Every player dreams of hearing his name called on draft night. NBA veteran and TNT broadcaster Danny Ainge got to experience it twice. One of the few athletes who have been drafted by two professional sports teams, he was selected by the NBA’s Boston Celtics in 1981 and MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays in 1977.Ainge went on to enjoy a 14-year career as an All-Star in the NBA, winning two championships with the Celtics. Then he got to experience the draft from the other end of the bench, as the Suns' head coach for three seasons. Now Ainge is involved in his third different draft role, from an analyst's perspective as he presents his predictions for the first round of the 2002 NBA Draft.
"This is one of the strangest drafts," Ainge says. "The middle of the draft is pretty strong. (Jiri) Welsch, (Kareem) Rush, (Melvin) Ely, (Jared) Jeffries, (Dan) Dickau and (Juan) Dixon could all be good impact players right away.
| Danny Ainge's 2002 Mock Draft | |
| 1. Houston | Yao Ming, China - "It is a little troubling that he is 7-5 and not a shot blocker, though he has great presence and a great touch." |
| 2. Chicago | Jay Williams, Duke |
| 3. Golden State | Mike Dunleavy, Duke |
| 4. Memphis | Drew Gooden, Kansas |
| 5. Denver | Caron Butler, Connecticut |
| 6. Cleveland | Chris Wilcox, Maryland |
| 7. New York | Curtis Borchardt, Stanford |
| 8. LA Clippers | Amare Stoudemire, Cypress Creek HS |
| 9. Phoenix | Maybyner "Nene" Hilario, Brazil |
| 10. Miami | Dajuan Wagner, Memphis |
| 11. Washington | Qyntel Woods, Northeastern Mississippi CC |
| 12. LA Clippers | Jared Jeffries, Indiana |
| 13. Milwaukee | Nicoloz Tskitshivili, Georgia |
| 14. Indiana | Kareem Rush, Missouri |
| 15. Houston | Jiri Welsch, Czechoslovakia |
| 16. Philly | Melvin Ely, Fresno State |
| 17. New Orleans | Dan Dickau, Gonzaga |
| 18. Orlando | Marcus Haslip, Tennessee |
| 19. Utah | Carlos Boozer, Duke |
| 20. Toronto | Juan Dixon, Maryland |
| 21. Portland | Dan Gadzuric, UCLA |
| 22. Phoenix | Fred Jones, Oregon |
| 23. Detroit | Bostjan Nachbar, Slovenia |
| 24. New Jersey | Casey Jacobsen, Stanford |
| 25. Denver | Rod Grizzard, Alabama |
| 26. San Antonio | Ron Murray, Shaw University (Div. II) |
| 27. LA Lakers | Sam Clancy, USC |
| 28. Sacramento | Nenad Krstic, Yugoslavia |
 | Sleeper of the Draft Amare Stoudemire - He could be the best player of the draft when all is said and done in their NBA careers. |
