Forward From Italy Is No. 1 Pick

First Round of Draft Marked by Trades

In an NBA draft short on impact players and full of unpredictability last night, the Toronto Raptors chose Andrea Bargnani, a 6-foot-10 forward from Italy, with the No. 1 selection. The 20-year-old Bargnani became the first overall selection to come directly from Europe, and he was greeted by a round of boos from the crowd at New York's Madison Square Garden.

After the Raptors and Bargnani made history, the rest of the draft was pure hysteria, as a deluge of trades followed. Five of the top eight choices switched teams before the first round ended, beginning with Texas's LaMarcus Aldridge, who was drafted second by the Chicago Bulls and dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers for the rights to Tyrus Thomas, who went fourth, and forward Viktor Khryapa.

With no sure things, star power or high school players available, this year's draft was less about the players selected and more about the players on the move. Several teams -- especially Chicago and Portland -- simply used their draft picks as trading chips to improve their respective rosters.

Trades were made at such a mind-numbing pace that each time NBA Commissioner David Stern walked to the podium, observers had to wonder whether he was about to announce a draft choice or proclaim, "We have a trade." Several players donned nifty new team caps, walked to the podium, shook hands with Stern and then walked backstage, where they were informed that they had been traded. It created a bizarre scene, summarized by Louisiana State forward Thomas, who wore a Trail Blazers cap while talking about playing for Chicago. In all, more than 10 trades were completed last night.

No team was more active than Portland, which made six trades last night. And no player switched hats more than Villanova guard Randy Foye, who was selected seventh by the Boston Celtics, then traded to Portland along with forward Raef LaFrentz, Dan Dickau and a 2008 second-round pick in exchange for point guard Sebastian Telfair, center Theo Ratliff and a 2008 second-round pick. The Celtics, who later acquired No. 21 pick Rajon Rondo from Phoenix in exchange for a future first-round pick, are rumored to be trying to swing a deal later in the summer for Allen Iverson.

The Blazers then sent Foye, a 6-4 guard from Villanova, to Minnesota for the draft rights to the sixth overall pick, Brandon Roy. Portland had been rumored to be interested in taking Gonzaga standout Adam Morrison, given his ties to the Pacific Northwest, but the Blazers were able to appease their disgruntled fan base by acquiring Roy, the all-American guard from Washington. Steve Patterson, president and interim general manager of Portland, said afterward: "We hit a home run. We think we're in good shape."

The Charlotte Bobcats used the third pick to select Morrison. He is the Bobcats' first pick since Michael Jordan became part-owner of the team earlier this month. Morrison led Division I in scoring as a junior at 28.1 points per game and was remembered for his tearful breakdown in the NCAA tournament.

"I know a lot of people saw that as a negative. I thought that was more of a positive, showing somebody who cares about the game," Jordan said.

The Raptors, Bobcats and Hawks -- who selected Duke forward Shelden Williams at No. 5 -- were the only teams in the top eight that held on to their selections. In a somewhat surprising development, Baltimore native Rudy Gay, arguably the best overall talent in the draft, slipped to the eighth pick in the draft to the Houston Rockets after it had been rumored that he would go No. 1 to Toronto.

This was the first draft to exclude high school players after the NBA and its players' union established a 19-year-old age minimum last year. With a huge pool of talent left out of the party, there were few certainties -- except uncertainty.

The Seattle SuperSonics made perhaps the most baffling selection of the night, picking 6-11 project Mouhamed Saer Sene from Senegal with the 10th pick.

Bargnani, who averaged 11.3 points and five rebounds in 48 games with Benetton Treviso in the Euroleague, is the first No. 1 pick to not play college or high school basketball in the United States since Yao Ming in 2002.