Basketball Free For All

June 25, 2009, Madison Square Garden.

The eyes of the NBA world were all on a small group of young gentlemen, primed and ready to make a mark for themselves in a league full of hopes and dreams. It would start pretty much as expected for the likes of Blake Griffin, Hasheem Thabeet, Tyreke Evans and others. But what was supposed to be the beginning of an illustrious career in the NBA, quickly turned into a roller coaster ride of despair, then excitement, for one such prospect.

Originally considered a lottery pick by several outlets, a total of 25 teams passed up on DeJuan Blair, some of them twice (four times by the Timberwolves alone!). It wasn’t until the second round, at pick number 37 overall, when the San Antonio Spurs made Blair’s dream of playing in the NBA a reality. But even with the adversity of falling to the second round, this strong-minded young man was able to put things in perspective:

Despite being taken in the second round of the NBA Draft last night, Pitt All-American DeJuan Blair has no regrets about turning professional after his sophomore season.

“No, this is what I wanted,” Blair said this morning on a conference call the day after the San Antonio Spurs drafted him with the No. 37 overall selection. “I think it was a good decision. I couldn’t have landed in a better situation than I am in now. [San Antonio] just traded Kurt Thomas, their starting forward. It’s a dream come true. I should have been a first-round pick, but God wanted me to drop to the second round.”

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Oh yeah – DeJuan Blair is a Spur.

So now comes the hard part. In many ways, the same dis-service to DeJuan Blair is now replaying itself over and over again in fantasy drafts all across the land. DeJuan Blair has fallen off the radar, not even making the ADP lists or rankings of several high profile fantasy sites (BFFA included!).

But what is there not to like about this kid?

In two years at the University of Pittsburgh, he averaged 13.6 points on 56.4% shooting, with 10.7 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game. Even by college standards, those are pretty good numbers. He was a consensus First Team All-American, and was the 2008-09 Big East co-Player of the Year, sharing that title with the 2nd overall pick in this year’s draft, Hasheem Thabeet.

So what could have possibly happened to make 25 NBA teams pass on DeJuan Blair? He’s not a bad person. He’s not a bad player. What gives?

The answer is simple…minus two.

As in the number of ligaments DeJuan Blair is missing… in his knees!

Yes, if you haven’t heard the story by now, DeJuan Blair is missing, not one, but both ACLs in his knees. Apparently, 25 NBA general managers feel it’s important to have one’s ACLs if one intends to play basketball in the NBA. The blurb in Yahoo!’s draft night recap even said this:

One team official even said he couldn’t find Blair’s ACLs on the medical scans.

Source: Yahoo! Sports

Wow. Just the thought that such bias, such prejudice, towards a missing ligament could keep this young man from fulfilling his dream to play in the NBA. It’s simply unfathomable! And keeping him off your cheat sheet or ADP list – why, that’s undeniably inexcusable!

Alright, alright…yes, a bit much on the theatrics.

But the point is much the same – don’t sell DeJuan Blair short on draft day, especially in a deep league (14+ teams) or keeper and dyansty formats. In standard leagues, keep him on your watch list (unless you’ve taken a last round flier on him). And keep these points in mind when your friends are ragging on you for your lack of intelligence in taking DeJuan Blair:

• DeJuan Blair had surgery on both his ACLs in high school. Since that time, Blair has played injury-free, never once missing a practice or game.

• DeJuan Blair has numerous accolades throughout his high school and college career, including a high school state championship, and the 2007-08 Big East Tournament Championship.

• In two “official” pre-season games with the Spurs, DeJuan Blair’s lines have been 16/19 with one steal, and 28/4 with two steals, respectively.

And if you’re still on the fence about Blair, consider this – when commenting on the Spurs latest acquisition, columnist Buck Harvey wrote:

Still, one staffer in the draft room Thursday said there were “cartwheels and high-fives,” and R.C. Buford later gushed as he rarely does about any draft pick.

An especially daring prediction: Blair will play 20 minutes a night.

Source: mySA.com

And Gregg Popovich has said Blair will play this year. If he works his way into the rotation, he could be a very sneaky-good addition at the forward position.

He’s a player who could get the most out of 20 minutes plus per game. He’s a player who could easily average double digit scoring and rebounding. He’s a player with a strong conviction and strong work ethic – someone who will continue to fight for the ball, relentlessly, until he gets it.

And he’s a player with a chip on his shoulder the size of the great state he plays in.

To those 25 GM’s who passed on DeJuan Blair, Spurs fans have this to say…

“ACLs ?!? We don’t need no stinking ACLs!”