UPDATE -- 9:15 a.m.
We've got some housekeeping to do from last night's fast-paced, dizzying NBA draft.
First, four of the five picks to start the draft are freshmen (Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley, O.J. Mayo, Kevin Love). Maybe David Stern should just scrap that one-and-done rule?
There were a mind-boggling 14 trades. A late trade, reported by Chad Ford of ESPN.com, sent O.J. Mayo from Minnesota to Memphis for Kevin Love and Mike Miller, among others. It was an eight-player deal.
Darrell Arthur, who apparently has some sort of kidney problem that scared teams away, fell all the way to New Orleans at No. 27. But wait -- the Hornets traded him to Portland, then he went to Houston and finally to Memphis. So Arthur, who was the last player in the green room, had to wait longer to find a home. He was traded three times and was a member of four teams last night.
Now, winner and losers (in no particular order).
Winners
Portland: The rice get richer. After trades, the Blazers eventually ended up with Jerryd Bayless and Ike Diogu. Portland had the No. 13 pick, but get a lottery player with Bayless. Diogu is a good player who was sent over from Indiana. The Blazers also drafted Joey Dorsey, before trading him to Houston. Portland also had Darrell Arthur for a short time. Imagine if Portland kept Dorsey and Arthur. Wow.
Miami: Pat Riley did a nice job after that smoke screen he threw up. The Heat got Beasley and then acquired Mario Chalmers from Minnesota. So the Heat get a power forward and potential starting point guard. Great draft.
Memphis: The Grizz end up with Mayo and Donte Greene of Syracuse. A lot of teams liked Greene, who has loads of potential. But will he stay in Memphis with Rudy Gay around? Anyhow, getting Mayo from Minnesota makes it a good night. And they shed Brian Cardinal's contract in the trade.
Nets: I wasn't sure about New Jersey after the selections of Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson in the first round. I mean the Nets acquire Yi Jianlian earlier in the day and already have Josh Boone and Sean Williams. Anderson is another power foward in the logjam. But they stole Chris Douglas-Roberts of Memphis with the 40th pick. Plus, they've positioned themselves for the summer of LeBron.
Losers
Minnesota: What exactly are the T-Wolves thinking? They draft O.J. Mayo to go along with Al Jefferson as a solid inside-outside combo, then trade him for Kevin Love? Doesn't Love play the same position as Jefferson? Then the T-Wolves get Mario Chalmers in the second round and trade him to Miami? Isn't this the team with Sebastian Telfair? Who's playing center? One bit of reasoning I see with Love is perhaps a trade to Charlotte. Love fits better in Charlotte with Larry Brown. Plus, the Bobcats surprisingly picked D.J. Augustin. Could Raymond Felton be headed to Minnesota?
Sacramento: What are the Kings thinking? Who's running the scouting department there? Jason Thompson from Rider at No. 12? I hope Patrick Ewing Jr., a good bargain in the second round, works out.
We'll see .....
Indiana: The Pacers were busy last night. They ended up with Brandon Rush of Kansas and Roy Hibbert of Georgetown. They could both end up being solid players.
Milwaukee: The Bucks really stockpiled a lot of small forwards yesterday -- Richard Jefferson (in Nets trade), Joe Alexander (at No. 8), and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (No. 37). We'll see where this is going.
Pre-draft chatter
Expects trades. Not many teams like what's in this draft, especially the teams from No. 11 down. And Portland and Seattle each have too many picks for a two-round draft. Both teams have two first-round picks and multiple second-round picks (Seattle actually has four picks and Portland has three picks in the second round!). I expect that they'll be active. So will Memphis. Getting Marc Gasol over from Europe for next season is like a lottery pick.
One blockbuster trade that will happen is the Nets sending Richard Jefferson to the Milwaukee Bucks for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons. Simmons has $20.5 million left on a contract that expires in the summer of 2010 -- or the summer of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Makes sense for the Nets to clear cap space to make a run at LeBron, who is close with Jay-Z. But don't the Nets need to make that move to Brooklyn and start building that arena for this to work. Stay tuned.
The Clippers and Sonics swapped picks. L.A. gets No. 4 and Seattle goes to No. 7. BUT the deal is contigent on O.J. Mayo being gone by the fourth pick. So L.A. will probably select Eric Gordon or Jerryd Bayless. Guess Shaun Livingtson's knee is not healing.
A few minor trades have already taken place (Portland acquiring the No. 27 pick from New Orleans, Charlottle getting No. 20 from Denver, etc.). The one "major" trade thus far is the Indiana Pacers trading Jermaine O'Neal to Toronto for T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and the No. 17 pick.
Not sure if either team got better because of this. O'Neal has a massive contract and a shaky knee. Even with Chris Bosh and O'Neal as a frontline, I still don't see Toronto moving into the upper echelon of the East. Ford has had injury problems, Nesterovic is nothing more than a backup, and the No. 17 pick won't help you immediately. I guess if I had to pick a winner it's Indiana because they shed O'Neal's pricey contract.
And, of course, the David Lee watch has started. Will Donnie trade Lee? Seems like it won't happen. Lee has told the Grizz that he won't sign a long-term contract to play there. And let's not forget Portland and Seattle here. Both could use Lee and have draft picks for the Knicks.
Let's start by being very honest -- this is a weak draft. Once the Chicago Bulls select Derrick Rose with the No. 1 pick, the rest of this draft becomes a crapshoot. We've all seen what an excellent point guard (Chris Paul) can do for a team. So there will be high hopes for Rose.
Michael Beasley, who's closer to 6-foot-7 rather than the 6-10 we were all fooled into thinking, is a big question mark. He's talented, but his work ethic and attitude are being scrutinized. If I'm Pat Riley any comparisons to Derrick Coleman would scare me far away. Which leads us to ...... O.J. Mayo. That is really what this draft is -- a combo guard draft. Russell Westbrook, Jerryd Bayless, Eric Gordon and Mayo.
With Rose gone, the next best point guard is D.J. Augustin, who's only 5-11.
After that, how about Alexis Ajinca or Kosta Koufos?
Seriously, a few players are intriguing. Joe Alexander out of West Virginia has had ridiculous workouts. He's physical, tough, high energy and athletic. He will go as a lottery pick, but he'll end up being a good bench player in the NBA.
Kevin Love from UCLA is another player who could be good. He's got a high basketball IQ, he passes well, can shoot and rebound. He's also NBA-ready in terms in size (6-10 and 255).
It'll be interesting to see which teams take a chance on players like LSU's Anthony Randolph, Marreese Speights of Florida and Syracuse's Donte' Green. Randolph has been mentioned in most mock lottery drafts I've seen, but at 6-10 and a pencil-thin 197 pounds, what do you do with him? He can't play down low and is only a face-up shooter. Speights is 6-10 and 245, but he's 19 years old. It's going to take some time to see if he develops. Green has been all over the mocks drafts. Some have him as a lottery pick and some have in at the end of the first rouns or even in the second round.
Actually, one player I like is Joey Dorsey, definitely a second-rounder. But Dorsey is really tough, he plays defense, he rebounds, and he won't back down from any player. Dorsey is the type of player that can stick around the NBA for years (think Kurt Thomas or P.J. Brown). His only downside is that he has no offensive game. If he develops a little jumper, he'll always have a job. Kind of like a lefty reliever in baseball, who always seems to be employed somewhere.
To sum up, after Rose goes to the Bulls there are no sure-things in this draft. In fact, we may not know how good -- or bad-- this draft was for a few years.