Dukies Are Way Up

The NBA draft, also known as How Many Dukies Can We Find Homes For, ran amazingly to form Wednesday and when it was over, a Blue Devil, Elton Brand, was sitting atop it.

Brand, a 6-foot-8, 275-pound power forward, went No. 1 to the Chicago Bulls, followed within 13 more picks by teammates Trajan Langdon (No. 11 to Cleveland), Cory Maggette (No. 13 to Seattle) and William Avery (No. 14 to Minnesota.)

Maggette, a freshman, was only Duke’s sixth man and becomes the first NCAA non-starter to be chosen in the lottery.

Brand’s selection represented Bull General Manager Jerry Krause’s first step in his attempt to rebuild the ruined dynasty. Typically, Krause, who annually refuses to divulge his choice to anyone until it’s time to phone it in, refused to tell even members of his own organization.

Wednesday afternoon, Brand’s agent, David Falk, was calling around frantically, having heard the Bulls were turning elsewhere.

Not that Krause agonized over the decision, but less than 24 hours before the draft, he presided over an 11 p.m. workout for Lamar Odom at the Bulls’ facility in suburban Chicago.

“Long arms, big hands,” Krause said, hopefully, of Brand, whose height makes him a little short for an NBA power forward. “The height is something that’s very deceptive. He almost has no neck.”

The big surprise, for a draft in which six teams controlled 14 picks--almost half the selections on the first round--and the No. 1 Bulls and No. 2 Vancouver Grizzlies shopped their selections--was there were few surprises.

There were only two significant trades on draft day, one by Toronto, which will ship No. 5 pick Jonathan Bender, a 6-10 player from Picayune (Miss.) High to Indiana for veteran power forward Antonio Davis, and the other by Seattle, which got veteran power forward Horace Grant from Orlando for Maggette.

Neither Toronto nor Indiana announced their deal, which won’t be official until the salary cap goes up on Aug. 1. Raptor Coach Butch Carter, however, said he wasn’t “going to deny what’s already known” and another source confirmed the report.

The Grizzlies wanted Brand but settled happily for Maryland guard Steve Francis, rejecting several offers for the pick, reportedly including one from the Lakers, who were after UCLA’s Baron Davis.

Francis, who showed plenty on the court last season, has also displayed some attitude off it, advising a reporter who asked about his background at the pre-draft camp to do his homework, then declaring Wednesday:

“I want to do the same things I was doing in college that made me such a great basketball player.”

Davis then was selected by the Charlotte Hornets--the one team interested in him in which he had no interest.

Davis was as much in love with the Lakers as they were with him and would have been happy to join the Clippers, who were hoping he’d drop to them at No. 4, which didn’t happen. He was also OK with overtures by the Timberwolves and Raptors, who were trying to trade up for him.

However, with the rookie scale now stretched out from the old three years to five before an incoming player becomes a free agent, teams can now dare a rookie’s displeasure, and Davis got a ticket to North Carolina. Welcome to pro ball.

Davis said he declined several invitations to work out with the Hornets because of an injury.

“I didn’t think they were interested in me, and then when I realized they were interested in me, I had twisted my ankle,” Davis said. “So I didn’t go. I didn’t want to disappoint them with a bad ankle. I wish I’d gone anyway.”

The biggest surprise concerned Langdon, a senior, who was expected to go in the late teens, but instead went No. 11 to the Cavaliers, ahead of Maggette and Avery.

Both Maggette and Avery started on the pre-draft circuit as heralded prospects with top-10 potential. Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who had never lost an undergraduate to the NBA draft, gave Brand his blessing but seemed unhappy about the departures of the sophomore Avery, a first-year starter, and Maggette, who hadn’t even crashed the starting lineup.

Maggette then had a string of unimpressive workouts and Avery said he was slowed by stomach flu in his.

Nevertheless, their problems were opportunities for the SuperSonics, who got Maggette at No. 13 and then shipped him with Don MacLean, Dale Ellis and Billy Owens to Orlando for Grant, and the Timberwolves, who aren’t expected to re-sign Terrell Brandon and saw Avery, the last of the draft’s top-tier point guards, reach them at No. 14.

Maggette, a physical prodigy at 6-6, 220, was a special gift. Former Georgetown coach John Thompson, doing commentary for TNT, called it “a steal.”

Coach K might have used the same terminology, even if he didn’t mean it the same way.

NBA DRAFT / WASHINGTON, JUNE 30, 1999

FIRST ROUND

1. Chicago

Elton Brand, F, Duke

2. Vancouver

Steve Francis, G, Maryland

3. Charlotte

Baron Davis, G, UCLA

4. Clippers

Lamar Odom, F, Rhode Island

5. Toronto

*Jonathan Bender, F, Picayune HS

6. Minnesota

Wally Szczerbiak, F, Miami of Ohio

7. Washington

Richard Hamilton, G, Connecticut

8. Cleveland

Andre Miller, G, Utah

9. Phoenix

Shawn Marion, F, UNLV

10. Atlanta

Jason Terry, G, Arizona

11. Cleveland

Trajan Langdon, G, Duke

12. Toronto

Alek Radojevic, C, Barton (Kan.) CC

13. Seattle

*Corey Maggette, F, Duke

14. Minnesota

William Avery, G, Duke

15. New York

Frederic Weis, C, L’Insepp (France)

16. Chicago

Ron Artest, G-F, St. John’s

17. Atlanta

Cal Bowdler, F, Old Dominion

18. Denver

James Posey, F, Xavier

19. Utah

Quincy Lewis, F, Minnesota

20. Atlanta

Dion Glover, G, Georgia Tech

21. Golden State

*Jeff Foster, F, SW Texas St.

22. Houston

Kenny Thomas, F, New Mexico

23. Lakers

Devean George, F, Augsburg (Minn.)

24. Utah

Andrei Kirilenko, F, CSKA (Russia)

25. Miami

Tim James, F, Miami

26. Indiana

*Vonteego Cummings, G, Pitt.

27. Atlanta

*Jumaine Jones, F, Georgia

28. Utah

Scott Padgett, F, Kentucky

29. San Antonio

* Leon Smith, F, ML King HS

* Traded to other teams. Page 8

****

SECOND ROUND

30. Lakers

John Celestand, G, Villanova

31. Clippers

Rico Hill, F, Illinois State

J.A. ADANDE: Don’t celebrate just yet. Lamar Odom was available only because of his odd behavior. But at least his problems were with the NCAA, not the police department. Page 9

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

UCLA in Round 1

Bruins chosen in the first round of the NBA draft:

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YEAR PLAYER TEAM (NO.) 1964 Walt Hazzard Lakers 1965 Gail Goodrich Lakers 1969 Lew Alcindor Milwaukee (1) 1969 Lucius Allen Seattle (3) 1970 John Vallely Atlanta (14) 1971 Sidney Wicks Portland (2) 1971 Curtis Rowe Detroit (11) 1973 Swen Nater Milwaukee (16) 1974 Bill Walton Portland (1) 1974 Keith Wilkes Golden State (11) 1975 Dave Meyers Lakers (2) 1976 Richard Washington Kansas City (3) 1977 Marques Johnson Milwaukee (3) 1978 Raymond Townsend Golden State (22) 1979 David Greenwood Chicago (2) 1979 Roy Hamilton Detroit (10) 1979 Brad Holland Lakers (14) 1980 Kiki Vandeweghe Dallas (11) 1984 Kenny Fields Milwaukee (21) 1987 Reggie Miller Indiana (11) 1989 Pooh Richardson Minnesota (10) 1992 Tracy Murray San Antonio (18) 1992 Don MacLean Detroit (19) 1995 Ed O’Bannon New Jersey (9) 1995 George Zidek Charlotte (22) 1999 Baron Davis Charlotte (3)

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