The NBA draft has long been one of my favorite days of the year, right near the top with the first four days of the NCAA Tournament.
This year was no different.
There were plenty of storylines; with two stars like Jimmy Butler and Paul George potentially on the move, as well as all the talented freshman and what is supposed to be the best draft class in ages.
The first two picks were all but official before ESPN went on the air with their coverage.
They clearly knew it was Markelle Fultz to the Sixers at No. 1 and Lonzo Ball (and his family) to the Lakers at No. 2.
ESPN went with basically the same crew as last year, unfortunately for those watching.
It's Rece Davis anchoring, with Jalen Rose, Michael Wilbon and Jay Bilas on the main desk along with Allison Williams and Jeff Goodman doing interviews, Fran Fraschilla on International talent and Tom Penn on finances. Oh and Jay Williams too. He's just there to fill their quota on Duke fans for the broadcast.
This crew is at best mediocre.
Rose and Wilbon probably have watched five college basketball games in the last year combined and are there for their name value alone.
Davis is a college basketball guy and a nice anchor, Bilas and Fraschilla are great assets to the coverage as they know what's going on in college basketball and know the players.
Allison Williams is probably not my No. 1 choice for her role in this, but she's fine.
Goodman, Penn and Jay Williams are pretty much useless, but ESPN seems to want them there for whatever reason.
Once they come on the air, there is immediately an interview with LaVar Ball. Keep in mind, Lonzo isn't going to be the No. 1 pick.
This interview is highly entertaining though. LaVar says that "Zeus and Jesus" told him long ago that Lonzo was meant to be a Laker.
More on LaVar later.
Fultz goes No. 1 and the crew basically glosses over it. They all say that since he only won nine games at Washington with a dysfunctional roster and a bad coach, so he must be a loser.
Don't mind that he led the FIBA Under-18 team to a gold medal and was the MVP. That doesn't matter.
Onto Ball, who the Lakers officially take No. 2. No surprise.
Of course we have another interview with LaVar and this one is even better.
Goodman asks him about how happy he is since he's been talking about Lonzo going to the Lakers for nine months.
LaVar corrects him and tells him it's been "19 or 20 years". Lonzo was born to be a Laker. LaVar proclaims Lonzo will lead the Lakers to the playoffs. Goodman asks LaVar about his purple and yellow Big Baller hat.
Big mistake by Goodman. LaVar tells him he's had the hat since Lonzo was born (probably not true) and tells Goodman he will be wearing a hat next year that says, "I told you".
This man is highly entertaining.
They go back to the crew and Rece compares the interview to a wrestling promo (which it was) and LaVar to Ric "The Nature Boy" Flair. Both better than any of Jalen's player comps.
Next year I want LaVar and Bill Walton on the desk and Jalen and Wilbon gone.
Jayson Tatum goes No. 3 to the Celtics. Apparently he and his mom have a plan to help moms in their situation. Good for him.
They cut back to the crew and they gush about Tatum, but fail to mention his NCAA Tournament performance as they would with Markelle Fultz or Ben Simmons. Also no mention of his college coach quitting on his team again. Not allowed on this network.
This is when the Jimmy Butler trade is made. Butler and No. 16 to the T-Wolves for No. 7, Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn. This won't be mentioned on the broadcast for a while though.
Josh Jackson goes No. 4 to the Suns. Everyone seems to like the pick.
Same with De'Aaron Fox. Fox goes to the Kings though, so they'll probably give up on him after a year.
Jalen makes a bad comparison for Fox to Elfrid Payton and they finally get into the Butler trade after everyone in the world already knows.
They announce it and Wilbon looks like he's going to cry. The Bulls are going to be bad.
They then kick to Penn who shows Butler on the Timberwolves roster and the pieces the Bulls got on their roster. He also somehow manages to make Robin Lopez' contract disappear. I'm intrigued to see how that ends up happening.
The next three picks are all very skinny, two of them very tall.
The Magic take Jonathon Isaac, the Timberwolves Lauri Markkanen at No. 7 and the Knicks take French point guard Frank Ntilikina at No. 8.
I bet that was the workout Phil Jackson didn't fall asleep in.
Dennis Smith Jr. goes No. 9. They mention how he could be a coach killer, since Mark Gottfried got fired and Smith didn't exactly try all that hard to help him out. At least Gottfried didn't quit on his team mid-season to have "back surgery". No mention of that though.
Zach Collins goes No. 10 to Sacramento, but of course he isn't staying there. Collins is traded to the Trailblazers for the No.15 and 20 picks.
Malik Monk finally is drafted at No. 11 by the Charlotte Hornets. Jalen compares him to Michael Jordan. I had Monk in my top-3, but that's a little much.
Luke Kennard goes 10 picks too high at No. 12, Donovan Mitchell of Louisville goes 13 and Bam Adebayo goes with the last pick in the lottery at No. 14.
Surprisingly, Jalen doesn't compare any of these guys to the greatest basketball player ever.
NCAA champion Justin Jackson goes No. 15, D.J. Wilson rises all the way up to No. 17 and Harry Giles goes No. 20 to the Blazers as part of the deal with the Kings.
They naturally speak glowingly about Giles and his four points per game at Duke. They also fail to mention about his coach giving up on him and his team.
The two most notable picks to end the first round were OG Anunoby of Indiana at No. 23, who Allison Williams asks about eight questions to and Josh Hart at No. 30.
Hart should be a good role player on the Lakers 24-win team next year, unless of course LaVar can really see the future and they make the playoffs.
In that case, I would like to know how LeBron James Jr. and LaMelo Ball will play with 38-year old Lonzo or if they run him out of town by then.
My takeaways are that the Sixers won the draft by getting the best player and another piece of the next superteam.
Some other winners include the Hornets for somehow getting a top-3 player at 11 and the Kings for not giving up on any of the guys they drafted last year.
Hopefully next year we get Ryen Russillo back on the coverage and add someone to bring some entertainment value.
