Your new Sonics

[blaha112]

Thank you everyone for your help in the sonics draft. here is how the draft went.


1 Bulls darkflashfox - Derrick Rose, PG, Memphis
2 Heat FreeRon - Michael Beasley, PF, Kansas St
3 Wolves Grang33r - O.J. Mayo, SG, USC
4 Sonics blaha112 - Jerryd Bayless, PG/SG, Arizona
5 Grizzlies darkflashfox - Kevin Love, PF, UCLA
6 Knicks dcbaseballer52 - Eric Gordon, SG, Indiana
7 Clippers PR07 - Russell Westbrook, PG/SG, UCLA
8 Bucks FreeRon - DJ Augustin, PG, Texas
9 Bobcats DGrangeRx33 - Anthony Randolph, PF, LSU
10 Nets PR07 - Brook Lopez, C, Stanford
11 Pacers mizzou - Marreese Speights, PF/C, Florida
12 Kings dcbaseballer52- Darrell Arthur, PF, Kansas
13 Blazers bballpacen - Danilo Gallinari, SF, Armani Jeans Milano
14 Warriors count55 - Joe Alexander, SF/PF, West Virginia
15 Suns ahartleyvu - DeAndre Jordan, C, Texas A&M
16 76ers ahartleyvu - Kosta Koufos, C, Ohio State
17 Raptors mizzou - Donte Greene, SF, Syracuse
18 Wizards cdash - Robin Lopez, C, Stanford
19 Cavaliers cdash - Brandon Rush, SG, Kansas
20 Nuggets count55 - Ty Lawson, PG, North Carolina
21 Nets PR07 - Chase Budinger, SG/SF, Arizona
22 Magic PacerPerspective - Javale McGee, C, Nevada
23 Jazz pacershereiam- Roy Hibbert, C, Georgetown
24 Sonics blaha112- Nicolas Batum, SG/SF,Le Mans Hometown
25 Rockets PP - J.J. Hickson, N.C. State
26 Spurs PP - Omri Casspi, SF, Maccabi Tel Aviv
27 Hornets Grang33r - Courtney Lee, SG, Western Kentucky
28 Grizzlies darkflashfox - Chris Douglas-Robers, SG, Memphis
29 Pistons DGrangeRx33 - Nikola Pekovic, C, Serbia
30 Celtics count55 - Mario Chalmers, PG, Kansas
31 Wolves Grang33r - Bill Walker, SF, Kansas State
32 Sonics blaha112 - Serge Ibaka, PF/C, L'Hospitalet
33 Blazers bballpacen - DeVon Hardin, C, California
34 Wolves Grang33r - Ryan Anderson, PF, California
35 Clippers PR07- Alexis Ajinca, PF/C, Hyeres-Toulon
36 Blazers bballpacen- Ante Tomic, PF/C, KK-Zagreb
37 Bucks FreeRon - Kyle Weaver, PG/SG - Washington State
38 Bobcats DGrangeRx33 - Trent Plaisted - PF - BYU
39 Bulls darkflashfox - Joey Dorsey, PF, Memphis
40 Nets PR07- DJ White PF, Indiana
41 Pacers mizzou - George Hill, PG, IUPUI
42 Kings dcbaseballer52-Jamont Gordon, SG, Miss St.
43 Kings dcbaseballer52- Sonny Weems, SG, Arkansas
44 Jazz pacershereiam- Shan Foster, SG, Vanderbilt
45 Spurs PP - J.R. Giddens, SG, New Mexico
46 Sonics blaha112 - Nathan Jawai, PF/C, Cairns Taipans
47 Wizards cdash - Jason Thompson PF/C, Rider
48 Suns ahartleyvu - Goran Dragic PG, Union Olimpija Ljubljana
49 Warriors count55 - Omer Asik, C, Fenerbahce Ulker
50 Sonics blaha112- Semih Erden, C, Fenerbahce Ülker
51 Mavericks pacershereiam- Darnell Jackson, PF, Kansas
52 Heat FreeRon - Prince Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, PF, UCLA
53 Jazz pacershereiam- Sean Singletary, PG, Virginia
54 Rockets PP - Sasha Kaun, C, Kansas
55 Blazers bballpacen - Malik Hairston, SF, Oregon
56 Sonics blaha112 - Davon Jefferson, SF, USC
57 Spurs PP
58 Lakers bballpacen
59 Pistons DGrangeRx33
60 Celtics count55

so to sum up, we got,
b]4 Sonics blaha112 - Jerryd Bayless, PG/SG, Arizona[/b]
24 Sonics blaha112- Nicolas Batum, SG/SF,Le Mans Hometown
32 Sonics blaha112 - Serge Ibaka, PF/C, L'Hospitalet
46 Sonics blaha112 - Nathan Jawai, PF/C, Cairns Taipans
50 Sonics blaha112- Semih Erden, C, Fenerbahce Ülker
56 Sonics blaha112 - Davon Jefferson, SF, USC

everyone i targeted fell to me. there are some concerns about barum's heart problems. however he was considered a top five pick at one point and i think he is going to be amazing. if he falls to 24 i still would have no problem taking him. i really think this draft addressed your needs as a team. i would love to put out a starting lineup of;

PG:JB
SG: Batum
SF: KD
PF: Green
C: Ibaka

so athletic at every position, and everyone can take it to the rack. i think this would be a fun team to watch. thanks again for your help. good luck on the draft. and good luck with your team next year.

[whitedolemite]

I would be very pleased if the draft played out like that, though I expect Presti to make some trades to unload contracts, acquire young vets or consolidate picks and move up.

[yearsago]

Wow. Surprised that Batum fell to 24..wasn't he looked as a mid teens/low 20's guy?

Love getting Jawai and Ibaka in the 2nd rounds..we can stash them for a couple of years.

most of our latter picks are from europe, we could store all four in europe for several years. although I think Batum can help right now.

[wiff]

I'd be happy with this draft as well. The first three guys woul be great and store the rest.

[yearsago]

Okay blaha, make this happen!

[fayWHO]

Aside from Bayless, I doubt those other picks fall back that far..although it would be nice.

[HeavyP]

Yeah, I agree fay, but that just shows how good of a job he did at drafting.

Here are a few interesting questions:

at 24 when you took Batum, if Hibbert was available would you have taken him or stuck with Batum?

How hard was the choice between Ajinca and Ibaka? Granted, when you made the pick Ajinca hadn't been gaining the steam that he has lately.

If you had to do it over again, would you change any of the picks?

[wizkid27]

One thing that would Batum falling that far is that Denver's number 20 pick was used on a guy that isn't even in the draft anymore...

[Downtown]

And the Nets at #21 with Budinger. Once again it shows how much fans know about which team is drafting which player.

[blaha112]

First off, the other people did a good job of drafting. guys this took over a month to get done. at the time pick 20 and 21 were done those players were both still in the draft...

now off to heavy p's questions! great questions! and again, thanks again for all your help!

i think you guys need a big man but i don't see Roy being your answer at C for your future. i see Batum being a solution to sg/sf. this is of course assuming you guys are okay with moving jeff green to pf. i just think batum's upside is so much higher than Roy's. also, i am really high on this kid, so maybe i am biased... but if he falls to 24, i say pull the trigger.

the choice between Ibaka and Ajinca was easy at the time. everyone from the sonics board was really high on him and i felt that i could still get him at 32. however now, Ajinca's stock has really risen. at the time i really didn't know much about Ajinca. but now... the more i read about him the more i really like this kid. he is probably even less NBA ready that Ibaka but it looks as though his upside is just as high, maybe higher. Only the future will tell us who would be the better pick, but at this time i would happy with either at 32. However, now if you want Ajinca you will probably have to draft him at 24, which really might not be a bad idea. that is assuming batum doesn't fall to 24

whats funny is the only pick i'm not completely satisfied with is #4. im not sure baylis is the right pick there. i really think Westbrook is going to turn out to be the 4th best player of this draft. only time will tell. However, i really felt each pick after that i got the best player available. which is what you want to do as a rebuilding team. one of the picks i was really excited about was Davon Jefferson at #56. this kid can ball. i think every pick was a good prospect and great value.

what do you think? anything that now you would have done different?