The NBA Draft highlights and lowlights.

First off the highlight of the night was the little pissing contest between Dan Patrick and David Stern. Patrick's "I always liked Tagliabue better" was an absolute classic.

The next best thing was when Mark Jones interviewed the Knicks fan who said Isiah was a bum and they had to get rid of him.

I like the Raptors taking Andrea Bargnani with the #1 pick. There was no clear franchise player in this draft and the Raps already have a franchise player in Chris Bosh. So taking a guy who may turn into a guy like Dirk Nowitzki is a good pick. Bargnani is going to be very popular in Toronto especially around Dufferin and St. Clair. And he'll never have to pay for a plate of pasta in Toronto ever again. And then Colangelo picking P.J. Tucker in the second round was an absolute steal. He played along side Aldridge at Texas and outrebounded him despite being 6 inches shorter. And he is a very strong defender. He'll be a great wing player for the Raps and be in the 8 man rotation right away.

Boston getting Leon Powe from Cal was another steal, I think the biggest in the draft. If not for knee surgeries he would have been a top 10 pick. He is a demon on the boards and plays big and tough in the low post. He could be another Charles Oakley type.

Tyrus Thomas is going to be a bust with that high a pick (#4). It seems every year there is a guy who rises in the draft based on his athletic ability but can't actually play, and hasn't got a clue how to play. Thomas is that guy this year. He can jump and he blocked shots at the NCAA level but he won't be that effective in the pro game where guards are a lot quicker and post guys have better moves. At some point teams have to go back to drafting actual basketball players instead of raw athletes. Guys like Jay Bilas don't help, using terms like "upside", "superior length", "hyper athleticism", blah blah blah. I'm convinced that if Larry Bird came out of college now instead of 25 years ago he would be a second round pick who has "a decent jump shot, no athletic ability and not much upside."

Speaking fo Larry Bird, it is unfair to compare Adam Morrison, the #3 pick to Charlotte, to him. I think Morrison will be a very good pro but he can't rebound (which is not really something you can teach) and he's a bad defender. The new rules will help him though. I think he will get better defensively but he will never be better than a bit below average. Charlotte will be able to hide him abit in a zone though. But he will score a lot of points. With the new hand check rules he will be able to get his shot off and he moves very well without the ball. I think Micheal Jordan had a lot to do with drafting him. Morrison has an incredible competitive streak in him and absolutely wants to take the shot with his team down 1 point and 2 seconds left on the clock. That's an attribute that you can't teach. Which is why they passed on Rudy Gay.

Shelden Williams to Atlanta at #5 was a safe pick. He'll pan out to be a solid pro but never be an all star. He'll bang bodies and be one of the better big men in the East. He reminds me of a poor man's Alonzo Mourning. Plus he looks like Ken Griffey Jr. in that episode of The Simpsons where Mr. Burn's loaded up the Springfield Power Plant softball team. Griffey Jr. drank that stuff and had that gigantic head. That's what Williams looks like.

The biggest reach of the first round wasn't Renaldo Balkman at #20 but Mouhamed Saer Sene to the Sonics at #10. At 10 you have to get a more known guy in terms of evaluation. This guy may pan out or could be an absolute bust.

Poor Renaldo Balkman. He doesn't stand a chance in New York. The pick was awful but not as awful as people think. At #20 there are no sure things so you can afford to take a bit of a long shot because the difference between the guy at 20 and 30 is not that much. But Isiah couldn't afford that risk and Balkman is going to be the whipping boy of Knicks fans through no fault of his own. He's going to be the punchline of jokes when people are talking years from now about what a disaster Thomas made of the Knicks. Isiah Thomas only has one year left in the NBA and it is going to be fun to watch him suffer through it. I think there could be a real problem at MSG this year. It's possible the Brawl at the Palace when Indiana players beat on Detroit fans will be upstaged this year. It's just going to be the opposite. I am willing to bet by Valentine's Day that a bunch of fans storm the court at MSG and pummel the shit out of Isiah.