Trades scramble confusing draft
Players were moving around like pieces on a checkerboard Wednesday night as the 2006 NBA draft lived up to the unpredictability that was promised.
Although the Toronto Raptors selected Andrea Bargnani of Italy as expected with the No. 1 pick, they were followed by a flurry of trades that scrambled the rest of the top 10 selections, leaving players momentarily confused over where they were going.
Several players at the draft in New York had their pictures taken with two different hats, first bearing the logo of the team that officially selected them, and another with the logo of the team that traded for them.
Five of the top eight picks were involved in trades.
Busier than anyone were the Portland Trail Blazers, who finished with the worst record in the league last season but promised an overhaul this summer.
LaMarcus Aldridge of Texas was taken second by the Chicago Bulls, but he was sent to Portland in exchange for Tyrus Thomas of LSU, who was taken fourth, and Blazers forward Viktor Khyapa.
The Blazers also traded for the rights to the No. 7 pick, which Boston used to select guard Randy Foye of Villanova. The Blazers then shipped Foye to Minnesota for shooting guard Brandon Roy of Washington, the No. 6 pick.
Houston took Connecticut forward Rudy Gay with the No. 8 pick, but he was traded to Memphis for forward Shane Battier.
The Chicago Bulls also were busier than most, first getting Thomas and Khyapa, who started 53 games for Portland last season, then swapping their second first-round pick (Rodney Carney at No. 16) to get Thabo Sefolosha of Sweden, who was taken by Philadelphia with the 13th pick.
The amount of movement stemmed from so many teams that weren’t comfortable with who was available in their draft position. This was the first year teams were prohibited from taking players directly from high school, which diluted the talent and dramatically changed the top half of the draft.
The trading didn’t stop at the top, either. The Celtics, who traded away that No. 7 pick to land Sebastian Telfair, got back into the first round when they traded for the rights to guard Rajon Rondo of Kentucky, who was taken by Phoenix at No. 21.
Bargnani was the second consecutive foreign-born No. 1 pick, following Andrew Bogut of Australia, who was taken by Milwaukee in 2005 after two years at the University of Utah.
Bargnani was the first No. 1 pick not to play college or high school basketball in the United States since Yao Ming went to Houston No. 1 in 2002. He is the first European to be taken No. 1.
“We really felt that Andrea Bargnani was really the best pick for the future of this organization going forward. It’s not about today. It’s about today and tomorrow,” said Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo. “He’s going to grow into a terrific star in this league.”