Good question Panos. I'd be curious about that myself.

I wanted Bayless, Alexander or Randolph at that pick and did not even consider Gallinari as a pick because I had never seen him play. Now that he's here I can see he has some talent so I'm just hoping that the talent pans out and comes to life on the court. There is no doubt that he has some legitimate skills. But so do a lot of guys in the NBDL. I will just wait and see.

I have said it at other times, but I was pretty happy when they took him, and would have even taken him at 3 or 4. I had read enough about him and watched enough clips- even some where he was not the featured player, to realize that he might be a special player some day.

I did not want an underage/UNDER EXPERIENCED U.S. player. Gallinari probably had the highest BB IQ in the draft, is one of the top 3 shooters, and is about as versatile as you can get. Beasley and Love would have been OK for me, and maybe Mayo, but that is it. I also wanted Rose at the time, but based on what has gone on with him so far, I'm glad we did not take him. Westbrook was intriguing, but I still wonder if the guy will have a consistent shot. Bayless was a 6'1" SG, for goodness sake, and recent news indicates that even Portland thinks he can't play the point. Alexander is a VERY limited player, and Randolph will not have the shot consistency or range that Gallinari will have, and probably does not have the same understanding of the game IMO.

To be honest, I was watching the TV with the girlfriend, and I actually got out of my seat when they took him.

The biggest disappointment for me with the draft is that we could not pull off the trade with Memphis. Minny would have been forced to take Love, who McHale really wanted, at 3, and we would have been left with the guard Seattle didn't take (Mayo & Westbrook would have both been available- would they have chosen Mayo?)and still been able to choose Gallinari.


[Edited by - Paladin55 on 08-27-2008 3:48 PM]