[Izulde]

NBA Lottery
1. Houston Rockets (+4)
2. Indiana Pacers
3. New Orleans Hornets (-2)
4. L.A. Clippers (-1)
5. Phoenix Suns (-1)
6. Golden State Warriors
7. Charlotte Bobcats
8. Dallas Mavericks
9. Miami Heat
10. New Jersey Nets
11. Utah Jazz
12. Washington Wizards
13. Philadelphia 76ers
14. Boston Celtics

Michael Redd and Caron Butler took their rings as end of bench/inactive Nuggets and retired into the sunset. Redd joined Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki and Elton Brand in the Hall of Fame.

When I received an e-mail from the commish requesting that I retire Michael Redd's jersey, I instantly replied with my refusal, only to find it hanging from the rafters when I arrived at the arena.

I then did some investigating around the league and discovered that while Elton and Kobe had their jersey numbers properly retired with the Clippers and the Lakers respectively, Dirk's retired jersey was hanging in Sacramento rather than in Dallas.

The sheer idiocy of this led me to successfully force a re-evaluation of retired jerseys. Redd's jersey was retired in Milwaukee, Dirk's in Dallas. The Kings and of course we, the Nuggets, unretired the respective numbers we'd accidentally retired.

A rather dull lottery all in all. The most interesting thing is that the Houston Rockets win the lottery and the #1 pick for the second straight year in another upset. Maybe they'll draft yet another SF. Because I mean really, this isn't enough SFs drafted #1 overall on the same team:

SF Georghios Kairis - #1 overall - 2011 Draft (New York Knicks) FA - 2013
SF Mark White - #1 overall - 2014 Draft (Houston Rockets)
SF Will Baron - #1 overall - 2018 Draft (Houston Rockets)

I mean we're talking Detroit Lions and WRs in the late 1990s/early 2000s territory here. Interestingly enough, White has the passing skills to play PG as well, so it's conceivably we could someday see all three #1 SF draft picks in the Rockets starting lineup. Hey, maybe they can draft a SF with top overall pick this draft who can play PF or C and then they'd be on their way to 4 of 5 starters whose native position is SF.

2018 NBA Awards

MVP
Andrew Bynum - Los Angeles Lakers - 17.5 PPG 12.9 RPG 4.1 APG 2.9 BPG 1.0 SPG
Defensive Player of the Year
Greg Oden - Toronto Raptors - 13.4 PPG 16.1 RPG 4.2 APG 2.9 BPG 0.8 SPG
Rookie of the Year
Victor Gipson - Denver Nuggets - 10.5 PPG 9.3 RPG 1.9 APG 2.5 BPG 0.6 SPG
6th Man of the Year
Mike Patterson - Dallas Mavericks - 12.4 PPG 5.5 RPG 1.8 APG 0.9 BPG 0.7 SPG
Coach of the Year
Sam Mitchell - Toronto Raptors

Beautiful upset victory by Gipson over Sonny Boxler for Rookie of the Year, but as one sportswriter pointed out, "Gipson was the unsung difference between the Nuggets losing last year and winning this year and the great banisher of the Tim Davis spectre."

All-NBA 1st Team
PG Kenny Graham - Detroit Pistons
SG LeBron James - Cleveland Cavaliers
SF Kevin Durant - Portland Trailblazers
PF Kelvin Moody - Minnesota Timberwolves
C Andrew Bynum - Los Angeles Lakers

All-NBA 2nd Team
PG Major Drayton - Minnesota Timberwolves
SG Justin Richler - Toronto Raptors
SF Georghiois Kairis - Houston Rockets
PF Henry Fisher - Utah Jazz
C Greg Oden - Toronto Raptors

All-NBA 3rd Team
PG Paulinho Buboltz - Indiana Pacers
SG Jerian McCrary - Portland Trailblazers
SF Andrew Soloman - New Jersey Nets
PF Dwight Howard - Orlando Magic
C Narcyz Malinomowski - Memphis Grizzlies

McCrary over Yeaton?! Are you effing kidding me?! What bull.

All-Defense 1st Team
PG Leland Peterson - Washington Wizards
SG Sonny Boxler - Portland Trailblazers
SF Rudy Gay - Memphis Grizzlies
PF Dwight Howard - Orlando Magic
C Greg Oden - Toronto Raptors

All-Defense 2nd Team
PG Derrick Sterett - New Jersey Nets
SG Charles Seegars - Chicago Bulls
SF Jeremy Lemons - Orlando Magic
PF Kelvin Moody - Minnesota Timberwolves
C Andrew Bynum - Los Angeles Lakers

All-Rookie 1st Team
PG Cedric Caldwell - Miami Heat
SG Sonny Boxler - Portland Trailblazers
SF Will Baron - Houston Rockets
PF Andy Sola - Cleveland Cavaliers
C Victor Gipson - Denver Nuggets

All-Rookie 2nd Team
PG Andre Moore - Chicago Bulls
SG Jermaine Butler - Boston Celtics
SF Shane Holliway - Phoenix Suns
PF Tim Butler - New Orleans Hornets
C Valery Frahm - Golden State Warriors

B.B. Dyer and I go through our annual deep playoff run $15 million max spiel. I think we can manage it, despite the fact that we're currently $25 million over the cap with only 8 players signed. Recall $10 million of that is Emeka Okafor by himself and if we can get Mateen Yeaton and Rico Wolfe back cheaper than expected, I think we'll be sitting fine.

I do some preliminary shopping of Marcelino Augusto and while everyone is extremely interested in him, there's only a few teams that I have much of an interest in making a deal with after discussions. Much of it, of course, is going to depend upon on how this draft class looks.

I also do the same for Zelipe Gama, but frankly, at this point in time, I'm not impressed with what I can get back. That could well change, pending the draft class and what I do with Augusto, but right now, it's looking as though our Spanish citizen will stay in Denver.

Coach Hiring

1st assistant Patrick Ewing gets a 3 year contract extension as he's in the last year of his contract and I was really happy with him, both in his earlier stint in Denver and in this one.

We need 2nd and 3rd assistants though.

Head Coach Contracts
Scott Skiles - New Orleans Hornets
Jeff Bzdelik - Phoenix Suns
Rudy Tomjanovich - Indiana Pacers
Isiah Thomas - Golden State Warriors (Welcome to continued suckitude)
Nate McMillan - Los Angeles Clippers

Larry Riley returns to our staff as the 3rd assistant and fallen former GM and NBA great Kevin McHale arrives as the 2nd assistant.

Mock Draft
This class is looking something similiar to last year's, a lot of raw talent that could be great someday. 19 year old Bosnian SG Filip Mikulic is projected by most to go #1, but I personally really like Michigan State freshman PG Corey Westbrooks, who's slated to slip to 14th to the Celtics in a lot of mocks, but who I initially see as a top 3 pick. 20 year old Polish PF Oliwjer Rosiak intrigues the hell out of me as well, currently tabbed to go 6th to Golden State. Mikulic isn't a SF, but it's yet another swingman the Rockets would have. Personally, if I'm Houston, if my initial impressions hold out, I'd take Westbrooks and give myself the PG of now and the future.

We hold the 19th pick in the draft and we're projected to take Michigan State freshman SF Curtis Wilkerson, who I'm not impressed with at all. If we keep the pick and they drop, I'm a little interested in two University of Pittsburgh players: junior SF Brian Brown and freshman C Marcus McKie, who really projects as a SF/PF in my eyes. 19 year old Spanish C Micholau Asprilla is another around the area who raises my curiosity and I foresee him as more of a C. There's also Duke senior PG Carlton Goree. I'm also attracted to 22 year old Bulgarian PF Tzvetan Kishishev, who for some reason is listed in some mocks as a 2nd rounder, whereas I see him as at least a mid 1st rounder, possibly a late lottery pick.

A lot of the coming moves are going to depend on our scouting reports and how the draft shakes out. Zelipe Gama and Marcelino Augusto currently wear powder blue, but by the end of the draft or by the start of the season, they could be donning a whole new uniform.