Holding Out Hope!

Two weeks ago someone within the NBA, an unnamed source, let it slip that once the upcoming NBA collective bargaining agreement is completed that the NBA would begin to look at possible locations for expansion and that during the discussion of expansion it came up that the #1 location on the table is Seattle. The source even went on to say that “An hour after Seattle approves their arena, they’d have an offer in hand” in regards of an expansion team.

 

Chris Hansen, a hedge fund manager, has been trying to work deals with the City of Seattle, King County and Washington State to get an arena built that would bring an NBA team back to the Emerald City as well as a possible NHL team. Hansen has said before that his intention is to make any new arena an NBA/NHL ready arena.

When the rumor came out about the possible Seattle expansion Hansen went in to overdrive to get something together but to no avail the City Council voted 5-4 against an arena being paid for using a bond measure. Not to be dissuaded Chris went to look at other options and yesterday announced that he will privately fund the arena. In his Memorandum of Understanding to the city and NBA is that he will use private funds from a group of investors to fund the $200 million to build an arena with the agreement that the city vacate a section of city owned property near Safeco Field (Mariners) and CenturyLink Field (Seahawks) for the arena and that the NBA will commit to a team for the city by November 2017. Additionally, he has offered private money to upgrade the local streets in anticipation of higher traffic connected to the Sonics games.

 

The offer now goes to the Seattle City Council for another vote and then obviously the waiting game for the NBA to make a decision on expansion.  

 

This is amazing news for Seattle fans and if things do work out I would expect the NHL to turn to Seattle with an expansion team. With the NHL’s expansion in Las Vegas the NHL will be at 31 teams in 2017 with an unbalanced Western Conference. Adding a team in Seattle for 2018 or 2019 would even out the conferences and with a move of the Las Vegas franchise from Pacific Division to Central Division a Seattle franchise could slide right in to the Pacific Division giving each Division 8 teams.

Just imagine, a rebirth of both the Seattle Supersonics and Seattle Metropolitans.

The NBA Winds Of Change

This summer there are some potential big catches in the NBA. With Kevin Love looking to be traded, Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James already opting out of their contracts and the possibilities of Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade opting out by midnight Monday (June 30^th) there are teams that are already making some quick movements to make a run at the elite of the league.

 

Looking at each player let’s see what their moves will do to their collectability:

 

Love- Collectability Rising

 

Playing in Minnesota is difficult, he is such a star but the market is small. He has plenty of collectors but they are all in Minnesota. Rumors have him possibly going to Golden State, Boston, Phoenix or Chicago. If any of those locations materialize in a trade his collectability is skyrocketing.

 

 

Carmelo Anthony- Collectability Temporarily Stalled

 

Anthony collectors saw a meteoric rise in his prices when he moved to New York but not winning has left his collectors bummed. Rumors for a final landing spot for Anthony include Chicago, Miami, Dallas, Houston or the Clippers plus some murmurings of the Lakers. First thing first, no matter where he goes if he does not win his prices won’t change much. Chicago has Rose (if he can stay healthy), Houston has D. Howard and the Clippers have Griffin and Paul. There is a possibility of going the distance in any of those places. If he does end up in Miami and any of the Big Three remain his prices will jump immediately because NBA playoffs will always include Miami (for now). Dallas and LA Lakers would end up being a bad move. Both teams are aging and Anthony at 30 years old, does not want to be part of a rebuilding phase.

 

 

LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade- Collectability Stable + (Depending on signings)

 

Some people are clamoring that Miami is in free fall with James opting out, they are talking about the sky falling expecting Bosh and Wade to run too. From what I have read though over the last two weeks it has been expected that James would opt out (even before he made the announcement) to give him and Miami the ability to work a favorable contract to bring in more talent, like Anthony.

 

At this point I James will probably end up remaining in Miami, so his prices really won’t change much. But if Anthony were to sign in Miami and the other three remain I wouldn’t be surprised to see all of their prices run through the roof. The thing about James, collectability-wise, even if he is to move his Panini cards won’t change much. Any new relic card might have a premium in a new uniform but everyone knows the real money is in the autograph cards, which Upper Deck controls.

 

There are some other big names like Nowitzki, Lowry, Bledsoe and Gasol but I don’t see much affecting their prices. Dirk will re-sign with Dallas, Bledsoe will resign with Phoenix and Gasol is on the downside of his career so nothing big is expected. Lowry on the other hand is rumored to be returning to Houston so he may see a jump.

The (Tiny) Possibility Of The Return Of The SuperSonics?

With the ban of Donald Sterling and the possible forced sale of the LA Clippers will the sale will be open to any potential buyers or only buyers’ intent on keeping the team in Los Angeles? There have already been a couple of rumors including one involving Magic Johnson (now wouldn’t that be ironic?). There is also talk about Sterling’s estranged family taking control but you have to wonder if the league will do the right thing and allow Chris Hansen’s group take a shot at buying the team and bringing them to Seattle as the continuation of the Seattle SuperSonics.

 

With the Lakers taking top billing in Los Angeles you could argue that the loss of the Clippers would not be as severe as the loss would have been to the Sacramento fan base if the Kings moved. The Clippers are already a solid team with Doc Rivers leading the team from the Pacific Northwest. Could you imagine Chris Paul and Blake Griffin in the green and gold taking the reins from Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp? That would be a beautiful sight.

 

In a world where the Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets replaced the outgoing New Orleans Pelicans (Hornets) in only two years how can the theft of the Sonics not be righted in as short a period of time? Instead Sonics fans have to wait with baited breath while Stern almost taunted the city with every rumor of a team moving, never to replace the team even with an expansion even though an arena deal is set, just waiting for the NBA to approve a team in Seattle. There is an ownership group in place, there is a temporary arena in place (Key Arena) and a new arena deal in place (SoDo Arena) and a built in fan base… NBA, DO WHAT IS RIGHT!

 

Of course I am biased here, I lived in Seattle for half of my life and the Sonics are my second favorite team (behind the Suns). I was in Seattle when the team was stolen and I refuse to root for OKC and even though Durant is a great player I will never own a card of him outside of the years he wore Sonics green and gold. I would jump all over Griffin and Paul Sonics card, along with the millions of Seattle SuperSonics fans.

 

I know this is a looooong shot of happening but as long as there is hope there is a chance. To have some fun I reimagined the current Clippers logo to what it may look like if the team were to move to Seattle. Now doesn’t that seem natural?

RIP Ossie Schectman

This week we lost an NBA legend. Not a legend of superstar caliber but a legend none-the-less.

 

Ossie Schectman is not in the NBA Hall of Fame but he should be, even though he only played one season, see Schectman is the man who scored the first points in NBA history. The night was November 1, 1946 and Schectman’s New York Knicks were playing the Toronto Huskies in the newly formed Basketball Association of America (BAA), the league that would eventually become the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1949. Following the tip off, won by the Huskies, a Knicks player grabbed the rebound after the Huskies missed a basket and began a fast break. Three passes later Schectman puts up a layup and goes down in history as the man who scored the first points in NBA history.

 

Schectman, who only played one season in the BBA before returning to the ABL, passed away Tuesday at the age of 94. His NBA line reads 8.1 ppg. and 2.0 apg. (Rebounds were not calculated at that time). His averages made him the #3 ranked player in the league for both points per game and assists per game during the 1946-47 season, numbers that would have him ranked #131 for points and #87 for assists during the 2012-13 season.

 

In 1946 there were no basketball cards or mainstream baseball cards so to honor Schectman I am using the design from the 1946 Remar Bread baseball cards. Remar Bakery was bakery opened in 1918 in the Oakland/Alameda area and between 1945 and 1950 they included baseball cards of the Oakland Oaks players in their packages. I added some smudges on the front and back to add some "aging" to the card. Here is a link to images of the original 1946 Remar Bread cards. It was a pain finding out who was the play by play announcer for the 1946 Knicks and what radio station he was on but I finally found the answer in Glickman.

Griner In The NBA?

The 2013 WNBA Draft is next week, April 15^th, and barring any last minute trades the Phoenix Mercury will be drafting Brittney Griner with the #1 pick. The 2013 NBA Draft is two months later, June 27^th, and Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks owner, has said that he would be willing to give the 6’8”, 200-lbs Griner a chance to try out for the Mavs. He even said he would be willing to spend a Second Round pick on her just for the chance to get her in to town.

Brittney Griner would not be the first woman with the opportunity to play in the NBA, in the late ‘70s the Indiana Pacers brought Ann Meyers in for a try out but she was not signed.

By June 27^th the WNBA will be starting the second month of the regular schedule; Phoenix will actually be in Washington on the night of the NBA Draft. The NBA Summer League stars a few weeks following the NBA Draft, due to the conflicting schedules between the two leagues Griner would have to decide whether to remain in the WNBA or give the NBA a shot.  

The Return Of The Kings... Uh Sonics...

I know, another commentary, but this could be big news.

Some friends in Seattle, a couple of them have a connection to the sports world/reporting, are talking about a possible homecoming of sorts for the Sonics and rumor is that Chris Hansen, one of the investors helping to build an NBA/NHL arena in downtown Seattle, is finalizing a deal with the Maloof brothers to purchase the Sacramento Kings and move them to Seattle as the Seattle Supersonics.

Now this is coming from friends so I do not know if this is truth, rumor, speculation or pure hope but when looking in to the story it is true that Chris Hansen has approached the Maloofs to talk about a potential sale and Yahoo Sports is reporting that the team could be in Seattle for the 2013-14 NBA season where they will play in the Key Arena until the new NBA/NHL arena is completed.

I lived in Seattle during the Clay Bennett high jacking so I know what it is like to see a team leave and I feel for Sacramento fans. There is a slight difference here, Bennett came to town under the guise that he was keeping the team in Seattle and that he only moved because an arena deal could not be agreed upon. Which was proven false when his business emails were released showing his initial intent when he made the offer was to “Get out of town as soon as possible” whereas Hansen is making the offer with the understanding that the team will be moved to Seattle. 

I want the Sonics to return to Seattle but I was hoping it would be an expansion team (or a repurchase of the old Sonics and brought back), I didn’t want to see another city go through what we went through.

The NBA Free Agency Period Seems To Be Bipolar

The NBA free agency opened July 1^st and by July 5^th we have seen some interesting moves along with a couple of non-moves. While the official signing period does not open until July 11^th offers are being tossed and accepted almost as quickly.

Looking at my Suns I am disappointed yet intrigued with the moves since the NBA Draft.

The big move was the sign and trade of Steve Nash to the Lakers. This was a surprise to me, I knew he was listening to offers with the most notable being Toronto, Knicks, Nets and Mavs but to be traded to the Lakers is like a dagger to the heart of every Suns’ fan.

Picking Kendall Marshall in the draft was the start to the drama of Steve Nash’s trade, but at least the Suns picked up two future First Round picks, two future Second Round picks and cash from the Lakers so at least this was a step towards rebuilding one of the oldest teams in the league.

Since the Nash trade was announced yesterday afternoon we have seen the Suns come to contract offer agreements with Michael Beasley of the Timberwolves, Goran Dragic of the Rockets (and ex-Sun) and Eric Gordon of the Hornets. Additionally it is expected that Grant Hill will follow Nash to the Lakers and Aaron Brooks may be heading to either Dallas or Houston in a free agency move.

Suddenly the Suns, one of the oldest teams has now become one of the younger teams. The starting lineup may look like this on Opening Day:

PG Goran Dragic (26 years old)

SG Eric Gordon (23 years old)

PF Channing Frye (29 years old) if his shoulder is healthy or Markieff Morris (22)

SF Michael Beasley (23 years old)

C Robin Lopez (24) or Marcin Gortat (28)

There could potentially be 4 starters under 25 and all 5 under 30 years old, which includes 3 lottery picks and a #15 pick. Three of the last 4 years the Suns have missed the playoffs, have the Suns suddenly become a playoff team without even playing a game yet with the current lineup.

On to the rest of the NBA:

A couple of non-moves that were pretty much certain before the free agency opened are Deron Williams with the Nets which almost seemed like a given once the team traded for SG Joe Johnson. Kevin Garnett re-signing with the Celtics, Chauncey Billups re-signed with the Clippers and Jameer Nelson re-signing with the Magic. It is also expected that Tim Duncan will re-sign in San Antonio.

The major moves; Nash to the Lakers in a sign and trade, Jason Kidd to the Knicks, Jeremy Lin to the Rockets, Jason Terry to the Celtics and Brandon Roy to the Timberwolves.

The final category is the unsigned, I cannot go through all of the free agents still available but I will hit on a couple of bigger names: Aaron Brooks (rumored to be looking at Dallas or Houston), Randy Foye, OJ Mayo, Raymond Felton and Kirk Hinrich.

The two (and a half) MAJOR players left undecided in this period of trades and free agency-

Dwight Howard, who has stated he wants to go to the Nets but with bringing on Johnson and re-signing Williams the Nets are in a tough position to even field a full team next season.

Ray Allen, who seems to be wanted by almost every team in need of a PG or a solid backup and this includes the Heat and Mavericks. With KG staying with the Celtics it is quite possible that he may return to Boston. Though I do want to bring up that LeBron seems almost certain that Allen will be in South beach next season that he tweeted a picture of Allen in a Heat uniform yesterday.

Pau Gasol, he has been named in so many trade rumors his head has to be spinning, while I am a lifelong Suns fan and have grown up disliking the Lakers I truly feel bad for him. I do not even want to go in to where he may end up next season because it is quite possible he could end up on any team if a trade suddenly goes down.

I want to add in an afterthought category, those players who are officially free agents but may never sign with another NBA team again:

Greg Oden- Two numbers come to mind- 24 years old but 4 knee surgeries

Gilbert Arenas- Agent 0, who is a University of Arizona product, is down to 2 options… retire or sign a deal for the veteran minimum with a team close to the Luxury Tax cap

Tracy McGrady- Rumor is that the Magic are considering McGrady to get Howard to re-consider staying in Orlando, if this does not happen he may be done or like Arenas look to sign with a Luxury Tax team for the vet minimum

Baron Davis- Having torn both the ACL and MCL may have ended his career. Following his May surgery he is expected to be out for at least one year recouping.

The NBA Is Back But Is It To Late?

If everything goes as planned the NBA is set to begin the 2011-12 NBA Season on Christmas Day and will play a 66 game schedule.

The question I have to ask right now is “Does anyone care?"

In a year where we saw lockouts in the NFL and NBA fans and collectors are feeling ignored and dejected. Two groups of millionaires (owners and players) fighting over who gets to take more of our cash has really isolated them from the fans. Over the years the NHL and MLB saw serious dips following lengthy lockouts/strikes and while the NFL was fortunate enough to not see a loss in fan approval following the summer lockout the NBA will probably feel the wrath.

The NFL ended the lockout before the season started so all we lost was a couple of pre-season games, add in some interesting turns in the standings (who really expected Detroit and the 49ers to look good?) and some great rookie play and fans are willing to overlook the lockout.

The NBA on the other hand has been a nasty divorce story since Day 1 of the lockout, we have already lost ¼ of the season and we will probably see the same teams sitting atop the standings with Miami leading the way before flaming out in the playoffs. A couple of teams are going to be in a difficult situation because some players have decided to go overseas and signed deals without an opt-out clause or even worse, got hurt like the Nuggets J.R. Smith who hurt his knee while playing in China and Utah’s Andrei Kirilenko broke his nose and got a concussion during a game in the Russian League.

Newest Trade Rumors

The Lakers have been tossed in to the mixer regarding a possible trade for Carmelo Anthony. Right now the word is that it would basically be a Andrew Bynum for Carmelo Anthony trade but with everyone denying it this can be considered no more than just a rumor.

2010-11 Donruss Basketball...Finally In My Hands

I have been waiting for the 2010-11 Donruss Basketball boxes to finally drop in my neighborhood and I finally came across a couple of blasters so I grabbed one to take a look. Looking at the sell sheets and box breaks I was really looking forward to this set. Panini did right, well mostly right, with this set. Outside of the semi-gloss coating they did a nice job recreating the retro Donruss look even going as far as making the backs look and feel like the sets from the 80s and 90s. I am not sure how I feel about the yellow/sepia tone on all of the players images. I understand it is used to give an “old” feel to a retro set but when you use the yellowing along with the semi-gloss you are not doing anyone a favor.

At best I would call my box mediocre, not because I didn’t pull a top-dollar autograph or relic card, but because the players selection at best is just alright, nothing spectacular. There is one card of note, a card that put a smile on my face at the end of ripping all the packs but I will cover that card at the end of this post.

Only a handful of the base cards are even guys I would consider to be team stars let alone superstars. Amar’e Stoudamire, Carmelo Anthony, Paul Pierce, Shaq and possible-MVP Manu Ginobili are the top players on the list. Ex-Wildcats Channing Frye, Mike Bibby and Gilbert Arenas made the box more bearable.

I pulled a Wesley Johnson Rated Rookie but the rest of the list is made up of backups and scrubs that may be lucky to play 2-3 minutes a game and would be lucky to even still be in the NBA in 3 years.

I wanted to point out that some of the cards have been Photoshopped to blur the audience. I am not sure what was used to determine how players were selected for this process. The Jason Thomspon was the first card I noticed the blurred background when opening packs.

I pulled three Emerald Die-cut cards; Jameer Nelson, Dwight Howard and Anthony Morrow (another card where the audience is blurred).

Production Line cards include Emerald Die-cut Chris Kaman and Al Horford and a base Darren Collison, which is not die-cut. If you were to look at these die-cuts you might think that they were miscut cards during production. I have seen some odd die-cuts in pictures and on box break videos that make you wonder who was in charge of the die-cutting and why things went down the way they did.

My favorite cards on the checklist by far are the Jersey Kings inserts. These cards look amazing using painted images of players on a marble surface. The downside is that these cards were created with the autograph sticker in mind. The cards without autographs just seem unfinished.

I pulled an Emerald Die-Cut Andre Miller but the top card of the entire box is the Ruby Die-Cut Maurice Cheeks #/25. Mo may not be Hall of Fame material but in the 1980s he was Mr. Defense. He is still #5 on the All-Time Steals list, he was on the All-Defensive team through most of the 80s and he won a NBA Championship with the 76ers in 1983. My only problem with the card? WHY THE F@*K is he in a Knicks uniform? He played a year and a half in New York (107 total games) while he spent 11 years in Philly. Hell, he even coached the 76ers for a few season, now why would you go and put him in a Knicks uni on an awesome card like this?

The hit is a white dime-sized Deron Williams jersey card #/299. He is a pretty good player but the thing about the Jazz is if you aren’t named Malone or Stockton you pretty much are lost in the collecting world outside of Utah. Also I am not a fan of the Craftsman insert, it just doesn’t seem right.

Upcoming 2009-10 Prestige basketball

I was listening to the Sports Card Show podcast today while sitting at the pool and Colin had brought up Panini having the NBA License and it made me think back. When the news was announced in January that the NBA was signing exclusively with Panini I was really against it because I feel that a single manufacturer can prove fatal if the company becomes stagnant and their releases are lazy. But then it can turn in to a complete score if the releases are well thought out and original.

I guess we will see how Panini/Donruss do when they release the 2009-10 Prestige Basketball set in October. I have seen the Prestige sell sheet and I kind of like what I see, I am not sure about the autographs though, in the sell sheet the autos look on-card but the auto of the Kevin McHale Old School Signature from the National the card has a sticker auto.

I am going to do a review of the 2009-10 Prestige Basketball set within the next few days, I just want to get as much information about the release as possible.

NBA Free Agency News- 7/1

The first shots are fired in the early hours of the NBA free agency period. The Detroit Pistons started things off by working out deals with both Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva. This seems like an odd situation for a team loaded with Shooting Guards and Forwards but with Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess and AI all having expiring contracts I guess the deals are not that bad of a move after all.

Next up are the LA Clippers making a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies. The Clippers sent PF Zach Randolph to the Grizzlies for SG Quentin Richardson. I have never liked Randolph; I will always connect him with the Portland Jailblazers. This really could turn out to be a decent move for the Clippers; they open up a position for PF Blake Griffin and add to the depth at Shooting Guard. I think the Clippers could turn some heads next season; they have a nucleus of both veteran players and young players so they have the experience as well as the youth.

Next up are a couple of rumors from various teams around the league.

Both Dallas and the New York Knicks seem to be coveting PG Jason Kidd. It looks like he will be looking at a deal running $25 million over three years. The Knicks have a couple of average Point Guards so adding Jason Kidd could help them out now plus it may work in their favor when they try to lure LeBron James in 2010. I have also heard rumors that PG Nate Robinson may be used as trade bait so adding Kidd would definitely open up that avenue too.

The Portland Trail Blazers are in the lead for the services of SF Hedo Turkoglu who has turned down an offer to re-sing with the Orlando Magic for a reported $36 million over four years. It is believed that the Portland Trail Blazers may be offering a contract for $50 million over five years. The Blazers are short on Small Forwards, so the addition of Turkoglu will fill a need but it is rumored that SG Rudy Fernandez is angered over the potential deal because it would essentially cost him some minutes and he supposedly has talked with a couple of European teams if he can get out of his contract with the team. But there is also the potential that Fernandez could end up getting traded if he is not allowed out of his current contract. It would be nice to see him head back to the team that drafted him, the Phoenix Suns, he would be welcomed back to the Valley of the Sun and he could easily pick up substantial minutes in the Small Forward position.

One team that may have suddenly been thrust in to the free agency market is the Houston Rockets. The hairline fracture in Yao Ming’s foot may have him out for the season and possibly could even be a career ending injury according to the team’s physician. The Rockets do have a number of options on the market but the question is will any of the options fit well within the team? Only time will tell.

NBA News- 6/26

Well, I was pretty close with the Top 6 picks; Sacramento threw a wrench in to my picks by taking SG Tyreke Evans instead of PG Ricky Rubio, leaving Rubio for the Timberwolves. Which in turn left PG Stephan Curry for Golden State to draft.

The rumors seem to have heated up regarding a possible trade of Amare Stoudamire. The buzz is now coming out of Oakland. It appears that PF Amare Stoudamire may be heading to Golden State in exchange for the rights to PG Stephan Curry, C Andris Biedrins and possibly another player to be named (possibly PF Brendan Wright or SG Marco Belinelli).

Oddly enough, I kind of agree with this scenario. I hate to see Stoudamire go but he has become more intent on leaving the Suns since Shaq came to Phoenix and his output decreased. It is believed that Stoudamire would option out of his contract following the 2010 season any way.

This potential trade would give Phoenix some help now and set the team up for the future too. Curry would become a backup to one of the best Point Guards to run the game, Steve Nash. Bringing in C Andris Biedrins would also give Phoenix a true Center. Phoenix drafted 4 Forwards this year, which seems extreme, but could help solidify the lineup even more. Jason Richardson would move back to Shooting Guard and Robin Lopez can stick with being a Center.

In other trade rumors the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves may be working a deal to send PG Ricky Rubio to the Knicks. As of now there has been no further details involving this potential trade, if this deal is pulled off the Knicks may turn out to be one of the winners of the draft.



FOLLOW UP 6/27

In the most recent reports, Golden State coach Don Nelson has stated that he has no intention of trading PG Stephan Curry no matter what. This may be an announcement just to shut down the rumors or this may actually be the truth, only time will tell.

2009 NBA Draft

We are now down to less then 24 hours until the NBA Draft takes place and besides the #1 pick the Top 5 seems to be a game of musical chairs.

The Clippers will be taking PF Blake Griffin, which is a given, but then there are no certainties over the next four picks. Most draft boards have those picks down to C Hasheem Thabeet, PG Ricky Rubio, SG James Harden, SG Tyreke Evans, PG Stephan Curry and PF Jordan Hill.

At #2- Memphis: Memphis could actually use a Power Forward, which could be filled by drafting Jordan Hill but another option and possibly even a better option would be to take C Hasheem Thabeet and use Marc Gasol as a Power Forward.

At #3- OKC Pirates- The Thunder are set at Point Guard, Small Forward and Power Forward so logically they could use a Center or Shooting Guard. Since there are not many quality Centers in the draft after Thabeet I would think that they would be better off going with a Shooting Guard. There are a couple of options here, but the best choices are either Harden or Evans. James Harden seems to be more polished between the two options so I would say that they should draft SG James Harden with the #3 pick.

At #4- Sacramento: The Kings could use upgrades at almost every position. They do seem to have solid performers at Shooting Guard and Center, so it would be best to focus on a quality Point Guard. There really is no waffling about this pick; the Kings should go with the best player still available and probably the best Point Guard in the draft, PG Ricky Rubio. The only concern may be the buyout from his team in Spain.

At #5 & 6- Minnesota: The Timberwolves just traded away their backcourt and now have 4 picks in the First Round. So obvious needs will be at Point Guard and Shooting Guard but they also need a Small Forward. The obvious choice here would be at Point Guard because you want to pick up a quality player to run the team, so one pick should be used to select PG Stephen Curry. The second pick would best be used on SG Tyreke Evans and select one of the numerous remaining Small Forwards with the #18 or #28 picks.