Blake Griffin taken first in 2009 NBA Draft

The Los Angeles Clippers professional basketball team selected power forward Blake Griffin as the first overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Griffin, who won ten different player of the year awards for the 2008–09 season, was widely considered by analysts to be the draft's top pick. In his sophomore season at the University of Oklahoma, Griffin averaged 22.7 points, 14.4 rebounds, while shooting 65.4 percent from the field.

Griffin said that he was relieved after NBA commissioner David Stern called his name as the first draft pick.

"It's great to know exactly where I'm going and have it set in stone," Griffin told the University of Oklahoma web site, SoonerSports.com.

He added that he is not worried about the past failures of the Clippers, saying that he was looking forward to his future with the organization.

"We're not going think about what's happened in seasons past," Griffin said. "We're just excited about the opportunity and going to make the best out of whatever situation we're put in."

With the second overall pick, the Memphis Grizzlies chose University of Connecticut junior Hasheem Thabeet. The Oklahoma City Thunder chose Arizona State sophomore James Harden as the third overall pick. Fourth, the Sacramento Kings chose Tyreke Evans, a freshman from the University of Memphis.

With the first of four picks in the first round of the draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves chose 18-year-old Ricky Rubio, a guard from the Spanish professional team Joventut Badalona, before selecting Jonny Flynn from Syracuse University as the sixth overall pick. Later, the Timberwolves chose two players from the University of North Carolina: guards Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington as the 18th and 28th picks respectively. The Timberwolves later traded Lawson to the Denver Nuggets for a future first-round pick.

Also in NBA news Thursday, the Cleveland Cavaliers aquired veteran center Shaquille O'Neal in a trade with the Phoenix Suns. O'Neal will join 24-year-old LeBron James on the Cavaliers and the Associated Press predicts that O'Neal and James could equal some of the greatest duos in NBA history: "Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Cousy and Bill Russell, Shaq himself and Kobe Bryant."

First round

Pick Player Position Team School/Club Team 1Blake Griffin PFLos Angeles ClippersOklahoma So. 2Hasheem ThabeetCMemphis GrizzliesConnecticut Jr. 3James HardenSGOklahoma City ThunderArizona State So. 4Tyreke EvansPGSacramento KingsMemphis Fr. 5Ricky RubioPGMinnesota TimberwolvesDKV Joventut (Spain) 1990 6Jonny FlynnPGMinnesota TimberwolvesSyracuse So. 7Stephen CurryPG/SGGolden State WarriorsDavidson Jr. 8Jordan HillPFNew York KnicksArizona Jr. 9DeMar DeRozanSGToronto RaptorsUSC Fr. 10Brandon JenningsPGMilwaukee BucksLottomatica Roma (Italy) 11Terrence WilliamsSGNew Jersey NetsLouisville Sr. 12Gerald HendersonSGCharlotte BobcatsDuke Jr. 13Tyler HansbroughPFIndiana PacersNorth Carolina Sr. 14Earl ClarkSFPhoenix SunsLouisville Jr. 15Austin DayeSFDetroit PistonsGonzaga So. 16James JohnsonSF/PFChicago BullsWake Forest So. 17Jrue Holiday PGPhiladelphia 76ersUCLA Fr. 18Ty LawsonPGMinnesota Timberwolves (traded to Denver)North Carolina Jr. 19 Jeff Teague PG Atlanta Hawks Wake Forest So. 20 Eric Maynor PG Utah Jazz VCU Sr. 21 Darren Collison PG New Orleans Hornets UCLA Sr. 22 Víctor Claver SF Portland Trail Blazers Pamesa Valencia (Spain) 1988 23 Omri Casspi SF Sacramento Kings Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) w:1988 24 B. J. Mullens C Dallas Mavericks (traded to Oklahoma City Ohio State Fr. 25 Rodrigue Beaubois PG Oklahoma City Thunder (traded to Dallas Cholet (France) 1988 26 Taj Gibson PF Chicago Bulls USC Jr. 27 DeMarre Carroll SF/PF Memphis Grizzlies Missouri Sr. 28 Wayne Ellington SG Minnesota Timberwolves North Carolina Jr. 29 Toney Douglas PG/SG Los Angeles Lakers (traded to New York) Florida State Sr. 30 Christian Eyenga SG/SF Cleveland Cavaliers CB Prat (Spain, 3rd division) 1989