All week long Michael Beasley heard talk on from the draft experts about how Miami General Manager Pat Riley didn't seem to want him. Rumors swirled that the Heat would either trade the second overall pick or simply skip the K-State All-American entirely.
So when Miami went ahead and did neither, the best word Beasley could think of to sum his emotions up wasn't "euphoria"
or "excitement"
but rather "relief."
"Just to hear my name called second by the Miami Heat, just took a lot of pressure of my shoulders,"
Beasley told reporters.
Beasley becomes the first Wildcat drafted since Steve Henson in 1990 and the highest since Bob Boozer went number one overall in 1990.
They called it the year of the "one and done"
player. It actually might be more accurate to call them "done and ones."
Beasley was one of seven freshman taken in the first 14 picks comprising the lottery portion of the draft. Chicago - as expected - tabbed Memphis point guard Derrick Rose with the number one selection.
USC's O.J. Mayo went third to Minnesota, while UCLA teammates Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love were taken fourth and fifth respectively.
The Jayhawk contingent went flying off the shelf soon after with Brandon Rush going 13th to Portland. The Blazers then agreed on a deal that would send Rush to Indiana.
Darrell Arthur had a long, nervous wait. The KU forward had designs on being among the latter lottery selections but instead slid all the way to New Orleans at number 27 over concerns of kidney issues. Hours later he was swapped in a three-team deal to the Houston Rockets.
Mario Chalmers - another first round hopeful - dipped into the second round (34th overall). Like Rush and Arthur before him, Chalmers had a short stay with the team that drafted him. Minnesota packaged him off to Miami in exchange for cash and a pair of 2009 second rounders.
Bill Walker's knee issues didn't help his stock. He fell to Washington mid-way through the second round at 47th overall. The Wizards sent him on to Boston in exchange for cash.
Darnell Jackson joins Chalmers and Beasley in Miami with the 22nd pick of the second round.
Sasha Kaun - who has already signed to play in his native Russia - was taken 56th overall by the Sonics. Kaun was the fifth Kansas player drafted, tying the Jayhawks with Connecticut (2006) and Florida (2007) as schools with the most players taken in the two round-era. His rights were later traded to Cleveland, which will have the opportunity to sign him in three years when his Russian contract expires.
