Griffin was the consensus college player of the year after leading the nation with 14.4 rebounds per game while averaging 22.7 points last season for the Sooners. The Clippers said they would take him with the top pick just hours after they won the draft lottery last month, and they never considered changing their minds.
“The fact is we’re getting an incredible player, incredible person, an impeccable work ethic and a guy that we plan on having in L.A. for many years to come,” Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. “He’s going to be a great, exciting fit for our ballclub.”
The draft followed a day of big NBA trades.
The deal that sent Shaquille O’Neal to play alongside LeBron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers was completed earlier Thursday, and the Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic acquired Vince Carter from the New Jersey Nets in a swap completed shortly before the first pick was made.
San Antonio landed Richard Jefferson from the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday, and more big names could be available this summer as teams are forced to slash payroll. The best way to improve quickly this year was through trades, because the draft was considered weaker than in recent years.
It lacked the star power of 2007, when Greg Oden and Texas ex Kevin Durant battled it out for top pick honors, or when Derrick Rose beat out Michael Beasley last year.
There was no debate this time. Dunleavy announced the Clippers’ intentions shortly after his team’s surprising lottery win, and they began a marketing campaign featuring Griffin the next day. The Clippers are hoping Griffin turns out better than their last No. 1 overall pick. They opened the 1998 draft by taking center Michael Olowokandi, a bust who is out of the league.
“Hopefully I can bring something they don’t have,” Griffin said. “I know they have a lot of great players, but at the same time I’m excited about the opportunity and hopefully I can bring something to the table that they don’t have or maybe they need.”
At No. 2 the Memphis Grizzlies grabbed Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet, a dominant rebounder and shot blocker who doesn’t have strong offensive skills.
After the two big men, the rest of the first round was dominated by guards - with the Minnesota Timberwolves going for a few of them - with at least 10 players selected who could play the point. Seven guards went in the first 10 selections.
The Timberwolves snapped up Spanish teenager Ricky Rubio at No. 5, a pick they acquired from the Washington Wizards this week, before going for Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn with the next pick.
It was thought Rubio might go as high as No. 2, but that never worked out for Memphis. Instead the Grizzlies went with Thabeet, the 7-3 native of Tanzania. He has rapidly developed his defensive skills but still has work to go on the other end.
“The whole season I spent working on my offense and working with so many different people, and to me this is a great opportunity to come out here and go play,” he said.
Rubio has to pay a multimillion dollar buyout to his Spanish club team to get out of his contract, and he said Wednesday his mother doesn’t like cold weather. So he sounded lukewarm about heading to Minneapolis.
The Oklahoma City Thunder took high-scoring Arizona State guard James Harden with the No. 3 pick and the Sacramento Kings followed by drafting Memphis freshman Tyreke Evans. Guard Stephen Curry, the NCAA scoring leader from Davidson, went No. 7 to the Golden State Warriors.
Jordan Hill (New York), Demar DeRozan (Toronto) and Brandon Jennings (Milwaukee) - the point guard who skipped college to play a season in Italy - rounded out the top 10.
A run of forwards followed before the Philadelphia 76ers grabbed UCLA point guard Jrue Holiday, who was considered a top-10 pick but tumbled to No. 17. Minnesota followed with its third point guard of the draft, Ty Lawson of national champion North Carolina - though he was shipped to the Denver Nuggets in yet another deal.
Second-round highlights included Pittsburgh teammates Sam Young and DeJuan Blair going with consecutive picks to Memphis and the San Antonio Spurs at Nos. 36 and 37; and Taylor Griffin, Blake Griffin’s older brother, going to Phoenix with the 48th pick.
