Sports: NBA Lottery Picks; info and predictions.

The Lottery picks are in, now lets see how each and every team faired. Keep in mind that this draft was vastly overrated and quite horrible in my opinion, but some teams picked much wiser than others.

1.) Blake Griffin - (PF, 6’9, 248 lb, Oklahoma) Blake Griffin was the first pick of the 2009 NBA Draft by Los Angeles Clippers and for good reason; he is an extremely athletic PF who seems as if he can dunk on anyone in the NBA (if he dunked on LeBron, we may not see the tape). He won countless numbers of awards in his college career and may have a solid career.

Pros: Physically gifted and uses it to perfection.

Cons: Defense and playing with his back to the basket.

Similar to: Antonio McDyess, pre-injuries

Prediction for Career: Borderline All-star or a complete bust since he went to the Clippers A.K.A. Basketball Hell.

GRADE: A+

2.) Hasheem Thabeet - (C, 7’3, 267, UConn) Thabeet was the second pick of the NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. He’s a 7’3 shot blocker who has a raw offensive game and could either end up being a Mutumbo or a complete bust.

Pros: Shot blocking abilities and overall help defense.

Cons: EVERYTHING ELSE!

Prediction for Career: This guy has bust written all over him.

Similar to: Dikembe Mutumbo

GRADE: D+

3.) James Harden (SG, 6’5, 218, Arizona State) James Harden was the third pick of the NBA Draft by The Oklahoma City Thunder. He’s a solid 2 guard to fill in one of the only glaring weaknesses the Thunder have on their roster. He also is as tough as nails and might be a tad small, but will still drive to the rim whenever he gets a chance.

Pros: Fearless and can play off of Westbrook and Durant extremely well.

Cons: A tad undersized and not the fastest guard in the draft.

Similar to: Manu Ginobili

Prediction for Career: Will be a solid player in the NBA for many years.

GRADE: B+

4.) Tyreke Evans (PG/SG, 6’5, 221, Memphis) Tyreke Evans was the fourth pick of the NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings. Evans is a Combo Guard (could play either PG or SG), but I would honestly use him as a score first PG on a team like the Kings. They really have no other scoring threat besides Kevin Martin and I don’t see the downside of letting Evans get his feet wet and dismantle NBA teams with his incredible wingspan.

Pros: Very mature body, incredible wingspan and amazing in the fast pace.

Cons: Inconsistent jump shot.

Similar to: Jamal Crawford.

Prediction for Career: Will be a perennial All-star throughout career and has a strong chance at winning Rookie of the Year.

GRADE: A+

5.) Ricky Rubio (PG, 6’5, 180, DKV Joventut [Spain]) Ricky Rubio was drafted with the fifth pick of the NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Rubio is a pure passing PG who proved himself during the 2008 Summer Olympics. Many think Rubio will come to the league and be an immediate affect, but I am not sold on Ricky.

Pros: Court vision, ball handling and passing.

Cons: Strength and horrible jump shot.

Similar to: Jose Calderon and Steve Nash before he entered the league (before he had a jumper).

Prediction for Career: Who knows how long it will be before we see Rubio play in an NBA Uniform, but I think he will end up being a role player on a championship team.

GRADE: F (since he won’t even play for the Wolves and is going to remain for DKV Joventut)

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6.) Jonny Flynn (PG, 6’0, 195, Syracuse) Jonny Flynn was drafted with the sixth pick of the NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Flynn is an insanely athletic and fearless player, but when drafted, most people were wondering, “why the hell did Minnesota just draft two point guards?” It might have worked out best that they did draft two PG’s considering Rubio will remain overseas.

Pros: Fearless athletic and can finish around the rim

Cons: Very small and needs to work on his jumper to make it more consistent.

Similar to: I’m going out on a limb here, but I think he could be like Tony Parker.

Prediction for Career: Will have a solid NBA Career, but I don’t know if he will be remembered for anything more than the guy who filled in when Rubio bitched out. Or he can work extremely hard and be the next Tony Parker.

GRADE: B-

7.) Stephen Curry (PG/SG, 6’3, 181, Davidson) Stephen Curry was drafted with the seventh pick of the NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors. Curry is an amazing pure shooter who is well trained at making the NBA Three-pointer. I think Curry will come into the league making an impact, but never really get any better.

Pros: Pure shooter and quickness.

Cons: Not a true PG and undersized for SG.

Similar to: Will be remembered for making clutch 3-pointers for a contender, so I will go with Robert Horry.

Prediction for Career: As I said above, he will earn his checks by being a hot hand when you need a clutch 3-pointer.

GRADE: B-

8.) Jordan Hill (PF, 6’10, 232, Arizona) Jordan Hill was drafted with the eighth pick of the NBA Draft by the New York Knicks. Hill is a speedy PF with a great mid-range jump shot. I felt kind of bad for him when the angry New Yorkers were booing him because they did not get Stephen Curry.

Pros: Quick and has a good jumper

Cons: Weak for the PF posistion, but that’s nothing a little fix from Rashard Lewis’s stash won’t fix.

Similar to: Chris Bosh

Prediction for Career: He will be a strong NBA’er for many years to come and could possibly make the all-star team many times in his career.

GRADE: A

9.) DeMar DeRozan (SG, 6’7, 211, USC) DeMar DeRozan was drafted with the ninth pick of the NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors. DeRozan is an extremely athletic wing player with the ideal NBA mold.

Pros: An athletic freak.

Cons: Seems disinterested at times and only shot 17% from three last season at USC.

Similar to: Vince Carter.

Prediction for Career: Will have an explosive career and will be a fan favorite

GRADE: B+, if DeRozan taps his full potential, he will be a perennial all-star in the NBA.

10.) Brandon Jennings (PG, 6’1, 170, Virtus Roma [Italy]) Brandon Jennings was drafted with the tenth pick of the NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. Jennings is as explosive and flashy as they come and literally dominated the McDonald’s All American Game for High School basketball players before leaving to go play a year in Europe.

Pros: Quick and Confident

Cons: Jumpshot

Similar to: Allen Iverson

Prediction for Career: Jennings is my favorite rookie and I predict he will win the Rookie of the Year award.

GRADE: A+

11.) Terrence Williams (SG/SF, 6’6, 213, Louisville) Terrence Williams was drafted with the eleventh pick of the NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets. I, for one, love this pick for the Nets. It adds an athletic wing to play with the young core of Devin Harris, Brooke Lopez and the newly acquired Courtney Lee.

Pros: Defensively sound, a great athlete and he is NBA ready.

Cons: Sometimes struggles to put points on the board, but will need to improve his jumper.

Similar to: Corey Maggette

Prediction for Career: I think Terrence will do just fine in the NBA and is a great pick up for the Nets, or any other team out there, he’s just one of those type of players.

GRADE: A

12.) Gerald Henderson (SG/SF, 6’5, 215, Duke) Gerald Henderson was drafted with the twelvth pick of the NBA Draft by the Charlotte Bobcats. Henderson is going to fit in well with the athletic style of the Bobcats and will most have a great teacher of how to use your athletics in the NBA correctly while playing alongside Gerald Wallace.

Pros: Athletic (this whole draft was athletic, haha)

Cons: Undersized, which also seems to be the story of this draft.

Prediction for Career: Henderson will end up being a journeymen throughout his career, or he can prove me wrong and be a solid player on the up and coming Charlotte Bobcats.

Similar to: His teammate Gerald Wallace.

GRADE: B

13.) Tyler Hansbrough (PF, 6’9, 234, UNC) Tyler Hansbrough was drafted with the thirteenth overall pick by the Indiana Pacers. Hansbrough is a hard worker who may have already tapped out his potential, but a hard worker is all Larry Legend was looking for, I guess.

Pros: Extremely hard worker and will do the little things to help a team out.

Cons: His lack of athleticism and the fact that he is also a tad undersized worries me.

Prediction for Career: Will remain solid in this league for many many years and be a player everyone would love to have on their team, sort of like Joe Smith.

Similar to: A much better version of Anderson Verajao.

GRADE: Even though I love Hansbrough’s game, they could have easily traded down and got him later in the 1st round, so I give this pick a D.

14.) Earl Clark (SF, 6’10, 226, Louisville) Earl Clark was drafted with the fourteenth overall pick by the Phoenix Suns. Clark is a huge SF or a good sized PF, who will provide mismatches for both posistions.

Pros: Versatillity

Cons: No “Go to Move” and doesn’t really have a proper posistion that he will be able to dominate at in the NBA.

Prediction for Career: Solid role player for many years.

Similar to: Boris Diaw.

GRADE: B, good pick for the Suns.