Draft Qs: Where's Jonny? And Will the NW Lottery Pick Streak Live On?
University of Washington rebound king Jon Brockman finished his fourth and final year as a collegian in March. Brockman is thus--like you or, say, us--eligible to be drafted by an NBA team.
The 2009 NBA draft will be held at 4 p.m. PST in the presumably-soon-to-be-renamed WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden. In advance of the draft, potential picks usually attend the NBA combine, go to workouts held by individual teams, and give interviews to the media.
Like us, Jon Brockman didn't do any of these things. Unlike us, Brockman was actually invited to. Why he didn't is the source of wild speculation in Husky Nation.
The current bet is that Brockman has been guaranteed by some NBA team that he'll be drafted. Said team doesn't want any other to get a good look at Brockman and therefore asked him to stay out of sight.
The Hoops Report says Brockman does have such a guarantee, and will go to either the Detroit Pistons or to our locally-owned Portland TrailBlazers. Various mock drafts (see a chart on our sports-only site) have Brockman going anywhere from #38 to undrafted.
Times Huskies beat writer Bob Condotta struggles to find any other explanation for Brockman's disappearing act, writing: "This from a guy who never once turned down an interview while at UW even after the toughest of losses--becoming the go-to guy in that regard the last few years of his career--and annually was mentioned as one of the best interviews in the league in a writer's poll."
One Northwest guy who will get picked for sure is Rainier Beach High grad Terrence Williams. Question is, will Williams go high enough to extend the Northwest Lottery Pick Streak?
What, you didn't know about the Northwest Lottery Pick Streak? Neither did we, until we looked it up. Each of the past seven years, a guy who attended high school in either Washington or Oregon has been a lottery pick in the NBA draft. Lake Oswego High grad Kevin Love extended the streak last year with little drama; his lottery-pick-ness was a foregone conclusion.
Williams, or T-Will, as he's known to friends and Twitter followers, is less of a sure thing. A tweener who combines the ball-handling skills of a guard with the body of a forward, has worked out for the Bobcats, Nets, Timberwolves, Warriors, and Wizards. He's currently projected my most observers to go #12 to Charlotte.
The three other draftees from Rainier Beach have done pretty well. Doug Christie, the 17th overall pick in the 1992 draft, had a 15-year NBA career, and a short-lived BET reality show, based on his relationship with his over-protective wife.
Jamal Crawford, the 8th overall pick in the 2000 draft, has averaged 35 mpg and 15 ppg over the past six seasons, and donated $100K for a new basketball court at his alma mater.
Nate Robinson, the 21st overall pick in the 2005 draft, flourished last year with the Knicks, is a two-time winner of the NBA's Slam Dunk Competition, and has 13--count 'em, 13--videos on YouTube that have been watched more than 500,000 times. (Assuredly more people than watched the Doug Christie reality show).
We have digressed to an alarming degree, but the basic point is this: Good luck Jon and Terrence, we're rooting for you.
