It's the 2006 NBA Draft, and SUPERSONICS.COM is all over the action. This year, we're tag-teaming the Draft with David Locke enjoying unprecedented access live from the Sonics Draft Room to keep you updated on the Sonics thinking through their pick, number 10 overall. Kevin Pelton will be in the media room at The Furtado Center to provide a big-picture perspective and quotes from picks and the Sonics front office later in the evening. Be sure to hit refresh for the latest real-time analysis and commentary as well as tidbits from interviews with the Sonics picks and front office staff.
More in a Minute?
Posted at 10:35 p.m. by Kevin
Um, sorry about that. I stepped away from my computer to talk to Dave Pendergraft with the Sonics portion of the Draft complete and bam! We lost Internet for some reason.
So here's what was said about Halperin.
"The guy's 6-5," said Pendergraft. "He's a combo guard. Unbelievable basketball IQ. Unbelievable. He's somebody who will probably stay in Europe for a year, maybe too. We would not have taken him if we did not think he had a chance to be an NBA player.
"Yotam, he's an NBA prospect. He's a combo guard who can make other players better. Obviously, with our shooters and the fact that he's such a good passer, that was why we elected to go with Yotam."
Only one Israeli player - Doron Sheffer in 1996 - had ever been picked in the NBA Draft before Lior Eliyahu and Halperin were both selected in the second round tonight.
Halperin has been playing in the Euroleague, most recently with Union Olimpjia in Slovenia, earning Euroleague All-Star honors in 2005-06 after averaging 13.9 points and 3.6 assists per game.
That wraps it up for the Draft blog, but stay tuned for more coverage from SUPERSONICS.COM.
Yotam Halperin
Posted at 8:35 p.m. by Kevin
More in a minute.
Options at 53
Posted at 8:18 p.m. by Kevin
The Sonics are considering three undersized power forwards right now with their 53rd pick - Oklahoma's Taj Gray, Louisiana Tech's Paul Millsap, San Diego State's Marcus Slaughter.
More on Brown
Posted at 8:11 p.m. by Kevin
Denham Brown might have been overshadowed as a role player on a very deep UConn team, though he started 96 games in his career. Maybe it's more appropriate to look at what he did in other settings. David already mentioned the Pre-Draft Camp, where Brown averaged 15 points per game and scored double-figures in every game. He was considered one of the top players in Orlando, making DraftExpress' All-Orlando Second Team. Brown also shined for the Canadian National Team (he's a native of Toronto) last summer, averaging 16.8 ppg (a team high) and 5.8 rpg at the 2005 FIBA World Championship Qualifying Tournament, including 28 points and nine boards against a team of U.S. amateurs.
Sonics Select Dehnam Brown
Posted at 8:01 p.m. by David
The Sonics will take Denham Brown with their second-round pick.
He is a great natural scorer. He was the leading scorer at the Orlando camp. He is a 2/3 swingman. More of a scorer than a shooter and can get to rim.
He is a better offenisively than Ronnie Brewer, whom many wanted the Sonics to take with the 10th pick.
He played his college ball at UConn.
Jones Goes
Posted at 7:58 p.m. by Kevin
A second Husky drafted. Congrats to Bobby Jones, who, like Brandon Roy, has been drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Presumably Jones will be staying in Minnesota. He's going to be a very good defender after a terrific UW career. Best of luck to him.
UPDATE: Whoops, turns out Jones too is on the move - to Philadelphia.
Catching Up
Posted at 7:40 p.m. by Kevin
So the first round is over, and we're still trying to catch up. Some of the notable picks elsewhere since the Sonics got Sene ...
Shawne Williams to Indiana at 17. He's awfully similar to Danny Granger, isn't he? Of course, Granger was a steal, so I'm not saying that it's a bad thing.
Um, did we mention Brandon Roy got traded for Randy Foye in a rare rhyming NBA trade? Suddenly, Portland getting the seventh pick looks a lot better. Good luck down the road, Brandon - 78 times a year.
Renaldo Balkman's selection by the Knicks drew heavy boos at the Garden. I'm actually a big fan of Balkman, who shot a high percentage from the field and got a ton of steals and blocks, but that meant I'd take him at, say, pick 40 - not pick 20.
Marcus Williams drops to 22. If ever there was a sign the NBA is changing, this is it. Okay, that's an exaggeration. But quickness is in, and Williams doesn't have it.
For the second straight year, a team takes two college teammates in the first round. Last year it was UNC's Raymond Felton and Sean May going to Charlotte. This year, Williams and Josh Boone stay in the Northeast with the Nets.
It's outgoing Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik's last second round. It won't be the same without you next year, Russ.
Where Sene Learned the Game
Posted at 7:33 p.m. by Kevin
Mouhamed Sene's agent mentioned on the phone that his client started playing basketball in Senegal four years ago. He started playing at SEED (Sports for Education and Economic Development) in Thies, Senegal. The executive director of the basketball academy at Seed is Amadou Gallo Fall, the director of scouting for the Dallas Mavericks.
Fall is a native of Senegal helping his countrymen make good on their basketball potential. Might we someday see Sene doing the same? Fall helped Dallas bring DeSagana Diop - one of three natives of Senegal currently playing in the NBA, along with Clippers center Boniface N'Dong and Raptors big man Pape Sow. (There are also two former Senegalese NBA players, Makhtar N'Diaye and Mamadou N'Diaye.) Random note that interests only me: All of the first five players from Senegal were born in Dakar, the country's capital city. Sene was born in Thies, Senegal.
Anyways, Sene immediately began playing in his country's top league because of his size and athleticism. A year and a half ago, he joined a club in Belgium, and that's when his development really began. Now, at age 20, he's a top-10 pick. That's quite a quick journey.
Sene Calls Seattle
Posted at 7:18 p.m. by Kevin
After running the gauntlet of post-pick media, Mouhamed Sene called Seattle about a half hour ago to speak with the local media.
"I'm excited," he said, noting his pair of workouts with the Sonics (Sene was the only player they brought in more than once before the Draft, a possible tip-off to their interest).
Asked the strength of his game, Sene answered, "Anything. I block shots, I'm a rebounder. I can run the floor."
At the same time, Sene recognizes his need for improvement.
"I know I have to work a lot to improve my offensive game," he said. "I have to work at it a lot, but I'm going to do it."
Sene's English is not tremendously strong - "He understands it better than he speaks it," offered Bob Hill - and combined with a weak phone connection, he turned to agent Jeremy Medjama to translate for him.
"He likes Seattle," said Medjama. "They have a good organization. He thought that Seattle was a good opportunity for him because he knows they need a defensive player inside."
Video
Posted at 7:05 p.m. by Kevin
Check out a video of Sene in New York for the NBA Draft.
Quotes, Nothing But Quotes
Posted at 6:40 p.m. by Kevin
After picking Mouhamed Sene - incidentally, we've now found out he'd prefer to be called Mouhamed rather than Saer, which is his middle name - GM Rick Sund and Head Coach Bob Hill met the media. Here's what they had to say:
RICK SUND:
On the top nine::
There was a lot of rumors and there was a lot of flip-flopping back and forth, so it was a little confusing today, but we pretty much had a pretty good handle that the first nine picks were going to go the way they went in some specific order.
On the decision-making process:
We kind of had the luxury this year of not having a specific need, so we could look at guards, we could look at forwards and we could look at centers. The one thing coach that and our staff pointed out is we could really get some help in the shot-blocking department. This kid is an essential shot-blocker. He's a great young talent with length. He came on the scene late this year with an eye-opening game at the Hoop Summit. We brought him in and Coach Hill liked him and wanted to take another look, so we brought him back.
On picking a center in the first round for the third straight year:
I think you need centers in this league. Everybody in this league looks for centers. It's also asset value. They're hard to come by.
On how much of a project Sene is:
Coach seems to think pretty comfortably he can get some minutes, but whoever we took it was going to be hard to get a lot of playing time early. With the 14-, 15-man roster, the way the coach wants to play, maybe he'll find some time. Dave Pendergraft indicated he may be able to get some playing time in the "second semester," as he calls it, of the season.
When we brought him in the second time, we pretty much made up our mind that he was the guy we were going to select and he was going to be on the roster.
On what this pick says about the organization's faith in Jack Sikma's work with Johan Petro and Robert Swift:
If you look at the development of Robert and Petro, it's a real credit to this staff. That was a big emphasis with Coach Hill - 'Hey, we've got this staff that does a great job with developing bigs.
BOB HILL
I've very naturally been around centers my whole career. When I started coaching, we had the tallest team in the country. I understand the value of centers, I understand they make a difference in the game. This guy can really block shots. In my mind, he blocks shots as well as these other guys do what they do best. We needed that.
On Sene:
He plays really hard. He doesn't understand how not to play hard. He's going to push Robert, he's going to push Johan, and that's going to make them better.
He can really run. I think that's one of the things that separates all three centers is they can really run, they can run like a deer. He's not going to slow us down; he's going to speed us up.
We have no plans of sending him to Europe. You can etch that in granite. We have every plan of getting him on the court as soon as possible and getting his development started.
On where he can develop:
His offensive skills need work. His footwork needs work.
Sonics Reaction
Posted at 6:15 p.m. by Kevin
The Sonics have emphasized the importance of adding another promising young center and their feeling that no one on the board would have been a rotation player next season. I'll have more in a minute after transcribing some quotes.
