Magic Makes Howard No. 1

Eight Prep Players Go in Top 20

Dwight Howard, 6-10, dons an Orlando Magic cap; he is the 3rd high school player in 4 years to be No. 1 pick. (Kathy Willens -- AP)

NEW YORK, June 24 -- For the fourth straight year, the player chosen first in the NBA draft has never played a minute of college basketball.

The Orlando Magic chose Atlanta high school big man Dwight Howard first Thursday, continuing the NBA's trend of skewing younger and younger.

The Washington Wizards took a different tack. Shortly after the Wizards used the fifth pick to select Wisconsin guard Devin Harris, NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that the trade first reported Wednesday night -- in which Washington sent Jerry Stackhouse, Christian Laettner and the rights to Harris to the Dallas Mavericks for Antawn Jamison and cash considerations -- was official.

The draft lacked a LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony, two rookies who made immediate impacts last season, and instead featured potential and uncertainty.

When selected, Howard slipped on a blue Magic hat to match his suit and dress shirt.

"I had no indication," Howard said of being chosen first. "Actually, my agent knew, and I was talking to him all day today and yesterday, and he just made it seem like something big was going to happen. I was hoping for a magical moment."

Consequently, teams were trying to forecast the future more than build for the present. The Magic apparently believes Howard has more upside than Emeka Okafor, the former Connecticut shot blocker who became the expansion Charlotte Bobcats' first ever draft pick at No. 2. The Chicago Bulls next selected Ben Gordon, Okafor's teammate on Connecticut's 2004 national championship team, with the third pick.

In all, NBA teams tapped a record eight high school players in the top 20, including the first high school point guard ever drafted, Shaun Livingston of Peoria, Ill., who was chosen fourth by the Los Angeles Clippers. At 6 feet 7, Livingston has arguably the most potential in the draft but is expected to take years to develop. Livingston, when asked how soon he can contribute, said, "Sooner than later."

The first round included a handful of surprises, most notably well-hyped high school point guard Sebastian Telfair being selected over college veteran Jameer Nelson of Saint Joseph's. Portland, rumored to have its eye on Telfair for weeks, selected the Brooklyn, N.Y., native 13th overall, seemingly shocking the crowd at the Theater at Madison Square Garden.

At 5-11, Telfair is viewed to lack Livingston's long-range potential, an accurate jump shot and requisite size to be a star. Yet Telfair has been lauded in national recruiting publications since elementary school and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He recently signed a six-year, $15 million contract with Adidas.

Conversely, the 5-11 Nelson, who was in present with his family, played four years of college basketball and led the Hawks within one win of the Final Four. Finally, Denver snatched Nelson at No. 20. However, Orlando obtained Nelson in a trade with the Nuggets for a future first-round pick.

The selections of Howard over Okafor and Telfair over Nelson seemed to illustrate the NBA's preference of potential over experience.

"A lot of times now if a guy is a senior," said Stanford's Josh Childress, who the Atlanta Hawks picked No. 6, "league officials look at him like he's an old man."

Nevada's Kirk Snyder, who was picked 16th overall by the Utah Jazz, said of hearing Telfair's name read by Stern before his own: "Yeah, my heart sank a little bit. But that's the political side of things, and that's the business side of things. You have to be aware of that going in. I was aware of that, and it happened. Now I'm dealing with it."