Site Note: I haven't posted much recently because I've been preparing for an extended trip to see my family on the West Coast, and today I spent  nine hours in airports and on planes. I'm happy to see the Official Parents and Official Brother of Rufus on Fire for the first time in nearly a year (yup, I'm one of those Charlotte transplants), and the Official Girlfriend of RoF is thrilled that we're going to be spending the next couple of weeks in California.

All that is just to let you know that I'll be keeping up as best I can until Saturday, when I'll start posting submissions to the RoF Basketball Fiction Contest. I haven't yet determined a grand prize winner, but it's come down to three stories that I like a lot. More on this in the coming days.

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Comment Starter: Everyone generally agrees that Blake Griffin was the best pick for the Clips at number one, that Stephen Curry was the best available shooter, and that DeJuan Blair (knees notwithstanding) was drafted ridiculously late. But who's the one guy you think is being underrated, and you just don't understand why?

Call me crazy, but, in retrospect, Taj Gibson was extremely impressive for USC. Really, what does Earl Clark have on Gibson? The Bulls nabbed a guy who blocked shots and rebounded like crazy. He didn't seem like a particularly great scorer in college, but he wasn't ever his team's first option, so I'm not sure what his ceiling is in that facet of his game. If his floor is Leon Powe Lite, then the Bulls did just dandy grabbing him late in the first round.

Who's your rookie sleeper?