The NBA draft & free agency

The NBA draft was last night and went pretty much as expected. (for a list of who went where, go HERE ) with free agency on it’s heels, the draft was overshadowed by moves a few teams made (Miami & Chicago) to get even further under the cap for the Free Agent Circus that’s set to begin in 5 days!

With so many franchises putting it all on the line for a shot at one of the big name free agents; LeBron, Wade (he’s not going anywhere but someone WILL join him in Miami probably Bosh or Amare) and the midlevel talent tier left overs, the question has to be asked, is it time to move the free agency date up so that it comes before the draft or at least in conjunction with similar to the NFL’s model?

The reason I ask is for a great deal of franchises, what you need could be altered by the path your free agent takes (Hello Cleveland, Hi Toronto, Good Day Miami). An example of this would be Toronto’s pick at #13 of North Carolina’s Ed Davis. The general assumption was this selection was done in the event that Chris Bosh doesn’t return to the franchise (I’d say that’s a safe bet but let’s pretend it’s 50/50)  are there other more prominent holes in Toronto’s roster that might have been addressed with that pick? And with a 13th pick are you really replacing Chris Bosh or just putting a body in place that has great “Potential” and “upside”.

Take Miami’s approach, they’ve been planning for the summer of 2010 for the past 2 years stock piling expiring contracts, trading away young talent (Bye DCook & the 18th pick. Could be a nice pick up for the Thunder) But one has to wonder, what sort of talent will the Heat surround their 2 to 3 free agent acquisitions with? The EX D League player they drafted in the 2nd round?? (No shots just illustrating a point)

Much like a great Soap Opera that keeps you on the edge week after week, the answers to these questions and many more will start to reveal themselves July 1st. AND THAT is what you call Must see TV.