We've also embarked on tackling the new look of our basement. Paint is being chipped, re-primed and our new colors and layout should be complete soon after Independence Day. Mandy also has some shots of that.
But, not the reason I am writing today... It's been quite some time since I wrote a blog dedicated to sports, so here it goes: Tonight is one of those nights in sports where I will invest a lot of time leading up and during, for no apparent reason. It's the NBA Draft. What is it about drafts that creates so much excitement? Our entire country is fascinated by potential. It's a word we throw out there all the time. Somebody could be awesome at something (proven), but somebody else could have the "potential" to be much more awesomer (yes, it's a word!) so he/she gets more love. What ever happened to doing something before getting paid or praised.
I mean, who can forget Nikoloz Tskitishvili.
Dude never really played a lot of basketball in Europe, but apparently was a phenomenal player when he was guarded by 50-year old men with padding or a folding chair, so he got a lot of money. What did he do with it? Nothing. Got traded a few times, flamed out of the league and is on a beach somewhere living the good life as a millionaire. Someday, I hope to be hitting golf balls on a range, have a great practice session, and the scout for the PGA Tour sees me and says, "Wow, you could win a lot of big tournaments with those shots. Here's $5 million in advance." Sound silly? It is, but our major sports leagues do it more often than investing in proven players.But that's why we love it. We want our teams to succeed so much that we put all of our hopes on the back of this next potential superstar. I don't even like to watch the NBA very often, outside of a Pacers game or two. But the NBA Draft is awesome. There is so much hype, you think the room will explode. If David Stern walks out and says, "we have a trade to announce," you can hear champagne popping from Lay-Z-Boys around the country. Most times, it's a team trading the rights to an 18-year old Turkish player with two left hands for cash considerations, a 2019 2nd round pick and a bag of lentils. But we love it because it was suddent, unexpected and potentially brilliant.
I also like to watch to see where some of those good college players end up. Where the over-hyped become millionaires, while the acclaimed get nothing. It's an unexact and crazy science. Butler has a chance to have a player drafted tonight for the first time, I think, ever. If Mike Green has his name called, there will be a beer opened in the Haskett household.
And then there's the Pacers: They traded Jermaine O'Neal overnight (well, actually, he can't legally be traded until July 9th - That's weird. What if I got fired from my job and given a new job at another company, but had to stay as an "employee" for another few weeks. Um, awkward.) Seriously though, I've never seen many trades that make so much sense for both sides, so I was thrilled to see it go through. O'Neal wasn't a great leader, but he was a great person. Good in the community, decent with the media and fine player when healthy. He deserved better than the circus in Indy over the past few years. Now, he gets paired with some nice talent in Toronto, and will make a fierce front line.
Meanwhile, the Pacers finally have a roster you can start to build around. They get TJ Ford, who is a nasty point guard on offense (his D could use a bit of work) but can run the show and get people excited about the team. They get Rasho Nesterovic, who is big and (more importantly) has an expiring contract, which means the Pacers will have money to spend in a year. But, most importantly, they get another first-round draft pick! Young players to continue building a new team for the future. So, at #11 and #17 the Pacers are picking! I hope they get somebody with a lot of potential! :-)
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