Welcome to the party. With the lottery portion of the draft nearly complete I'll be taking you the rest of the way in the live blog.
We're reading from top to bottom tonight.
Recent Picks
11. New Jersey Nets: Terrance Williams, Louisville. TWill has a versatile game that will serve him well for years in the league. I'm starting to like the Nets a lot more, and that scares me a little.
12. Charlotte Bobcats: Gerald Henderson, Duke. It's a well known fact that Charlotte's scouts do not travel outside the state of North Carolina. At least Henderson can score. How he matches up against other shooting guards is the real question.
13. Indiana Pacers: Tyler Hansbrough, UNC. Damn, Woj finally missed one. The Pacers are whiter than French Lick.
14. Phoenix Suns: Earl Clark, Louisville And the run on Cardinals commences! Clark isn't there but Bradon Jennings decided to come out to say hello. Big surprise, he and Stern are both wearing purple ties.
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH ALL THE DAMN PURPLE?
Trade Update
The trade can't be made official until free agency begins, but nobody cares about that. What matters is that Stephen Curry is going to be heading for Phoenix and Amar'e Stoudemire will head to Golden State. Andris Biedrins is the other big component in the proposed deal.
15. Detroit Pistons: Austin Daye, Gonzaga Daye doesn't strike me (or anyone) as classic Piston. Regardless, he has a smooth game and a lot of that ever so precious upside. Not to mention all the length. Yes, we must mention the length. Because he's long, you see.
Oh good, I've been wondering what Dickie V has to say. What's that, he likes Hansbrough and Curry? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US SOONER, DICKIE? One of them can flat out play, the other can flat out shoot. I'll let you figure out which is which.
Oh God, don't let my boy Blair go to the Bulls. That's Washington and Pitt homerism right there.
Anyone who doesn't love Brandon Jennings is a terrorist. Flat out.
16. Chicago Bulls: James Johnson, Wake Forest /pumps fist. Upside. Length. Kickboxing champion. How could the Bulls pass on all that?
Steve Kerr is don of the purple mafia. Quit being so coy!
17. Philadelphia 76ers: Jrue Holiday, UCLA. Well it's about damn time. He struggled mightily for stretches last year under Ben Howland, but he is a beast. I certainly didn't think he'd be the last man in the green room.
Why are these interview chairs so damn big? Everybody looks like they're getting swallowed.
Stu Scott with the solid nugget about Jrue being the girl's tennis team's manager in high school. Great gig. Lofty gig.
Minnesota pretty much has to go Lawson right her, yes? Then they can pretend like they're not going to trade any of their point guards.
18. Minnesota Timberwolves: Ty Lawson, UNC HOLY SHIT! Okay, they might have to make a trade or two. That makes three point guards taken this round by the Wolves. Somewhere Bill Simmons is telling somebody how he should have been running this draft.
And now we have confirmation that Ty Lawson will be the odd man out. He's heading to Denver by way of Charlotte. Or something. It's a good pickup for the Nuggets, and it's the perfect spot in the draft to make a move for him.
19. Atlanta Hawks: Jeff Teague, Wake Forest. That's a perfect fit for the Hawks. Teague will fit into that offense nicely, and give them a huge boost off the bench. Something former first rounder Acie Law never could do on a consistent basis.
Ernie Grunfeld, the time is now. Move up with the 32nd pick and take DeJuan Blair. You can make it happen. You turned Kwame Brown into Caron Butler.
20. Utah Jazz: Eric Maynor, VCU Bilas is sad to tell you that Maynor is neither long, nor athletic. Then again, if he were those things the Jazz probably wouldn't have drafted him.
The Knicks fans are now booing Larry Brown. This surprises no one.
21. New Orleans Hornets: Darren Collison, UCLA. And there goes the Bruin backcourt. Collison is an ideal backup to Chris Paul. I can't believe these teams are passing on Blair.
DeMar seems ready to erase some bad memories in Toronto.
Portland traded up to the 22nd spot, but it might be too late. Yahoo! is saying that they were eying Collison with that pick.
22. Portland Trailblazers: Victor Claver, Spain A lanky ginger who can really play. The Blazers are fortunate enough to have no glaring needs, so they can draft for the future this year.
Finally, the Shaq interview. The Big Witness starts things off with some condolences to the Jackson family. At first I thought he was threatening Phil, then again I'm an idiot.
It's funny because Mike Brown is going to get fired.
23. Sacramento Kings: Omri Casspi, Israel Fuck yeah! Mazel, Omri. Mazel. I'm loving Sacramento tonight. They've made two awesome players tonight. Ziller better be pumped.
Breaking news out of Gawker headquarters: Perez Hilton is a douchetard.
24. Dallas Mavericks: BJ Mullens, Ohio State. That...that's not a good pick. Somebody had to take the big toolsy youngster, but Dallas has been burned by some raw big men in the past.
...and Blair continues to fall. Seven more picks. That's all I ask.
Hell, even if Oklahoma City does pass on him Chicago is right there.
25. Oklahoma City Thunder: Rodrigue Beaubois, France. The Thunder are passing this pick on to Dallas in exchange for BJ Mullens. Now things are making some sense.
The Knicks are pushing hard to land Rubio, but so far Minnesota isn't budging. The Wolves have them by the balls, and it's fun. (via Yahoo!)
26. Chicago Bulls: Taj Gibson, USC. Oh lord, that's an awful pick. Unless DeJuan Blair's knees are filled with sawdust this is ludicrous.
Oh and Sam Young is still around, just sayin'. The guy did have his arm impaled at the combine. Didn't really bother him.
This is a perfect spot for Sam Young or DaJuan Summers. The analysts were just discussing how they need a small forward who can provide some scoring.
27. Memphis Grizzles: DeMarre Carroll, Missouri Well the Grizzles will certainly be scrappier.
Okay Minnesota, Nick Calathes. Do it. Do it now.
David Stern is a rockstar.
28. Minnesota Timberwolves: Wayne Ellington, UNC Well at least he's a guard.
Uh, Lisa, they were calling Hansbrough overrated.
29. Los Angeles Lakers*: Toney Douglas, Florida State. *= not really. The Knicks are buying this pick, and they're trading Quentin Richardson for Darko. Darko in New York! A for Douglas, he's a bit of a beast, Knicks fans should take to him quickly.
30. Cleveland Cavaliers: Christian Eyenga, Congo Okay sure, why not? I don't think we'll be seeing him in next year's rotation.
That's it for the first round, say goodnight to Mr. Stern.
So yeah, one more pick before the Wizards. My favorite player is on the board. Team sure could use a rebounding power forward. Come on, Big Ern.
Hey Sacramento, I thought we were cool. Hurry the fuck up.
Don't try taking them on Silver, you'll lose.
31. Sacramento Kings: Jeff Pendergraph, Arizona State. Holy shit. Can't type. Shaking. Pendergraph? eh, not bad, low ceiling.
Trade Update
Pendergraph was traded to Portland for Sergio Rodriguez and the 38th pick. Good for them.
32. Washington Wizards: Jermaine Taylor, UCF. Ah, hell.
33. Portland Trailblazers: Dante Cunningham, Villanova That's a pretty full roster.
Yes, Stuart, we remember Darko. Not a lot of draft newbies sticking around for the second round.
Looks like the Wizards are going to trade that pick after all. I had a feeling they weren't going to add another guard. I can't believe they passed on Blair. Carl Landry better be involved in this trade.
34. Denver Nuggets: Sergio Llull, Spain. Apparently ESPN was at commercial.
35. Detroit Pistons: DaJuan Summers, Georgetown. The former Baltimore high school player of the year and Georgetown Hoya has a ton of skill, but he disappeared in a lot of big moments this past season.
36. Memphis Grizzles: Sam Young, Pitt Great pick, he'll help them immediately in a variety of ways. Great fundamentals, leaping ability, and an underrated outside shot. And yes, the pump fake.
37. San Antonio Spurs: DeJuan Blair, Pitt It's about fucking time, NBA. Of course the Spurs snatched him up. He's going to eat people alive, with or without some crappy ligaments. With Jefferson, Blair, and Mason I might start enjoying Spurs games. Plus Bowen is gone, so that helps.
38. Portland Trailblazers: John Brockman, Washington He's heading for Sacramento, because I'm pretty sure Portland has enough forwards.
The Wizards sold the pick for $2.5 million. That better be redistributed in the form of free beer for season ticket holders. So Houston know owns the rights to Jermaine Taylor. The scoring guard, not the super middleweight. Ernie Grunfeld says there's more news to come tomorrow.
Wow, Ricky Rubio sounds PUMPED to be in Minnesota!
Recent Picks
39. Detroit Pistons: Jonas Jerebko, Sweeden. Love the Swedes. Good people.
40. Charlotte Bobcats: Derrick Brown, Xavier. I'm surprised he lasted this long, he's solid.
41. Milwaukee Bucks: Jodie Meeks, Kentucky. Chucker.
42. Los Angeles Lakers: Patrick Beverley, Chicago via Ukraine. He's 20 and Fran seems to like him. My recollections are fairly vague.
The remaining fans at the draft are taking full advantage of the quiet atmosphere by yelling their own amusing answers to interview questions.
43. Miami Heat: Marcus Thornton, LSU Great pick for the Heat. He was one of the most underrated players in the country last year. He'll fit into their rotation nicely.
More Dickie V. Where did I leave that gravity bong?
Ah crap, I hate it when I agree with everything he says.
Okay Silver, stop saying "convey" every damn time.
44. Detroit Pistons: Chase Budinger Similar to what i said about Summers above. He has first round skill, but he spends way too much time standing still and waiting to shoot.
45. Minnesota Timberwolves: Nick Calathes, Florida. I get credit for predicting that the last time they picked. He could stick around and try to compete for time with Flynn and Rubio, or he could go play in Greece for a while.
46. Cleveland Cavaliers: Danny Green, UNC. The final Tar Heel is off the board. It's nice addition for the superheroes.
47. Minnesota Timberwolves: Henk Norel, Netherlands Ricky Rubio's teammate, and the third member of the same Spanish club's organization to be drafted tonight.
48. Phoenix Suns: Taylor Griffin, Oklahoma They can't do that, the Globetrotters called dibs! Apparently the Suns have a thing for crappy younger brothers.
49. Atlanta Hawks: Sergiy Gladyr, Ukraine. And this is where I begin to fade.
50. Utah Jazz: Goran Suton, Michigan State. It'd totally forgotten about him. He could be a useful bench player, but he probably won't see much time.
Stuart Scott just implied that Oleksiy Pecherov is an NBA player. That's adorable.
51. San Antonio Spurs: Jack McClinton, Miami Oh Spurs, you've won me over. He's a great shooter, and it will be on display all year long in the NBDL.
Trade Update
So maybe Thornton won't fit into that Miami rotation. Instead he's been shipped to New Orleans for two future second round picks.
52. Indiana Pacers: AJ Price, UConn At this point in the draft it's worth a shot. If the knee is okay he should be able to make an NBA roster.
53. San Antonio: Nando De Colo, France. I'm not familiar with him, so I'll give the Spurs the benefit of the doubt.
54. Charlotte Bobcats: Robert Vaden, UAB. They need scoring more than anything else, and they're going after it.
Trade Update
Chase Budinger to the Rockets for a future pick and cash. The Rockets are certainly opening their wallets tonight.
55. Portland Trailblazers: Patrick Mills, St. Mary's. Although I'm sure Patty's happy to be drafted, Portland probably isn't the ideal spot. He'll come in pretty low on that depth chart.
A smattering applause for a JCC reference.
56. Dallas Mavericks: Ahmad Nivins, St. Joe's. A double-double machine from the A10.
57. Phoenix Suns: Emir Preldzic, Serbia Bring on Fran! Verdict: Leave in Europe. Good to know.
So it's all Steve Nash's fault...
58. Boston Celtics: Lester Hudson, Tennessee-Martin
Trade Update
Beverley is CONVEYED to the Heat for a future pick.
Trade Update
Vaden was "traded" to the Thunder for cash.
59. Los Angeles Lakers: Chinemelu Elonu, Texas A&M.
60. Miami Heat: Robert Dozier, Memphis. NBDL. Not that there's anything wrong with it.
And that's going to do it for me tonight. Like Mark Jackson, I am fulfilled. Although I still can't believe the Wizards passed on Blair. I'll shut up about that one day, I'm sure. Thanks for stopping by.
MVP of the Draft: Brandon Jennings.