Noah 13

As expected, Oden & Durant went #1 & #2. Yi Jianlian went to Milwaukee as the 6th pick. Spencer Hawes & Joakim Noah were both available for Chicago at #9. Also as expected, the Bulls went for Noah. Based on the post workout interviews, I also felt that Noah was the best fit for Chicago's system. Much to Coach Skiles' delight, he's a hard working gym rat. By choosing Noah, the Bulls also continue their tradition of acquiring winners. Noah is not only a back-to-back NCAA champ, but comes from winning lineage. His father was a French Open Tennis champion and his mother was Miss Sweden. Hawes was more likely the missing inside presence the Bulls need, but team chemistry is the most important thing.

The Blazers will be a very improved team if they can successfully rebuild around Greg Oden. They also shipped out Zack Randolph to the Knicks for Steve Francis and Channing Frye. Frye has been one of the better players on the Knicks and is a rising star. If Francis can defer to Oden, this could be a very successful team. Although the Knicks seem to have the better end of this trade on paper, Randolph, the last of the Jailblazers is going to have to try extra hard to stay out of trouble in the big city.

It'll be interesting to see what happens from here. Will the Bulls package Noah and some bench guys for a veteran? Is the Kobe Bryant talk going to rise up again? Because the Garnett deal with the Lakers isn't looking good and Kobe is desperate to leave, he might become "cheaper." No matter what, I still don't want him on the Bulls. Even if he comes at the expense of a bunch of bench guys, he's still going to disrupt the chemistry that took years to build. One thing's for sure... July will be an interesting off-season month of trades!