Chansky’s Notebook: Finally, It’s Here!

_{The night could be both bad and good for Tony Bradley.}

_{Did you notice that Dwight Howard was traded from the Atlanta Hawks to the Charlotte Hornets this week? In the deal, the Hornets also received the Hawks 31st selection in the draft which is the first pick of the second round.}

_{What if Tony Bradley went to the Hawks with that 31st pick and received a guaranteed contract and then studied how to play an NBA post position behind the veteran Howard, nicknamed Superman?}

_{Guaranteed contracts for second-rounders are rare but David Noel got one in 2006 and Bradley just might get one as the first pick in the second round. Then he could satisfy his father’s objective to continue learning how to play basketball while getting paid for it.}

_{And wouldn’t it be great for Bradley to play for the Hornets so all of North Carolina could keep up with his progress even if it wasn’t with the Tar Heels. That would be a win-win for all of us and certainly for Bradley.}

_{Of course, there is still a chance that the 6-10 postman with the 7-foot wingspan could get drafted late in the first round and get his money that way, which would be okay with everyone, too.}

_{But with all the wheeling and dealing leading up to the draft, the circumstances change almost every day. For example, who expected that Kristaps Porzingis, the 21-year-old center for the New York Knicks and the supposed building block to their future, is about to be traded and further shake up the NBA?}

_{Critics are calling for GM Phil Jackson’s head, but the mess the Knicks are in is not Jackson’s fault. The team hasn’t won an NBA championship in almost four decades and has won only one playoff series in recent memory.}

_{The real tragedy for the Knicks is they are usually the most popular pro team in the Big Apple, but by giving Carmelo Anthony a huge contract and by missing the playoffs every year, other good players apparently don’t want to go there.}

_{So as we all await the 2017 NBA draft tonight and the fate of Justin Jackson as well as Bradley, and keep our eyes on Kennedy Meeks to see if he sneaks into the second round, the possibilities seem endless.}

(Photo: Lance King/Getty Images)

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