You may as well throw a dart at the teams selecting in the lower half of the 1st round. No one knows where Taft is going (Insider Sub.).
We don’t have a clue where McCants, Andray Blatche and Chris Taft are going. All are likely first-round selections, but no one seems to know where. McCants has been rumored to be going as high as No. 10 and as low as No. 23. Blatche has gotten interest from the Bobcats, Celtics and Knicks. Taft apparently has garnered interest from the Kings at No. 23.
That #23 spot or shortly after seems to be where he can start expecting his name called.
Chris Taft will NOT be available when we cycle back to the Hawks at 31. Every single team, from the Kings at twenty-three until the Knicks at thirty can use a 6-10, 250 pound monster, who was positioned to be in the lottery for the last eleven months.
Not that people aren’t still piling on him.
As the draft nears, few vacancies remain on the Taft-bashing bandwagon. How much of the negativity is justified remains to be seen, but it has been open season on the Panthers’ big man after a few poorly reviewed workouts. One NBA scout said he would have too many concerns to take Taft with a first-round pick, but there are still a number of teams considering him in the late teens and 20s. Taft’s biggest flaw was that he had the basketball world expecting such great things — what with his chiseled, 6-10 frame and sporadic flashes of eye-opening talent — and never delivered during his sophomore campaign at Pitt. He relies too heavily on one post move (a jump-hook) and played lethargically in ’04-05; perhaps a slight on draft night will be the grudge he needs to blossom as an aggressive player. For now, though, he hasn’t shown enough. To take him before any of a slew of quality (albeit smaller) forwards on the board — Channing Frye, Joey Graham, Hakim Warrick, Ike Diogu and Sean May — would be a mistake.
Considering that the Suns are in a holding pattern for acquiring Kurt Thomas from the Knicks, I still keep being surprised to see yet another draft prediction with the Suns pulling the trigger on Taft.
21. Suns (from Bulls)
Chris Taft (6-10 power forward, Pittsburgh): Won’t have to bulk up to play at the next level.
I suppose it would be possible to help the Phoenix bench which was horribly exposed by the Spurs.
This actually might make sense as far as fit, if he lasts.
29. Heat: Chris Taft, 6-10, F, Pittsburgh
Had sub-par workouts, causing his plummet; Pat Riley could tap high school point guard Monta Ellis instead.
Assuming Mourning comes back for another year, I could see Taft getting a chance to develop and being forced to get tougher and better. Of course, with South Beach, he could just party out of the league.
