Bobcats No.19 in "attractiveness" list

Sports Illustrated's Steve Aschburner has created an interesting list here: Ranking the NBA teams from 1-30 in terms of their attractiveness to the general free-agent market.

The Bobcats come in at No.19, with this comment: "This ought to be a great spot to recruit players -- the area is hoops mad, the weather is terrific, there's a small-town feel to the place. But Michael Jordan's absentee or air-drop management doesn't make him the asset he could be and, let's face it, there is a sense that the Bobcats are trying to do things on the cheap."

Aschburner's list seems well-researched to me at first glance, and I think the Bobcats' ranking is probably about right. Here's his top 5: LA Lakers, Miami, Phoenix, Houston and Orlando.

Bottom 5? Sacramento, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Memphis and Minnesota.

Curry staying put and other NBA leftovers

So Stephen Curry isn't going to be immediately traded by Golden State after all, according to Warriors coach Don Nelson. (Here's the story about that). That puts a little closure to the events of Thursday night.

After attending the NBA draft for the first time in 20 years or so, I put together a list of random observations that ran in some late editions of Friday's Observer (but not all, due to our deadlines). For those who missed them, here they are:

 Some of the biggest boos of the night in WaMu Theater came when Bobcats coach Larry Brown’s ESPN interview from Charlotte was broadcast on TV. Brown’s coaching gig with the Knicks ended very poorly in 2006. The unprintable obscenities hurled at the TV screens in unison made it very clear that Knicks fans haven’t forgotten.

 This was the first time I had come to New York to cover the NBA draft in close to 20 years, and I’d forgotten what it felt like. The place is set up like a large TV studio and is really in a far smaller room than you’d think. It’s not in Madison Square Garden itself, but in a theater attached to MSG with maybe 1,500 people inside.

 If Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio’s gig in the NBA doesn’t work out – he was taken No.5 Thursday by Minnesota – he should have a career in a boy band. Rubio certainly has the hair for it.

 The weird thing about the NBA “green room”? It is not green, nor is it a room. On Thursday, the waiting area for NBA draft picks and their loved ones was simply a cordoned-off area separated by only a few feet from both the media and the fans.

 Roy Williams, Rick Pitino, John Calipari, Bob McKillop, Jeff Capel – you could have held quite a college coaching clinic in a 20-yard radius in that NBA green room.

 Davidson’s Stephen Curry was the third point guard picked, by Golden State at No.7. And while the Warriors weren’t his first choice, it’s probably a better alternative than being the first or second point guard taken. At Nos.5 and 6, the Minnesota Timberwolves picked two rookie point guards back to back – Rubio and Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn. Also, Curry gets to experience California’s weather year-round instead of Minnesota’s.

Curry to be traded? Already?!

NEW YORK -- Welcome to the wild and woolly world of the NBA, Stephen Curry.

Curry went to sleep last night in New York as a Golden State Warrior -- the team took him No.7 overall. Here's my column from New York about that move.

However, late Thursday evening, reports started to surface that Curry will actually end up not quite so far West -- possibly getting traded to the Phoenix Suns within the next few days as part of a deal that would ship all-star forward Amare Stoudemire from Phoenix to Golden State. Here's one story about that from the Arizona Republic, which covers the Suns regularly.

While the Republic obviously believes this trade will happen, there are enough "probablys" and "could bes" in the story to raise some doubt. And other reports you read on the Web from somewhat credible sources are not as certain. The Curry family is aware of these rumors, but it sounds like any trade may not be completed until next Wed., July 1st, due to some contractual complications regarding other players involved in the deal.

So, for the moment anyway, Curry is a Warrior. In either case, he will be going to a team far away from the East Coast and not to his preferred landing spot as a New York Knick. But the Suns are certainly a better team right now than Golden State (and generally get more publicity too). Phoenix won 46 games last season; Golden State won only 29.

Phoenix already has one of the games best point guards in Steve Nash, who has one year remaining on his current contract. There's some speculation that Nash wants to get out of Phoenix, however. Suns GM Steve Kerr (who as a player was somewhat similar to Curry) met with Nash Thursday in New York to try and sort out things. Kerr already has made one blockbuster move this week, trading center Shaquille O'Neal to Cleveland, where he will team with LeBron James.

An N.C.-flavored first round

The NBA draft's first round had a number of connections to North Carolina, starting with Stephen Curry being selected No.7 overall by Golden State and ending with Wayne Ellington going No.28 to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

A quick rundown:

No.7 -- Curry goes to Golden State. His dad Dell Curry said he talked to Golden State coach Don Nelson Wednesday (for the first time ever, Dell said) and that Nelson said they weren't going to let Steph get past No.7. Curry did not work out for the Warriors, but that didn't stop them from taking him.

No.12 -- The Charlotte Bobcats select Duke shooting guard Gerald Henderson . Henderson says he has known Larry Brown since middle school and is looking forward to playing for him.

No.13 -- North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough goes one pick after the guy who once bloodied his nose in an infamous Duke-UNC game. Hansbrough ends up in Indianapolis and becomes a lottery (top-14) pick.

No.16 -- Wake Forest's James Johnson goes to the Chicago Bulls.

No.18 -- UNC's Ty Lawson goes to Minnesota briefly, but then is traded to the Denver Nuggets, where he'll be passing the ball to Carmelo Anthony.

No.19 -- Wake Forest's Jeff Teague goes to the Atlanta Hawks.

No.28 -- UNC's Wayne Ellington goes to Minnesota, getting in at the end of the first round (which is important, due to the guaranteed money involved).

Golden State picks Curry at No.7

NEW YORK -- Davidson point guard Stephen Curry was one pick away from what he wanted Thursday night at the NBA draft -- getting chosen No.8 by the New York Knicks.

Instead, he will go to California -- the No.7 pick of the Golden State Warriors.

Curry was the third point guard taken behind Spain's Ricky Rubio and Syracuse's Jonny Flynn.

The first point guard taken was Rubio, who went to Minnesota at No.5. Then the Timberwolves picked Jonny Flynn at No.6. That was weird -- two rookie point guards?! -- but no trade was announced and so maybe Minnesota will actually keep them both.

That left Golden State at No.7 the next possible landing place for Curry, or his favored Knicks at No.8. And the Warriors took him, drawing boos from the Knicks fans in the crowd who had wanted to see Curry play in New York.

Curry draws his first applause of night

NEW YORK -- The fans are in place now at the NBA draft, which is serving to make the atmosphere considerably more rowdy. There are TV screens all over the place, and when they showed the face of Davidson guard Stephen Curry, there were loud cheers throughout the WaMu Theater.

The New York Knicks still covet Curry, but as of now, they remain in slot No.8. That likely won't get him -- Curry is now rumored to be going in the 4-6 range. Only a trade up would allow Curry his dream of playing in Madison Square Garden 41 times a year.

Ol' Roy, Pitino, Calipari -- oh my

NEW YORK -- The scene here at the "green room" at Madison Square Garden is quite star-studded if you're a college basketball fan.

Besides the dozen or so players, it's an absolute Who's Who of college coaches. UNC's Roy Williams (at Tyler Hansbrough's table), Louisville's Rick Pitino (with Terrence Williams) and Memphis's John Calipari (with Tyreke Evans) are all within 10 yards of each other.

Davidson coach Bob McKillop just arrived as well -- he had to cut it fairly close due to his travel schedule but did make it. He is seated at Stephen Curry's table, as are Curry's parents (Dell and Sonya) and his younger sister Sydel.

Curry's younger brother Seth is on his way to New Zealand as a member of the U.S. 19-and-under national team and couldn't be here.