NBA Draft 2013

After watching the NBA Draft Thursday night, I saw two surprising moves.
First was the trade of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Nets. These
two players will now team with Brook Lopez and Deron Williams. The
Las Vegas odds makers thought enough of this move to make the Nets a
10 to 1 favorite to win the championship next season. They opened at 40 to 1. Miami is on top at 2 to 1.

This trade does give the Nets a leg up in the battle for New York against
the Knicks.  Garnett has enough for one final run toward a title. Pierce can
still be productive. Both of these veterans showed they can still go but can't
play extended minutes. The playoff series against the Knicks showed that. It would have been nice to see Pierce play his entire career as a Celtic.

Secondly, the Sixers trading Jrue Holiday for the rights to Kentucky's
Noel was totally surprising. It is the second consecutive season the Sixers have moved their best player for a big man coming off injury. Iguodala for Bynum. Holiday was coming off an all star season and only 23. He did turn the ball over at an alarming rate but I think he will improve his assist to turnover ratio with New Orleans. Noel will be tremendous defensively but is a work in progress on the offensive end. The Sixers are starting over minus Bynum, who did not play one minute and Holiday, who was their most consistent performer.

Shout out to David Stern, the retiring NBA commissioner. Stern lead the league to international status, marketing globally and using the salary cap to create parity. The Heat won back to back titles, but a break here or there would have the Spurs or Pacers winning this year. Stern address
the image of the league and placed icons as Julius Erving,
Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant
and now Lebron James as the faces of  the game.

I did not agree with all of his moves. I did not support his stance on wardrobe at post game interviews. That should be a matter of choice. The questioning of an official call in an animated way, without profanity, resulting in not a warning but a technical foul. was over the top.

The NBA is in a much better place than when David Stern took over. It was cool that the first person he introduced 30 years ago at his first NBA draft, Hakeem Olajuwon, was there for his last.

Check out my post on the Miami Heat and other South Florida Happenings.
http://thegamingguyproductions.blogspot.com/2013/06/miami-celebration-featuring-lebron.html
                
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