Italian darling of draft

NEW YORK -- The 2006 NBA draft had suspense and unpredictability to spare, including several trades, the rise of forward Mouhamed Saer Sene to No. 10 and the fall of Marcus Williams to the Nets at No. 22. But by the time commissioner David Stern stepped to the podium for the last night at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, there was no uncertainty surrounding who the Toronto Raptors would select with the top pick. Andrea Bargnani looked every bit like a consensus No. 1 pick as the cameras crowded around his table in the friends-and-family area just below the stage.

``First of all, I want to say sorry for my English," said Bargnani. ``It's not so good. It's an incredible feeling. I feel so excited, so proud to represent my country. It's an incredible sensation. I cannot describe in words. It's incredible.

``I hope to help the team as soon as possible. I'm a young player. I know that I will find a lot of tough moments because it's a new league and I'm used to playing in Europe. So, it's a new experience, and I have to work a lot."

Bargnani, a forward who played for Benetton Treviso last season, became the eighth international player selected with the first overall pick. In that category, he joined Mychal Thompson (Bahamas, 1978), Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria, 1984), Patrick Ewing (Jamaica, 1985), Tim Duncan (US Virgin Islands, 1997), Michael Olowokandi (Nigeria, 1998 ), Yao Ming (China, 2002) and Andrew Bogut (Australia, 2005). He was just the second international player drafted first overall who did not play college basketball in the United States.

Bargnani, however, knows news of his selection will not be greeted with the same sort of enthusiasm in Italy as it was in New York . A little something called the World Cup has all of Italy otherwise engaged.

``I hope in Italy all of the attention is for the soccer," said Bargnani. ``[Today], I hope there's a little picture [of me]."

In addition to the Celtics' three deals, Minnesota, Chicago, Memphis, Orlando, Houston, Denver, Indiana, Philadelphia, Portland, and Phoenix also had fun swapping players. In total, there were 15 deals last night.

The Timberwolves traded the rights to No. 6 pick Brandon Roy to the Trail Blazers for guard Randy Foye and cash considerations. The Bulls traded the rights to No. 2 pick LaMarcus Aldridge and a future second round pick to the Portland Trail Blazers for the rights to No. 4 pick Tyrus Thomas and forward Viktor Khryapa. The Sixers traded the right to No. 13 pick Thabo Sefolosha to the Bulls for the rights to No. 16 pick Rodney Carney, a 2007 second round pick and cash considerations. The Suns traded the rights to No. 27 pick Sergio Rodriguez to the Trail Blazers for cash considerations.

In the second round, the Timberwolves traded the rights to No. 37 pick Bobby Jones to Philadelphia for a future second-round pick and cash considerations. The Trail Blazers traded the rights to No. 31 James White to the Pacers for No. 45 Alexander Johnson and two future second-round picks. The Magic traded the rights to No. 44 pick, Lior Eliyahu to the Rockets for cash considerations. The Trail Blazers traded the rights of Johnson to the Grizzlies for a future second-round pick.

The Lakers traded the rights to No. 51 pick Chei k Samb to the Pistons for Maurice Evans. The Raptors traded the rights to No. 56 pick Edin Bavcic to the Sixers for cash considerations. The Spurs traded the rights to No. 59 pick Damir Markota to the Bucks for a future second-round pick. The Mavericks traded the rights to No. 58 pick J.R. Pinnock to the Lakers for a future second-round pick.

No wonder the draft didn't wrap up until around midnight.