First Impressions of the 2010 NBA Draft

The 2010 NBA Draft is just finished and for once, it all kind of went as expected.   There were a number of minor trades and a few players sliding a bit (Whiteside, Orton, Ebanks) but overall there were few surprises.  Most of the trades involved a team giving away a draft pick to unload a contract as teams scramble to clear cap space in hopes of signing the big one.  In the next three weeks or so we'll see how the chips fall with LeBron, DWade, Bosh etc and we'll have a better understanding of the moves made tonight.

One of the stranger happenings of Thursday night was the firing of Portland GM Kevin Pritchard just hours before the draft.  Pritchard still conducting the draft for the Blazers and ended up with some nice picks including Elliot Williams, Armon Johnson and the trade for Luke Babbitt.  And then, presumably, Pritchard packed his bags and headed for the exit, weird.

The Wizards now have a Superstar in John Wall and a very bright future and adding to that bright future is the young Frenchmen, Kevin Seraphin (right) who was traded to Washington after being selected #17 by the bulls.  Watching Seraphin in person just over a year ago I came away extremely impressed as he showed his huge upside against the likes of Cousins, Wall, Henson etc at the Nike Hoops Summit.  He is an explosive leaper and very strong and attacks the rim in a way that would make Shawn Kemp proud.

About a month ago it seemed that Marshall center Hassan Whiteside was destined for the lottery.  Instead he dropped out of the first round all together and was eventually picked #33 by the Kings.  There he'll be paired with #5 pick DeMarcus Cousins and the ever disgruntled Samuel Dalembert to form an intriguing but likely volatile front court.  Still the Kings have a young and talented nucleus that includes last year's ROY Tyreke Evans.

In what might have been the steal of the draft the NBA champion Lakers nabbed Devin Ebanks late in the second round.  Ebanks can't shoot a lick but he is an elite defender and rebounder who will provide a lot of hustle and energy off the Lakers bench.  He is a perfect compliment to Kobe, Pau and the rest of the big egos in L.A.  It was also surprising to see Ebanks' West Virginia teammate, the injured DeSean Butler drafted ahead of the healthy Ebanks.

Another steal, in my opinion was the selection of Gani Lawal by the Phoenix Suns at #46.  All the hype goes to Favors but Lawal is a player who should surprise in Phoenix and perhaps even fill the hole vacated by Amare's (possible) departure.

One pick that surprised me a bit was the selection of Gordon Hayward at #9 by the Utah Jazz.  Most draftniks had the Jazz enamored with Luke Babbitt not Hayward and the NCAA tournament star now has his work cut out for him to live up to the expectations.  Hayward reminds me of a young Mike Miller but I don't know that he'll be able to get his shot off very easily at the next level and he certainly will not be overpowering opponents as he did at Butler.

Even before Free Agency begins we know that the Eastern Conference gained some big time guards in John Wall and Evan Turner and the Nets and Pistons landed quality big men in Favors and Monroe.   If the big Free Agents stay in the Eastern Conference we could see a shift in power from West to East.

Overall, the biggest surprise of the night was the lack of surprises.  The lottery went off pretty much as expected and was almost eerily calm and uneventful.  The NBA draft has become the night for trades in the NBA but this was a quiet year, as free agency looms larger than ever before.  So expect a lot of fireworks over the next month and a lot of money thrown at the big names but in a draft loaded with talent, the teams that made moves tonight might come away looking very smart when we look back five years from now.