Welcome back Sports Column family and loyal supporters of the best damn sports site available! I hope everyone ushered in the New Year safely and in style. As we enter into new beginnings, I wanted to extend my feelings and passion towards a subject dear and near to my heart.
During one of our twitter exchanges, our site’s creator Brett Dickinson mentioned something that has now become the first set of this three part series. You see, Brett is a diehard Wizards fan and he wants what every other loyal team supporter wants: for his team to -at the very least- put together a competitive roster. I can halfway understand his frustration with the state of the Wizards’ franchise.
I support the OKC Thunder-GO THUNDER! Before I receive comments about riding the bandwagon, it would be of use to know that I have suffered and agonized through a few losing seasons with those horrible Seattle teams; moments where Kevin Durant scored 40-points and then the team lost by 27-points was not my idea of a great time.
Courtesy: News On 6
Yet, overtime, GM Sam Presti did what many -in his position in the NBA- either can’t do or just don’t have a clue as to how to do it: that is to legitimately study the game, address his roster’s needs, wisely spend the payroll on sound veterans, and draft solid players. Over the last decade, there have only been a handful of sure-fire studs that have entered the league, either as one-and-done college stars or dazzling preps-to-pros: Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, D. Wade, Kevin Love, James Harden, Dwight Howard, John Wall, Derrick Rose, and Kyrie Irving.
In this particular article, I’m going to list some of the GMs and the mistakes they have made, which have ultimately doomed their respective teams.
1. Kevin Pritchard (Portland Trailblazers): In one of the most mind boggling and bizarre draft day blunders, this idiot opts to select Greg “five surgeries” Oden over Kevin Durant. In a recent television interview, Pritchard still defends his decision to select the former Ohio State big man; he says that you can never predict injuries in sports. Yet, anyone with a television could have made the correct selection. When starring in Texas, Durant looked like a man playing amongst boys, while Oden -at times- wasn’t even the best player on his team! Also, at just over 7-feet tall, Oden rarely dominated games, and did nothing on the court to blow the viewer away.
Courtesy: Yahoo Sports
2. With his Hall of Fame resume set aside, Joe Dumars (Detroit Pistons) really screwed-up in 2003 when he selected the unproven European, Darko Milicic, over NCAA freshman sensation and champion Carmelo Anthony. Dumars explanation at the time was that, while Anthony had proved to be a bona fide stud on a national stage, the team was “comfortable” with its current small forward (Tayshaun Prince); it’s obvious how that worked out for Joe. Nearly two-years after his draft day blunder, Dumars had shipped Milicic out of Motown and rewarded Prince with a 60-million-dollar contract.
Meanwhile, Melo was busy establishing himself as genuine superstar and one of the best top-ten players in the league. He also had added, not one, but two Olympic Gold Medals to his still-growing resume. Dumars didn’t let those setbacks stop him; he shipped a stable and clutch-team leader (Chauncey “Big Shot” Billups) out of town, and replaced him with an aging, disgruntled, selfish, and much-maligned Allen “We talking ‘bout practice” Iverson.
Need I say more? Stay tuned for part two of “Fool’s Gold.”
