As you all know, last night was the NBA Draft at Madison Square Garden, and the Knicks left the draft without any of the player they truly wanted, but not empty-handed either. Stephen Curry was their top choice, and he was drafted the pick before at 7 by the Warriors. After that, they had their eye on Jonny Flynn of Syracuse or Ricky Rubio from Spain. The two went in the two picks before Curry.
That left the Knicks to take Jordan Hill, the power forward from Arizona with the 8th pick. Hill is a solid player who rebounds well and can operate in the fast-paced Mike D'Antoni offense. The sad new means it could spell the end for David Lee, but Hill provides a strong skill set who said he's excited to play in D'Antoni's system.
The Knicks traded $3 million to get the 29th pick from LA, and had the Lakers pick Toney Douglas, the guard from Florida State. Douglas was a force in the ACC and is a great scorer as well as a solid defender. We'll see if it translates to the NBA, but he was a solid pick.
Overall, fans seemed discontent at the draft with their two picks and mainly that the team didn't trade up to get Curry or Flynn. However, they picked the two best players available in the draft at the time they picked, so it's hard to fault them. And don't forget, trades can happen, and you have to trust what Donnie Walsh is doing.
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Moving on to the NHL, which has their draft tonight. The Islanders are the biggest story as they have the #1 pick, which will likely be either John Tavares or Matt Duchene. Tavares is the pick the fans want, as he has been touted to be the #1 pick for months and is an amazing talent. However, Duchene has put himself in the mix with a strong end to this past season. From the way I see it, if the Isles don't take Tavares, fans will riot and the team will likely be gone from Long Island. But that's just me!
As for the Rangers, they have the 19th pick, and will probably look to trade up. They want to get more young talent, especially in a forward as they are stacked at defense. If they do not trade, they can expect possibly Carter Ashton, Chris Kreider, and maybe Zack Kassian if he falls.
The bigger news is if the Rangers will make a trade for Ottawa's Dany Heatley today, or even Tampa's Vinny Lecavalier. While Lecavalier is unlikely, the Rangers have been in talks with Heatley, and Ottawa wants to get rid of him before July 1st, when he's due a $4-million check. Heatley has asked to be traded.
If they do trade for him, some talks I've heard include giving up Rozsival, Zherdev, and 1 or 2 draft picks, if not more. The Rangers are giving a lot for Heatley it seems, but the biggest thing they're losing is picks. Rozsival has gotten old and slow on defense, and doesn't take enough shots. Zherdev has a ton of skill, but sometimes doesn't seem into the game and isn't a fan of Tortorella and vice versa. The Rangers would be glad to make the trade, as long as it doesn't involve losing any of their three "untouchables" (Callahan, Dubinsky, Staal).
Should be a fun night in Montreal as many other trades are possible as well.
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And of course, Round 2 of the Subway Series begins tonight at Citi Field. Here are the pitching match-ups, times, and media channels for the games:
Friday, 7:10 PM, My9/SNY, WCBS 880, WFAN 660
CC Sabathia (6-4, 3.71) vs. Mike Pelfrey (5-2, 4.74)
Saturday, 7:10 PM, YES/WPIX/MLBN, WCBS 880, WFAN 660
AJ Burnett (5-4, 4.24) vs. Tim Redding (1-2, 6.08)
Sunday, 8:05 PM, ESPN, WCBS 880, WFAN 660
Chien Ming Wang (0-6, 11.20) vs. Livan Hernandez (5-2, 4.05)
I predict the Yankees win 2 of 3. Both teams are coming in off series wins. The Yanks took 2 of 3 from the Braves in Atlanta, their first legitimate series win against an NL opponent this season (Luis Castillo's blunder not counting). The Mets took 3 of 4 from the Cardinals at home despite losing Carlos Beltran to the DL. Will their be any leftover issues between Brian Bruney and Francisco Rodriguez? I doubt it, but we'll sure see. Should be a fun three games at the ballpark in Queens.
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