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With this year’s NBA draft approaching, sports fans have began pondering who their team will pick up.
The main question is, who is going to be the No. 1 pick and who will rise to be the up and coming superstars of the NBA?
Derrick Rose raised the bar high for rookies becoming the NBA rookie of the year and a breakout star in the postseason.
Rose led the bulls into the playoffs, taking the defending champions, the Boston Celtics, to seven games in an unforgettable series.
The three teams which are most likely to hold the top spots in this year’s draft are the Sacramento Kings, the Washington Wizards and, the Los Angeles Clippers.
None of these three teams were able to win at least 20 games this season.
The Kings have the best chance at obtaining the No. 1 pick.
The next team with a chance are the Wizards and most likely to choose third are the Clippers.
Obviously adjustments need to be made and big time rookies need to step in.
The question is which ones, and will they fit the system to become the next Rose, Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan.
It is very difficult to see a Jordan in this year’s draft, but some players do have what it takes to hopefully lead their team into the postseason in 2010.
The major players in this draft are University of Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin, international Spanish sensation Ricky Rubio and University of Connecticut’s Hasheem Thabeet.
Griffin might be the best overall player in this draft, but should the Kings have the No.1 pick, choosing him might not turn out to be such a great idea.
Sure, Griffin would be a great addition to any team, but the Kings need a point guard more than they need a forward.
The Kings are a young and up and coming team. Led by Kevin Martin, one of the best shooting guards in the league today, the Kings have a chance to drastically turn around the team next year.
The thing they need though is a smart point guard.
Rubio fits this piece of the puzzle perfectly. He has a great basketball IQ and is capable of making every pass imaginable.
He is also able to drive the lane and get the job done himself.
The only thing worrying teams about Rubio are his weak speed and strength.
Rubio clearly will have to work on those issues but where he lacks those qualities, Martin makes up for them quite nicely.
The Kings already have two young big men in Spencer Hawes and Jason Thomson.
Having Griffin in there would clog up the lanes leaving the guards shooting jump shots for almost the entire game.
The best thing though is that Rubio is only 18 years old.
He has had professional experience in Europe over the last three years, playing well in two of the top elite teams in Spain.
He also played for Spain in the Olympics last year.
He’ll have plenty of time to grow and develop into a top NBA player.
Should the Kings pass on Griffin with the first pick, the Wizards would be a great team for him to begin his career with.
Griffin won’t be a starter but will learn quickly following some top forwards such as Caron Butler and Antwan Jamison.
Griffin has great size and athleticism but some of his skills are what worry coaches.
His ball handling skills are not all that great, his free throws are inconsistent, and his face up game against an NBA type player has been questioned numerous times.
With time he will improve to most likely replace an aging Jamison who will be 33 this year.
The Clippers with the third pick would find great value in choosing center Hasheem Thabeet.
Thabeet, like Griffin, might start out on the bench following Marcus Camby closely.
He would also be playing a lot of minutes seeing that Camby is already 35 years old and not able to do much of the things he once used to.
Thabeet’s athleticism down in the paint would complement the play of point guard Baron Davis as well as small forward Ricky Davis.
If Thabeet bulks up a bit and becomes more aggressive, he could be the face of the franchise along with Baron Davis, and then most likely with Eric Gordon, the young and talented Clippers guard entering his second year.
The 2009 NBA Draft will be held on June 25 in Madison Square Garden and airs on ESPN at 4 p.m.
