Ties. They're the perfect blandsville Father's Day present and the perfectly unhappy result for all participants involved, most of all, your sister. It's a shame, then, that Cody Zeller and Shabazz Muhammad fell into a too-close-to-call tie in the voting for the 9th spot on the LB Big Board for the NBA Draft, which is almost two weeks away holy crap.
Rather than have a vote-off for Shabazz and Zeller, I've decided to waive the white flag of despair and chalk up the 9th and 10th spots to both of them. There may have been some faulty voting going on (trying to get Zeller off the board before the Sixers pick is interesting logic), so we'll just stick 'em both there and move on.
Zeller has gotten the short end of the stick around these parts. He's got the same things working against him that Mason Plumlee had when he was the popular choice to go to the Sixers at 11: 1) White. 2) Tall. 3) People unaware of his terrific athleticism.
I don't want Zeller at 11 because I think he tops out as a better version of Tyler Hansbrough or Carl Landry -- a 6th/7th man that can do a few things well but ultimately fail to move the needle one way or the other on a rebuilding Sixers squad. He's the safe floor pick at this point, and I don't think that's the way Hinkie should or will operate.
Shabazz is the wild card. I go back and forth with myself via text message and post-it note regarding the value of Muhammad. Is he the over-hyped guy that the internet turned on because he didn't live up to his freshman year talk but will get better and dominate at the next level? Or is he just that guy and will ultimately flame out in a blaze of middling athleticism and ageist laments? At the end of the day, he's probably just O.J. Mayo.
Back down to 6 people on the board here. Start barking uncontrollably in the comments about the next guy you'd like to go onto the board. And please vote. Voting is good for the environment and all my hardworking clickity-clicks appreciate it.
1. Nerlens Noel (47%)
2. Ben McLemore (49%)
3. Otto Porter (42%)
4. Victor Oladipo (59%)
5. Anthony Bennett (48%)
6. Trey Burke (46%)
7. Alex Len (45%)
8. C.J. McCollum (38%)
9. Cody Zeller/Shabazz Muhammad (30%)