2007 NBA Draft

[TyFreak Evans]

Hate to have to dwell on the past because of "those guys", but I have a few questions for you Kings fans, and then I will answer them myself in a different post.......(NOTE: I have a funny feeling that most on this board are going to lean in one direction over the other, but I still ask the question)

A. How many of you, at that time, wanted the Kings to trade up to grab Joakim Noah?
B. How many of you, at that time, were actually hoping the Kings didn't trade up to grab Noah, and instead were absolutely content with Spencer Hawes?
C. For those of you who were, at that time, in favor of B, please provide an explanation as to why.

 

[TyFreak Evans]

A. Absolutely yes. I was actually extremely disappointed and angry at them for not trading up for Noah.
B and C for me are N/A, obviously, because I wanted A.........

I knew, coming out of college, that Noah was gonna be a beast in this league. Noah, at that time, had the makeup and game of a typical center who is needed by a team hoping to build for the playoffs. Not much of a flashy offensive player coming out of college, although I have come to like his game on that end of the court because he earns his points, and his offensive rebounds, and he has become a pretty solid jump shooter.......But, I knew his defense was gonna be solid down the road...

 

[Padrino]

while i certainly would have liked to have seen joakim noah fall to the kings, i really didn't think they were going to trade up to get him, and it can be difficult to swing such moves. regardless, it was rarely geoff petrie's prerogative to make big moves on draft day. he tended to just make his pick and go home. that said, spencer hawes was very much a petrie pick, and i absolutely hated it. it was exactly the kind of draft pick that represented the worst of petrie's inclinations...

coming into the league, hawes was an unmotivated, ground bound, soft, non-rebounding, non-defensive big with a purpotedly diverse set of offensive "skills." and not much has changed, really. he's improved some, but his consistency has always been a tremendous issue. throw an unearned diva complex on top of it all, and i vomit in my mouth a little bit anytime hawes opens his. the guy's a blowhard of the highest order, while noah has slowly but surely morphed into a passionate, legitimate star-level talent with considerable defensive utility...

that said, it's not exactly one of those "what could have been" moments. it's not passing on andre drummond or damian lillard. it's not even trading down to draft jimmer fredette over someone like kawhi leonard. in 2007, the kings' problem was that they didn't lose enough games to put themselves in a position to draft a center like noah. they were in no man's land, too tentative to dive head-first into a rebuild, but not nearly good enough to make any noise in the tough western conference...

 

[bajaden]

I think just about everyone, including myself, was hoping that Noah would slide to us. It's known, or at least rumored, that Petrie had every intention of drafting Noah if he did slide to us. As for as trading up to get him? I see no point in getting angry over it. It takes two to tango as they say. Just because we may have wanted to trade up, doesn't mean a team above us was willing to make a deal. I can't get upset over something without knowing all the facts. Hawes was probably the best next choice if your looking to draft a center, and at the time, I liked Hawes. So personally, although I was a little disappointed at not getting Noah, I wasn't that disappointed at having Hawes as my second choice. As they say, hindsight is 100%.

This wan't the only time we missed by one. Petrie had every intention of drafting Kobe Bryant. Jerry West got wind of it and managed to trade up to one spot in front of us, and stole Kobe. Such is life!

 

[peacelate]

There wasn't much left after Noah was taken off the board.

 

[bajaden]

There wasn't much left after Noah was taken off the board.

Well, there were a few players, but not many knew how good they were going to be. The best player taken after Noah was Marc Gasol, and he wasn't taken until the second round. Thaddeus Young was taken right after we took Hawes. Carl Landry was also in that draft, and also was taken in the second round. Other players taken after Noah and Hawes of note were Aaron Afflalo, Tiago Splitter, Wilson Chandler, and Jason Smith. But mostly it was a top heavy draft with Oden and Durant. Just think, Corey Brewer, Yi Jianlian and Brandan Wright were all taken right before Noah. Me thinks its either an imperfect science, or some people don't do their homework.

 

[EJF]

Definitely think about this draft from time to time. And yeah, I wanted Noah badly. I never watch college ball other than highlights, but I just remember loving his passion for the game and hustle really standing out to me. Was pretty pissed he went right before us.

 

[Larry89]

wasnt that the year ron artest had some clutch games down the stretch of the season causing us to win 2 or 3 games making us "in hindsight" switch with the bulls in the lottery?

 

[mac]

I still think Hawes is a pretty decent player, and under a good coach he and Cousins together could be quite a formidable duo, both being able to pass and score both inside and outside. Defense might be an issue but hard to say. I would rather pair Hawes with Cuz than any of the other bigs (except maybe Daly) that we've paired Cuz with. Assuming of course a good coach that motivates the team and whatnot

 

[Rose2Thomas]

There were quite a lot of Bulls fans who wished they had Hawes instead of Noah even 2 or 3 years into their careers. Even see people throwing in trade suggestions like Noah and Deng for Hawes. Noah has been one of the most under appreciated players on the Bulls with people wanting to throw him in every single rumored star player (and even role-player) trade.

As someone who likes both teams Hibbert was the one I wanted out of the bigmen in that draft (before he pulled out), and I kinda thought of both Noah and Hawes as roughly on the same level and consolation prizes.

 

[Tetsujin]

It may be important to note that while Noah is putting up great numbers and fantastic efforts, he's still putting up... Brad Miller numbers, which is not a slight on him or Brad but probably a good indication of where they are as players. Great, great role players and glue guys but not the guy who's going to alter the course of your franchise forever.

That said, I've been one of those people advocating a trade for him all season

 

[LPKingsFan]

It may be important to note that while Noah is putting up great numbers and fantastic efforts, he's still putting up... Brad Miller numbers, which is not a slight on him or Brad but probably a good indication of where they are as players. Great, great role players and glue guys but not the guy who's going to alter the course of your franchise forever.

That said, I've been one of those people advocating a trade for him all season

Brad Miller numbers on offense, maybe, but I know you don't mean he has the same impact on defense.

Why can a player who is elite on offense but mediocre on defense be a star, but an elite defender with mediocre offense is just a role player?