[r377Participant]

I am just thinking back to the 2006 draft – I can’t believe it is 7 years already…

What were your memories from that draft day / class ?

http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_2006.html

I remember tossing up between Aldridge and Ty Thomas. I was pretty high on Ty Thomas. He has always been inconsistant and alot of us have been waiting for him to turn the corner – but it never happened. In last few months of his third season he was putting up 14-8-2.2 blks. Alot was expected of him in his big breakout fourth season, but he got injured and only played 29 games that season and its been downhill ever since.

I thought Shelden Williams would have been quite solid but he has been a bust. Randy Foye and Rudy Gay were quite hyped and big things were expected from both of them. I didn’t really know what to expect from Brandon Roy. He didn’t really do much in his first 3 yrs at college but then had a really strong senior year.

Adam Morrison was a scoring machine in college. To his credit he did put up 12ppg as a rookie before the injury.

The spotlight was on JJ Redick at Duke that season. He averaged 22ppg as a junior and 28ppg as a senior, winning the college player of the year. He was drafted 11th overall.

What were your memories/expectations from that draft day / class ? I dont’ want to see any kids with BS posts “I knew Rondo, Aldridge, Roy, Millsap & Gay etc would all be great players”

[frogmanParticipant]

Man I feel old. I remember watching Ty Thomas dunking on everyone and swatting shots out of nowhere during March madness and thinking this dude has to be taken one. I was probably his number one fan and thought he would be a pernenial all-star. I was wrong.

I thought Morrison would be a good starter in the NBA but not an all-star. I overestimated him too.

I thought Roy was a massive reach at 6 as I thought he had limited potential. I couldn’t believe it when he became a legit star.

I thought Shelden Williams, O’Bryant, Armstrong and Sene would all bust and I was right.

I didn’t even know who Balkman was when the Knicks picked and they got booed out of NYC. That was funny

I deadset thought Marcus Williams was going to be a massive steal at 22, I thought he coulda gone top 5 even but he stole someones laptop or something like that at Uconn which made his stock drop? Anyhow I still thought he’d be an excellent starter. But haven’t heard of anything about him for a while.

After writing all this I just realised how terrible the top of this draft has been haha.

[domeico7Participant]

Marcus Williams is playing for Unicaja Malaga in Spain and in Euroleague. He has been really impressive since he has joined them hitting buzzer beaters and stuff. He is a legit pg and a leader for any European team now so he is not in a really bad situation.

[theprophetParticipant]

i actually did know millsap would be good. i wasn’t expecting him to be this good, but he was a rebounding machine in college. can’t remember if he was first or second in the nation, but i saw him play a few times and he was a stud. rondo i thought would be just a griddy defender back up. i hate that he proved me wrong because i never liked boston. but dude can straight ball. i actually liked marcus williams the uconn pg better. what happened to him? i thought the shaun marion comparison was pretty good for tyrus thomas in that draft. terrible. wasn’t sure about brandon roy, thought he would be more like an impact of a kerry kittles, randy foye i was big on, morrison i expected to be like a younger then turkoglu, i thought shelden williams would be an otis thorpe type player, redick i was probably spot on with. he is what he is and does what he does. i was high on sefolosha but thought he would develope more offensively and not this much defensively. rudy gay i figured was a good prospect and liked aldridge’s game enough to be deserving of the first pick but didn’t realize how far superior his game is to bargnani. thought rodney carney or james white or paul millsap would be the steals of the draft. i was also hopeful for shannon brown, sergio rodriguez, craig smith, and leon powe.

[llperez]

Roy and foye were the two guys that impressed me the most. I figured both would have big careers. I will say this, I vividly remember when shelden Williams started pulling out of workouts and the rumor was he had a promise from the hawks at 5, I was shocked. I felt he was nothing more then a role player and that draft was so wide open about who would go where, why make a promise when you don’t even know who will be available. Especially to a guy who was almost certain to be there anyways.

[morestealsthanscoresParticipant]

wow, this was the first ever draft i watched. I’ve got 3 major memories:

1) I’m not trying to be ‘that guy’ but I always thought the Bulls were dumb to give up the no2 pick…not because I thought Aldridge would be an all-star, but because they got so little in return to warrant trading down.

2) Always thought Daniel Gibson and Rudy Gay would be ok players…but then again, I thought Marcus Williams was going to the be the next J-Kidd. So, oh well.

3) I remember how strange it was when Joel Freeland got drafted at 30. Like, I’m from the UK, so everyone was really happy and all, but even here, everyone was like ‘who is this guy’?!? A few years later when Ryan Richards got drafted, we had a lot more background on him…

[GlenTaylorSucksParticipant]

I remember being super excited about the Wolves getting Roy…then being super disappointed they traded for Foye…lmao

[ProudGrandpaParticipant]

I remember being 11 years old and naive and wondering why Adam Morrison and JJ Redick, the two best college players, weren’t the top 2 picks. I loved JJ Redick.

[joecheck88Participant]

I remember that by the time draft day hit Bargnani was almost a guarantee to go 1. I thought Randy Foye would be great in a Chauncey Billups type role. I was high on Lamarcus Aldridge and Rudy Gay. Thought the Rockets had a steal in Gay but they traded him for Battier. Ty Thomas didn’t impress me much except for jumping. I thought Morrison would last longer in the NbA than Reddick. Also, always thought rebounding translated and that Paul Milsap would be a hard nosed hustle player. He became much more than I expected though.

[SiggyParticipant]

I remember being excited that the Bulls finally took some athletic, high potential guys instead of going the safe route of choosing established, good character, solid players from good college programs.
Eh, maybe they should’ve kept going with what worked.

I remember thinking that Gay was the most talented player in the draft.

I remember the Foye/Roy debate and “experts” saying that Foye was similar to D-Wade.

I also remember the whole world except for the Hawks thinking that Shelden Williams was a reach at #5

In retrospect, wow, pretty crappy draft.

[akhan786Participant]

I was shocked when JJ was selected in the lottery. I didn’t see it. I thought he was going to be a bust.

He has turned himself into a complete professional. Worked his ass off and became a complete player in regards to defense and being more than just a catch and shoot player.

He was a fan favorite in Orlando which I guess I was ignorant of and that’s why I was shocked by how sad Orlando fans were when he got traded. Just look at this board http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=1235264&start=60. I haven’t seen that much support for a player leaving a team in a long time.

JJ should be an example to a bunch of the new rookies coming in.

[surveParticipant]

I watched this draft, but it was easily forgotten. I had forgot I had even watched it til I went back and looked at the picks. I remember thinking that Rudy Gay was the best player in the draft. I thought he was raw but had more upside than anyone mainly because of his physical stats and ability.
I thought J.J. wouldve went higher in the draft actually because his range would allow him to get his shot off better but it didnt surprise me where he was picked. (I thought J.J. was a much better prospect than Hurley in a much weaker draft). I remember thinking that someone gave Cedric Simmons some bad advice…even though he was a high pick. I also thought Tyrus Thomas would slide into the top 3 like McDyess had done similarly.

[JoeWolf1]

I watch a lot of Big 12 ball, so I was disappointed, as a Bulls fan, that Chicago traded Aldridge because I thought he’d be on of the leagues top “centers”. I was wrong about what position he ended up in, but he is one of the top power forwards in the league.

I thought Sheldon Williams would be a lot more Elton Brand than he was Dickey Simpkins, but hey can’t win em all.

I thought Morrison would have ended up being a high teens scorer, and I maintain he would have had he not blown his knee out. In college he really did take a lot of contact and get to the line a lot, but once his knee was gone he didn’t have any speed left and he was afraid to do much more than shoot 3’s.

Reddick is about what I thought’ he’d be offensively, but he’s one of the smarter players in the NBA in terms of working on what he needed to keep him in the league and give him minutes, and that was defense. He’s a much better defender than I ever thought he’d be.

[TyroberParticipant]

I thought Aldridge was going to be a stud. I have always been a big fan of him. At the time I thought Aldridge, Thomas, or Morrison was going to go #1. I didn’t know much about Bargnani at the time. Really thought Morrison was going to be a solid player in the league and thought Sheldon Williams at #5 to the Hawks was a horrible decision. I am sure not many people know about Rodney Carney, but I thought he was going to be a solid player. I think it wasn’t viewed at bad of a draft at the time and it is definitely viewed worse now.

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

I remember thinking Adam Morrison was going to be a straight up bust. He was compared to Larry Bird, but didn’t have the shooting ability or passing skills. Then he came up on First Take, and no one on the show was sold on him either, reinforce it for me. The majority of my friends that are into basketball hated the Rondo pick, but for some reason I’ve always liked him and did a lot of research on him. He was perhaps the steal of that draft. This pick and me picking the Pistons at the middle of their champion season to win it is something I have rubbed in my friends faces in the past.

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

I thought Tyrus Thomas and Rodney Carney were going to be really good. Yeah.

[invalidParticipant]

i thought adam and jj are gonna avg around 20pts per game in 3 years. hell yeaaa

[RafterParticipant]

This was the first NBA draft that I covered and I was convinced that Rudy Gay was the jewel of the draft as he had what I thought to have superstar potential. Randy Foye was a guy that seemed to have the correct mental make-up and the talent to become an all-star but I thought being compared to Iverson and Wade was a bit overblown as was Bargnani being compared to Nowitzki.

It was also the draft that had Saer Sene, the first time I encountered a raw, physically gifted, international bigman that had burst onto the scene thanks to his incredible length and performance at the hoop summit, he was one that I was following very closely.

Of course, I couldn’t ignore J.J Redick who was an exceptional college player that slipped (in my opinion at the time) I wondered why because his statistics were incredible and I was under the impression that a great college player could become a great professional.

It was certainly a nice introduction about how the draft works, the types of prospects and how to keep an open mind. I was 14 at the time so it was really an educational experience. This draft class and the 07′ draft class will always be special to me.

[HaleParticipant]

Bargnani-Thought he was going to be an average starter. I was pissed that he went number one. I thought Thomas should’ve.
Aldridge-Was pretty passive in college but had so much ability. I thought he’ be a good starter, not nearly as good as he is now.
Thomas-Thought he has was going to be a monster. He was so athletic, and his excitement factor completely won me over. I loved that he ended up going to Chicago, but nothing really came of it.
Roy-Supposed to be the safest pick in the draft, I had no idea he’d be as good as he was in his prime.
Gay-Everyone kept saying that he had the most potential in the class, he just needed to have the desire which seems like why he well. I was 50-50 on him.

[BenchWarmerParticipant]

I about 12 and that’s when I first fell in love with bball. And I remember watching the draft with my dad and I remember him being really pissed at Torontos selection. Hahah

[Forte IVParticipant]

Foye was my favorite player coming out of this draft. His first two years actually weren’t that bad either. But at least he’s now a good role player.

[Forte IVParticipant]

Oops meant first 3 years. He got injured his second and actually same back pretty strong his third. Then he got traded to Washington and then basically became a role player

[The8thDeadlySinParticipant]

Rondo – if anyone claims to have known he was going to be good is a liar.

I thought Redick would nave been great from day 1. I still think,if henhadma coach that would have ran plays for him, he could have been ROY..

I thought Brandon Roy was going to be very average.

I loved Lamarcus Aldridge because I watched him destroy the Mountaineers early in the season so I kept watching him all year.

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

I might have some bias being a Boston guy. So I actually thought he was going to be good. I knew he was a very good defender, very good athlete with long arms and hands. I liked him way more then Marcus Williams the other pg that the C’s were talking about. Right when he got caught stealing lap tops that was it for him. The Celtics weren’t going to touch him. Anyone the Celtics are thinking about drafting I will do my research and look up everything I can on that person. Everything I learned from Rondo was actually from Draft Express during that time.

[jrrider_34Participant]

For me, this draft was full of a ton of four year seniors that I had followed throughout their careers, so I was much more involved in those players than in the higher level underclassmen. I loved players like Leon Powe, Dee Brown, P.J. Tucker, and most of all Curtis Stinson. In retrospect, I was more attached to the narratives of these players than their actual talent. I was shocked when Morrison went third, however, and thought that the high draft positions of obviously limited players like Hilton Armstrong, Cedric Simmons, Shelden Williams and Mouhamed Sene were bizarre. But yes, to echo most peoples posts on here: Not a good draft. It was however, the first draft where high schoolers were non eligible, so the pool had not yet caught up to the one year rule.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

Here are a Few THANGS I Remember about the Draft that year:

1.Rudy Gay told us at a Charity function in 2009 that he was so disappointed and embarrassed after the top 5 Picks were announced,and he wasn’t among them, that he felt like getting up and walking out….

2.Fans and members of the Media were saying U Conn’s Marcus Williams would be the next great point guard…

3.Nobody will admit it now,but there were alot of folks that said Adam Morrison should be the 1st pick…

4.I remember telling friends that kid from Kentucky name Rajon Rondo would be a great backup…..

5.Chris Bosh openly campaigned for the Raptors to select LaMarcus Aldridge with the 1st pick……Bosh said he didnt have anything against Bargnani,but the Raptors needed some toughness upfront…..

[TokenWhiteGuyParticipant]

As a raptors fan I was think, “Why did we have to win the lottery this year there is nobody good enough to go number 1 because of the stupid rule change so please trade the pick, somebody’s got to be stupid enough to give us something good for it”

I was surprised that Carney fell out of the lottery and figured he would be better.

I also really wanted Denham Brown not P.J. Tucker to be their pick in the 2nd round.

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