Fresh faces taken early
Youth was served during last night's NBA draft.
Starting with Memphis freshman guard Derrick Rose, who went first overall to the Chicago Bulls, four of the first five picks and five of the first 10 were freshmen. The second name announced at Madison Square Garden was Kansas State freshman forward Michael Beasley, taken by the Miami Heat, and next to go was another freshman, Southern Cal guard O.J. Mayo to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who later dealt him to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Rounding out the top five were a pair of UCLA Bruins, sophomore guard Russell Westbrook to the Seattle SuperSonics and freshman forward Kevin Love to Memphis, which sent him to Minnesota in the Mayo deal. The fifth freshman to go in the top 10 was Indiana guard Eric Gordon (seventh to the Los Angeles Clippers). The only top-10 pick older than 20 was West Virginia's Joe Alexander, who was taken eighth by the Milwaukee Bucks.
It was the first time in history college freshmen were the first three picks in the draft.
"Those are some good guys," said Westbrook in a teleconference. "I respect all those guys, O.J., Derrick . . . I'm not at all surprised. They are good players, good caliber of freshmen."
In Rose, the Bulls add not only a Chicago native but a point guard who has been compared with Jason Kidd. The 6-foot-3-inch, 190-pound Rose averaged 14.9 points and 4.7 assists while leading Memphis to the NCAA title game. Rose said he expects to start next season for the Bulls, who still have veteran point guard Kirk Hinrich on the roster.
When asked about playing in Chicago, Rose said, "I have a small circle. I have five people that I really hang with, so it's going to be really tough for people to get ahold of me."
After being selected, Rose put on a red Bulls cap, hugged Memphis coach John Calipari, shook hands with Beasley, and walked onto the stage to shake commissioner David Stern's hand.
"I was a little nervous when commissioner Stern came back out," Rose said. "But I'm so competitive. I've always had that thing in my mind that I wanted to be No. 1. So it was great them just calling my name for the No. 1 pick."
The Heat went for Beasley next, despite talk they were worried about his character and were intrigued by Mayo. Beasley averaged 26.2 points and 12.4 rebounds last season and was named Freshman of the Year. Mayo averaged 20.7 points, 3.3 assists, and 1.6 steals last season.
"I was a little surprised; we had talked before the draft, and just to hear my name called, it took a lot of pressure off," Beasley said.
Mayo knew he had a chance to go No. 2. "You never know, because Michael Beasley had an incredible year," he said. "Beasley's numbers were crazy and he's a great player, and he was one of the best players in the country this year and arguably the national player of the year, so I knew he had a great chance of going to the Heat. I was just listening to see, so you never know."
A few trades also made headlines.
The Nets sent forward Richard Jefferson to the Bucks for 20-year-old forward Yi Jianlian and swingman Bobby Simmons. By making the trade, the Nets will be about $20 million under the salary cap for a strong free agent crop in 2010, when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh will be on the market.
"We didn't feel like we were a championship-caliber team as structured," said Nets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe in a telephone interview.
"We couldn't compete with Boston and Detroit. So what is the fastest way to do it? Could we do it with our team? We didn't have the cap space in 2010. Now we have the cap space."
Said Celtics coach Doc Rivers at TD Banknorth Garden before the draft, "That's a good trade for the Nets. I like Yi. Bobby Simmons due to health, I thought that hurt him. But I think he's an excellent player as well. There were a lot of moves today, already, which I'm surprised by."
Larry Bird, the Pacers' president of basketball operations, has been busy of late changing the face of his struggling franchise.
The Pacers have proposed sending six-time All-Star forward-center Jermaine O'Neal and forward Maceo Baston to Toronto for guard T.J. Ford, center Rasho Nesterovic, the No. 17 pick (Georgetown center Roy Hibbert), and the No. 41 pick. Because of Ford's base-year deal, the trade will not be announced until at least July 9, at the conclusion of the NBA's mandated moratorium period.
"Indiana is trying to redo their team, clearly," said Rivers. "Jermaine and Bosh, that's a [heck] of a combination. It's rare that you have two scoring bigs. [O'Neal] will probably change the way [Toronto] plays, though. They probably won't be a 3-point shooting team that they were, and in some ways, that helps you with matchups physically. But [O'Neal] makes them really good."
In another deal pending league approval, the Blazers sent guard Jarrett Jack, forward-center Josh McRoberts, and the draft rights to Kansas guard Brandon Rush (13th selection) to Indiana for forward Ike Diogu and the draft rights for guard Jerryd Bayless (11th selection).
