Lenny Harris
Published May 15, 2023
The Chicago Cloud
After a abysmal 2-80 season which saw multiple fans boycott the arena at one point; the Chicago Guardians would land the 7th pick in the SIBA draft as multiple fans hung their hands in shame. It seems the franchise is cursed to never ever be the 1st pick in the draft as they make due with the evil of the lottery gods. The team would explore moves to go up in the draft, but were ignored or rejected by other GMs who looked to name prices far beyond what they were looking to pay. A target for the team seemed to be the highly rated Point Guard, Reginald Martin who would instead end up in Los Angeles alongside “Hollywood” Rob Scott. As the team headed towards their 7th pick, many in the front office looked at the roster.
Aaron Freeman has been disappointing in his time with Chicago, but has seen less playing time than originally agreed upon. Alvin Robinson looks to anchor the scorer of the future role for the Guardians for years to come. The Small Forward position is stuck between Seegars and VanDyke, which left only one need for the team to be filled and that was at Power Forward. Chicago rookie selection of last year in John “Land” Walker has been seen as their star man of the future and finding him a running mate was the big challenge. Enter the Dutch phenomenon, Finn “Tulip” Metternich.
The Dutch, 6'9 Center dominated in his time with the Euroleague with Ajax's senior basketball team at only 19 years old. Averaging 18.8 Points per game and 7.8 Rebounds per game and winning Euroleague MVP, but falling short of a trophy as a experienced Real Madrid team took them down. Finn has landed with Chicago after falling from his original position of 1st overall. All the potential in the world for the Dutchman, but many have called into question his undersized nature at the 5 and his work ethic.
Chicago has instead called upon him to be a Power Forward for the team and with the ability of a scorer instead of the traditional anchor you would look to perfect a two big game; Finn has been seen as a project. The ability to score is all there and he looks to be one of the best scorers possible as he goes about his work, but it can be tough when he lacks so much on defense. Chicago looks to retrain and develop the raw materials of the Dutchman to better take on the best offered in the East. The Guardians now look to their young frontcourt in order to lead them to something more than 2 wins hopefully.
By: Lenny Harris