Josh Harrellson

Pick 45: With their only pick in the draft, the New Orleans Hornets draft Josh Harrellson. They then immediately sell him to the Knicks for $750,000. The Hornets are owned by the league, so it is not hard to see which asset the league would rather them have.

Harrellson was always going to be drafted because he's a centre in a draft with scant few of them. The fact that he played at high profile Kentucky with a coach who makes it his life mission to get every one of his players drafted is also something that counted heavily in his favour. I still maintain that a team interested in Josh Harrellson could have just signed Brian Zoubek and saved their money, but New York need centres and can afford to speculate. So they did.

Josh Harrellson is not at the draft, so we don't get to see him take to the podium in a pair of jorts. For shame. Perhaps this will happen at media day instead. Jay Bilas nevertheless tips his cap to the jorts issue, stating "he brought jean shorts back into fashion for men, and for that we should all be eternally grateful, I'm sure."

Josh Harrellson - After making scant little effort to get into shape or stay in the post during his first two seasons, Jorts was pressed into service as Kentucky's centre last year due to lack of alternatives, and responded with a strong year. He was one of the game's best rebounders, as well as one of its biggest players, a legit 6'10 and 280. He stopped taking the threes he was predisposed towards (and underqualified for), and became a decent pick and roll option for the Wildcats, exhibiting a solid handle for one so big. (Even if he never took more than two dribbles at any one time, he never turned it over in doing so.) Not fast, Harrellson is physical without being clumsy, hence the great rebounding numbers and decent foul rates (only 2.4 in 28.5 minutes per game last year). He never posts up, can't hit a foul shot, hasn't a go-to move on the interior and has fairly average touch, but he can at least be used to move the ball and rotate the action without throwing it away. That, plus his very good offensive rebounding, gives him a role on that end.

The fact that Harrellson clearly wasn't especially motivated until he got within touching distance of the money is rather alarming, but the motivated Harrellson was a pretty good player. So if he can stay motivated, he has a chance.

(The problem Josh Harrellson faces - who drafts Josh Harrellson when they could just sign Brian Zoubek? And who signs Brian Zoubek for their NBA team anyway? So far, no one. Zoubek signed with the Nets, but was cut before the season. If he's surplus, so is Jorts.)

To go with the three freshman stars are a five man rotation of role players. Florida transfer Eloy Vargas is often wild and inconsistent, missing defensive rotations and greatly irritating Calipari, with little offensive talent to speak of and all the poise of Bambi in a hurricane. Yet his size and athleticism combination proves occasionally useful on both ends, particularly on the glass. Pressed into full-time service at centre, Harrellson has had a great season, earning an invite to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. He's a prolific rebounder and defensive post presence, who can make (if not create) shots around the basket, and he doesn't even take those bad straightaway threes any more. Incumbent shooting guard Jon Hood comes in and does absolutely nothing other than try to score, which occasionally he does. Liggins's evolution from a big, turnover prone point guard, in a vital, cohesive, little-things, do-it-all, rebounding, defending, smart passing, transition jumpshooting role playing small forward is almost complete. And Miller has developed into a shooter and defender, with good size, efficiency, and less mistakes than before. But despite the presence and decent production of these incumbents, Kentucky have had problems with cohesiveness and maturity. Maybe that's due to the lack of four year players.