It's officially draft day, which means wheeling and dealing across the Association is kicking into high gear.
To keep up with all of the moving and shaking, we've put together a comprehensive guide to keep you posted on which players, picks and prospects are headed where and the implications each deal may have.
What follows is a detailed breakdown of each trade made on draft day and grades for teams on each side of the bargaining table.
But one quick housekeeping note before we get rolling: Trades are graded on a variety of factors. Not only is the talent that's being swapped considered, but we'll be breaking down financial ramifications, specific team fits and the future prospects of all moving parts involved. SEAN ELLIOTT
Twenty-five years after Reed found out he’d be a Knick via a phone call, the NBA draft had begun to morph into something of an event. It was held in New York City at the Felt Forum (now known as the Theater at Madison Square Garden). There were about 2,500 fans in the audience, and it was telecast live on TBS. The night’s host, Bob Neal, described the draft as one of the most “up for grabs” in history.
With the No. 1 pick, the Sacramento Kings had to choose between size (Pervis Ellison), a blue-blood shooter and Player of the Year (Danny Ferry) and a versatile, two-time All-American in Sean Elliott. Scouting in those days, however, was primitive. Due diligence? Not much.
ELLIOTT: Before the draft, I talked to Bill Russell [then the Kings’ general manager] for less than five minutes. That’s it. No meeting, just a real quick conversation. That’s just how it was back then. I guess they more went on what they saw on TV and tapes or the appeal and profile of the player. Things in scouting probably changed, I guess, when teams kept whiffing on picks.
The Clippers had the second pick, and I did go out and visit them. That was a disaster. I mean I get out there and nobody is at the airport to pick me up. I was a kid with no money. I had to call my agent [Bob Woolf] to get a hotel. They tried to take me to a gym to work out, which wasn’t a part of our agreement.And I almost sued them.
They took an MRI of my knee and leaked a report to the media that my knee was severely damaged. It just so happened that, when that medical report came out, there was a radiology conference going on in Boston, where my agent was based. And my agent had the slides of the MRI. So he asked one of the top guys at the conference (Dr. John Crews) to look at it.
The guy came to Bob’s office, put the slide up against the window and said there was no way the Clippers doctors could report what they did based on the slides. I don’t know what they were trying to accomplish with that.
I actually went down to Miami [which had the fourth pick], and they were great. It was just their second season of existence, but they already had their act together. I was actually hoping to go there.
I didn’t talk to San Antonio at all, though. Not once. The first time I talked to anyone from the Spurs was on draft day.
San Antonio selected Elliott with the third pick. The Spurs were a franchise of moderate success up to that point, known nationally mostly for George Gervin’s virtuosity. But they were nothing like the model franchise that we know today.
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