Jordan Hamilton

Pick 26: One guy falls a long way every year, and this year it was Jordan Hamilton, whose slump is getting Rashard Lewis-esque here. It finally ends, however, when he is picked by Dallas at #26.

Dallas just won the NBA championship, and they did it without Rodrigue Beaubois (injured, then DNP-CD) or Caron Butler (out for the year) playing in the second half of the season. They had enough depth even without those two players, who, conceivably, would be a pretty strong starting wing rotation in their own right. And now they've added to that depth with both Corey Brewer and Jordan Hamilton. Hamilton is a lottery talent that should never have fallen this far. With no buyout or injury issue, it's bizarre why he did. He's somewhat selfish on the court, but not THAT selfish. Dallas gets a steal.

.....At least, they briefly get a steal. The Mavericks later make an entirely unexpected deal - they wriggle their way into the aforementioned Blazers/Nuggets deal, and trade Hamilton's draft rights to Portland [edit: Denver], in exchange for Rudy Fernandez and the draft rights to Petteri Koponen.

Jordan Hamilton - In his first year as a Longhorn, Jordan Hamilton was the most selfish player ever. He looked to shoot every time he touched it, and I do mean every time. On the rare occasions that a team mate was allowed to shoot, you could actually see Hamilton in the background pretending to shoot, so desperate was he to get another shot up despite not having the ball. It was ugly.

Last season, Hamilton was still somewhat selfish. But relative to what he was, he is 900% less selfish than he was. And Jordan Hamilton is the kind of player you want to have shooting a lot, for he is a fine shotmaker, with 27 feet of range and the ability to hit almost anything, even when contested. He shouldn't be doing that a lot of the time, of course, but it's good to know that he can. Furthermore, on the rare occasions that he passes, Hamilton demonstrates good vision, a good sense of awareness, and an always conscious effort to get open. He dribbles into traffic at times, can lose the handle, and doesn't shoot especially well off of more than one dribble yet, but his ability to hit pretty much anything can bail him out, even when it shouldn't. His defense is considerably less impressive, but at nearly 6'9 in shoes with his athleticism, there's great potential on that end if someone can make him buy in.

A comparison to a bigger Ricky Davis with more range may leave a sour taste, but it needn't. I'd prefer a Rudy Gay comparison, too, but Ricky Buckets would be fine. Failing that, J.R. Smith.