As the 11th pick approached, we spoke with Portland and consummated the deal, contingent on the player they wanted being available as long as it was not Brandon Rush. Jerryd Bayless was their guy, and when he was not selected by New Jersey with the 10th pick, we finalized the deal and selected Bayless for Portland.

The deal with Toronto involving Roy Hibbert was agreed to much earlier in the day and as a result, we knew we were going to have the 17th pick. We were confident that Roy was going to be there. If he had gone earlier, we still would have made the trade but would have been extremely disappointed as he is the player we wanted. He is a solid big man with great character and big upside who helps our depth up front.

Even after we picked at 17, we aggressively tried to acquire an additional pick until the players we valued were gone. It wasn't until well into the second round that we felt the night was essentially done for us.

From a basketball standpoint, we think we've changed the team we have with players who are a better fit for Coach O'Brien's system and style of play. At the same time we have significantly improved not only our cap position for the future, but we now have the flexibility to continue to improve our team.