After the first two picks, the NBA draft was filled with surprises Tuesday.
The Milwaukee Bucks took Utah center Andrew Bogut with the top overall pick, followed by the Atlanta Hawks’ selection of North Carolina forward Marvin Williams with the second pick.
After that, the things weren’t so predictable.
“There were a lot of unexpected picks,” Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said. “We certainly didn’t think some of the picks after 15 were going to be there. … Everyone was surprised with some of the picks.”
The surprises started with the Utah Jazz, which acquired the third pick from Portland on Tuesday and chose Illinois guard Deron Williams – despite the fact Wake Forest’s Chris Paul was widely regarded as the draft’s top point guard. New Orleans took Paul at No. 4.
The biggest surprise of the draft was Toronto’s selection of Connecticut power forward Charlie Villanueva with the seventh pick. Villanueva, whose work ethic has been questioned, was expected to be selected some time after the first dozen picks. The Raptors have one of the NBA’s best young power forwards in Chris Bosh and drafted another last year in Rafael Araujo.
“I had no idea they were going to pick me at No. 7,” Villanueva said.
Charlotte selected a point guard with the fifth pick, North Carolina’s Raymond Felton.
Felton was joined by another Tar Heels star when Charlotte picked forward Sean May at No. 13. Four North Carolina players – including guard Rashad McCants, to Minnesota at No. 14 – went high in the first round.
Golden State selected Arizona State forward Ike Diogu with the ninth selection. The Los Angeles Lakers also made a surprise pick at No. 10 with St. Joseph’s (N.J.) High School center Andrew Bynum. In the last draft before a 19-year-old age minimum in the NBA’s next collective bargaining agreement, Bynum was the youngest player ever selected at 17 years, 8 months and 2 days.
The 7-foot, 245-pound Bogut was the consensus college player of the year last season and became the first college player chosen No. 1 since Cincinnati’s Kenyon Martin in 2000. Utah became the first school to have players picked first in the NBA and NFL drafts in the same year. Quarterback Alex Smith was drafted No. 1 by the San Francisco 49ers in April.
“I was confident, but I wasn’t 100 percent,” Bogut told New York media. “They said it would be you or Marvin Williams, so it was 50-50.”
May was excited by his destination.
“For Raymond and I, it’s a huge opportunity, especially coming from the background we have, playing at Carolina,” May said. “It will help bring some more faces to the franchise that the people in North Carolina, the people who support that franchise, can go out and see.”
Deron Williams was pleased with the move by the Jazz.
“It shows they had a strong interest in me and they really wanted me to be part of their organization,” Williams said of the Jazz trading up for him. “I’m definitely honored by that.”
New Mexico forward Danny Granger, Houston Gulf Shores Academy High School guard Gerald Green and Syracuse forward Hakim Warrick were potential top-10 selections but dropped a few spots. Granger went 17th to Indiana, Green 18th to Boston and Warrick 19th to Memphis.
“It was a long wait,” said Warrick, the last player in the so- called green room in New York. “It was the longest two or three hours of my life. I’m fortunate that it’s over and that I have a chance to play in the NBA.”
Staff writer Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.
