Best and worst of the draft
Worst foresight: Minnesota
Nobody is quite sure what the Wolves' intentions are -- though they insist they're keeping Rubio, teams like the Knicks and Rockets are circling like sharks hoping to relieve Minnesota of a player who seems highly unlikely to suit up for them for at least the next two years. Rubio has a $6 million buyout in Spain and would essentially be playing in the NBA for free. He was willing to do it in New York, and even in Sacramento, but apparently he draws the line at Minnesota.
Best theft: DeJuan Blair to San Antonio
I don't understand how a player projected to be a top-15 talent can slide all the way to 37th based on reports about his knees. [...] This a player who absolutely destroyed the second pick in the draft when they went head-to-head. His rebounding numbers are something out of a video game -- I'm not sure NBA personnel people have put together quite how dominant Blair was on the glass in college, but he had a better rebound rate than Blake Griffin. His offensive rebound rate of 20.5 was double that of most other big man prospects -- the next closest prospect was Santa Clara's John Bryant at 14.4.
Worst draft night: Knicks
New York spent $5 million in trades to select Toney Douglas with the 29th pick and to acquire center Darko Milicic. Douglas is a 6-foot-2 shooting guard who projects poorly to the NBA, while Milicic is an epic draft bust who isn't going to be suddenly cured by a "system."
I'm not thrilled with what they did at No. 8, either, getting Arizona big man Jordan Hill. Perhaps all the dysfunction in Tucson kept Hill from performing better, but I suspect the Spurs got a better player at No. 37 than the Knicks did at No. 8.
Best fit: Danny Green, Cavs
Were it not for San Antonio's theft of Blair, Cleveland taking Green at No. 46 would be the steal of the draft. He's a knockdown outside shooter who hit 42 percent on 3s and 85 percent at the line last season, and he's a solid defender at the wing with good size. My Draft Rater had him as the No. 8 college player in the draft, and he should be able to contribute right away.
Moreover, this is exactly what the Cavs need. In addition to their inability to contend with Dwight Howard, their biggest issue in the playoffs against Orlando was a lack of wing talent -- in particular, wing talent that can knock down all the open looks LeBron James creates. Green helps answer that need.
Worst franchise trend: Sonics/Thunder and project centers
B.J. Mullens, I'd like you to meet Robert Swift, Mouhamed Sene and Johan Petro. You're the fourth project center taken by this franchise in five years, and let's hope your career turns out differently. [...] the hit rate on anybody this late in a weak draft isn't great, so perhaps there wasn't much to lose, but one can't help but wonder how Green or Blair would have looked in a Thunder uni.
Worst upside: Hornets taking Darren Collison at No. 21
The Hornets used a first-round pick on a backup point guard who is guaranteed to hardly play, even though they had a glaring need in the frontcourt [...] You can get a backup point guard to play eight minutes and not kill you for the veteran's minimum -- just make a call to somebody like C.J. Watson or Chucky Atkins
Best use of a future pick: Ty Lawson, Nuggets
Lawson rated as the top player on my Draft Rater after a stellar season in which he led North Carolina to the national title; meanwhile, the Nuggets got some money to help pay him (and Chris Andersen) by selling the 34th pick for $2.25 million.
Worst use of a future pick: Marcus Thornton, Hornets
As you can probably tell, I wasn't a big fan of the Hornets' draft moves. After taking Collison at No. 21, they traded two future second-rounders to Miami -- in 2010 and 2012 -- for the rights to take Thornton 43rd.
The "I'll give you two later for one now" ploy is rarely sensible, and it certainly isn't for a player who didn't grade out highly either statistically or athletically. And besides, the Hornets already have too many wing players. Color me puzzled.
Best of the rest:
• Loved Dallas' draft, getting Rodrigue Beaubois and Nick Calathes.
• Detroit also did well getting Austin Daye, a star talent at No. 15, and DaJuan Summers and Jonas Jerebko early in the second round.
• Hated Chicago's draft, getting another stringbean 4 in Taj Gibson and an undersized one in James Johnson.
• Didn't mind OKC taking James Harden over Rubio, because it's hard to ignore the Thunder's glaring need for shooting and wings.
• I love Tyreke Evans as a player but am incredibly dubious about his ability to play the point and suspect he'll be a full-time shooting guard within two years.
• Picks 8 through 14 in this draft will combine to play in zero All-Star games.
• My highest-rated undrafted players were UAB's Paul Delaney and Turkish big man Oguz Savas.