2009 NBA Draft

In the draft

Players who have officially declared for the 2009 NBA draft
* To preserve eligibility, player has not hired an agent.

DeJuan Blair, PF, So., Pittsburgh
Blair is a beast in the paint. The top offensive rebounder in college hoops, he has the body of an NFL player, and his 7-foot-3 wingspan allows him to play bigger than his actual height (somewhere between 6-6 and 6-7).

While NBA teams worry about his weight, lack of explosiveness and lack of a perimeter game, his rebounding and motor should land him somewhere between 13 and 23 if he stays in the draft.

Chase Budinger, G/F, Jr., Arizona
Budinger declared for the draft last year and didn't get any first-round interest. After a better junior season, he'll try again. And since this is his second time declaring for the draft, he's in for good.

Budinger is a great shooter and an excellent athlete. However, his motor is questionable, and he has been a pretty poor defender at times. He'll most likely go in the late first round or early second round.

Nick Calathes, G, Florida*
Calathes has been terrific as a sophomore … upping his averages across the board from his freshman season. Scouts love his shooting ability, basketball IQ and floor leadership. There are questions about his ability to play point guard full-time in the pros.

Offensively he shouldn't have any major issues, but defensively he'll struggle against the quicker, smaller point guards in the league. Right now he's a late-first- to early-second-round pick. He could improve his stock a little in workouts, but with Calathes, I think scouts know what they are getting: a highly skilled guard who lacks elite athleticism.

Patrick Christopher, SG, Jr., Cal*
Christopher is a junior, so it makes sense for him to test the draft waters. But he'll most likely return for his senior season at Cal. If he stays in the draft, he's likely to go undrafted.

Earl Clark, F, Jr., Louisville
Clark hasn't made an official announcement, but NBA agent Dan Fegan confirmed to ESPN.com on Saturday that he has signed Clark as a client, ending Clark's eligibility. Clark is one of the most versatile players in the country. His skill-to-size ratio is off the charts. However, he still lacks a consistent perimeter shot. He reminds some scouts of Julian Wright. He has top-five talent, but his inconsistency and concerns about his work ethic could cause him to slide into the late lottery or mid-first round.

Dwayne Collins, PF, Jr., Miami*
Collins is strong and has an NBA body, but a guy this big should be averaging more than 10 ppg and 7 rpg as a junior. He'll likely go undrafted if he stays in the draft.

Brandon Costner, PF, NC State*
Costner is a bit of a tweener, and NBA scouts are skeptical about him. He put up great numbers as a freshman, had a disappointing sophomore season and bounced back a little as a junior. Still, most NBA scouts feel he doesn't have what it takes to be an NBA player. I'd expect him to return for his senior year at NC State.

DeMar DeRozan, G/F, Fr., USC
DeRozan is riding a terrific March back into the lottery. He began his career at USC as a Top 5 pick but struggled to get much going through much of the season. However, he was great for USC when it mattered most and convinced skeptical GMs that he has what it takes to be a great pro. DeRozan may be the best athlete in the draft and already has a NBA body. He needs to work on his perimeter game and ballhandling, but he has the tools to be great. He should go somewhere between 5 and 12 on draft night.

Eric Devendorf, G, Jr., Syracuse* Devendorf has had an up-and-down career at Syracuse. His best season was actually his freshman season in 2006-07. If scouts think he can make the transition to point guard in the pros, he could be an intriguing second-round pick. Otherwise, I expect he'll go undrafted if he stays in the draft.

Devan Downey, G, Jr., South Carolina*
Downey's decision to declare for the draft is a head-scratcher. He is 5-foot-9 but isn't a pure point guard. If he stays in the draft, he's likely to go undrafted.

Tyreke Evans, G, Fr., Memphis
Evans is coming off an impressive freshman season and had his best performance of the year in the NCAA tournament. His ability to score the basketball is terrific. However, his lack of a jump shot and questionable shot selection hold him back a bit.

Compared to Jerry Stackhouse by a number of scouts, Evans looks like a lock for the lottery and could be a potential top-10 pick.

Roderick Flemings, SG, Jr., Hawaii*
Flemings is a long shot to get drafted right now. While he has the physical tools NBA scouts like, he lacks the skill set and maturity most NBA teams are looking for. If he stays in the draft, he'll likely go undrafted.

Jonny Flynn, PG, So., Syracuse
Flynn is coming off strong performances in the Big East and NCAA tournaments. He has great quickness and strength, plays with terrific passion, and does a good job of distributing the ball. Teams still worry about his inconsistent jump shot and his lack of size, but if he stays in the draft, he should land somewhere between 15 and 25.

Blake Griffin, PF, So., Oklahoma
Griffin declared for the draft Tuesday, which came as no surprise. He was the best player in college basketball this season and is a lock for the No. 1 pick in the draft. His combination of size, explosive athleticism and toughness makes him a beast on the offensive end of the floor and an elite rebounder. His only weakness right now is on the defensive end, where he can be a bit indifferent. However, that won't prevent him from being drafted No. 1.

Daniel Hackett, PG, Jr., USC
Hackett isn't a great NBA draft prospect, but he's got an Italian passport and should be able to make a terrific living playing pro ball in Italy. And who knows, maybe an NBA team will fall in love with Hackett. He's got great size for his position and is a crafty player who knows who to get to the basket. If he was more athletic, he'd be a lock for the second round, but as it stands, most likely he falls out of the draft.

James Harden, SG, So., Arizona State
Harden is arguably the best scoring 2-guard in the country. Rock-solid strong, he has an excellent perimeter game and all the old-school tricks that make him tough to stop. However, a late-season swoon, including a terrible performance in the NCAA tournament, has done some damage to his draft stock.

For most of the year, he looked like a lock for a top-five pick. Now there are bigger question marks as teams take a closer look at his athleticism and size. Still, it's hard to see him slipping out of the lottery. Look for him to land anywhere between 5 and 13 on draft night.

Paul Harris, G/F, Jr., Syracuse*
Harris is really a power forward trapped in a combo guard's body. An explosive athlete, he is a terrific rebounder for a guard and can be a big-time finisher when he attacks the basket. He also can be a lock-down, on-the-ball defender.

His lack of a consistent jump shot is a serious concern for NBA scouts, but Harris has enough raw talent to go late in the first round. However, he is more likely to go in the second round if he stays in the draft.

Jordan Hill, PF, Jr., Arizona
Hill was one of the most improved players in the country this summer and worked himself from a late-first-round pick into the lottery. He's always been a terrific rebounder with a great motor, but he began to improve his offense this year. Hill is still raw and needs to add strength but he seems like a lock for the lottery … and should go somewhere between 3 and 11 on draft night.

Jrue Holiday, G, Fr., UCLA*
Holiday came into the season ranked as one of the top 6 prospects on ESPN.com's Top 100 and stayed there for much of the season. Toward the end of the season, however, he struggled and his stock started to dip.

Holiday is expected to stay in the draft if he can get a promise from at least one NBA team that they'd draft him in the lottery. I spoke with a number of NBA GMs and most of them have him ranked somewhere between 8 and 16 on their draft boards. A couple have him even higher and a couple have him in the early 20s.

"He's going to be really good," one NBA GM told ESPN.com. "The system that UCLA plays held him back. He's a much better prospect than what you saw this year. Once he gets into workouts with the Currys and Tyreke Evans[es] of the draft, I think you'll see him rise into the lottery. He's got a lot of physical gifts, and he's got a great basketball IQ."

Brandon Jennings, PG, Italy
Jennings has had a tough year. After failing to qualify academically at Arizona, he jumped to Italy, where he averaged about 6 ppg and 2.2 apg in 18 mpg. Those numbers won't blow anyone away. But given the uniqueness of his situation, scouts are cutting him a lot of slack: He's still a super-athletic point guard with great size for his position. If he can prove to scouts in workouts that he can shoot the basketball (he shot just 19 percent from 3 in Europe) he'll be a top-10 pick.

(Jennings is automatically eligible for the NBA draft thanks to a collective bargaining rule that states that players who sign a professional contract to play basketball automatically become eligible for the draft.)

James Johnson, F, So., Wake Forest
Johnson told his hometown paper, the (Cheyenne) Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, that he's entering the draft and hiring an agent, ending his college eligibility. Johnson is a very intriguing prospect. He's a great athlete, has a NBA body and he's very skilled. He can play multiple positions on the floor and does a bit of everything on the offensive end. But Johnson has some flaws. His basketball IQ is still fairly raw, and he can get out of control at times. But declaring is probably a good decision. He's already 22 years old and was really impressive in the second half of the season. He'll likely go somewhere between 10 and 20 on draft night.

Mac Koshwal, C, So., DePaul*
Koshwal is a long, athletic big man who is a bit of a tweener. He's a good rebounder and shot-blocker, but he lacks the strength to be a force in the paint. He needs to improve his perimeter skills and/or gain strength. A bubble second-rounder right now, he should return to school for his junior season.

Jodie Meeks, SG, Jr., Kentucky*
Meeks was a scoring machine at Kentucky this season. His speed and shooting ability really stood out. So did that 54-point performance against Tennessee. However, his lack of great size or explosive athleticism hurts his stock a bit. He's a second-rounder if he stays in the draft. More likely, he returns to Kentucky for his senior season and lets John Calipari work his magic.

Tasmin Mitchell, F, Jr., LSU*
Mitchell was considered a potential first-round draft prospect as a freshmen, but really fell out of favor after injuries and non-descript performances at LSU. However, he really started coming on as a junior, improving his numbers across the board. He reminds some NBA scouts of a James Posey-type player in the league. While it looks like he has no shot at a first-round pick, he could be an intriguing second-round pickup.

B.J. Mullens, C, Fr., Ohio State
Mullens was projected as a top-five pick at the start of the season but spent the year coming off the bench, limiting his production. While no one in the league feels Mullens is ready for the NBA, he is leaving school because of financial hardship.

He's still a potential lottery pick -- he's got a lethal combination of size and athleticism -- but he's got a long way to go before he'll be a productive NBA player. And that could cause him to fall into the mid-to-late first round.

DaJuan Summers, F, Georgetown
Summers got off to a sizzling start this season and there was talk that he might be a mid-first-round pick. He has great size for his position, NBA athleticism and a terrific body and he can shoot from deep range. He's in many ways the prototypical NBA small forward.

However, his production really dropped off after Georgetown went into the tank. His shooting percentage went down, his turnovers went up and the team seemed to crumble around him. Based on physical talent and abilities, Summers is a surefire late-lottery to mid-first-round pick. However, his inability to put together one great college season has given teams pause and put him squarely on the first-round bubble.

Jeff Teague, G, So., Wake Forest*
Teague got off to a terrific start this season and a number of scouts saw him as a potential Top 10 pick in the draft. However, he struggled a bit toward the end of the season and had a horrible game in the NCAA tournament, raising questions about his readiness to play the point in the pros.

If Teague can convince NBA GMs he's a point guard, a la Devin Harris, he'll be a lottery pick. However, right now he's projected as a mid-first-round pick. Don't be surprised if Teague returns to school for his junior year and tries to play his way into the Top 10 again.

Greivis Vasquez, G, Jr., Maryland*
Vasquez had an excellent junior season, but scouts wonder how he would fit in the NBA. Is he a point guard or a 2-guard? Does he have the athleticism to excel in the league? What about his poor shooting numbers this season and his tendency to run his mouth? He definitely has talent, but he's on the first-round bubble.

One foot in the door

Players who are leaning toward declaring for the draft but haven't officially announced their intentions

Al-Farouq Aminu, F, Fr., Wake Forest
Craig Brackins, PF, So., Iowa State
Stephen Curry, G, Jr., Davidson
Wayne Ellington, SG, Jr., North Carolina
Gerald Henderson, SG, Jr., Duke
Damion James, F, Jr., Texas
Ty Lawson, PG, Jr., North Carolina
Patrick Mills, PG, So., St. Mary's
Hasheem Thabeet, C, Jr., UConn
Jarvis Varnado, PF, Jr., Mississippi State
Michael Washington, PF, Jr., Arkansas

50-50

Players who are still deciding about declaring for the draft

Cole Aldrich, C, So., Kansas
James Anderson, SG, So., Oklahoma State
Derrick Brown, F, Jr., Xavier
Sherron Collins, PG, Jr., Kansas
Ed Davis, PF, Fr., North Carolina
Austin Daye, F, So., Gonzaga
Devin Ebanks, F, Fr., West Virginia
Taj Gibson, F, Jr., USC
Manny Harris, SG, So., Michigan
Jerome Jordan, C, Jr., Tulsa
Sylven Landesberg, SG, Fr., Virginia
Gani Lawal, F, So., Georgia Tech
Greg Monroe, PF, Fr., Georgetown
Andrew Ogilvy, C, So., Vanderbilt
Patrick Patterson, PF, So., Kentucky
Samardo Samuels, PF, Fr., Louisville
DeShawn Sims, F, Jr., Michigan
Kyle Singler, F, So., Duke
Tyler Smith, F, Jr., Tennessee
Dar Tucker, G/F, So., DePaul
Willie Warren, G, Fr., Oklahoma

International players in the draft

International players younger than 22 years old who have declared or who are likely to declare for the draft

Omri Casspi, F, Israel
Vladimir Dasic, PF, Serbia
Vyacheslav Kravtsov, C, Ukraine
Ricky Rubio, PG, Spain

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Syracuse could lose a trio of star players to the NBA Draft.

Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris plan to enter their names into the draft and hire agents, preventing them from coming back to school. Jonny Flynn will submit his name for the draft but won't retain an agent. If he pulls out by June 15, 10 days before the draft, he would be able to return to the Orange next season.

"Obviously it will be a big loss for Syracuse," said draft expert Chris Monter, editor of the Monter Draft News. "They had a big year this year. They had a classic game against Connecticut in the six-overtime game in the Big East Tournament and they made it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. People looked at who they had coming in and who they had returning, a lot of people thought they could be an Elite Eight team or even better next year."

A quick point guard who proved he can score and distribute, Flynn was a candidate for the John R. Wooden and the Bob Cousy Awards this past season. He averaged 17.4 points this season and surpassed 1,000 career points. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Big East Tournament despite Syracuse's loss to Louisville in the championship game.

"I think he's gonna put his name in and if he goes and does the workouts, I think he's a top-10 pick," a source close to the Syracuse program said.

"He'd have to be top-10," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim told Andy Katz of ESPN.com. "He came in and wants to stay, and I do think he'll come back unless he's fairly high."

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On Thursday, UCLA freshman Jrue Holiday added his name to a growing list, announcing he will make himself available for the NBA draft in June.

Holiday can change his mind over the next two months -- he said he had yet to sign with an agent -- but his news conference on campus had an air of eagerness.

"I feel like I'm ready to test the waters," he said.

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The Daily Orange is reporting junior guard Eric Devendorf will declare for the 2009 NBA Draft, but it is unclear whether or not he will hire an agent.

Devendorf was reached by phone and said he has not officially declared.

Underclassmen have until April 26 to declare for the draft and June 15 to withdraw if they do not hire an agent. There has been speculation that Devendorf and/or Paul Harris might not return for their senior seasons. Although a rising senior, Devendorf is in his fourth year with the Orange. He was granted a medical redshirt for the 2007-2008 season after tearing his ACL.

He could be "testing the waters" as Jim Boeheim has recommended for Jonny Flynn, and based on his evaluation by NBA teams, leave the option open to return to Syracuse for his final year of eligibility if those waters are too cold (or he could easily make a few hundred grand a year playing in Europe).

Devendorf currently ranks 14th on Syracuse's all-time scoring list with 1,680 points and 3rd all-time in 3-point field goals made (208).

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UM junior power forward/center Dwayne Collins announced Thursday that he will submit his name for the NBA Draft but will not hire an agent, retaining the option of returning to the Hurricanes.

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HARTFORD, Conn. -- Connecticut's Hasheem Thabeet has decided to give up his final year of college eligibility and enter the NBA draft.

The 7-foot-3 center from Tanzania said Tuesday that he made the decision after speaking to family, friends and coach Jim Calhoun.

"I have had a great experience at Connecticut and cannot thank my coaches and teammates enough," Thabeet said in a statement released by the school. "I look forward to the challenge of playing professionally and know that my time here at UConn has prepared me to be successful in the future."

Calhoun called Thabeet "one of the most dominant defensive players in the history of college basketball," and said he believes he is ready to make the move to the NBA.

"He is a special player and even more special as a person," Calhoun said. "He will truly be remembered as one of the great players in UConn history, not only for his accomplishments, but also because of the type of person he is."

Thabeet, the Big East co-Player of the Year with Pittsburgh's DeJuan Blair, averaged 13.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 4.2 blocked shots per game in helping the Huskies to a 31-5 record and a Final Four berth.

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RipCity32 said:

The first article says Harris and Sims are still deciding.

I believe I read that both said they would stay in school next year.

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Pugz said:

If they delcaire they'll go late 1st early 2nd just cause this draft is so weak. If they stay they could improve there stock, but really I don't think they'll be more then 10th-12th men on the bench.

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Ricky Rubio, the Spanish point guard sensation that has been compared to everyone from Pete Maravich to Steve Nash will declare for the 2009 NBA draft, his agent, Dan Fegan, told ESPN.com from Barcelona this afternoon.


Rubio will have until June 15 to withdraw his name from the draft. However, his agent sounded confident that he's staying in.


"Ricky will be in the 2009 draft," Fegan said. Fegan has been in Barcelona this week meeting with Rubio and his family trying to come to a decision.


Rubio is the starting point guard for DKV Joventut in Spain and is widely considered the best young international player in the world.


The 6-foot-4, 180-pound point guard from Barcelona has been a starter in the best basketball league in Europe since the age of 16. He made himself into an international phenomenon with his strong performance for Spain in the Olympics. Rubio more than held his own playing against NBA point guards like Chris Paul and Jason Kidd. This season he's averaging 10 points per game and six assists per game in the Spanish League in about 22 minutes per game.


Rubio has been the consensus No. 2 pick on the ESPN.com Top 100 for the entire year. While scouts say that he needs to get stronger and work on his jump shot, the consensus is that he's got the talent to be a star.


"He's special," one NBA GM told ESPN.com. "There aren't many kids you'll find at his age with such a terrific feel for the game. He just knows how to play. When he gets out there with players 10 years older than him, he just looks like he belongs. He'll have some adjusting to do in the NBA, but the truth is, he's as NBA ready as most of the college kids that are coming out. He's playing on a very big world stage."


Rubio's decision to enter the draft comes after months of speculation that he might return to his DKV Joventut for one more year. For Rubio to leave for the NBA, he's going to have to pay Joventut a huge buyout to be released from his contract there. NBA teams are limited to paying just $500,000 toward an international player's buyout by the collective bargaining agreement. That means if Rubio wants to play in the NBA, he's going to have to pay some of the buyout out of his own pocket.


Most likely, Rubio and Joventut come to some sort of compromise. If Joventut doesn't make it to the Spanish League Finals this year, most likely they won't be in the Euroleague next year. That puts more financial pressure on Joventut to come up with some sort of compromise that gives them financial relief from a buyout and allows Rubio to pursue his dream of playing in the NBA.

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