NBA commissioner David Stern, left, poses with Luke Babbitt, who was selected 16th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA basketball draft, Thursday, June 24, 2010, in New York. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
Luke Babbitt and Armon Johnson will again be teammates. This time it will be at the next level.
The University of Nevada teammates who left school early will soon don the NBA jersey of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Babbitt, a Galena High standout, was drafted No. 16 overall to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
"I walked up there thinking, 'I'm probably not going to Minnesota,'" Babbitt told the Associated Press.
He was right, as he was quickly traded to the Trail Blazers. The Timberwolves will get Martell Webster in the trade.
"You hear about it all the time, guys getting traded on draft night," Babbitt said. "Nothing would have surprised me tonight."
Johnson, a point guard, was taken in the second round at 34 overall.
Adding Babbitt, a two-time Western Athletic Conference player of the year, will give the Blazers a shooter to spread the floor for LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy.
As a sophomore, the 6-foot-7, 215-pound forward averaged 21.9 points and 8.9 rebounds for the Wolf Pack.
Babbitt, an honorable-mention All-American by the Associated Press this year, is 12th on Nevada career scoring list with 1,316 points.
He broke the school single-season scoring record in 2009-10 and also was an Academic All-American.
Going 16th overall ties Kirk Snyder for the highest draft pick ever by a Nevada player. Snyder was taken 16th by the Utah Jazz in 2004.
"I don't even know if I can comprehend it," Babbitt said about draft night in New York. "This has been a crazy night."
Adding Johnson will give Portland some depth at the point guard position. Andre Miller starts for the Trail Blazers and played 30 minutes a game. The 34-year-old signed a three-year deal in summer 2009. The Trail Blazers other point guard on the roster is Patty Mills, who was a rookie last year. He broke his right foot in the NBA summer league and didn't make his NBA debut until January.
Johnson, a Hug High standout and the 2008 WAC Freshman of the Year, started 99 of 101 career games at Nevada. He became just the sixth player in school history to turn in at least 1,000 points and 250 career assists. His 445 assists puts him fourth in Nevada's career list. He is ninth at Nevada with 1,441 points.
Johnson averaged 15.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 5.6 assists with the Wolf Pack last season as a junior.
It was the second time in the last five years that Nevada has had two players selected. Four years ago, Nick Fazekas and Ramon Sessions both went in the same draft.
Wizards select Kentucky's Wall with No. 1 pick
John Wall is heading to Washington, and a record number of Kentucky teammates are following him to the NBA.
Wall went to the Wizards with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft Thursday and four more Wildcats were among the top 30 selections, making them the first school ever to put five players in the first round.
After falling short of the Final Four even with all that talent around him, Wall is ready to help Washington bounce back from a season that was embarrassing on the court and in the locker room.
"I feel like I had pressure since I became No. 1 in high school and was one of the top players," Wall said. "I always got there hungry wanting to fight hard and compete in every game, so when I step on the court I'm going to take on any challenge there."
The SEC player of the year is the first Kentucky player chosen first overall. He goes to a team still reeling from Gilbert Arenas' season-ending suspension for bringing guns into the team locker room.
Wall could replace Arenas as the Wizards' point guard, or perhaps play alongside him in a potential high-scoring backcourt. He'll try to become the third straight freshman point guard to win Rookie of the Year honors after Chicago's Derrick Rose and Sacramento's Tyreke Evans - who like Wall also played for John Calipari.
The pick came shortly after a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press that the Chicago Bulls had agreed to trade veteran guard Kirk Hinrich and the 17th pick in the draft, Kevin Seraphin, to the Wizards. Hinrich is a solid veteran defensive guard who could help with Wall's transition to the NBA.
After his name was announced to begin the draft, Wall hugged family members and donned a blue Wizards cap before climbing onto the stage to shake commissioner David Stern's hand.
Predicted to finish in the top half of the Eastern Conference last season, the Wizards' season quickly spiraled out of control, reaching its low point on New Year's Day when news broke of the altercation involving guns between Arenas and fellow guard Javaris Crittenton, who also was suspended for the year. Washington eventually traded fellow stars Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler in a dismal 26-56 finish.
Arenas is eligible to return, but Wall is ready to take charge of the team.
"I was always a leader by example being the first in the gym and the last in the gym," Wall said. "But I'm a leader that doesn't mind speaking up to the older guys."
Kentucky landed a second top-five pick when DeMarcus Cousins was taken by Sacramento at No. 5, then put two more players in the top 18 when the Houston Rockets chose Patrick Patterson at No. 14 and Oklahoma City took guard Eric Bledsoe four spots later. Daniel Orton then went to Orlando with the 29th pick, breaking the previous record of four first-round picks from one school.
"It's a big day and they are all behind us right now and they won't stop texting and tweeting and calling me, so this will be a big day," Cousins said.
The Philadelphia 76ers took national player of the year Evan Turner from Ohio State at No. 2. The notoriously tough Philadelphia fans at Madison Square Garden liked the choice, loudly cheering and chanting "Evan Turner! Evan Turner!"
"I don't have any pressure. I have a lot of demands of myself," Turner said. "If Philly expects me to be great, then we have a mutual understanding."
Derrick Favors became the second freshman taken in the first three picks when the New Jersey Nets chose the Georgia Tech forward.
"I pretty much knew John was going to 1 and Evan was going 2, but I had no idea I was going to the Nets, and when they called me I was just excited," Favors said.
The Minnesota Timberwolves then grabbed Syracuse forward Wesley Johnson, whom the Nets also had considered. Stern seemed impressed by the Christmas-colored slacks worn by Johnson, who held up his leg to show them off.
Baylor's Ekpe Udoh also is headed to Northern California, chosen by Golden State at No. 6. Detroit kept up the run of big men by selecting Georgetown center Greg Monroe with the seventh pick, before the Los Angeles Clippers went for Wake Forest's Al-Farouq Aminu.
Butler's Gordon Hayward went ninth to Utah, one spot before the Indiana Pacers would've faced pressure to pick the hometown star. Instead, they chose Fresno State forward Paul George before Kansas teammates Cole Aldrich (New Orleans) and Xavier Henry (Memphis) went with back-to-back picks.
Aldrich's rights were later sent to Oklahoma City along with veteran swingman Morris Peterson for the rights to the Thunder's Nos. 21 and 26 picks, which became Iowa State forward Craig Brackins and Washington guard Quincy Pondexter.
The draft hadn't even started and already the buzz was on free agency, which opens in exactly a week with LeBron James leading perhaps the deepest class ever. There were even a few chants for the league's MVP, whom the Knicks are expected to make a run at.
Moves were made with July 1 in mind, such as the Bulls' deal with Washington that opened additional salary cap space for perhaps a second top player. Toronto drafted North Carolina's Ed Davis at No. 13, a potential replacement if the Raptors lose Chris Bosh in free agency.
"I know they have big free agents coming up with Chris Bosh and people are saying he's not going to be there, but right now I'm just going to try to work hard and earn the starting job," Davis said.