D-Day 2007 for the NBA

As I bask in the glory of being omniscient vis-a-vis the NBA, I realize two things: no one talks the way I just wrote and the NBA draft is taking place in New York tonight. \nThis draft has been labeled the “deepest draft years” by the experts, yet it is going to be wildly unpredictable. So instead of trying to blindly guess who will pick whom (especially with picks 3-14), I’m not going to even really bother with the picks as much as the trades that will revolve around them.\nBecause most general managers in the NBA are afraid to take chances in fear that they will not pan out, the NBA is usually very predictable. \nHowever, here are a few moves I think need to be made:\nPortland needs to trade the No. 1 pick to Seattle for the No. 2 pick and Rashard Lewis. Portland does not need a franchise big man since it is deep in that area with Zach Randolph and LaMarcus Aldridge. But it is hard to pass on a player like Greg Oden. If they make this trade, they end up with Kevin Durant and Lewis to play around Aldridge, Randolph and last year’s Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy. \nIt also makes sense for Seattle to get Oden for Lewis since they will likely lose Lewis to free agency either way and could desperately use a center like Oden.\nThe next move that needs to happen is one for the Celtics. After the team tanked the entire end of the season to get a better chance at the Durant-Oden sweepstakes in the draft lottery and after the Boston fans kept talking about how there was no way they would not get one of the top two picks, it all finally came back to bite them in the ass. They ended up with the worst pick in this draft since they couldn’t get the franchise player but still have to pick one of the best of the rest.\nSince that is the case, I think they should push for Andrei Kirilenko in a trade. Boston has young guns and too much potential talent but not enough proven talent. Trade a potential and the pick for Kirilenko. It would be a good start for a team with a very grim future.\nNext up is Kevin Garnett. He is unhappy. He’s been unhappy for years. Trade him. There are multiple options open to move him. Find one, pick one and pull the trigger. If you’re not going to trade him then get him some real help. Stop tormenting this poor guy.\nThe most logical trade I’ve seen for KG is to trade him for Amare Stoudemire. However, I don’t see the Suns or the T-Wolves pulling the trigger on that one because it is just too big of a shake-up for the NBA.\nThe last thing that needs to be done is Kobe needs to be traded to the Pacers. The likelihood of this happening is so slim that I think I have a better shot at playing for the Pacers before Kobe does. But I can dream, can’t I?\nThere are more rumors and trade ideas I have, but I don’t want to have the same disappointment from last year – tons of rumors predraft and then no teams having the guts to follow through with any of them.\nHopefully, tonight we will see some shake-ups in the NBA or the fans will have nothing to talk about during the off-season.\nIf not, at least we can enjoy watching “Shaq’s Big Challenge.”