Alea jacta est in the NBA Draft lottery and the first pick of the 2008 NBA Draft will be made by the Chicago Bulls. The second choice goes to the Miami Heat and third one is the Minnesota Timberwolves. We won’t go too deep into the order right now, but here are a few thoughts.
First of all, NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver really resembles German PG Pascal Roller with glasses. I am really a big fan of Pascal, but I didn’t know that he was using Scottish cloning techniques in order to rule the NBA.
According to most of the NBA Mock drafts, Danilo Gallinari will be drafted between 6 and 8. Of course, the 6th place is the one that makes the US sportswriters the happiest, as they can all point out their extraordinary basketball knowledge by making the link between Mike D’Antoni and Danilo’s father. But D’Antoni has already stated that he has not scouted Gallinari more than other players.
(By the way, BallinEurope brought this story on the table a few days ago…)
Still about Gallinari. A NBA scout I was talking to today about the whole Gallinari-D’Antoni rumor mill just told me the following.
Just stories…the Knicks are sixth, so five teams have better rights for now! Just D’Antoni and his father…they played together and so blah blah blah…
So these rumors don’t really seem to be that big but what’s more interesting is the fact that this NBA scout is pretty high on the Italian as he sees the possibility of a Top 5 team drafting Gallinari.
But besides Gallinari, what are the other Europeans that can have a shot in the first round. Aside from Kosta Koufos, who could be drafted but could also move to Greece for a most likely better contract than any NBA team can offer him, the spotlights will be mostly on Frenchmen Nicolas Batum and Alexis Ajinca. Nikola Pekovic could be an interesting addition, but having already reportedly signed with Panathinaikos and having declared that he does not like the NBA, his chances in the first round are probably not that good.
The Reebok Eurocamp at the beginning of June is the must-be place for all NBA executives and scouts to see what the European scene is offering this year. BallinEurope will also cover the camp this year and keep you updated on the Europeans that are in the draft race this year.
