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

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