The NBA’s deadline for early entry into the draft passed Saturday night, and it’s probably not good news for the Bulls. Or Joakim Noah.
The list won’t be released until later this week, but all indications from Florida are that Noah will stick around for another season with the Gators. What, he couldn’t find women, get drunk and watch NASCAR in the NBA?
This probably isn’t great news for the Bulls because I believe if the Bulls get the No. 1 draft pick in the May 23 lottery, they would take Noah, if available.
He’s not Tim Duncan, but he’s 6 feet 11 inches with skills. He’s not Bill Walton, but he dominated an NCAA final like few have. And the more big guys in the draft, the better chance the Bulls will have to get one. They still could fall as far as No. 5 in the lottery, though their odds are second best with the Knicks’ pick from the Eddy Curry trade.
I can’t figure out what’s wrong with Noah. The college experience? Baloney! This was Noah’s last chance to be the No. 1 pick in the draft, which does mean something. Next year it will be Ohio State’s Greg Oden with 7-footer Spencer Hawes, who is going to Washington, second if they come out. The year after that, it’s high school junior O.J. Mayo from Cincinnati. Why not put your name in and just see what happens?
There are bad places to be in the NBA. There’s Portland, for one, with Zach Randolph and Darius Miles. Or Atlanta with a menagerie of kids. Do you want to spend at least the next five years of your professional life there?
Usually, the lottery teams are the worst and years away from being a contender. The Bulls are there already. They get a rare top-of-the-lottery spot only because of the Curry deal, which also gives them the option to exchange first-round picks with the Knicks in 2007. Rarely do teams trade high lottery picks.
Noah would get a chance to join a team that may be on the verge of a breakthrough in the NBA, based on this series with Miami.
What a chance for a kid to walk into a ready-made contender. And to work in one of the world’s great cities, Chicago, with a great fan base. And with some personality, as Noah clearly has, the chances for stardom and endorsements would be fantastic.
We’ll know later this week if Noah is eccentric or just stupid.
Kaman’s payday
The Nuggets are making stars of everyone. Clippers center Chris Kaman is said to be looking at the $60 million deals that Tyson Chandler and Samuel Dalembert got and figuring that his extension should be right there too.
“I think he’s the white Tim Duncan,” Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said.
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“He’s got the quickness afoot like Duncan to beat people. He’s fundamentally sound, and he works at understanding the game.”
The tandem of Kaman and Elton Brand has the Clippers thinking beyond just winning their first-round series against Denver.
Added Sam Cassell: “He’s the key. He’s definitely going to be a top-five center in this league someday.”
Kaman was a hyperactive child diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and prescribed Ritalin, which he said he stopped taking at Central Michigan because it affected his appetite and fatigued him.
“I was just real wild,” Kaman said. “Wherever trouble was, I found it–taking people’s bikes and putting them on railroad tracks, climbing on neighbors’ roofs and having shingle fights back and forth. Just crazy stuff. The biggest problem [now] is when I’m in the huddles. When I listen to Mike going over the plays, sometimes I find myself wandering a bit. But I just focus in and, usually, I’m OK. I ask a lot of questions.”
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Kobe Bryant has asked the NBA for a number change next season from No. 8 to 24. Bryant declined to comment, but Phil Jackson offered a wry observation: “Guys do that when they change teams occasionally, but I haven’t heard that many guys that have changed it when they’re with the same team.” Asked about the possible significance, Jackson pointed out that 24 is “1 over 23.” Now who was it who wore No. 23? . . .
Hollywood was inevitable for Jackson. He became known for splicing scenes from movies into his game films to make a point and has been showing “Inside Man” in this series to emphasize inside play and “Jackass: The Movie” interspersed with some sloppy turnovers.
It’s good to be King
Tough weekend for Sunday’s Bulls-Heat refereeing crew of Ron Garretson, Monty McCutchen and Greg Willard.
I usually don’t bring up refereeing much because teams always have a chance to make up for mistakes and overall NBA refereeing is the best in pro sports given the level of difficulty. Still, a 31-5 free-throw margin for the Bulls was hard to accept.
But their big blunder was buying into the LeBron James hype. James’ winning basket in the Cavs’ Game 3 win over Washington was such an obvious travel that even Patrick Ewing was offended.
James came to a jump stop on a drive and then took a few more steps before bumping into Michael Ruffin and scoring the winner with 5.7 seconds left.
Said Washington coach Eddie Jordan: “Officials are human, and they see a great move by a great player . . . or they see a hop-through move that’s a travel, and they say, `That’s a great move by a great player, and it’s an exciting move. It’s a great finish. We’ll let it go.’ Clearly, [Gilbert Arenas] doesn’t get the calls that LeBron gets.”
Added Arenas in a refrain heard here in the 1990s: “We have to beat them. If you’re tied with them or it’s close, they’re winning.”
King James, Part II
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that in Ohio since 2000, 201 babies have been named Kobe, while just 17 have been named LeBron. Also, there are 25 dogs named Kobe and none named LeBron, according to the state auditor’s office. . . . The Wizards issued a press credential to a “reporter” from lebronjames.com.
The awards go to …
We know the public isn’t always fond of the media, but the point is that the media is there for the players to speak to the fans. So it was curious that NBA writers voted the print media-sponsored J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award to Kevin Garnett, who only agreed to talk to reporters once this season, after he made a charitable contribution for the Hurricane Katrina victims. . . . Brand was named winner of the Joe Dumars Sportsmanship Award. Shaquille O’Neal was second.
Double dribbles
The Celtics will become the last NBA franchise to add a dance team next season. . . . Jeff McInnis, the Nets’ big free-agent acquisition, was asked by the team to stay away during the playoffs. . . .
The Rockets led the league in most games lost by injury at 274 followed by Charlotte at 257. . . .
Indiana’s Jermaine O’Neal rose to the defense of his former coach, Isiah Thomas. Said O’Neal: “I don’t see anybody else blaming other presidents for their team playing badly. At the end of the day, players have a job to do. Isiah didn’t play one minute. I think Isiah is going to do a great job with the [Knicks] organization. I think he’s going to be there for a while.”
Last shots
It’s the economy, stupid! Of course, having a team going nowhere doesn’t help. The Grizzlies tried a white-out thing like Miami did by passing out T-shirts for Game 3, but there was a sea of empty blue seats. Pro basketball remains a hard sell in Memphis, where four local TV stations went to Dallas with the college basketball team and one went with the Grizzlies. Meantime, the Pacers had fewer than 15,000 for their first home playoff game.
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