Last night the draft took place, and outside of the Grizzlies getting OJ Mayo, who was originally drafted by the T’Wolves, for Kevin Love, there wasn’t a whole ton of surprise. Here’s a recap of the Top 10.

1.) Chicago Bulls, Derrick Rose: This thing was done the moment they landed the No. 1 pick. It’s his hometown, he was the best player in March, and it all made sense. What happens to Kirk Heinrich is up in the air, but this guy will be a star in this league for a long, long time.

2.) Miami Heat, Michael Beasley: Beasley with Marion and D’Wade? Not bad. Not bad at all.

3.) Minnesota T’Wolves, OJ Mayo: He was traded for Kevin Love.

4.) Seattle Supersonics Russell Westbrook: This is the guy I felt would be the steal of the draft, but at the No. 4 spot, is he still a steal? Regardless, he’s going to play lockdown D on anyone that’s got a ball in front of him. Great pick.

5.) Memphis Grizzlies, Kevin Love: Traded for OJ.

6.) New York Knicks, Danilo Gallinari: He’s an Italian guy, one I don’t know much about, but those European players are either great or they bust. The bad news? There’s not many people coming from Europe that play defense, something the Knicks really, really lack.

7.) LA Clippers, Eric Gordon: The one-year Indiana star. We’ll see how he does with the big boys.

8.) Milwaukee Bucks, Joe Alexander: He’s 6′8″, 220 pounds, and they just acquired Richard Jefferson. Where does that put Alexander on the roster?

9.) Charlotte Bobcats, DJ Augustin: Say goodbye to Raymond Felton.

10.) New Jersey Nets, Brook Lopez: Ric Smits, maybe?

Shaquille O’Neal recently rapped about Kobe Bryant, and some of the things he said have now been interpretted as racist and uncalled for. So uncalled for that he’s been stripped of his badge.

“I want his two badges back,” Arpaio told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “Because if any one of my deputies did something like this, they’re fired. I don’t condone this type of racial conduct.”

Shaq free-styled about Kobe not being able to make it without him, and also made mentions about not being able to breed anymore because he’s been fixed. Why he felt the need to mention that is a bit confusing to me — it’s got nothing to do with Kobe, and any girl that sleeps with a 7′0″ basketball player is going to know their vagina will be way too mutilated to ever re-produce, unless that basketball player is this oaf.

It’s probably not the new Dream Team — I mean, how can you beat Hakeem, Clyde, Charles, Scottie and MJ? — but it’s as formidable a crew as the U.S. has put together in a long, long time. The 12 man team was named today, and it lists some pretty good names.

The team is headlined by the likes of Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, but joining them will be Jason Kidd, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Chris Bosh, Tayshaun Prince, Michael Redd, Dwight Howard, Carlos Boozer, and Carmelo Anthony.

Though I’d leave a few of those off — there’s got to better player than Redd, Prince, and Kidd — it’s a solid squad. The starting five will more than likely be Paul, Kobe, D-Wade, LBJ, and D. Howard. That leaves guys like Jason Kidd, Deron Williams, and Chris Bosh coming off the bench, which is about as good a sixth, seventh and eighth man as it gets.

Oddly, not a single player from the World Champion Celtics. No one in LA’s complaining about that one.

I don’t know enough about players who were in college for one year, so I won’t attempt to make a mock draft that will only belittle my sports knowledge. But I will link you here, where ESPN has their 2008 NBA Mock Draft.

While I won’t make my own list, I will ask a couple of questions about this one.

• First and foremost, how in the hell do the Bulls have the No. 1 overall pick? There’s been conspiracy talk for years, and my God, just let us see the freaking ping pong balls drawn. That way, when a team that was supposed get No. 9 actually gets No. 1, we don’t feel like we’re being Tim Donaghy’ed.
• That said, the Bulls have to take Michael Beasley. Derrick Rose will probably be the best player, but they just re-signed Kirk Heinrich to a five year deal.
• Which means, in short, the Heat won, because they’re going to take Rose, and he and Dwyane Wade — barring the guy can stay healthy for a year — will be totally sick.
• No. 3 pick, Brook Lopez. Say hello to Darko Milicic.
• OJ Mayo to Minnesota? The guy will be the worst pick in the NBA Draft. He’s got no sense of what a team is, and he’s one of those guys that will never realize that athleticism will only carry you all the way in high school.
• If the LA Clippers get Russell Westbrook with the seventh pick, they’ll get the steal of the draft.
• Kevin Love to the Bobcats: Charlotte just keeps wanting to add to their list of big name college players that just don’t pan out. Sean May got fat. Love already is fat. May not be the best selection.
• DJ Augustin to the Pacers would fit nicely with Jermaine O’Neal.
• Roy Hibbert to Utah makes more sense than anything, given that Utah plays slow and, well, Roy Hibbert is really slow.

Well, for starters, football. But since we don’t have football, I guess figuring out the NBA Lotto and figuring out if Boston can lose at home will have to make due.

Tonight features Detroit on the road against Boston, where the Pistons will try and exploit all of Boston’s many weaknesses that, unfortunately, Atlanta and Cleveland weren’t able to exploit (or at least exploit enough). My prediction last night was off — I said Hornets by 8 — and tonight I’m going out on a limb, saying Detroit not only covers, but Detroit wins.

Boston has got to be worn out with 14 games already played in this year’s playoffs, and Detroit has cruised through. Some people will say that makes Boston battle tested, but I think that makes them pretty weak. I mean, Atlanta? I’m from Atlanta, I’m a Hawks fan, and I still think they’re pretty bad.

Say what you will about Cleveland, but they’re a one man team, and if KG is a legitimate MVP, and Paul Pierce is all he’s suddenly been cracked up to be, and Ray Allen is that other guy in the Big Three, then they should have mopped the floor with the Cavs.

That said, they didn’t, and tonight features the first game where a team has about as much talent as them. And if the game isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, then we at least get to watch the NBA Lotto at halftime, where we can see just how easily David Stern rigs everything to make sure players end up in big markets where he wants them. Miami has the best shot at No. 1, but don’t be too shocked to see it head to New York, where they’ll take Derrick Rose and rid themselves of Stephon Marbury.

Mike D’Antoni, former coach of the great Suns and current coach of the sorry Knicks, has officially entered purgatory, as he was announced as the Knicks coach today.

“I will adapt what I do. Now I like to play fast, move the ball and all that stuff, and we’ll try to do that as best as we can,” D’Antoni said Tuesday. “Obviously you’re going to be a little slower than [the Suns], but at the same time there’s no reason why you can’t run, be exciting and have good ball movement.

“There’s 30 teams out there all with the same goal in the off-season, and that’s to make the playoffs. And I can’t think of a better team to be with than the Knicks.”

You can’t think of one, Mike? Let me help: San Antonio, Golden State, the Lakers — hell, the Clippers — the Heat, the Hawks, the Celtics, the Bucks, the Cavs, the Bobcats, the Grizzlies, Duke, Alabama, the Bruins. . . .

It’s not so much that the playoffs are set — teams can still win and lose and change their seeding — but we know who will be in there. Based on the two scores below, the Hawks and Nuggets have assured themselves a spot in the Final 16 (Sweet 16?). The Nuggets won their way in, while the Hawks kinda just lost less. That’s kind of a simple theme here in Atlanta.

Indiana Pacers 110, Washington Wizards 117: Thanks to the Washington Wizards, the Hawks will visit the playoffs for the first time since 1999. The last time the Hawks made the playoffs, they had Steve Smith, Dikembe Mutumbo (still in his prime, and not quite 50), and Mookie Blaylock. Yes, it’s been a while. Thank you, Washington. Thank you. To make Indiana fans feel sick, listen to this stat: The game in which they were eliminated from playoff contention, Washington’s starting five scored a combined 47 points. The Wizards got 70 points from their bench. The Pacers bench scored 22 points.

Golden State Warriors 116, Phoenix Suns 122: It’s a sad day for the Warriors, who were last year’s upset darlings, and who won’t be participating in the ‘08. With 48 wins — compared to the Hawks 30-something — the Warriors won’t be making the trip to play LA/New Orleans/San Antonio, while Atlanta will be making the trip to get swept by Boston (I’m hoping for just one win; give me one home win, and let it be the game I’m attending, and I’m cool with this season’s effort).

Toronto beat Miami, assuring them of the six-seed in the East and not playing Detroit in the first round, while also assuring that Miami will have the No. 1 pick. Other than that, there’s still some stuff up in the air, which will be resolved over the last couple games of the season.

San Antonio Spurs 85, LA Lakers 106: Well, they didn’t really win the West, but they put themselves in damn good position to do so. The Lakers defense was downright nasty, holding the Spurs to 33-79 shooting from the floor, but take something into consideration: The Spurs didn’t have Manu Ginobli and, as crazy as the guy is, he completely changes that offense. The Lakers put in an all-together team effort, getting 20 from Kobe, 17 from Odom, 14 from Gasol and Fisher, and a combined 21 points from Jordan Farmar and Ronny Turiaf.

Miami Heat 76, Cleveland Cavaliers 84: The Cavs avoided being embarrased. The Heat increased their chances of getting the first pick.

Toronto Raptors 84, Detroit Pistons 91: My feeling here was that the Pistons would actually throw the game, assuring that they would play Philadelphia in the first round and not the Raptors. If you think about it as a coach, who would you rather play? A Raptors team that has some playoff experience as well as a marketable player (Chris Bosh), or the 76′ers, who don’t have any experience, and whose best player’s name you can’t spell (Iguodala)? Chris Bosh scored 30 points and grabbed 10 boards for the Raptors, and Rodney Stuckey led the way for the Pistons with 18 points off the bench.

Houston Rockets 94, Denver Nuggets 111: With this win, the Nuggets are one win away from assuring their spot in the playoffs. The Rockets came out flat, and the Nuggets scored triple digits for the 21st straight game, led by Allen Iverson’s 33 point performance. A Nuggets win or Warriors loss will clinch their bid to the playoffs.

Toronto Raptors 120, Atlanta Hawks 127: The Hawks have won five straight games, and are now four games ahead of the Indiana Pacers and New Jersey Nets for the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference. With eight games left, and considering the teams trying to catch them, this one may be locked up. That said, this is the Hawks, who aren’t very good, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Indiana Pacers 77, Boston Celtics 92: Boston got its 60th win and tied the best ever turnaround in consecutive seasons in NBA history. Paul Pierce and 13 points, Kevin Garnett 20, and Ray Allen chipped in with 15 for the Celtics, who are just waiting to tear my hometown Hawks apart in the first round of the playoffs. There’s that part of me that wants to say, “Hey, we’ve got a chance.” But then there’s that other part of me, the logical, gambling part, that says ride the Celtics through.

New Orleans Hornets 106, Miami Heat 77: When the Heat traded for Shaq, they made a statement that they were going to win then, and then only. They’ve traded him away, lost D-Wade for the season, and here’s the result: A 13 win team that looks helpless from every angle you can look at. Chris Quinn led all scorers for the Heat again, dropping 18 points, but the rest of the team. . . well, not so great. When Chris Quinn has 18, and the rest of your team has 69 points combined, there’s a problem. David West and Tyson Chandler combined for 42 points for the Hornets.

Golden State Warriors 86, Dallas Mavericks 111: Return of Dirk! Return of Dirk! The MVP was back and, to be frank, was still a little pissed at last season’s first round collapse. Everyone’s favorite German had 18 points, and Jason Terry (31) and Josh Howard (28) helped the Mavs to victory. With the win, Dallas is seventh in the West, and has a two game lead over Golden State, who is one game back of Denver (who holds the eight spot — that was a lot of explanation).

With no football games, it’s hard to gamble, so, thankfully, we can throw our money away on NBA games that can really go either way. But it’s entertaining, right? And, in short, that’s the main reason we gamble. We don’t do it to win or lose — we do it because it takes an otherwise boring chunk of the night and becomes very, very entertaining, even if the entertainment is accompanied with many hours of grief afterwards. Enjoy my picks. I’m the best.

How I’m doing:

Last Night: 2-2
On the Season: 38-38-1
It seems I’m doing well not winning and not losing, doesn’t it?

Tonight’s Games:

Toronto Raptors (-2) @ Atlanta Hawks: The Hawks struggle against good teams, and though not great, the Raptors are solid. I hope I’m wrong — believe me — but I just don’t see it happening for Atlanta.

Indiana Pacers @ Boston Celtics (-10): The only way this doesn’t hit is if Paul, Ray and KG all go down, and Sam Cassell transfers back to LA. Otherwise, you’re in the clear.

Golden State Warriors (+6) @ Dallas Mavericks: This game is like the playoffs right now. And we know what happens when Golden State and Dallas meet in those type of games.

New Orleans Hornets (-11) @ Miami Heat: It’s rare in the NBA that you find a road team favored by double digits. It’s also rare in the NBA to find a roster that looks like Miami’s.

Cleveland Cavaliers (-2) @ Charlotte Bobcats: Hard not to bet on a team when they’re barely favored over the Bobcats, and they’ve got LeBron James.