It’s been quite the arc for Joakim Noah, the Bulls’ 2007 No. 1 draft pick who has overcome a flood of doubts to make an impressive voyage from rarely used freshman to carry forth an enduring lineage of two-time NCAA champion and tournament star.
Trust me: He’s more of a winner than that lead.
Noah, the University of Florida 7-footer who was the star and most outstanding player of the 2006 tournament, comes as something of a coup for the Bulls, who probably would have picked him second last year had he entered the draft. Instead, Noah stayed at Florida to win a second championship. He fits the Bulls’ profile of a winner who relentlessly competes and defends, setting an NCAA tournament record for blocks in 2006.
And he’ll have to be ready, as it appears the Eastern Conference might have to be taken a bit more seriously following some bold moves on draft night.
While Ohio State’s Greg Oden going No. 1 to the Portland Trail Blazers and Texas’ Kevin Durant No. 2 to the Seattle Supersonics were expected to be Thursday night’s highlights, the big news was two trades sending All-Star-level players to the East.
Ray Allen, a six-time All-Star and one of the best shooters in NBA history, goes from Seattle to the Boston Celtics in a trade for the No. 5 pick in the draft, Georgetown’s Jeff Green. He’ll team with Durant as the Sonics begin rebuilding under new general manager Sam Presti from San Antonio.
It’s a risk, in that if they retained Allen and free-agent Rashard Lewis, the Sonics probably were a 50-win team. Now Seattle could be rebuilding and effectively abandoning Seattle, which won’t build a new arena, for a likely new location with a young team. Much depends on whether the Sonics re-sign free agent Lewis or try for a sign-and-trade or lose him to a team under the salary cap, like Orlando.
The Magic could become a playoff player as well with center Dwight Howard, the East’s best big man. If Orlando adds Lewis, it might persuade Grant Hill to re-sign. There also have been rumors of Chauncey Billups leaving Detroit to sign with Orlando, giving the Magic a potentially impressive inside/outside attack.
Boston, meanwhile, gets to pair Allen, from UConn, with high-scoring Paul Pierce, a five-time All-Star, and developing big man Al Jefferson, who averaged 19.8 points and 11.5 rebounds playing as a small-ball scoring center after the All-Star break. Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West and that No. 1 pick go to Seattle, and the Celtics also get the rights to LSU’s Glen “Big Baby” Davis. The belief in Boston is the move puts the Celtics in position to compete for the top of the weak Eastern Conference.
Likewise for the long woeful Knicks, who added Portland’s Zach Randolph, one of the league’s top scorers and rebounders. Never an All-Star and long with personal issues, Randolph became expendable when Portland drafted Oden this year after adding LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy last year. Randolph was 12th in the NBA in scoring and eighth in rebounding this season. Randolph and Eddy Curry could make up the most dominant front-line scoring tandem in the Eastern Conference.
The question is whether Randolph, generally regarded as a good person, can remain out of trouble in the spotlight of New York and avoid the negative influences that have brought him controversy and distraction.
In the deal, the Knicks gave up Channing Frye and Steve Francis, and also acquired guards Dan Dickau and Fred Jones. It also seems Francis would eventually move on from Portland.
With Stephon Marbury, Jamal Crawford and rebound machine David Lee, will the Knicks have enough to be a serious playoff contender? Perhaps, and at the very least it is a bold move and further helps the East make up some of the void in star power within the conference.
This could put pressure on the Bulls and other Eastern teams to make a move for Jermaine O’Neal, the Indiana Pacer power forward who is said to be available. The Lakers remain interested in him as they try to resolve their issues with Kobe Bryant, and the Timberwolves are expected to re-open negotiations about Kevin Garnett after several failed deals in the days before the draft.
Will a team like the Bulls be pushed to make a big move now? Noah would seem to be the kind of young big man who would interest the rebuilding T-Wolves, though the Bulls have long coveted him. And the NBA rumor mill has the Bulls being active in the summer in deals and possible sign-and-trade transactions. It’s also likely Pau Gasol, whom the Bulls were interested in last season, will become available again as it seems the Grizzlies have not improved much and he could try to force a trade again.
In Noah the Bulls get a high-energy player whom the coaching staff supposedly pushed for. But it sets the Bulls apart from much of the rest of the league in building for defense in an offensive era. Noah is considered an inept offensive player and an adventurous free-throw shooter whose shot often spins sideways. The offspring of tennis and entertainment star Yannick Noah and a former Miss Sweden, he’s regarded as a serious party guy, though it hasn’t interfered with his play.
Can he play with Ben Wallace and Tyrus Thomas? Likely not. But NBA executives say even top big men won’t like playing against a big energy man like him. And his high energy should translate into fast-break scoring opportunities and could be impressive in a reserve group with Thomas and Thabo Sefolosha or paired at times with Luol Deng, Thomas and Kirk Hinrich.
Otherwise, the draft went mostly according to expectations with Atlanta taking Al Horford at No. 3 as three Florida players went in the top nine. Memphis, at No. 4, picked flashy guard Mike Conley Jr., meaning two Ohio Staters went in the top four.
The Bucks went with Yi Jianlian of China at No. 6, and that could prove controversial as he supposedly wanted to play in the West or in Chicago. Kudos to the Bucks and Sen. Herb Kohl, their owner, for someone finally standing up to the threatening agents and players trying to dictate terms.
Drafting for Charlotte, Michael Jordan went for North Carolina’s Brandan Wright, then traded him to Golden State for Jason Richardson, a scoring guard with a Michael Jordan-type game. Spencer Hawes went after the Bulls at No. 10 to Sacramento, and Homewood-Flossmoor’s Julian Wright from Kansas went No. 13 to New Orleans.
DePaul’s Wilson Chandler went to the Knicks at No. 23.
Round 2 %% TEAM PLAYER P HT WT SCHOOL
31. Seattle-a Carl Landry F 6-8 1/2 248 Purdue
32. Boston Gabe Pruitt G 6-4 170 USC
33. San Ant.-b Marcus Williams F 6-7 205 Arizona
34. Dallas-c Nick Fazekas F 6-11 240 Nevada
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35. Seattle-d Glen Davis F 6-9 289 LSU
36. Charlotte-e Jermareo Davidson F 6-11 230 Alabama
37. Portland Josh McRoberts F 6-10 240 Duke
38. Phila.-f Kyrylo Fesenko C 7-0 235 Ukraine
39. Indiana-g Stanko Barac C 7-2 240 Croatia
40. L.A. Lakers-h Sun Yue G 6-9 212 China
41. Minnesota.-i Chris Richard F 6-9 252 Florida
42. Portland-j Derrick Byars G 6-7 230 Vanderbilt
43. New Orl Adam Haluska G 6-5 210 Iowa
44. Orlando Reyshawn Terry F 6-7 1/2 222 North Carolina
45. L.A. Clippers Jared Jordan G 6-2 183 Marist
46. Golden St.-k Stephane Lasme F 6-7 213 Massachusetts
47. Washington Dominic McGuire F 6-8 220 Fresno State
48. L.A. Lakers Marc Gasol C 7-0 265 Spain
49. Bulls-l Aaron Gray C 7-2 271 Pittsburgh
50. Dallas-m Renaldas Seibutis G 6-6 185 Lithuania
51. Bulls -n JamesOn Curry G 6-3 190 Oklahoma State
52. Portland-o Taurean Green G 6-1 173 Florida
53. Portland-p Demetris Nichols F 6-7 1/2 211 Syracuse
54. Houston-q Brad Newley G 6-6 1/2 201 Australia
55. Utah Herbert Hill F 6-10 232 Providence
56. Milwaukee-r Ramon Sessions G 6-4 185 Nevada
57. Detroit Sammy Mejia G 6-7 218 DePaul
58. San Antonio Giorgos Printezis F 6-9 210 Greece
59. Phoenix D.J. Strawberry G 6-5 199 Maryland
60. Dallas Milovan Rakovic C 6-10 235 Serbia
%%
a-from Memphis; b-from Milwaukee; c-from Atlanta; d-from Boston; e-from Golden State via Minnesota; f-from N.Y. via Bulls; g-from Miami via Sacramento and Utah; h-from Charlotte; i-from Philadelphia; j-from Indiana; k-from New Jersey; l-from Golden St. via Phoenix, Boston and Denver; m-from Miami via L.A. Lakers; n-from Denver; o-from Toronto; p-from Bulls; q-from Orlando via Cleveland; r-from Houston