So, who was that the Wizards picked? And what in the world was Isiah Thomas thinking? And were the Nets laughing hysterically when they saw what the team across the river had done?

First things first. Oleksiy Pecherov is 21, he's from the Ukraine, played professionally in France (on the same team Tony Parker played for, for what that's worth), and he is listed at either 7 foot or 6-11 depending on who you ask, and at either 210 or 220 pounds. Here is his official NBA bio, and a profile from Draft Express; there also is a ton of info on him on eurobasket.com, for a fee.

It's a little hard to imagine he's going to crack the rotation. It might be more of a case of him cracking the nightly inactive list, taking the place of Andray Blatch or Peter John Ramos. According to his bio, he can shoot (yes, a European big man who shoots from the perimeter - what are the odds?) but also "isn't afraid to play physical.'' That might make him the starting center. It would be more reassuring if his bio said, "isn't afraid to stop LeBron from driving the baseline in the final seconds of overtime in a pivotal playoff game.''

In the Wizards' defense (to use a word they're not familiar with), getting a rotation player who fits their greatest need at 18th overall is highly unlikely. If he becomes - and get used to this comparison for the rest of eternity - the next Dirk, then no one will care that he went 18th and that no one knew much about him on draft night. Who had ever heard of the Spurs' late second-round pick in '99, some guy named Emanuel Ginobili? You have to think that way now.

Meanwhile ...

Renaldo Balkman? No, not Rolando Blackman; they tried him already. And not Ronaldo from the Brazilian soccer team. The Knicks got Renaldo Balkman, whom Maryland fans might remember from the NIT two years ago, if you haven't completely repressed the memory of the NIT by now. He played for South Carolina, which reached the NIT final four at Madison Square Garden two years in a row, which means he's a winner (!). It also means Isiah didn't have to spend money to scout him, which might have played a factor. He's listed at 6-7 but is being described on-air as being 6-5. He also has been described in various places as one of the guys who was crazy to leave school early. Apparently not.

ESPN's on-air blurb read that the area for Balkman that needs work is "offensive skills.'' Uh oh. ESPN.com's Chad Ford refers to him, twice, as "a poor man's Darius Miles,'' which could mean that he has the potential to change into street clothes at halftime of a game, or come to practice with liquor on his breath.

Suffice it to say that the pick was not popular among Knicks fans. The reaction definitely will go down in New York draft lore. They apparently wanted one of the remaining Connecticut guys, like Marcus Williams or Josh Boone.

Then, two picks later, the Nets took their two consecutive picks (including one acquired from the Clippers). They took Marcus Williams and Josh Boone. High comedy all around.

Jerry West just finished talking about getting Rudy Gay, although he issued a disclaimer about it because the deal isn't official yet. Seriously, aren't a lot of GMs wetting themselves right now? Not to date him too much, but The Logo was the only guy who thought Kobe was ready coming straight out of high school.

True story: during that draft's build-up, in 1996, Dave Twardzik, the Warriors' GM at the time, talked about how he had seen Kobe at one of the high-school all-star games, and Kobe really didn't stand out. If he hadn't had his name and jersey number, he wouldn't have noticed who he was at all, he said. If he had been a 7-footer like Kevin Garnett, the big high-school pick from the previous year, that would have been a different story. Twardzik, of course, then picked Todd Fuller, one pick ahead of Kobe. He was fired a year later.

Important update: Randy Foye is now in Minnesota; the seventh pick turned out to have been dealt twice, and Allen Iverson wasn't part of any of the packages. Portland moved up to get Brandon Roy. Oddly, everyone was saying the perfect local-attraction pick for the Blazers would have been Morrison (from Gonzaga), and it ended up being Roy, from Washington, who's better in every area except outside shooting. When in doubt, take the guy who got a cheap double-technical in a regional semifinal and still nearly carried his team to a huge upset, over the guy bawling uncontrollably in the final seconds.

Another important update: Philly fans apparently panicked when they saw Thabo Sefolosha next to the Sixers' name. He's been dealt to Chicago - for Rodney Carney. That should calm everybody down, unless we find out in a few years that Thabo Sefolosha is the Swiss Dwyane Wade.

First round is over, and if anyone knows what the Blazers ended up doing, let me know. Every single trade seems to have involved Portland. And yet Miles seems to still be on the team.