FreeDrafto #463462: Night Still Spoken

Here, it's me talking nonsense about the NBA Draft for 3,000 words. Unlike in the past when I've done this for Deadspin, I went back and cleaned it up, added stuff, etc. Somehow, most of the changes and fattening happened further down in the log. This is actually much like those old edited FD chats we'd run the next day. But it's just me. No, that wasn't an invitation to argue about the past.

My biggest draft night neurosis: My in ability to remember having seen Kevin Seraphin play. Apparently I saw him do stuff like this for twenty minutes. Go to 2:35 in for a taste.



I am chalking it up to a "thou shall have no gods but John Wall" weekend. That's Wall getting swatted by Seraphin, by the way.

Still trying to figure out the Wall narrative. He certainly has godhead potential, and indeed we all tried to bestow it upon him coming out of high school. But the Kentucky experience both loosened him up and hardened him in important ways. We also can't underestimate the effect that Eric Prisbell's WaPo piece had on the way he's seen. You've heard of a hijacked news cycle? This was mythology handed important texts at the deadline.

I think someone called him "Sir John" last night. That strikes me as strangely apt. Wouldn't instant divinity also mean arrested adolescence? Or, if there were maturity there, it wouldn't exactly feel earned. Wall may be working his way up to the otherworldly -- an odd thought, but in keeping with the humility and depth that, as much as the dunks, are becoming part of his star-making narrative.

Anyway, I am fairly dead, but wanted to make sure you didn't miss my draft commentary. Just for kicks, major FD potential for Wall (duh), Johnson (mixed on there), Cousins (as parable), Monroe (I expect some heady new discoveries), Aminu (just getting started), Paul George (be thine own wings), Patterson (that soccer quirk), Sanders (supreme FD), Whiteside (the ADD kid), Devin Ebanks (show 'em something!), Tiny Gallon (FD loves fat dudes), Willie Warren (for a year ago), Stanley Robinson (will MURDER in summer leagues). Factor in the positional flux of so many guys, and I think you see why I was so turned on by this draft. This wasn't the big man draft, some inverted sequel to 2009. No, as Ziller pointed out, this was an attempt death-knell for position.

His exact words: "Again, positions are stupid. You need some big dudes and some dudes who can handle the ball, and they all need to compliment each other based on what you're trying to do. Draft accordingly."

Time will tell if its repercussions turn out to be shock waves or mere inconveniences. And just maybe, it's a sign of what was already in the air.

OOPS: Left off Avery Bradley. A him and Rondo backcourt makes no common sense, but has space gargoyle potential that it breaks my teeth to even consider.