The Juice Is Ready...

OJ Mayo.

When you read his name, what are your first thoughts of him?

Overhyped? Selfish? Overrated?

Understandable, but after watching him play this season and getting a better understanding of what his USC team was all about, I totally get why he played the way he did. In fact, I would say that in the second half of the season, he made his team better. Yeah, I said it; better.

So I say all of this to say the following: OJ Mayo will be a perennial All-Star and help his team become a future title contender.

Ed, that's ridiculous. Are you on meds? No, not this time. At least, I don't think so. Well, who does he play like? He plays like Chauncey Billups. He's 6'4", 210 pounds. He's not like Rajon Rondo, where his jumper is an offensive liability. He's an above-average defender that can guard both the point and the two.


There's just one slight problem: looking at the potential draft order, we know that Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose will go number one and two; cool. However, picks three through five are interesting ones. The Grizzlies are primed to get the number three pick and would probably take Brook Lopez as a potential replacement for Pau-Pau (however, there's no way in hell I take Lopez at number three, but we're talking about the Grizzlies. Yay for GM Chris Wallace!) At number four, Minnesota's up and they could go a couple of different directions. They probably don't go PG (Jerryd Bayless, OJ Mayo, Eric Gordon still available), and I could see them trading down. For a pick sake, I see them going with Eric Gordon to play alongside Randy Foye. And that leads us to the number five pick in the draft...and what team could be at number five?

The New York Knickerbockers.

Could you imagine OJ Mayo playing for the Knicks? This could be one of the worst/greatest things to ever happen in NBA history. On one hand, he could just become another misfit on a team full of misfits (shout-out to Nate Robinson and David Lee, love their game), coached by the ultimate misfit, and owned by the king misfit.

Or he could be the savior. Move Jamal Crawford back to the two, play Wilson Chandler (look him up) at the three, and David Lee and Zach Randolph at the four and five. Obviously, this isn't the greatest lineup of all-time, but in the East, anything's possible...

...and I'm betting on the possible.

Don't Be a Menace to Manhattan While Playing The Juice in the Garden.

Please? I hate the Knicks and they don't deserve this.

-Ed.

Here's OJ in high school and his last dunk of his high school career. He gets T'd up, takes a standing ovation and daps dang near everyone in the arena, totally oblivious to the refs or coaches. Classic.