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COPYRIGHT 2006 Sporting News Publishing Co.
Arguably, no one was more prepared for last week's NBA draft than Celtics boss Danny Ainge, who entered the pick-a-thon with the No. 7 choice. He had seen nearly every major prospect and not just on tape. He had watched them run drills in person. In the weeks leading up to the draft, Boston worked out an astonishing number of incoming rookies--at least 17 of the league's 30 first-round picks, some of them twice--which led Ainge to the following conclusion: No, thanks.
Ainge and the Celtics traded the pick to Portland, which traded it to Minnesota. That highlighted a goofy draft swap meet in which eight first-round picks were involved in deals and 15 total trades were made. The Blazers (who traded for the No. 2 pick) somehow managed to land six new players in a matter of three hours, yet team president Steve Patterson--bearing a cell phone imprint on his earlobe--still proclaimed at the end of the evening, "We're not finished."
"Not finished," was the motto of the evening. The furious posturing on draft night was the opening act for what could be a dramatic offseason of potential All-Star swaps. In the days leading...
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