2007 NBA Draft Review

The 2007 NBA Draft made huge waves around the league.

As expected, Greg Oden and Kevin Durant went one-two to Portland and Seattle. After that, a flurry of deals sent Ray Allen and several other big-name players to new teams.

In the end, most fans went home happy.

At five, the Celtics selected Jeff Green before trading him, along with two veterans, to Seattle for Allen and a second-round choice.

The Milwaukee Bucks selected Yi Jianlian with the sixth pick—much to the dismay of Jianlian's agent, who wants him to play in a larger market with more Asian fans. The Minnesota Timberwolves followed by selecting Corey Brewer, the best perimeter defender in the draft, before the Charlotte Bobcats chose Brandan Wright at eight and sent him to the Golden State Warriors for swingman Jason Richardson.

With the ninth pick, the Chicago Bulls selected Joakim Noah—the third player from the national-champion Florida Gators taken in the top 10. The Sacramento Kings rounded out the first ten picks by choosing center Spencer Hawes out of the University of Washington.

The big winners of the night, not surprisingly, were the Blazers and the Sonics.

Portland got the plum of the draft in Oden and two other capable players in Rudy Fernandez and Josh McRoberts—and got value for the unwanted Zach Randolph in the form of up-and-coming Channing Frye.

Seattle more than made up for the loss of Allen by adding Durant and Green. They also acquired Delonte West, which could make it easier for them to move Luke Ridnour.

Golden State had a great draft as well, landing a much-needed big man in Wright. Wright's 6'10" frame may get TNT analyst Charles Barkley to stop referring to the Warriors' forwards as "midgets."

The biggest loser in my mind was the Denver Nuggets, who had no picks in an extremely deep draft.

The New Jersey Nets selected a character-risk player in Sean Williams—but he has great upside at a position of need. The New York Knicks took a player (Wilson Chandler) who wasn't on anyone's radar—but the strategy worked for them last year with Renaldo Balkman.

The Indiana Pacers, meanwhile, came away with only one player—foreign center Stanko Barac, who is definitely a project.

All in all, it was an excellent day for the NBA. Only time will tell which team scored the most valuable haul.