The Worst 1st Round Pickups of the 2009 NBA Draft

Each year of the NBA's annual draft, the 30 selections of the first round are a sight to see by millions hoping to strike gold with the latest prospects looking to breakthrough and earn a living among the world's elite basketball players. For many teams, their respective selections not only secure a general manager or a president's job for the following season, they also ensure hope for the future of the franchise and sometimes can provide the firepower needed to make a team jump up a level or two in wins (and increase revenue from ticket sales). Unfortunately, quite a few 1^st round picks not only enable for a team to get a boot out of playoff contention, but they can also make good on various front offices being in jeopardy of major shakeup, in addition to contributing to their own short-lived stay in the league. With that said, here are the very worst selections that took place in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft:

Ricky Rubio AND Jonny Flynn to the Minnesota Timberwolves

Let me say, Rubio to the Timberwolves was an excellent selection in and of itself, since the kid is 6'5" (and possibly still growing?) and in the 180s pound-wise, and having the makings of a Jason Kidd is a terrific place to be at 17 years old...the problem is that he didn't want to go to Minnesota. He's from Spain, where the weather is often temperate nice all year long, but if he can go back to Spain for any amount of years he wants to (he has two more on his current club's contract) and be the international superstar that he already is, why go to Minnesota, where they immediately drafted another point guard to play "with" you? In all honesty, most people wouldn't go, and without a trade, Rubio will not be in blue, black and forest green for 2009-2010 or longer.

With Flynn, his selection, independently of Rubio is excellent, considering his speed, athleticism and a great ability to be lead a basketball team to wins. Though small, Flynn is a great floor general, and eschewing the notion of being a "pure point guard", he is a distributor who can score as well. But again, the Timberwolves' front office was asinine in threatening Rubio's already-shaky comfort level by selecting another man in Flynn to share the duties. At the end of the day, both players are alpha dogs. Someone's going, and it'll be up to Minnesota to make good on their selections, but otherwise, the combined selections were another example of that good ol' T'wolf foolishness.

Tyler Hansbrough to the Indiana Pacers

Ultimately, the selection of Hansbrough was more about his ethnicity and how he relates to the fans than his actual skill level, which is pretty good, I will say. It's not inheritantly that he was taken in the lottery that is so bad, but it's that there were better talents than him available and that Larry Bird took him because somehow his being an Anglo American (as was implied by Bird in a story by Yahoo! on Bird's selection of Hansbrough) and his clean-cut image somehow sends the message that African American rookies in general are somewhat persona non grata as likely first-round candidates for the Pacers (see Williams, Shawne; Tinsley, Jamaal). On talent alone, Earl Clark, Tywon Lawson, Jeff Teague and DeJuan Blair were all available and filled specific needs at both guard spots and forward and not only that, were highly suitable picks for the lottery, in particularly at that draft spot (in addiction to the fact that all of said players have great images in the basketball world off-the-court)-Hansbrough, while suitable, wasn't the best pick from a talent standpoint. At some point, Bird is going to have to overcome the phobia that's rooted in "The Brawl at The Palace". Just get over it and get your best value overall, because most players aren't Stephen Jackson (who wasn't and isn't that bad to begin with) or Shawne Williams-grow up, Larry.

Taj Gibson to the Chicago Bulls

This was an egregious selection for the Bulls at No. 26. Why? It's not because Taj Gibson is probably going to be a solid NBA contributor and that he has more upside than his 24 years dictates. It's that he's built in the exact same way as Joakim Noah, plays the same position as Noah and has the same limitations as Noah and out-of-favor forward Tyrus Thomas, both of whom are more talented than Gibson. So the question becomes, "Why draft a less-talented, even more slender version of both Noah and Thomas?" That's the question I'm asking.

Christian Eyenga to the Cleveland Cavs

Aside from the disappointing finish of the Cavaliers' seemingly dream season, Cleveland has needed and will continually need every workable, contributing asset that is available to the team. At pick 30, Cleveland could've went with, oh, a couple of star forwards from the University of Pittsburgh that could've immediately make an instant impact in the frontcourt; they could've drafted Danny Green from North Carolina, a former McDonald's All American who plays tough defense, can drive to the basket and hit the mid-range jump shot. No, instead Danny Ferry (whose entire NBA career started out doing a John Elway or a Steve Francis, depending upon how far back one can remember either of those two episodes) took a raw swingman who actually declared for the Draft and was likely to be an undrafted prospect. Ferry could've just traded for a second-round pick using those mythic "cash considerations" and used a legitimate first-rounder on somebody of great net worth and the second-rounder on Eyenga. This was a bad business decision.

The non-selections of DeJuan Blair and Sam Young by every team that held picks 21 through 30 in the first round

The New Orleans Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Chicago Bulls, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knickerbockers and the Cleveland Cavaliers all passed on Blair and Young. Each team needed a power forward and/or small forward as a starter or reserve. Both players are starters in the right situations and credibly productive reserves in all situations. Darren Collison (Hornets) is a wonderful option as a backup point guard; Victor Claver has a lot of potential and skill as a gigantic three-man; Omri Casspi is the first Jew directly from Israel to be drafted in the first round and apparently he's a handful on the hardwood; Rodrigue Beaubois has a cool name and if nothing else has a thick French accent, aside from speedy play; B.J. Mullens has great size and an even greater capacity to be the best big man in the draft in the future; Gibson could become another Marcus Camby...or not; DeMarre Carroll is, as ESPN's Stuart Scott put it, "a guy with kidney disease" that also has good presence as a post player; Wayne Ellington is a good athlete and an even better shooter; "Pretty Toney" Douglas is possibly the yin to Jeff Teague's yang as a challenger to be Ben Gordon 2.0; and Christian Eyenga is Congolese. None of those aforementioned attributes outweigh the talent that either Blair or Young possess as voluminous offensive rebounders and strong-and-sturdy shooter/penetrator/defenders. (*sigh*)