NBA DRAFT: FIRST ROUND

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No. Team 1. Washington 2. Clippers 3. Atlanta 4. Chicago 5. Golden State 6. Vancouver 7. New Jersey 8. Cleveland 9. Detroit 10. Boston 11. Boston 12. Seattle 13. Houston 14. Golden State 15. Orlando 16. Charlotte 17. Toronto 18. Houston 19. Portland 20. Cleveland 21. Boston 22. Orlando 23. Houston 24. Utah 25. Sacramento 26. Philadelphia 27. Vancouver 28. San Antonio

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Player: Kwame Brown

Pos.: F

Hgt.: 6-10

Wgt.: 243

Class: HS

School or Affiliation: Glynn (Ga.) Academy

Statistics (Per Game): 20.2 points, 13.3 rebounds

Comment: Jordan thinks centers are OK for inbounding ball. Instead he takes the biggest package of athletecism, skill.

*

Player: *Tyson Chandler

Pos.: F

Hgt.: 7-0

Wgt.: 228

Class: HS

School or Affiliation: Compton Dominguez

Statistics (Per Game): 26 points, 13 rebounds

Comment: Welcome to NBA: This 18-year-old was a pro for about 10 minutes before he got traded.

*

Player: Pau Gasol

Pos.: F

Hgt.: 6-11

Wgt.: 227

Class: Fgn.

School or Affiliation: FC Barcelona (Spain)

Statistics (Per Game): 18.5 points, .693 FG%

Comment: Good-looking young Spaniard whose dream was to play in NBA. Grizzlies are the next-best thing.

*

Player: Eddy Curry

Pos.: C

Hgt.: 6-10 1/2

Wgt.: 301

Class: HS

School or Affiliation: Thornwood (Ill.)

Statistics (Per Game): 22 points, 10 rebounds

Comment: Now part of game’s most exciting young line, even if Bulls average 65 losses the next 2-3 seasons.

*

Player: Jason Richardson

Pos.: G

Hgt.: 6-5

Wgt.: 213

Class: So.

School or Affiliation: Michigan State

Statistics (Per Game): 14.7 points, 5.9 rebounds

Comment: After missing out on kid centers, the Warriors didn’t know what else to do.

*

Player: Shane Battier

Pos.: F

Hgt.: 6-8

Wgt.: 229

Class: Sr.

School or Affiliation: Duke

Statistics (Per Game): 19.9 points, 7.3 rebounds,

Comment: Great guy who will be a nice player. Deserves better than this monument to mismanagement.

*

Player: *Eddie Griffin

Pos.: F

Hgt.: 6-9

Wgt.: 222

Class: Fr.

School or Affiliation: Seton Hall

Statistics (Per Game): 17.8 points, 10.8 rebounds

Comment: Best news of day for him: He escapes soon-to-be-black-hole New Jersey for Houston.

*

Player: DeSagana Diop

Pos.: C

Hgt.: 6-10

Wgt.: 315

Class: HS

School or Affiliation: Oak Hill (Va.) Academy

Statistics (Per Game): 14.6 points, 13.2 rebounds

Comment: Cavaliers make right choice, going for upside after vowing to draft for immediate help.

*

Player: Rodney White

Pos.: F

Hgt.: 6-7 1/2

Wgt.: 243

Class: Fr.

School or Affiliation: Charlotte

Statistics (Per Game): 18.7 points, 6.5 rebounds

Comment: Five-high-school-career and worries about character scared teams. If his head’s OK, he’s a plum.

*

Player: Joe Johnson

Pos.: F

Hgt.: 6-7

Wgt.: 226

Class: So.

School or Affiliation: Arkansas

Statistics (Per Game): 14.2 points, 6.4 rebounds

Comment: Good-looking small forward, even though the Celtics drafted two of the same kind of players.

*

Player: Kedrick Brown

Pos.: F

Hgt.: 6-6

Wgt.: 222

Class: So.

School or Affiliation: Okaloosa-Walton (Fla.) CC

Statistics (Per Game): .404 3-point%

Comment: GM Chris Wallace’s long shot: Celtics are hoping for a Shawn Marion who can shoot.

*

Player: Vladimir Radmanovic

Pos.: F

Hgt.: 6-9

Wgt.: 227

Class: Fgn.

School or Affiliation: FMP Zeleznik (Yugoslavia)

Statistics (Per Game): 17.3 points, 7.3 rebounds

Comment: Nice piece to the puzzle. Of course, rest of the puzzle (Payton, Baker, Ewing) is on its way out of town.

*

Player: *Richard Jefferson

Pos.: F

Hgt.: 6-7

Wgt.: 223

Class: Jr.

School or Affiliation: Arizona

Statistics (Per Game): 11.3 points, .479 FG%.

Comment: What’s a nice athlete like you doing in a place like this? Nets to rebuild around him.

*

Player: Troy Murphy

Pos.: F

Hgt.: 6-10

Wgt.: 230

Class: Jr.

School or Affiliation: Notre Dame

Statistics (Per Game): 21.8 points, 9.2 rebounds

Comment: Still confused: With Jamison, and Fortson at forward, Warriors take another forward.

*

Player: Steven Hunter

Pos.: C

Hgt.: 6-10

Wgt.: 224

Class: So.

School or Affiliation: DePaul

Statistics (Per Game): 11.4 points, .592 FG%,

Comment: Magic offered Miller, trying to move up for Chandler. This is a smaller version.

*

Player: Kirk Haston

Pos.: F

Hgt.: 6-8

Wgt.: 242

Class: Jr.

School or Affiliation: Indiana

Statistics (Per Game): 19.0 points, 8.7 rebounds

Comment: Usual woolly pick for a team that has Jamal Mashburn, P.J. Brown and Eddie Robinson at forward.

*

Player: Michael Bradley

Pos.: F

Hgt.: 6-9 1/2

Wgt.: 227

Class: Jr.

School or Affiliation: Villanova

Statistics (Per Game): 20.8 points, .692 FG%

Comment: Good need pick, with Antonio Davis leaving and Charles Oakley rattling the bars of his cage.

*

Player: *Jason Collins

Pos.: C

Hgt.: 6-10

Wgt.: 251

Class: So.

School or Affiliation: Stanford

Statistics (Per Game): 14.7 points, .613 FG%

Comment: From Harvard-Westlake to Stanford to Houston to New Jersey. Something’s wrong here.

*

Player: Zach Randolph

Pos.: F-C

Hgt.: 6-7

Wgt.: 270

Class: Fr.

School or Affiliation: Michigan State

Statistics (Per Game): 10.8 points, .587 FG%

Comment: Nice pick this far down. Another big body for Trail Blazers, who already have lots of them.

*

Player: Brendan Haywood

Pos.: C

Hgt.: 7-0

Wgt.: 266

Class: Sr.

School or Affiliation: North Carolina

Statistics (Per Game): 12.3 points, 7.3 rebounds

Comment: Lethargic college career drops this big, athletic center way down the list.

*

Player: Joseph Forte

Pos.: G

Hgt.: 6-3 1/2

Wgt.: 193

Class: So.

School or Affiliation: North Carolina

Statistics (Per Game): 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds

Comment: Nice prospect, but Celtics already have Paul Pierce at shooting guard.

*

Player: Jeryl Sasser

Pos.: G

Hgt.: 6-6

Wgt.: 200

Class: Sr.

School or Affiliation: Southern Methodist

Statistics (Per Game): 17.0 points, 4.2 assists

Comment: Magic spent weeks trying to move Bo Outlaw for cap room--Sasser taken if Darrell Armstrong has to be moved.

*

Player: *Brandon Armstrong

Pos.: G

Hgt.: 6-4

Wgt.: 180

Class: Jr.

School or Affiliation: Pepperdine

Statistics (Per Game): 22.1 points, .447 FG%

Comment: Well, let’s just call it an opportunity: Got into first round, even if he’s ticketed for New Jersey.

*

Player: Raul Lopez

Pos.: G

Hgt.: 6-0

Wgt.: 180

Class: Fgn.

School or Affiliation: Real Madrid (Spain)

Statistics (Per Game): 6.6 points, 2.3 assists

Comment: Maybe he’s the Spanish John Stockton. The U.S. version only has a year or two left.

*

Player: Gerald Wallace

Pos.: F

Hgt.: 6-7

Wgt.: 210

Class: Fr.

School or Affiliation: Alabama

Statistics (Per Game): 9.8 points, 6.0 reb.

Comment: What, us worry? Rather than get big man in case Webber leaves, Kings take shot with this major athlete.

*

Player: Samuel Dalembert

Pos.: F

Hgt.: 6-10

Wgt.: 250

Class: So.

School or Affiliation: Seton Hall

Statistics (Per Game): 8.3 points, 2.1 blocks

Comment: Not that Larry Brown wasn’t totally pleased with Tyrone Hill and Matt Geieger . . .

*

Player: *Jamaal Tinsley

Pos.: G

Hgt.: 6-1

Wgt.: 199

Class: Sr.

School or Affiliation: Iowa State

Statistics (Per Game): 14.3 points, 2.5 steals

Comment: Designated replacement for Mike Bibby took a U-turn to Indiana.

*

Player: Tony Parker

Pos.: G

Hgt.: 6-1

Wgt.: 180

Class: Fgn.

School or Affiliation: Paris Basket Racing (France)

Statistics (Per Game): 14.7 points, 5.6 assists

Comment: Spurs must love this athletic point guard because they’ve got Avery Johnson, Terry Porter and Antonio Daniels.