The future is now for the NBA’s stars of tomorrow.
Wow! It’s been a long time since the NBA has seen that much action in one night; we’re talking about Wilt Chamberlain on a Saturday night type of action here. The night got kicked off when David Stern spoke those magical words that every kid grows up dreaming about:
With the first pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, the Portland Trailblazers select Greg Oden from Ohio State University.
Okay, so scratch the Portland Trailblazers part out because no kid is ever going to dream about going there, but other than that it’s a shooting star’s wish come true. That, of course, was followed by the easiest pick in the history of draft picks as Seattle scooped up the scraps left by Portland and selected Kevin Durant with the second overall pick. And by scraps, we mean the most polished freshman ever! But that was all pretty common sense stuff for the most part after rumors starting spreading on Thursday that the Blazers were committed to Oden. The real fun started after the no-brainers were off the board.
Seattle continued to change the Sonics guard and promptly shipped off Ray Allen and the rights to Big Baby Glen Davis to Boston for the fifth pick which turned out to be Jeff Green, Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak. We’re guessing that Paul Pierce would rather have Kevin Garnett on his team, but Allen will make a nice compliment to Pierce. And in the East, there’s no telling who’s going to be making the postseason anymore.
Then there’s the evolving Portland squad that kicked the troublesome Zach Randolph out the door as soon as Oden’s name was read. And of course, Isiah Thomas was the sucker that took on the talented but troubled semi star. But we have to commend Zeke for finally getting rid of Steve Francis who has been nothing but a pain for the team since arriving. The Blazers also sent Dan Dickau and Fred Jones in the deal and New York shipped Channing Frye along with Francis. Now, Portland has a fierce front court with Oden joining a hopefully healthy LaMarcus Aldridge.
Then there are the Bobcats who are desperate to get their hands on an All-Star caliber player and ended up trading off their eighth pick in Brandan Wright for Jason Richardson. Charlotte also picked up Golden State’s second-round pick Jermareo Davidson. Warriors fans are probably pissed that they got rid of a huge part of their recent only playoff success, but it was a great move financially as Richardson is owed $51 million over the last four seasons on his contract.
But even after all that; the real thing that we’re going to remember this draft for is the gosh awful outfit that Joakim Noah wore to the big show. We’re sure Chicago must be so proud.
The rest of the results from the 2007 NBA Draft, broken down by team, can be found after the jump.
Atlanta Hawks
1 (3) Al Horford, f, Florida.
1 (11) Acie Law, g, Texas A&M.
Boston Celtics
1 (5) A-Jeff Green, f, Georgetown.
2 (32) Gabe Pruitt, g, Southern Cal.
Charlotte Bobcats
1 (8) B-Brandan Wright, f, North Carolina.
1 (22) Jared Dudley, f, Boston College.
Chicago Bulls
1 (9) Joakim Noah, f, Florida.
2 (49) Aaron Gray, c, Pittsburgh.
2 (51) JamesOn Curry, g, Oklahoma State.
Cleveland Cavaliers
None.
Dallas Mavericks
2 (34) Nick Fazekas, f, Nevada.
2 (50) Renaldas Seibutis, g, Olympiakos (Greece).
2 (60) Miovan Rakovic, c, Mega Ishrana (Serbia).
Denver Nuggets
None.
Detroit Pistons
1 (15) Rodney Stuckey, g, Eastern Washington.
1 (27) Aaron Afflalo, g, UCLA.
2 (57) Sammy Mejia, g, DePaul.
Golden State Warriors
1 (18) Marco Belinelli, g, Climamio Bologna (Italy).
2 (36) B-Jermareo Davidson, f, Alabama.
2 (46) Stephane Lasme, f, Massachusetts.
Houston Rockets
1 (26) Aaron Brooks, g, Oregon.
2 (54) Brad Newley, g, Townsville (Australia).
Indiana Pacers
None.
L.A. Clippers
1 (14) Al Thornton, f, Florida State.
2 (45) Jared Jordan, g, Marist.
L.A. Lakers
1 (19) Javaris Crittenton, g, Georgia Tech.
2 (40) Sun Yue, f, Aoshen (Olympian), China.
2 (48) Marc Gasol, c, Akasvayu Girona (Spain).
Memphis Grizzlies
1 (4) Michael Conley, g, Ohio State.
Miami Heat
1 (20) C-Jason Smith, f, Colorado State.
2 (39) G-Stanko Barac, c, Siroki (Bosnia).
Milwaukee Bucks
1 (6) Yi Jianlian, f, Guandong Tigers (China).
2 (56) Ramon Sessions, g, Nevada.
Minnesota Timberwolves
1 (7) Corey Brewer, f, Florida.
2 (41) Chris Richard, f, Florida.
New Jersey Nets
1 (17) Sean Williams, f, Boston College.
New Orleans Hornets
1 (13) Julian Wright, f, Kansas.
2 (43) Adam Haluska, f, Iowa.
New York Knicks
1 (23) Wilson Chandler, f, DePaul.
Orlando Magic
2 (44) Reyshawn Terry, f, North Carolina.
Philadelphia 76ers
1 (12) Thaddeus Young, f, Georgia Tech.
1 (21) C-Daequan Cook, g, Ohio State.
1 (30) E-Petteri Koponen, g, Honka (Finland).
2 (38) Kyrylo Fesenko, c, Cherkasy (Ukraine).
Phoenix Suns
1 (24) D-Rudy Fernandez, g, DVK Joventut Badalona (Spain).
1 (29) Alando Tucker, f, Wisconsin.
2 (59) D.J. Strawberry, g, Maryland.
Portland Trail Blazers
1 (1) Greg Oden, c, Ohio State.
2 (37) Josh McRoberts, f, Duke.
2 (42) E-Derrick Byars, g, Vanderbilt.
2 (52) Taurean Green g, Florida.
2 (53) Demetris Nichols, f, Syracuse.
Sacramento Kings
1 (10) Spencer Hawes, c, Washington.
San Antonio Spurs
1 (28) Tiago Splitter, f, Tau Vitoria (Spain).
2 (33) Marcus Williams, f, Arizona.
2 (58) Giorgos Printezis, f, Greece.
Seattle SuperSonics
1 (2) Kevin Durant, f, Texas.
2 (31) F-Carl Landry, f, Purdue.
2 (35) A-Glen Davis, f, LSU.
Toronto Raptors
None.
Utah Jazz
1 (25) Morris Almond, g, Rice.
2 (55) Herbert Hill, f, Providence.
Washington Wizards
1 (16) Nick Young, g, Southern Cal.
2 (47) Dominic McGuire, f, Fresno State.
A-Boston traded the rights to F Jeff Green, a future second-round draft pick, G Delonte West and F Wally Szczerbiak to Seattle for G Ray Allen and the rights to F Glen Davis.
B-Charlotte traded the rights to F Brandan Wright to Golden State for G Jason Richardson and the rights to F Jermareo Davidson.
C-Miami traded the rights to C Jason Smith to Philadelphia for the rights to G Daequan Cook, a 2009 second-round pick and cash considerations.
D-Phoenix sold rights of G Rudy Fernandez to Portland.
E-Philadelphia traded the rights to G Petteri Koponen to Portland for the rights to G Derrick Byars and cash.
F-Seattle traded the rights to F Carl Landry to Houston for a future second-round pick and cash.
G-Miami traded the rights to C Stanko Barac to Indiana for 2009 second-round draft pick.