MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / July 1, 2000

Wednesday’s NBA Draft was more exciting than most of the league’s games this year.

The first two picks went as planned with New Jersey taking Kenyon Martin No. 1 and Vancouver selecting Stromile Swift with the second pick. But asusual, along came the Los Angeles Clippers to upset everything up by selecting high schooler Darius Miles at No. 3.For a franchise that has seemed in no hurry to get better fast, Miles may be the perfect pick. Miles can take his time developing without thepressure of having to win now. Kobe Bryant won a NBA championship fouryears out of high school. Don’t look for the same for Miles with LosAngeles’ other team.

Chicago then took Marcus Fizer with the fourth pick, a surprise in that the Bulls drafted a similar player with the first overall pick last year in Elton Brand. With the seventh pick, the Bulls got the center they needed in ChrisMihm and immediately traded him to Cleveland for guard Jamal Crawford.

And to prove the old adage you can never have enough guards, Chicago went and drafted A.J. Guyton and Khalid El-Amin in the second round.Three words can describe each of the first 12 players selected – early entry candidate. The first senior to go was Courtney Alexander to Orlando. Alexander would be part of a fire sale by the Magic (what is it with Florida teams and fire sales – see Marlins, 1997) that also included draft pick Keyon Dooling, the 10th overall, and two other players in order to free up money for free agency. Can you say “Tracy McGrady”? Mateen Cleaves went 14th to Detroit, completing a triangle for Cleaves from his hometown of Flint to East Lansing where he played his college ball at Michigan State to the Pistons. And his genuine joy of learning hehad been selected by the Pistons was perhaps the best moment of the draft.

This was a draft where you definitely needed a program and a pronunciation guide. Five foreign players were selected in the first round,all either forwards or centers. Makes you wonder who takes the ballupcourt overseas. The Clippers did grab Marko Jaric, a guard fromFortitudo Bologna, Italy in the second round.

In addition to Miles, Utah took DeShawn Stevenson from Washington Union High School in Fresno, Calif. with the 23rd overall pick. What grade wasthis kid in when John Stockton and Karl Malone joined the NBA? Of course, he now gets the opportunity to be tutored by one of the best.

On first impression, the winners in this year’s draft appear to be Orlando (if they can pull off a few free agency signings), the Bulls (if they can find a way to get Brand and Fizer on the floor at the same time) and, yes, the Clippers, who can build with players like Miles, Quentin Richardson and Dooling. Dallas got both a good perimeter player in Alexander and a insidepresence in Etan Thomas.

Players to watch out for in the coming years that were drafted late are Morris Peterson by Toronto, Mark Karcher by Philadelphia and Chris Porter by Golden State.

Ironically, in this wild and wacky draft, the University of Cincinnati had both the first player drafted (Martin) and the last (Pete Mickeal by Dallas).

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