12/22/24
June 25, 2004
Ugh: With Kirk Snyder, Jameer Nelson, Pavel Podkolzine, and many others still on the board last night when Telfair's name was called, is this another Sam Bowie, or is there some basis to the conspiracy theory?
posted by togdon to basketball at 01:22 PM - 7 comments
What's so wrong with this alleged conspiracy? I don't get it.
posted by blarp at 01:59 PM on June 25, 2004
Ah, that whole "teams are desperate to keep picks secret so other teams won't fuck them" thing is overrated. After the first few picks its such a crapshoot anyway that you pretty much have 2 or 3 choices - nobody really tries to handcuff teams into trades, I think. What's amazing to me is that this draft is without any genuine story or drama, thus the newspapers need to pique interest somehow. In the end we're sitting here talking about a 13th overall in a weak year.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 02:37 PM on June 25, 2004
Simmons' Draft Diary, excellent as usual.
posted by corpse at 02:54 PM on June 25, 2004
I concur. Simmons may be the only Page 2 columnist I can stomach. After the first few picks its such a crapshoot anyway that you pretty much have 2 or 3 choices... True, but sometimes GM's and coaches become enamored with prospects who they believe will be around in their pick range. I don't think its such a big leap to think that another team would try and take advantage of that. nobody really tries to handcuff teams into trades Not really, but is this because it's against "the code of ethics" or because generally these deals are now done before the draft? Its like Carlin said: The objective of business is to fuck the other guy a little bit harder, and a little bit faster. (to paraphrase :)
posted by lilnemo at 03:09 PM on June 25, 2004
I think its a little bit of collusion (pre-draft deals) and a little bit of 'GMs have long memories and carry huge grudges'. It actually co-insides with Carlin's Law of Economics.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 03:22 PM on June 25, 2004
Agreed.
posted by lilnemo at 03:25 PM on June 25, 2004
I don't buy the conspiracy theory angle. But it was blatantly obvious that Portland promised to select Telfair. Why they felt the need to take him so high, I'm not sure. Maybe they felt that another team was going to select him first in an effort to sucker them into a trade. Of course if it wasn't so widely known that they wanted him in the first place, that wouldn't have been a problem now would it?