Warriors take Joe Smith #1 in 1995 Draft.Joe Smith of Maryland was selected No. 1 by the Golden State Warriors tonight in the National Basketball Association draft, and afterward he said his mother was moving across the country with him.
"I'm still a teen-ager," said Smith, who turns 20 in July. "She's coming to make sure I don't fool around with the wrong crowd. She's coming to watch my back."
Triggering an infusion of youth unlike the league has ever seen, Smith was one of four sophomores and one high school senior taken in the first five selections before a record draft crowd of 21,268 at the Skydome.
The Alabama sophomore Antonio McDyess was picked No. 2 by the Los Angeles Clippers and then traded to Denver. The Philadelphia 76ers chose the North Carolina sophomore Jerry Stackhouse third, and the Washington Bullets picked Stackhouse's teammate Rasheed Wallace No. 4 to join their front line of Chris Webber and Juwan Howard.
Kevin Garnett, the 6-foot-10-inch Farragut Academy (Chicago) phenom, was taken No. 5 by the Minnesota Timberwolves, becoming the first player to go directly from high school to the N.B.A. since Darryl Dawkins and Bill Willoughby were taken in the 1975 draft. Shawn Kemp, taken by Seattle in 1989, did not play in college but attended two different schools before jumping to the N.B.A.
Of 15 underclassmen eligible, 10 were taken in the first round to break the previous record of 9 set in the first round of both the 1994 and 1982 drafts.
"I'm 22 and I feel like the grandfather of this lot," said the U.C.L.A. senior Ed O'Bannon, who was taken ninth by the Nets. "Waiting in the green room was sure an experience with all those young faces. They were joking, playing around, laughing."
Soon, they will be counting their millions. The Vancouver Grizzlies were the first to choose a senior -- Oklahoma State 7-footer Bryant (Big Country) Reeves -- with the sixth pick.
The Clippers shipped Randy Woods and McDyess to the Denver Nuggets for Rodney Rodgers and the Nuggets' No. 15 pick, Oregon State's Brent Barry, the son of the Hall of Famer Rick Barry. The 6-6 Brent Barry averaged 21 points per game as an Oregon State senior. He shot shot 81 percent from the free-throw line in three seasons for the Beavers.
The other notable trade featured the Portland Trail Blazers swapping the No. 8 pick, Michigan State shooting guard Shawn Respert, to Milwaukee for the Bucks' 12th pick, Gary Trent, a forward out of Ohio University who was most valuable player in the Preseason National Invitation Tournament. Portland also receives one of Milwaukee's first-round picks in 1996.
The expansion Toronto Raptors pulled off the surprise of the draft, drafting the diminutive guard Damon Stoudamire with the seventh pick. Raptors General Manager Isiah Thomas, one of the best little men to ever play the game, simply could not help himself from picking the 5-10 Arizona point guard with the radar-like range from 3-point distance.
With the Skydome crowd chanting, "Ed! Ed!" in reference to O'Bannon, whom they coveted, Commissioner David Stern announced the pick, which was greeted initially by a round of boos. Stoudamire ascended to the podium moments later and soothed their angst by flashing a No. 1 sign.
Thomas also took Chicago Bulls point guard B. J. Armstrong No. 1 in the expansion draft on Saturday, and was unsuccessful in trading the pick. Pre-draft speculation had the Raptors selecting either Duke's Cherokee Parks, who fell to the Dallas Mavericks at No. 12, or Reeves.
"A lot of people were moving around trying to get a better position," Thomas said. "We had to be secretive so as not to be sidetracked. We liked Garnett, but if none of the four sophomores were available, Stoudamire was our choice."
The Knicks were without a draft pick. They forfeited their No. 24 to Dallas in the Derek Harper deal. Dallas chose Loren Meyer with the pick.
Though Smith was No. 1, no prize seemed more revered than Garnett, the 6-10 senior who attended his high school prom only three weeks ago. Less than a month ago he announced his decision to forego college, and the flurry of interest that followed was dizzying.
Much finagling and last-minute jockeying for the right to draft Garnett was taking place Tuesday night and early this morning, but the league's 2 P.M. trading deadline passed without a major deal being struck. Thomas of the Raptors was just one of several general managers who insisted that Garnett had more talent and ability than any of his peers.
"This is no easy step," Garnett said. "A lot of people have put me on a pedestal as far as growing up real fast. If given the chance, I am going to prove to all of you that I am man enough to take what is given and mature enough to give it out."
Portland swapped its 18th and 19th selections in the first round and its 58th pick in the second round for Detroit's No. 8 pick on Tuesday.
Kurt Thomas, who led the nation in scoring and rebounding, was taken No. 10 by the Miami Heat to round out the top 10. Thomas, a 6-9 power forward, was the third player in National Collegiate Athletic Association history to lead Division I in both categories.
Arkansas forward Corliss Williamson was taken by the Sacramento Kings at No. 13.
The Celtics selected Providence's Eric Williams with the No. 14 pick and the Atlanta Hawks chose Indiana's Alan Henderson at No. 16. Rashard Griffith slipped all the way to the 38th position, where Milwaukee took the Wisconsin sophomore who was once considered top-10 material.
The Bullets traded Rex Chapman and the rights to their 32d pick, Texas guard Terrence Rencher, to the Heat in exchange for Jeff Webster and Ed Stokes, two players playing overseas. Miami retained the rights to Webster and Stokes from the past two drafts.
Lou Roe of Massachusetts was the first player taken in the second round, No. 30 by Detroit. Toronto took Michigan's Jimmy King, the last member of the Fab Five to be drafted, with the 35th pick, and Vancouver selected Syracuse's Lawrence Moten at No. 36.
U.C.L.A. point guard Tyus Edney was taken No. 47 by Sacramento.
In addition to Griffith, another player who dropped considerably was the Fresno State 7-footer Anthony Pelle. Once projected as a mid- to late-first-round selection, Pelle fell to No. 44, where he was chosen by Denver.
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