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[SuperNova854]

Clippers win No. 1 pick in Draft

Clippers President Andy Roeser celebrates winning the 2009 NBA Draft Lottery.

SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP) -- For most of the last 25 years, the Los Angeles Clippers have had to travel across the country every spring for the NBA Draft Lottery.

Maybe Blake Griffin can help save them the trip.

The Clippers won the lottery Tuesday night, moving up from the third-best chance to earn the top pick and the right to draft Griffin, the national college player of the year from Oklahoma. "We're going to do our diligence and then we're going to pick the best player in the draft. A lot of people think that's Blake Griffin," Clippers president Andy Roeser said. "He's a terrific athlete, he's athletic and he's strong. Any franchise would be happy to have Blake Griffin for a long time."

And perhaps someday the All-America power forward will be part of a Clippers team doing what the Lakers, their Staples Center co-tenants, were doing Tuesday night: playing in the conference finals. "I'm not sure we've stolen the spotlight [from the Lakers]," Roeser said. "A couple of years ago we were playing in the Playoffs and I would rather be in that position, no questions."

Memphis vaulted to second and Oklahoma City will pick third. Sacramento, which had the best chance to win the lottery after finishing with a league-worst 17-65 record, fell to fourth, and Washington dropped from second to No. 5. The Clippers won the top pick for the third time in their mostly dismal history. They last had the No. 1 selection in 1998 and, perhaps predictably, blew it, taking eventual bust Michael Olowokandi. They stand a better chance of getting it right this time if they go with Griffin, who led the nation with 30 double-doubles and 14.4 rebounds per game, while also averaging a Big 12-best 22.7 points as a sophomore.

[mfbmike]

For most of the last 25 years, the Los Angeles Clippers have had to travel across the country every spring for the NBA Draft Lottery.

lol, good god.

[SuperNova854]

Thanks another update coming up

[SuperNova854]

lol, good god.

lol all those picks were made by Elgin Baylor. Thankfully, he's gone.

[SuperNova854]

Who will Clippers take at #1?

Clippers President Andy Roeser reveals a #23 jersey.

Andy Roeser, who represented the Clippers on the podium, wouldn't confirm that the Clippers will choose Griffin, though they could certainly use a power forward after former star Elton Brand left before last season as a free agent. "I think five years from now Blake Griffin will be hitting his stride in the NBA and he will be an impact player wherever he is," said Roeser, whose sports jacket was lined with a Clippers uniform with a No. 1 on the left side and a 23, Griffin's number, on the other. "He is an athletic player. He can do all sorts of things and has a ton of talent, and I think any team will be happy to have him."

Former All-Star Chris Webber, who represented Sacramento on the podium, seemed to agree Griffin is the way to go. "I love Griffin's game. I think there is a lot of upside to his potential," Webber said. "He is a hardworking player. I love the guy."

The top three teams all moved up, making the 25th lottery as unpredictable as most of its predecessors. Not since 2004, when Orlando took Dwight Howard, had the team with the best chance to win ended up with the No. 1 pick. Although Sacramento desperately needed the help, Webber said he loved the system. "The worst team shouldn't always get the best player," he said. "You can do a lot of losing for that. I really like the system, it is fair."

The Draft is June 25. Minnesota has the sixth pick followed by Golden State, New York, Toronto, Milwaukee, New Jersey, Charlotte, Indiana and Phoenix.

The Clippers also picked first in 1988, drafting Danny Manning. This was their 20th appearance in the draft lottery, which is supposed to help bad teams get better quickly. They can only hope that will finally be the case this time. "Our goal is to be playing next year at this time," Roeser said.

The lottery had a much bigger buzz in the past two years because there were two players who seemed worthy of going No. 1. Portland went for Greg Oden over Kevin Durant in 2007, and the Chicago Bulls moved up to get Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose last season, with Michael Beasley going second to Miami.

That wasn't the case this year, since Griffin seems like the only possible choice at No. 1. Spanish guard Ricky Rubio and Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet are also considered top-three choices, but come with question marks: Rubio is still a teenager and Thabeet isn't polished offensively.

[SuperNova854]

I KNOW!!!!

[The Messenger]

Uhhh.... you should invest in a banner request.

[SuperNova854]

You always say that yet you are horrible at making gfx.

[The Messenger]

You always say that yet you are horrible at making gfx.

Didn't say I was good. Didn't say you sucked. Just saying that your current banner looks like a melted candy bar.

[SuperNova854]

2009 NBA Draft Facts


The 2009 NBA Draft will be held on June 25, 2009, at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The draft, which starts at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time/4:00 pm Pacific (2300 UTC), will be broadcast in the United States on ESPN. The first overall pick will be made by the Los Angeles Clippers, who won the draft lottery on May 19, 2009.

Early entrants: A player who is not automatically eligible must declare his eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than 60 days before the draft. For the 2009 draft, this date fell on April 26. The basic requirements for automatic eligibility are completion of college eligibility for U.S. players, and reaching age 22 no later than December 31 of the calendar year of the draft for international players. A more complete discussion of the rules for automatic draft eligibility is available in the "Eligibility" article.

A player who has hired an agent will forfeit his remaining college eligibility, regardless of whether he is drafted. Also, while the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the league and its players' union allows a player to withdraw from the draft twice, the NCAA mandates that a player who has declared twice loses his college eligibility. This second provision affects Chase Budinger, Wayne Ellington, and Ty Lawson, all of whom declared for and withdrew from the 2008 draft.

The NBA released its official list of early entrants on April 30, 2009; it included 74 college underclassmen and 29 international players. This list did not include Brandon Jennings, an American player who chose not to attend college out of high school and instead opted to play professionally in Italy, signing with Lottomatica Roma. Under provisions of the CBA, an American player who signs a contract with and plays for a professional team outside the United States is automatically eligible for the draft in the calendar year of his 19th birthday/.

The withdrawal deadline for early entrants is 5 pm EDT (2100 UTC) on June 15.

All players listed below are named on the NBA list. However, the list does not indicate whether a player has signed with an agent; for that purpose, other references are provided.

[The Messenger]

Draft time is going to be boring for you unless a trade goes down.

[SuperNova854]

Nova's Mock Draft 1.0 (Picks 1-14)

[SuperNova854]

Draft picks 16-30 tomorrow. These picks are solely coming off me and doing research. Im not going to copy and paste some sites draft.

[Flight24]

liking this, definitely following.

i doubt rubio's slipping to 7 and hill's slipping to 10 though. also another tip you should add their names in to the box