
Other options have been mentioned including a trade for Chris Paul or a move for Monta Ellis, but when the season starts it appears that Sam Presti and Scott Brooks will be hoping their team once again ranks as on of the West’s leading teams.
8. Clippers Continued Route to Relevance
A debut season to remember for Blake Griffin helped the LA Clippers to begin a long road back to playing a significant role on the NBA landscape.
A return from injury helped give Clips fans faint hope of reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2005/6.
Not only did Griffin’s explosiveness give his team hope of success, but his high flying performances reminded us what an exciting spectacle basketball can be. A highlight reel on his own during every game of the season, Griffin was ably assisted by Eric Gordon and Barron Davis before the latter was traded for Cleveland.
Going 9-4 in January, there was real hope that the Clippers could break out of their five-year funk and make the post season, but their hopes were essentially over within a month when dreadful combined records in February and March sunk all hopes of them finishing in the top eight.
Although they were the west’s 13th best team, their resurgence to relevance was noticeable as the Clippers became a team that people wanted to watch, and thanks to Griffin they gained much more exposure throughout the season.
The Clips will be hoping to ride a wave of momentum post-lockout and stop the Lakers from stealing all the limelight in LA.
9. Kings and Hornets Hope to Avoid Re-Location
Whilst a couple of the teams in the NBA, namely Memphis and Oklahoma City were overachieving in small-market locations, two other franchises experienced the polar opposite in terms of success, and spent much of he season fighting for their very existence.
Part of the reason for the reason for the lockout is a disagreements over the way in which the likes of Milwaukee, Charlotte, Sacramento and New Orleans can be placed on an even playing Kiel against huge market cities such as LA, New York and Chicago.
Both the Kings and the Hornets faced tough battles last season, and whilst neither was the NBA’s worst in terms of their playing record, it seems as though both franchises are staring down the barrel once the season tips off again.
Sacramento looked certain to be deprived of the Kings after a frantic finale which saw them win their final regular season game of the year, but talks of a move were averted after ownership appealed to the NBA to support their bid to keep the franchise in the area.
New Orleans faced a similar battle with NBA chiefs as the control of the team was handed over to the league due to concerns over the financial position, and although unlike Sacramento no alternate location has been mentioned for the team, there is only so long that the league can persist with five out of its 30 teams in financial danger each season.
The dreaded word “contraction” was put out in the public domain last season as David Stern weighed in on Lebron James’ thoughts on the subject. The Heat star made news for saying that perhaps it was time for the NBA to consider this most drastic of steps. Whilst the commissioner seems set against losing any of his 30 teams, there is a real feeling that contraction would be a way to ensure the remaining franchises financially and improve the overall product of the NBA.
10.Rookies Looking to Make a Name for Themselves
With so many things having happened since the end of last season, and with the lockout dominating so many of our thoughts, it is easy to forget that a new batch of rookies have entered the league looking to make the impact that Griffin, Wall and Rose have made in recent seasons.
Although highly regarded Ohio State forward Jarred Sullinger decided to remain in college for an extra year, there were some extremely talented players drafted by NBA teams in June.
The Cavs chose to select Kyrie Irving with the number one selection this year, and whilst the Timberwolves took Derrick Williams at two, there was much intrigue as picks three, five, six and seven were used to selected foreign players.
Utah took Enes Kanter at the third spot, Toronto picked Jonas Valanciunas at five, a selection which was then followed by Jan Vesely for the Wizards, and rounded out by Bismack Biyombo who was chosen at seven by the Kings.
As always teams further down he ladder were forced to bide their time when they were on the clock, but a number of interesting selections went almost un-noticed. Kemba Walker, UConn’s star of the NCAA tournament was taken at nine by the struggling Bobcats, Jimmer Fredette was selected tenth by the Bucks (then traded to the Kings), and Shelvin Mack who performed so well for Butler was the 34th selection by the Wizards.
Whether any of the players drafted in 2011 can have a big impact remains to be seen, but teams coming out of the lockout will be hoping that their draftees adjust quickly with few opportunities for training camp and pre-season games.