Sometime on the evening of June 24, 2010, NBA Commissioner David Stern could well utter the following words…”With the first pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, the Utah Jazz select John Wall of the University of Kentucky.”
Of course, the team that could really use Wall — just named to the Bob Cousy Award Watch List — and his transcendant abilities is the New York Knicks.
And the Knicks — off to a dreadful 1-8 start — could well earn the right to select the 6-foot-4 Wall with the top pick. Several mock drafts project Wall as the No. 1 pick next year, ahead of Derrick Favors, Ed Davis and Greg Monroe.
There’s just one problem.
The Knicks traded the pick.
Utah now holds New York’s 2010 1st-round pick after the Knicks dealt for Stephon Marbury.
To borrow a phrase from Spinal Tap, Marbury is currently residing in the “Where are they now?” category and spends more time texting New York Post beat writer Marc Berman than he does actually playing basketball.
So where does all this leave the Knicks?
Well, without a quality point guard, now or later.
Starting point guard Chris Duhon posted this gem of a line in last night’s 114-101 loss to Al Horford and Atlanta: 0 points on 0-for-6 shooting, 3 turnovers, 3 rebounds, 2 assists.
“He’s going to have to play better and he’s going to have to do it,” a visibly shaken Mike D’Antoni said.
Asked if Duhon might lose his starting job, the coach said, “We’ll see. I don’t know yet.”
At the rate the Knicks are going — which is to say, full-speed straight off a cliff like those chicks in Thelma & Louise — they are “on pace” for a final record that says 10-72 or 9-73.
Is it likely to get that bad?
Probably not, but let’s say they win 25 games.
Is that going to be enough to attract LeBron James or Dwyane Wade to the Garden next summer?
“Honestly, I wouldn’t say they [the Knicks] have to make the playoffs. They just have to compete. Both those guys are on really good teams right now so who knows what the future holds?” former Knick and current Hawk Jamal Crawford said before the game. “It would be tough for them to leave that.”
Assuming those free agents did want to come to New York, what point guard will they be playing with? Someone who leads his team to the playoffs and makes his teammates better?
Or someone whose team has one more NBA win right now than I do.
One thing’s for sure, the Knicks point guard next year won’t be John Wall — barring some blockbuster trade.
Wall could be headed to Utah…if the winless Nets don’t grab him first.
HORNETS FIRE SCOTT
The New Orleans Hornets announced Thursday that they have relieved Byron Scott of his head coaching duties. Scott will be replaced by General Manager Jeff Bower.
New Orleans lost 124-104 at Phoenix on Wednesday, falling to 3-6 to start the season.
Former Hornets and Bulls head coach Tim Floyd was named an assistant. Floyd stepped down as coach at USC before the season in the wake of the O.J. Mayo scandal in which Floyd allegedly doled out cash payments to a runner in exchange for landing Mayo.
“I want to thank Byron for the hard work he has put in during his time with the Hornets,” said Hornets Owner George Shinn. “I’ve hired Jeff Bower to take over the coaching reign. He knows this team better than anyone, has the respect of the players and in basketball circles, is regarded as one of the best basketball minds in the business. This is our best opportunity to reach our goals this season.”
Bower has spent his 14-plus seasons with the club.
After serving as the assistant general manager for the 2000-01 season, Bower was promoted to general manager in June of 2001 and has since held that position. He returned to the bench as an assistant under Floyd in 2003-04.
“Accountability was our theme this past summer,” said Hornets Vice President of Basketball Chad Shinn. “We talked about the fact that everyone on our staff is held to a certain standard of performance and we didn’t feel this was happening at the head coach level. We feel like we still have an opportunity with our nucleus to get to where we want and Jeff is the right guy, right now to move us in that direction from the bench.”
“As we look at our long-term coaching plans, it’s not about who the head coach is, it’s about the role of the head coach to get the team to perform to their capabilities and reaching our potential this season,” said Bower.
Bower served three years as an assistant coach at Penn State University from 1983-86 before moving to Marist College, where he led the Red Foxes to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1987 after winning the Northeast Conference.
(Information from the Hornets Website was used; Photos courtesy University of Kentucky, AP)
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
ChadT / November 12, 2009
“There’s just one problem.”
Wall has only played ONE college game and people are already tabbing him as the next great thing. I watched him against Clairol and I’m not impressed. Stiff college defenses will expose Wall, but too bad we will never see it until UK gets blown out of the second round of the tournament in March because of the terrible SEC conference.
/
m_cat96 / November 12, 2009
Not impressed ? 27 points / 9 assists. You can hate all you want but you are the only moron out there who doesn’t think Wall is a Top 3 pick. Is that why Jerry Meyer at Rivals said the only player in the last 6 years to come out of high school who is better is King James ? My guess is ChadT is really Chris Wallace, GM for the Grizzlies. Or is that you Isiah Thomas ?
The SEC is much tougher than they are getting credit for. They had 4 of the 15 youngest rosters in the NCAA last year, and almost all those kids return. Vanderbilt will be very good. So will Ole Miss, Missississippi St, Tennessee, Florida, and South Carolina. And just in case that isn’t enough, UK plays UNC, UConn, Louisville, and IU. They will have a Top 10 RPI, and at least a 14-15 teams they play this year will make the tourney.
/
jhawk4 / November 13, 2009
The Jazz already have Deron Williams, why would they need Wall too?
and ill agree its hard to say he wasn’t impressive in that first exhibition game, he really was, but i wouldn’t get too excited about stats vs D2 opponents.
i would also advise UK fans to stop proclaiming this kid as the best point guard to ever pick up a basketball, talk about pressure. geez. we have our first lebron james comparison. cut him a little slack if he isnt lebron right away.
/
ChadT / November 13, 2009
Nope, not impressed. I wasn’t impressed with his teams 16-12 record in high school last season, or when when the dribbled the ball off of his leg out of bounds in the state title game (CHOKE) to let the the other team hit the game winning shot.
The kid is fast, has no outside game at all, and he was dishing out dimes to 6’10 Cousins while the other team didn’t have a starter over 6’5.
He WON’ T be tested in the SEC, because there aren’t any guards in that conference that will be able to shut him down. Put him in the Big East or the ACC and he wouldn’t be anything special.
Top PICK? I’ll believe it when I see it.
/
ukfan12 / November 13, 2009
ChadT seriously? I stumbled onto this site and after I read your comments, I felt compelled to respond. Devan Downey, Kenny Bonyton, Larry Drew, Dexter Strickland, Chris Warren, Courtney Fortson, Jerome Dyson, and Kemba Walker are all very good players he’ll be playing against this year and I’m know I’ve left out a few. The SEC has 3 teams ranked in the top 20. Vandy will be good, probably ranked and in the tourney and so will Ole Miss. The ACC only has 4 teams ranked and the Big East has 5. It’s kind of embarrassing that the Big East has 5 more teams in the entire conference and only 2 more teams ranked than the “terrible” SEC. The SEC has 7 teams who recieved votes to be ranked. The Big East totals 7. And the ACC has 7 as well. Know your facts kid. Derrick Favors, Sheron Collins are two of only maybe 5 players that could be better than Wall in all of college basketball. And Collins will obviously not be drafted anywhere near Wall. I’m not saying Wall will be Player of the Year or anything but the kid will be very very good. Who cares what he did in high school? If he has an off night (which I doubt will happen often) this team has so much depth that it doesn’t matter. Jhawk4 is right that you can’t hype a player who hasn’t played a game yet but you also can’t trash that same player who has dominated the only competition he’s played. Just watch UK this season because if I were a betting man then I’d say you’re in for something really special. John Wall would have been 1 or 2 in this past draft if he were eligible. There’s a reason why scouts like him. And I’m sure he’ll demonstrate that all year long.
/
blasphemy / November 13, 2009
The normal commentors here know I’m a huge UK fan. But your post seriously needs at least a one line space, somewhere, so I can take a breath. Seriously. Seems reasonable other than that.
/
blasphemy / November 13, 2009
(Not a facetious comment)
Other than the “loud” minority of Kentucky Fans who think we will go undefeated (which I hope but don’t think will happen) Most Uk fans are not pressuring John Wall any more than the media is. Seirously, writer after writer, columnist after columnist are picking Wall to go #1 in the next draft. He is that good, sorry for all the people who are “unimpressed” lol. Sorry he couldn’t score the 210 points and get a quadruple-triple for you to be impressed. Bad competition, yes, but everytime I see him play, I’ve seen about 12 of his games, (which includes the ONE he has played at UK and the TWO he played on ESPNU) he is very consistent and always brings another dimension.
(Facetiousness…)
Talking about his “mistakes” which strangely he could only summon ONE direct example and say somehow, that his team sucked, 16-12, and playing in the state championship game. Yes, ChadT put BOTH of those examples together and somehow skipped right over the championship game and still concluded J. Wall sucked. We call that a logic fail. Also, Wall has been hyped WELL before he even stepped FOOT on UK’s campus, WELL before last March, WELLLLLLLL before Last season even BEGAN. If you keep up with recruiting, you know these things. ChadT obviously does not. Have good a day people.
/
blasphemy / November 13, 2009
I dont think we are saying he is the bestestest (once again, that darn loud minority), but he is VERY VERY good. Btw, A LOT of the media agrees. In fact, I would go as far as to say the media drives these comparisons as much as the fans, if not more.
/
AllBasketballReview / November 14, 2009
I wondered if this has every happend in another sport… both New York professional basketball teams have traded away the number one pick in the 2010 draft. The New York Knicks and New York Liberty both have made trades that give away their 2010 first round picks in trades. The Liberty pick has already turned into the #1 overall pick. If the Knicks pick does as well, would that mark the first time in history where two basketball teams from the same city have done that? If that happens, Amazing.
/