It’s NBA Draft Week

Three out of the big four American professional sports have gone through the process of selecting a new class of rookies for the start of their respective next seasons.  The only sport left is basketball, which will conduct its yearly draft on Thursday, June 26th.  The television coverage should be a little more exciting than whatever what broadcast for four grueling hours during the MLB Amateur Draft.  For one, the commentators tend to be more bearable.  Other reasons that the NBA Draft tends to gauge more of an interest among fans is that with only two rounds of selections, fans have become accustomed to the names of many of the young men who will be selected.  It also helps that many of the selections will be thrown right into the mix of the teams that select them, while in the MLB, a majority of the players chosen never even make it to the big stage.  Here is the quick when and where so that you do not miss your team’s picks:

• When: June 26th: 7 p.m. EST on ESPN.
• Where: Madison Square Garden, New York

Want some helpful links to guide you up to draft day?  See below:

1. Find out exactly where your team is slotted to pick in each of the two rounds and get Austin Walton’s take on who they will pick (with no commentary): NBA Mock Draft
2. Get familiar with the names of NCAA freshmen, sophomores, and juniors who have kept their name in the draft along with the international studs who may be looking to turn red, white, and blue: Early-Entry Withdrawal Deadline: Final List
3. Take a trip down memory lane and re-live the first round of the NBA Draft all the way back to 1957: Complete First Round Results

My main focus on the draft will be following the success of the WMG team which includes agents Arn Tellem and B.J. Armstrong.  I interviewed B.J. a little less than a month ago (click here), and may be following up with him again for another special feature on this blog.  Yeah, Arn is the man…he apparently had much to do with WMG’s signing of Rose.  B.J. is also showing that he is fit for the job.  One guy getting left out of the discussion so far is Lee Melchionni.  We covered his signing with WMG last October, when he was shacking at the Tellem household.  Melchionni does not serve as a primary agent for any of WMG’s clients, but he is getting some hands-on experience.  His tasks include having a client’s dogs shipped to him on a plane and ordering a player 82 custom suits, so that said player would never have to wear the same suit to a game twice.

WMG hopes to hear these clients’ names called on Thursday: Derrick Rose, Brook Lopez, Robin Lopez, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Randolph, Marty Leunen, Danilo Gallinari, D.J. Augustin, Jason Rich, Davon Jefferson.  That list is unprecidented.  I cannot personally remember any agency have the potential to dominate a draft in any sport quite like WMG has positioned itself.  Actually, Darren Gill has done a decent job putting his name in the mix when it comes to the CFL Draft.

Dynasty does not have any players in the 2008 NBA Draft, but we are in discussions with a few players that have put in some time in lower professional leagues like the NBDL and IBL.  We hope to make a splash in 2009’s draft, but for now, we are content with getting our feet wet representing players who are right on the cusp of joining an NBA team.  Look for an update on this front very shortly.

Also, I will be the subject of a couple of interviews this week.  Make sure to check out the podcast on HoopsAddict.com that should be posted early in the week, which you can download by clicking here.  And also be sure to tune in to my live appearance on the Region Buzz Sports Show.  If you are in the Chicago area, you can listen to it live by listening to 1230 AM on your radio from 6:00-7:00 p.m. CST on Thursday.  If not, it will be posted here for download.