Two weeks ago, Orlando assistant general manager Dave Twardzik was talking about the NBA Draft when he shook his head a little and said: "It's a tough one."When a questioner wanted to know whether that meant Twardzik thought there would be hits and misses all over the place in the first round, he responded: "Yes."
On Monday, Warriors general manager Larry Riley was asked about the uncertainty of this year's draft and had this to say:
"Absolutely, this draft is one of the trickiest drafts that you could see because there will be guys taken at 14 or 15 who will outplay some of the guys who are taken eight slots ahead of him or whatever. And there may be some guy in the 20s who does that."
If there seems to be one consensus about the 2009 NBA draft – outside of Blake Griffin going No. 1 to the L.A. Clippers – it's this: This one could be dangerous.
A lot of general managers and player personnel people believe that there are going to be some real good players coming out of this draft. But nobody knows from where they will be coming.
The point guard position is particularly deep and intriguing, but there's no shortage of questions marks and unknowns at all of the positions.
Said Houston's Daryl Morey about the point guard position: "This is the deepest PG draft in a long time. Quality and quantity are high.
Depending on how you want to classify them, there are tons of ones: Ricky Rubio, Jrue Holiday, Brandon Jennings, Jonny Flynn (pictured above), Stephen Curry, Tyreke Evans. But which is the best among that group is anyone's guess.
And then there's Darren Collison, Eric Maynor (pictured right), Patty Mills and Ty Lawson. Point is, this is the kind of draft that might get some GMs fired ... and puts others on the hot seat. If you're near the top of the board, like first-year GMs David Kahn (Minnesota) and Riley or like second-year GM Chris Wallace (Memphis), you better come away with a legit player. Because, no doubt, a team behind you will likely find what they need.But it's not just the point guard spot that's troubling. James Harden is considered the best shooting guard in the draft. But what does that really mean? And Hasheem Thabeet is hands-down the best center. But there are no assurances he's anything more than a project.
Said one Eastern Conference director of player personnel: "A lot of drafts you kind of know when it starts, when things might start to change. Maybe around six or eight or 10. This year, the draft starts at No. 2 (Memphis). They could do all kinds of things, and change the whole look of the thing."
