Honestly, now, would anybody have bet that once all the madness of the NBA draft last night was over, Kobe Bryant would still be a Laker and Kevin Garnett would still be a Timberwolve? (Or Timberwolf -- we need a ruling on this.)

There were so many assurances that, at least, Garnett would be traded by draft time, it was a shock to have combed through all the deals and never see his name. Bryant was a little less of a surprise, mainly because outside of that original four-team deal that bubbled up and evaporated earlier in the week, there was nothing the Lakers, as inept as they are, would have been pressed to rush into.

The worst news of the day concerning Kobe is that the vaunted premiere of the amateur cellphone video, scheduled for today (for a fee) hasn't happened yet. Unless someone has found it -- supposedly, it's at www.kobebryant24.com -- and can pass it along, it still hasn't been seen publicly yet. Meanwhile, Kevin McHale would make no further assurance about Garnett than that he "assumes'' he will be around at season's start.

Meanwhile ...

* Marylanders who had already settled for Kevin Durant playing 3,000 miles away, now have to resign themselves to Jeff Green playing there as well. But now that they're together in Seattle, it'll be worth anticipating them coming back to the area next season.

* Nevertheless, nobody seems happy that Ray Allen is leaving Seattle to go to Boston.

* The New York crowd -- including Spike Lee -- loved the announcement of the Zach Randolph trade last night, and for good reason (other than the fact that they're rid of the suddenly radioactive Steve Francis). Otherwise, Knicks fans would be sour over the fact that the Bulls took Joakim Noah with the pick given away in the Eddy Curry trade. At least it didn't turn into Greg Oden or Durant, though.

* Anyone have a real problem with the Wizards taking Nick Young? No, it didn't address the fact that Brendan Haywood and Etan Thomas are still listed at center on the roster, but taking a center there -- like Jason Smith, who ended up in Philadelphia a few picks later via trade with Miami -- would have been a reach. And stop right now: it's not  a safety net in case Gilbert Arenas leaves after next season. You think they'd replace him with the No. 16 overall pick? Give Ernie Grunfeld more credit than that.

* Can we go back to trying to figure out what the Celtics were doing? Is this the best they could do with the fifth overall pick of a pretty good, plenty deep-enough draft -- a 31-year-old former All-Star coming off ankle surgery, and Big Baby Davis?

* Taking the draft by itself, there's very little chance that the East-West imbalance was resolved. Among the contenders, only the Bulls notably improved themselves, and none of the bottom-feeders helped themselves enough to make a huge move up. The Nets are the closest, with Sean Williams, if he stays clean. The Wizards will be better simply from being healthier.

On the other hand, Portland and Seattle got much, much better, and none of the contenders fell off, although Phoenix not getting Garnett could be considered a disappointment. Then again, they also kept Amare Stoudemire. And they got D.J. Someone has to guard somebody out there. I'm not sure if Golden State got better, moving Jason Richardson and his contract to Charlotte for Brandan Wright, who looks like he will be great one day but seems to have a big learning curve ahead of him. I definitely think the Clippers are better for getting Al Thornton; a lot of teams are going to be sorry they let him go by.

* As their first act as his new employer, someone on the Bulls should take Noah clothes-shopping.