May 16, 2007
Barbosa Instead of Ridnour? Could've Happened. Should've Happened. If Dwayne Casey Had His Way, Would've Happened.
True Hoop's been running a fascinating serial written by Gregory Dole, who was Leandro Barbosa's interpreter when he worked out with NBA teams before the 2003 draft. Part IV talks about Barbosa's work out with the Sonics, wherein he wowed the top of the Sonics' org chart, including then-poobah Howard Schultz. Barbosa had a great workout, hitting his shots, blowing past defenders, and unleashing a nasty crossover that caused Kirk Hinrich to fall on his ass. Then he hurt his hip running a sprint, and here's where Dole's account gets depressing.
Many agility tests later with the team doctor, and we are sitting in the reception area waiting to go back to the hotel. Leandrinho has a pack of ice on his hip. Nate McMillan walks by and idly jokes, "I hope you don't get to work out for any other club! You played great today. I hope you fall to us."As it turns out, Leandrinho became a point of contention for the Sonics. Some on the staff wanted him, others didn't. To draft him or not to draft him. In the end, I am told they went with the local kid Luke Ridnour, for what I am told were marketing reasons.
In fairness, when asked by a journalist about the draft, the Sonics' Dave Pendergraft went as far as to say, "the one player we were afraid not to draft was Leandro Barbosa. He could become something special in this league."
I later crossed paths with Dwayne Casey when he was with the Timberwolves and he confirmed the story, saying that it was a heated debate among the Sonics staff on the day of the draft. Casey was an instant fan of Leandrinho's, and says that he fought hard to convince his colleagues to draft the Brazilian. As I spoke with Casey, you could tell that he still remembered the moment vividly.
The Sonics passed on Barbosa, twice, taking Nick Collison with the 12th pick and Ridnour with the 14th. As Jon Stewart would say in his Art Fern voice, "Mmmmmm not so good." How not so good? From Barbosa's NBA page, check out #8 on Barbosa's Top 10 plays of 2007. It's Barbosa taking a pass in backcourt, dribbling past Ridnour like he isn't even there, and elevating over Collison for a layin.
Wally Walker, we salute you.
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Come on, this is some 20/20 hindsight going on here.
Barbosa didn't get taken in that draft until the end of the first round. At which point he was immediately traded for a pick in the following year's draft. The Sonics passed on him twice, but so did nearly EVERY OTHER NBA TEAM.
While it was certainly hailed as a "good pick" (and good trade for PHX) at the time, there was NO ONE saying that this was the steal of the draft or that some team should have taken him 15 picks earlier (yes, i remember watching this draft on tv). In fact, the fans of this city would have been irate if we had taken this unheard of Brazilian who was not expected to be taken anywhere near the lottery.
Also, let's note that before this year Barbosa was nothing more marginal contributor off the bench for the Suns. Ridnour, in fact, had arguably done more in his career.
I'm certainly not any kind of Sonics apologist (I've hated Wally Walker more than most since approximately 1996 and his signing of Jim McIlvaine), but this is not an example of front office ineptitude by the Sonics. This is simply what happens in the draft.
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I'd say more like 20/10 hindsight. Here's a thought I was going to throw this into the piece, but didn't : why did we go after established college players in 2003, then spend the next three years drafting projects? Why couldn't we have drafted a project (Barbosa) in 2003, too? At least we'd have something to show for it. Or draft established college players all four years (J.J. Redick, much as I hate him, would've helped the Sonics last year, in a year they needed to win).
Is it possible that, because Ridnour and Collison were such disappointments, the Sonics decided to go away from collegians? Or do they just not have a draft philosophy at all? Or what?
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Agree with FrankY 100%.
Collison and Ridnour were not huge disappointments like you say. Sure they're not stars. Sure they are only border-line starters. But you know what? That's not bad at all for the 12th and 14th picks in any draft. Although I get less and less enthusiastic about Ridnour every year, he's much more preferable to Marcus Banks, who was picked ahead of him.
Yes, in a perfect world, we would have drafted Leandro Barbosa and Josh Howard. But there are surprises every year. You can't blame management. In fact, I will go out on a limb and say that Seattle has drafted very well up until the last three drafts. And those three picks still can't be written off as being busts. (Well, maybe Petro...)
As for single-handedly destroying the franchise's future by signing McIlvane and pissing off your best player? Yes, blame management.
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Who cares if they upset that drunk? The team needed a center. Shawn was a spoiled, unprofessional, kid. His career nose dived because he was lazy. That was not the fault of management. I'm glad they squeezed the best years out of Kemp's career and sent him off to flounder on other teams.