ANALYSIS ; NBA Draft a Two Good Deal
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By JEFF GOODMAN  It's all about Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. And for good reason.
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The Sporting News - Hope comes in many forms in the NBA.\
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The Celtics will sign second-round pick (40th overall) Justin Reed today, according to his agent, Mark Bartelstein. The sides agreed to a two-year deal worth approximately $1 million. The first year is guaranteed and the team holds the option on the second. Director of basketball operations Danny Ainge announced last week that Boston planned to sign the 6-foot-8-inch forward from ...
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By Bill Reynolds  FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH   Okay, here's the problem.   Yes, the Celtics are the Titanic, having sunk in the NBA standings. Yes, they are positioning themselves for the Greg Oden- Kevin Durant sweepstakes.
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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - How fitting it was that a rookie, a second-round draft pick, no less, was the difference-maker down the stretch last night in a game between teams stocked with veterans, and one of them oozing in playoff experience.
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It&#39;s hard to imagine, but the league that gave us college basketball&#39;s last two national champions is about to get a lot better.
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It has been quite a roller coaster ride these last two months for Danny Ainge. The beleaguered Boston Celtics director of basketball operations oversaw one of the worst seasons in the Celtics' storied history and saw his only chance at redemption -- landing the top overall pick in the NBA draft -- lost with a fateful bounce of a Ping-Pong ball. His frantic attempts to acquire the type of veteran talent that would appease franchise player Paul Pierce while not gutting the franchise of its youth fell short. Kevin Garnett wouldn't play for them. Shawn Marion would, but only if Boston agreed to pay him like Garnett. It seemed hopeless.
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There's trouble in the Atlantic 10. The league that received four NCAA bids and had two teams advance to the Elite Eight last season most likely will not repeat that success. Nine of the league's top 10 scorers have either graduated, left early for the NBA, or just left.
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The NBA draft has played a minor role in the turnaround of the Wizards, but they are holding out hope that the 2007 draft will produce a special player.
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EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - If the second half of the Dolphins&#39; season goes like the first, they should have some good news: the first pick in the NFL Draft.
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Seeing as how so many members of the NCAA Tournament selection committee are just good people, given how much they&#39;ll have to squeeze into a single weekend next March, I thought it might be nice to take a little work off their hands.
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Good thing Dwyane Wade and LeBron James got their big contract extensions last summer. Their teams might pay less now after proving they can win without their stars.
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Thursday's draft will get interesting not with the top two picks but with the third selection held by the moribund Atlanta Hawks.
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On the night of the 2007 NBA draft, Wally Szczerbiak wanted to chill out. He didn't even plan on watching the festivities from New York. His focus was to continue rehabbing from a major ankle operation in the spring and be ready for what he thought would be his second full season with the Celtics.
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Greg Oden seemed happy to be headed to Portland, a telling contrast to Kobe Bryantâs reaction to being drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996.
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Ted Stepien was the former owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, whose propensity for trading away draft picks resulted in an N.B.A. rule change.
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While the odds favor the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday night, history hasn&#039;t favored the team with best chance of getting the No. 1 pick &amp;#151; at least until recently.