Category Archives: NBA

NBA draft 2012: How it all went down in the first round with Kentucky’s Anthony Davis going No. 1 overall

 

 

JUSTIN LANE/EPA

No. 1 overall pick Anthony Davis (r.) shakes hands with NBA commissioner David Stern.

1. Anthony Davis, Kentucky, 6-10, PF – HORNETS

Too bad Chris Paul isn’t around anymore to throw him lob passes. He’ll impact the defensive end of the floor first with his blocks.

 

2. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky, 6-8, SF – BOBCATS

The N.J. product plays with a lot of intensity. He’ll help the frontcourt after the Bobcats traded for Ben Gordon, another undersized guard

 

3. Bradley Beal, Florida, 6-4, SG – WIZARDS

Ernie Grunfeld already added Nene and Emeka Okafor to his frontcourt. Beal gives the Wiz a shooter who can play alongside John Wall and stretch defenses

 

4. Dion Waiters, Syracuse, 6-4, SG – CAVS

The Cavaliers went for one of the best one-on-one players in the draft. He was a reserve (20 mpg), but was the Orange’s go-to player down the stretch of games.

 

5. Thomas Robinson, Kansas, 6-9, PF – KINGS

Don’t know if Robinson will be playing in Seattle or Anaheim in the future. But the Kings went for a big rebounder with great character.

 

6. Damian Lillard, Weber State, 6-3, PG – BLAZERS

The Blazers hope they’ve finally found the point guard to replace the retired (for now) Brandon Roy, who was KO’d by knee injuries.

 

7. Harrison Barnes, North Carolina, 6-8, F – WARRIORS

Barnes slipped a couple of spots, but the Warriors are happy they found him at No. 7. Gives them more scoring help for Stephen Curry.

 

8. Terrence Ross, Washington, 6-7, SF – RAPTORS

The Raptors think they’ve found a big-time athlete and good shooter in the Washington product. Now they’ll try to get Steve Nash.

 

9. Andre Drummond, UConn, 6-11, C – PISTONS

Pistons prez Joe Dumars rolls the dice on Drummond, a UConn product who needs to adopt a better work ethic than he showed in Storrs.

 

10. Austin Rivers, Duke, 6-4, G – HORNETS

Doc’s kid has big shoes to fill Chris Paul’s, namely. But he gets to throw lob passes to Anthony Davis, not a bad target for the Duke product.

 

11. Meyers Leonard, llinois, 7-1, C – BLAZERS

The former No. 1 pick, Greg Oden, is on his way out, maybe to Miami, after spending so much time injured. So it’s up to Leonard to give them a big presence in the middle.

 

12. Jeremy Lamb, UConn, 6-5, SF – ROCKETS

The Rockets tried to move up into the top five to use to lure Dwight Howard out of Orlando. But Lamb could be a good NBA scorer.

 

13. Kendall Marshall, North Carolina, 6-4, PG – SUNS

By taking the UNC point guard, the Suns are preparing for life after Steve Nash. The question is whether Marshall can be more than an NBA back-up.

 

14. Jon Henson, North Carolina, 6-11, C – BUCKS

The Bucks are going to allow F Ersan Ilyasova, a free agent, to walk. So they’ve gotten bigger with their acquisition of Sam Dalembert and this pick.

 

15. Maurice Harkless, St. John’s, 6-9, F – 76ERS

Harkless improved his stock with strong workouts and had a big draft night. Now the St. John’s product gets to join a playoff team with a proven coach in Doug Collins.

 

16. Royce White, Iowa State, 6-8, SF – ROCKETS

Some scouts think he has top 10 talent. He hates to fly but that didn’t stop the Rockets from getting one of the better shooters in the draft.

 

17. Tyler Zeller, North Carolina, 7-1, C – CAVS

Zeller’s heading to Cleveland in a deal for three draft picks, as Mavs look to create extra cap space for Deron Williams and Dwight Howard.

 

18. Terrence Jones, Kentucky, 6-9, PF – ROCKETS

He’s not Davis or Kidd-Gilchrist, two UK teammates who went 1-2 in the draft. Scouts wonder about his quickness and upside after he slumped last year.

 

19. Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure, 6-9, PF – MAGIC

Best St. Bonaventure big man to come into the NBA since the great Bob Lanier. More athletic than he looks, but he’s no Dwight Howard.

 

20. Evan Fournier, France, 6-6, G – NUGGETS

The Nuggets grabbed the first foreign player in the draft. Fournier is a 19-year old shooting guard who is raw. But he’s 6-7.

 

21. Jared Sullinger, Ohio State, 6-9, SF – CELTICS

Sullinger has had back problems, so this is a risky pick. But he had a very productive college career and the Celtics had to take him at this spot

 

22. Fab Melo, Syracuse, 7-0, C – CELTICS

The Celtics are expecting to re-sign Kevin Garnett for at least one more season. So Melo will learn from one of the game’s best.

 

23. John Jenkins, Vanderbilt, 6-4, SG- HAWKS

New Hawks GM Danny Ferry took a small shooting guard Jenkins is 6-4 with big-time range. A few scouts rank him among the top shooters in the draft.

 

24. Jared Cunningham,Oregon St., 6-4, SG – MAVS

The Mavs surprised a few observers by going for the shooting guard, who is considered a real sleeper. Cunningham is a big-time athlete.

 

25. Tony Wroten, Washington, 6-6, PG – GRIZZLIES

With Royce White and John Jenkins off the board, the Grizzlies went for a backcourt player if they lose O.J. Mayo to free agency. Wroten could help immediately.

 

26. Miles Plumlee, Duke, 7-0, C – PACERS

Don’t know why the Pacers went for Plumlee here, other than the fact that he is a Warsaw, Ind. product, and always plays well in the Hoosier State.

 

27, Arnett Moultrie, Miss. St., 6-11, C – 76ERS

Eddy Curry didn’t work out for the Heat. Ditto Dexter Pittman. So the champs went for an athletic big man in Moultrie, out of Mississippi State.

 

28. Perry Jones, Baylor, 6-11, PF – THUNDER

The Baylor big men fell a long way, as he was projected to go in the late teens. The Thunder couldn’t pass him up at this spot.

 

29. Marquis Teague, Kentucky, 6-2, PG – BULLS

The Bulls don’t really know when they’re going to get Derrick Rose back from his knee injury. So they took the best PG still on the board.

 

30. Festus Ezeli, Vanderbilt, 6-11, C – WARRIORS

The Warriors wanted to go big with their second pick. They came away with a 6-11 center who left Vanderbilt as their all-time leading shot blocker.

 

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