NBA Draft grades (1st round)

1. Portland - Greg Oden. As expected, the Blazers nabbed their franchise center. Grade: A

2. Seattle - Kevin Durant. The Sonics made it two cornerstones in two picks. There is no question about the man is in Seattle with the departure of Ray Allen to Boston. Grade: A

3. Atlanta -Al Horford. I still have the opinion that the Hawks should have taken Mike Conley here. Horford will be a nice player and they did get Acie Law later, but he won’t be the leader that Conley will. Grade: B-minus

4. Memphis - Mike Conley Jr. The Grizzlies quickly snatched up Conley after Atlanta passed. Memphis obviously has plenty of needs, but there is talent with Pau Gasol and Rudy Gay on board. Conley has some developing to do, but he should be a great point in the league for a long time. Grade: A

5. Boston - Jeff Green. Danny Ainge was picking for Seattle on this one, which completed the deal to bring Ray Allen to Boston, which also saw the departure of Delonte West and overpaid Wally Szcerbiak.

This was a desperation move by Ainge. Unless you’re a piece away from contending for a title, which the Celtics aren’t even close, there is no reason to make this move other than to appease Paul Pierce. Pierce isn’t a prototypical 3, but that’s where he’s going to have to play full-time now with Allen aboard. Boston isn’t even a .500 team with Allen, and now they are strapped with the contracts of he and Pierce. Grade: D

6. Milwaukee - Yi Jianlian. Most think than Jianlian is the real deal. The Bucks could be a point guard away from really moving up the NBA food chain with Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut in place. Corey Brewer would have been a nice pick here, too, but once Conley was off the board, the Bucks went for the home run. Grade: B-plus.

7. Minnesota - Corey Brewer. Whether or not the Timberwolves keep Kevin Garnett, Brewer has an all-around game with All-Star potential. Small forward was a sore spot for Minnesota, so it also fills a need. Grade: A-minus.

8. Charlotte - Brandan Wright. Ok, Mike, we get it. You like your Carolina homies. This one makes little sense, though. Sure, Wright is athletic with lots of upside, but he’s raw and provides little scoring punch, an area of need with Gerald Wallace hitting the free agent market. The Bobcats have been in the league long enough to where they should be making some strides forward, and that doesn’t seem to be the case with this move. Wright could turn into a nice player, but ownership better hope the Carolina faithful frequent home games to see he, Sean May and Raymond Felton since this move doesn’t make then any better. Grade: D

(Note: The Bobcats used this pick to acquire Jason Richardson from the Warriors. The Bobcats needed a scoring wing and got themselves a pretty good one in Richardson, but they have could just drafted one and not paid Richardson's hefty salary.)

9. Chicago - Joakim Noah. This pick was a little surprising. Noah is a high-energy player that is a good defender, rebounder and is great at cleaning up around the basket. Sounds kind of like Ben Wallace and Tyrus Thomas. The Bulls needed a low-post scorer, and if they didn’t want to take Spencer Hawes, which I wouldn’t blame them, they should have gotten some perimeter depth to back-up Ben Gordon and Luol Deng. There was plenty of that in this draft. Grade: C

10. Sacramento - Spencer Hawes. The Kings’ frontline definitely needs the help, so in theory this is a good pick. Hawes has a promising low-post game but needs time to develop, which seems to fit in since the Kings appear to be heading for a rebuilding project. Grade: B

11. Atlanta - Acie Law. Most felt Law would still be here, so passing on Conley at 3 wasn’t a huge risk as long as the Hawks were comfortable with Law being their future point. Law is a score-first point guard, much like Chauncey Billups when he entered the league. Grade: B-minus.

12. Philadelphia - Thaddeus Young. Young has tremendous upside and the Sixers don’t appear to be going anywhere soon. Grade: C-plus.

13. New Orleans/Oklahoma City - Julian Wright. The Hornets needed the depth on the wing and get an extremely athletic player in Wright. He should benefit from playing with Chris Paul. Grade: B

14. L.A. Clippers - Al Thornton. The move could pave the way for Corey Maggette to leave town. The Clippers had better get a point for him. Grade: C-plus

15. Detroit - Rodney Stuckey. The Pistons were happy to be able to choose between Nick Young and Stuckley, whom they both were extremely impressed with. Being that Young went the following pick, Joe Dumars’ selection will be compared to Young. Dumars, himself, was from a small school like Stuckey, so maybe he sees some of himself in the youngster. Grade: B

16. Washington - Nick Young. Young, a three-year player at USC, will have a chance to earn minutes right away at the 2-guard position. The Wizards fell apart with injuries down the stretch, which probably benefited them a few spots in the draft. Young was a projected lottery pick by many prognosticators. Grade: A-minus

17. New Jersey - Sean Williams. The Nets needed to get tougher in the post, which describes Williams in general. He’s a capable rebounded and shot-blocker, but has had a problem with attitude at times. Grade: C-plus.

18. Golden State - Marco Bellinelli. This move made a lot more sense once Richardson was traded to Charlotte. Bellinelli should fit in well in the Warriors’ up-tempo offense. Grade: B

19. L.A. Lakers - Jarvaris Crittenton. This move isn’t going to suddenly make Kobe Bryant rescind his trade demand, but the Lakers may have found their point guard of the future. If not, they have another bargaining chip for potential trades. Good value pick here. Grade: A-minus

20. Miami - Jason Smith (to Philadelphia). The Sixers could use help in the post. Smith (7-0, 240) has size and quickly and could become a consistent low-post scorer, but needs to toughen up, especially to satisfy Philly fans’ liking. Grade: B-minus.

21. Philadelphia - Daequan Cook (to Miami). Pat Riley added some talent, very raw talent, to the Heat roster with this move. Most felt he should have stayed at Ohio State at least one more year, but he’s gotten himself a guaranteed contract. We’ll see if he can earn minutes played for the veteran Heat. Grade: C-minus

22. Charlotte - Jared Dudley. It appears Charlotte is preparing for Wallace not coming back by adding a couple of wing players in Richardson and Dudley. As far as the pick, it was probably safe but Wilson Chandler will probably turn out to be a better player. Grade: C

23. New York - Wilson Chandler. If there is one area that Isiah hasn’t been a total flop as a GM, it’s the draft. It looks like Thomas may have made another pretty good selection in wing Chandler, who played two years at DePaul. Grade: B

(Note: Isiah made another good move by acquiring Zach Randolph for Steve Francis, a salary no one wants, and Channing Frye, who is half the player Randolph is.)

24. Phoenix - Rudy Fernandez (to Portland). The Blazers added another talented Spanish guard to go with Sergio Rodriguez. Factor in the addition of Oden to go with LaMarcus Alridge and ROY Brandon Roy, the Blazers have quite a promising young team. Grade: B

25. Utah - Morris Almond. The Jazz needed scoring help on the perimeter and appear to have found it in Almond, an exciting slasher from Rice. Grade: B-plus.

26. Houston - Aaron Brooks. The Rockets have acquired Mike James to run the show and Brooks could provide some scoring punch off of the bench. Still, it’s hard to get excited about this selection. Grade: C

27. Detroit - Arron Afflalo. I realize that it’s the end of the first round, but this move makes almost no sense. Afflalo is a one-dimensional player. A poor man’s Allan Houston, at best. They’ve already taken a 2-guard in Stuckey when they have Rip Hamilton, at least for one more year, and then this move. I rarely find much to criticize Joe Dumars on, but this may be the worst move of the first round. Detroit would have been better off taking a host of others on the board. Grade: D-minus

28. San Antonio - Tiago Splitter. The wheels just keep turning. Splitter probably won’t play this season, but the Spurs can afford to wait with last season’s first-rounder, Luis Scola, set to join the team. You can bet this move will pay off later. Grade: A-minus.

29. Phoenix - Alando Tucker. The Suns added some wing depth with this move, which may be needed if Shawn Marion is dealt. I’m not sold on Tucker’s game translating to the NBA, but Phoenix had little to lose here. Grade: C

30. Philadelphia - Petteri Koponen. A little-known 19-year-old who has been compared to Steve Nash. Not sure about giving this guy a guaranteed deal. Grade: C-minus.