NBA Draft: New Jersey Nets, Miami Heat Impress

Watching the 2008 NBA Draft can be tough, with Stuart Scott stumbling over a foreign player's name every five minutes and seeing three clips that you can't get anything from.

But let's look at a couple of teams that impressed Thursday night—the New Jersey Nets and the Miami Heat.

The Nets started the day off trading away Richard Jefferson to the Milwaukee Bucks. Jefferson has been with New Jersey his whole career, and it was just time for the Nets to try something new.

So the Nets went into the draft needing to make a big impact—and that they did.

The Nets took center Brook Lopez from Stanford in the first round with the 10th pick. Many experts didn't have Lopez being available with the 10th pick, so the Nets look to have gotten a good deal there.

Then the Nets took power forward Ryan Anderson from California at the end of the first round. Anderson was a 21-point, 10-rebound a game player in the Pac-10 last year and should provide the Nets with a quality big man and a good perimeter shooter as well.

Last, the Nets got what could be the steal of the draft, selecting shooting guard Chris Douglas Roberts from Memphis. "CDR" was a First Team All-American at Memphis and helped lead the Tigers to a national championship game performance.

With Devin Harris and Vince Carter, the addition of Douglas Roberts could be lethal in the fastbreak game. Meanwhile, Lopez and Anderson provide some good big men that the Nets desperately needed.

The Heat had a very solid draft as well. One of the worst teams in the league last year, Miami needed a lot of help and they needed players that could help immediately.

First they got maybe the best player in the draft outside of Derrick Rose, in power forward Michael Beasley from Kansas State. Beasley is a walking double-double. He's a beast on the boards and has a great work ethic. He will provide them instant toughness and scoring down low.

Next, the Heat picked up power forward Darnell Jackson from Kansas. While much of the attention was on the other forward Darell Arthur, Jackson is a very solid player and will compliment Beasley very well down low.

Last, the Heat really made their draft great when they traded for guard Mario Chalmers from Kansas. Chalmers is a great defender and a very good scorer as well. He will provide them with a lockdown defender and another option for Dwayne Wade to dish the ball to.

Already carrying Wade and Shawn Marion, the Heat will be able to team them with newcomers Beasley, Jackson, and Chalmers and provide some good, young talent.