NBA Draft Thoughts

First of all, my condolences to Blake Griffin on being drafted by the Clippers. I'd encourage him to take Bill Simmons' advice.

Second, faithful reader(s) of this blog know I have no respect for the NBA prospects of the Italian League Rookie of the Year, Tyler Hansbrough. As a public service message to NBA teams, here is the list of the Caucasian North Carolina Tarheels drafted in the first two rounds since 1986: Joe Wolf, 13th selection, 1987; Pete Chilcutt, 27th selection, 1991; Eric Montross, 9th selection, 1994; Serge Zwikker, 29th selection, 1997.

• Joe Wolf was drafted 5 slots ahead of Mark Jackson, who finished his career with 10,334 assists and averaged 3.8 rebounds a game as a 6-1 point guard. Wolf, a 6-11 forward/center, had averaged 3.3 rebounds per game and had 596 asssists in his 11 year career.
• Pete Chilcutt was drafted 18 slots ahead of Bobby Phils, who averaged 11 points per game and 3 rebounds over a 9 year career. Chilcutt averaged 4 pts and 3 boards over a 9 year career.
• Eric Montross was picked immediately ahead of Eddie Jones, who averaged 14.8 points and 4 rebounds over a 14 year career. Montross averaged 4.5 points and 4.6 boards over an 8 year career.
• Serge Zwikker never played in the NBA, but was drafted ahead of Anthony Johnson and Stephen Jackson, who are still in the league 12 years later.

We'll see how it works out for Tyler, who Tim Legler just described as more athletic than he's given credit for. I think that's an easy hurdle to jump over.