Once upon a time, I turned down a hot dinner invitation to stay home and watch the NBA Draft.
That’s why no one invites me to dinner anymore. The Bergen Records’ Al Iannazzone rubs his crystal balls and predicts the New Jersey Nets’ likely selections.
When the Nets pick 15th in the NBA draft tonight, they might be feeling blue. Carolina blue, that is.
Vince Carter probably loves that the Nets have fellow North Carolina products Rashad McCants (above) and Sean May on their draft board. Carter would be even happier if one of them is a Net by tonight.
According to league sources, the Nets are strongly considering taking McCants with the No. 15 pick. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard averaged 17.6 points at North Carolina, and along with May, helped the Tar Heels win the national championship.
McCants, power forwards May, Arizona State’s Ike Diogu, Connecticut’s Charlie Villanueva and Kansas’ Wayne Simien; Syracuse small forward Hakim Warrick, Louisville shooter Francisco Garcia and prep point guard Monta Ellis (a very long shot) are on the Nets’ list of potential picks, depending on how the draft plays out.
Conventional thinking says the Nets, who pick No. 43 in the second round, need a power forward. May, Diogu and Villanueva fit the bill. But the Nets plan to address that need in free agency where Shareef Abdur-Rahim is priority No. 1, then Donyell Marshall and Stromile Swift.
McCants is considered good enough to be a lottery pick, but some character issues could be the reason he’s there for the Nets at No. 15. Minnesota, which selects 14th, also was said to like him.
I hadn’t heard that the Nets were looking at anything but 4s in the draft — Warrick had been ESPN’s pick for a long time (although he’s now apparently going to Golden State), and the Nets hadn’t even worked out McCants, to my knowledge. He always seemed like kind of an idiot, but what do I know? (Although my roommate, who is an ’02 grad of UNC, says that McCants is kind of an idiot: so there you go)
Almost as interesting to me as the Nets’ pick is how the Knicks will bollocks up theirs. Channing Frye makes sense. But I’m getting a strong, strong Andrew Bynum vibe from the organization, based on what I’ve been reading. Not that an 18 year old 7 footer isn’t going to put them over the top in the East, but… well, he’s not. Even in the East.
Speaking of dinner, I hope you haven’t had yours before clicking on the following..
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft/d05/tracker/team?team=nyk
That’s quite a decade+ of drafting.