Because of Michael Jackson’s death, the 2009 NBA Draft was surreal. I didn’t watch as attentively as I have for almost 30 years. Blake Griffith obviously went one. Will he be as good as Boozer or end up like Marcus Fizer? Being from here, I wanted Tyreke Evans, but Jrue Holiday was a fine pick for the Philadelphia 76ers (will Allen Iverson return? I think so). He’ll provide versatility on both sides of the ball after the Sixers most likely lose Andre Miller to free agency (possibly somehow to the Lakers, you heard it here first). Elton Brand comes back, but the Eastern Conference just became a juggernaut after Orlando acquired Vince Carter (power move) and Cleveland acquired Shaquille O’Neal (not sold). Edge Magic. I thought after the Conference Finals that the team with more of an edge would win and now that Vince will have joined Orlando, I can see him lighting a fire under the coaching staff, bench and of course the players on the floor. Atlanta and Washington very much put their names in the competitive Eastern Conference hat by picking up capable players to move into that tier below Orlando and Cleveland. Some speculation has Rubio ending up in Boston. Could that be? That would explain Danny Ainge’s public criticism of Rajon Rondo huh? Don’t do it Boston, Rondo is one of those players who will be seen as underrated as his career matures. Plus, didn’t you just win a championship with dude? Really interested in seeing Brandon Jennings play and also if Ricky Rubio is as good as advertised. His scrutiny is mos def on the clock. Best believe…especially after Jennings dropped. Do you think all of these young point guards will become the next generation of leaders? What do you think was going on with the Timberwolves. Seems like they are trying to dispose of their mediocre existence of the present and wreck shop in the future. Is it basketball season yet? Who will be Rookie of the Year? I’m going with Tyreke Evans. First the draft day trades: 1 - Dallas traded the rights of C B.J. Mullens (No. 24) to Oklahoma City for the rights to G Rodrigue Beaubois (No. 25). 2 - Los Angeles Lakers the rights of G Toney Douglas (No. 29) to New York for a future second-round draft pick and cash. 3 - Minnesota traded the rights of G Ty Lawson (No. 18) to Denver for a future first-round pick. 4 - Washington traded the rights of G Jermaine Taylor (No. 32) to Houston for cash. 5 - Denver traded the rights of G Sergio Llull (No. 34) to Houston for cash. 6 - Portland traded G Sergio Rodriguez, the rights of F Jon Brockman (No. 38) and cash to Sacramento for the rights of F Jeff Pendergraph (No. 31). 7 - Miami traded the rights of G Marcus Thornton (No. 43) to New Orleans for two future second-round draft choices. 8 - Detroit traded the rights to F Chase Budinger (No. 44) to Houston for a future second-round draft pick and cash. 9 - L.A. Lakers traded the rights to G Patrick Beverley (No.42) to Miami for a future second-round draft pick and cash. 10 - Charlotte traded the rights to G Robert Vaden (No. 54) to Oklahoma City for cash. Pre-draft trades Magic/Nets Magic get Vince Carter, Ryan Anderson Nets get Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston, Tony Battie Cavs/Suns Suns get Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, second-round pick in ‘10 Draft and $500,000 Cavaliers get Shaquille O’Neal Hawks/Warriors Warriors get Acie Law and Speedy Claxton Hawks get Jamal Crawford 2009 NBA Draft FIRST ROUND Team Player Pos., Ht., Wt. School/Country 1 L.A. Clippers Blake Griffin PF, 6-10, 248 Oklahoma 2 Memphis Grizzlies Hasheem Thabeet C, 7-3, 267 Connecticut 3 Oklahoma City Thunder James Harden PG, 6-5, 222 Arizona State 4 Sacramento Kings Tyreke Evans PG, 6-6, 220 Memphis 5 Minnesota Timberwolves (from Washington) Ricky Rubio PG, 6-3, 180 Spain/DKV Joventut 6 Minnesota Timberwolves Jonny Flynn PG, 6-0, 196 Syracuse 7 Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry PG, 6-3, 181 Davidson 8 New York Knicks Jordan Hill PF, 6-10, 235 Arizona 9 Toronto Raptors DeMar DeRozan SG, 6-7, 211 Southern California 10 Milwaukee Bucks Brandon Jennings G, 6-1, 170 Lottomatica Roma/Italy 11 New Jersey Nets Terrence Williams SF, 6-6, 213 Louisville 12 Charlotte Bobcats Gerald Henderson SG, 6-5, 215 Duke 13 Indiana Pacers Tyler Hansbrough PF, 6-9, 234 North Carolina 14 Phoenix Suns Earl Clark SF, 6-10, 226 Louisville 15 Detroit Pistons Austin Daye PF, 6-11, 192 Gonzaga 16 Chicago Bulls James Johnson SF, 6-8, 257 Wake Forest 17 Philadelphia 76ers Jrue Holiday PG, 6-4, 185 UCLA 18 Minnesota Timberwolves (from Miami) Ty Lawson (traded to Denver) PG, 6-0, 197 North Carolina 19 Atlanta Hawks Jeff Teague PG, 6-1, 175 Wake Forest 20 Utah Jazz Eric Maynor PG, 6-3, 164 Virginia Commonwealth 21 New Orleans Hornets Darren Collison PG, 6-1, 166 UCLA 22 Portland Trail Blazers (from Dallas) Victor Claver PF, 6-9, 224 Pamesa Valencia/Spain 23 Sacramento Kings (from Houston) Omri Casspi SF, 6-9, 211 Maccabi Tel Aviv/ Israel 24 Dallas Mavericks (from Portland) B.J. Mullens (traded to Okla. City) C, 7-1, 258 Ohio State 25 Oklahoma City Thunder (from San Antonio) Rodrigue Beaubois (traded to Dallas) PG, 6-2, 182 Cholet Basket/France 26 Chicago Bulls (from Denver) Taj Gibson PF, 6-10, 214 Southern California 27 Memphis Grizzlies (from Orlando) DeMarre Carroll SF, 6-7, 207 Missouri 28 Minnesota Timberwolves (from Boston) Wayne Ellington SG, 6-5, 202 North Carolina 29 L.A. Lakers Toney Douglas (traded to New York) PG, 6-2, 183 Florida State 30 Cleveland Cavaliers Christian Eyenga SF, 6-5, 210 DKV Joventut/Congo SECOND ROUND Team Player Pos., Ht., Wt. School/Country 31 Sacramento Kings Jeff Pendergraph (traded to Portland) PF, 6-10, 240 Arizona State 32 Washington Wizards Jermaine Taylor (traded to Houston) SG, 6-4, 207 Central Florida 33 Portland Trail Blazers (from L.A. Clippers) Dante Cunningham PF, 6-8, 227 Villanova 34 Denver Nuggets (from Oklahoma City) Sergio Llull (traded to Houston) PG, 6-2, 180 Real Madrid/Spain 35 Detroit Pistons (from Minnesota) DaJuan Summers SF, 6-9, 243 Georgetown 36 Memphis Grizzlies Sam Young SF, 6-7, 223 Pittsburgh 37 San Antonio Spurs DeJuan Blair SF, 6-7, 277 Pittsburgh 38 Portland Trail Blazers Jon Brockman (traded to Sacramento) PF, 6-7, 255 Washington 39 Detroit Pistons (from Toronto) Jonas Jerebko PF, 6-8, 231 Sweden 40 Charlotte Bobcats (from New Jersey) Derrick Brown PF, 6-8, 225 Xavier 41 Milwaukee Bucks Jodie Meeks SG, 6-4, 211 Kentucky 42 L.A. Lakers (from Charlotte) Patrick Beverley (traded to Miami) PG, 6-1, 172 Ukraine 43 Miami Heat (from Indiana) Marcus Thornton (traded to New Orleans) SG, 6-3, 194 LSU 44 Detroit Pistons Chase Budinger (traded to Houston) PF, 6-7, 206 Arizona 45 Minnesota Timberwolves (from Philadelphia) Nick Calathes SG, 6-6, 194 Florida 46 Cleveland Cavaliers (from Chicago) Danny Green SF, 6-6, 208 North Carolina 47 Minnesota Timberwolves (from Miami) Henk Norel PF, 6-10, 230 DKV Joventut/Netherlands 48 Phoenix Suns Taylor Griffin SF, 6-7, 238 Oklahoma 49 Atlanta Hawks Sergey Gladyr SG, 6-5, 190 Ukraine 50 Utah Jazz Goran Suton C, 6-10, 245 Michigan State 51 San Antonio Spurs (from New Orleans) Jack McClinton PG, 6-0, 185 Miami (Fla.) 52 Indiana Pacers (from Dallas) A.J. Price SG, 6-2, 193 Connecticut 53 San Antonio Spurs (from Houston) Nando De Colo SG, 6-5, 190 Cholet Basket/France 54 Charlotte Bobcats (from San Antonio) Robert Vaden (traded to Oklahoma City) SG, 6-5, 205 Alabama-Birmingham 55 Portland Trail Blazers (from Denver) Patrick Mills PG, 6-0, 165 St. Mary’s (Calif.) 56 Dallas Mavericks (from Portland) Ahmad Nivins PF, 6-9, 235 St. Joseph’s (Pa.) 57 Phoenix Suns (from Orlando) Emir Preldzic PF, 6-9, 205 Bosnia and Herzegovina 58 Boston Celtics Lester Hudson SG, 6-2, 190 Tennessee-Martin 59 L.A. Lakers Chinemelu Elonu PF, 6-10, 235 Texas A&M 60 Miami Heat (from Cleveland) Robert Dozier PF, 6-9, 215 Memphis Send to Facebook