Hey sports fans. We’re coming to you live from the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, NY for the 2013 NBA Draft. We’ll be updating live as picks roll in and trades occur, so make sure to keep refreshing for more info. Questions? Comments? Put them in the comment section, or Tweet @theevanschwartz and I’ll try to answer. 7:00PM Hi VIBE readers! Barclays is pumping Nicki Minaj through the speakers, and showing highlights of the Miami Heat’s win over the Spurs in the NBA Finals. Groans from the crowd when they showed LeBron James stuffing Tiago Splitter. 7:17PM Draftees shown on the jumbotron, and the crowd goes nuts for Syracuse product Michael Carter-Williams. Maybe the Orange really are NYC’s team. Brooklyn We Go Hard pumping now. 7:20PM Announcer on the PA welcomes us to the Draft. Here we go! 7:21PM Definitely a Brooklyn feel – the draft used to be at Madison Square Garden, just a short 2/3 train ride away, but there’s no mention of New York so far. Video of David Stern from 20 years ago comes on the jumbotron, and the boos rain down. 7:22PM First Brooklyn Knight sighting. Completely inexplicable mascot. 7:25PM Biggest news of the night so far – the pending Boston Celtics/Brooklyn Nets trade. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett are apparently on the way to Brooklyn, and if the trade goes official during the draft, it’ll be interesting to see how the crowd reacts. I didn’t think the Nets could possibly get older/more laden with big contracts, but that’s the NBA. 7:31PM And definitely some drama with the first overall pick. Nerlens Noel has been the lock for what seems like a year, but the Cleveland Cavaliers may be looking to flip the pick somewhere else. Sidenote: Nerlens Noel is incredibly tall, but whippet thin. I was in the elevator with him at the player’s hotel in Times Square, and I can tell you that he was born to block shots and protect the paint. Hard to pass him up. 7:33PM A full two minutes of outrageous boos for commissioner David Stern. “And thank you to our passionate fans,” he says. Boos intensify. “Congratulations to the Miami HeatBOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” Not a great start for the retiring commish. 7:37PM: Cavs on the clock. Twitter says a last-minute pitch from Oklahoma City to grab the pick failed.
Oklahoma City tried to get Cleveland’s pick at No. 1, but bid has failed, source tells Y! Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 27, 2013
7:41PM: Cavs out of time, but no one is on the stage yet… 7:42PM: SHOCKER! Anthony Bennett goes number one. The UNLV product is shocked, and the crowd goes crazy. Jumbotron shows Nerlens Noel, who looks absolutely devastated. Oof. 7:45PM: The first real shocking no. 1 overall in a long time. Also, Bennett is the first Canadian no. 1 overall pick. Magic up now. 7:47PM: Magic take Victor Oladipo. Shocking! Noel again on the jumbotron, just brutal. They better not show him after every pick, or else people will start crying. 7:49PM: Oladipo highlights make the crowd ooh and aah. He’s an insane athlete. 7:52PM: David Stern: “I can’t hear you.” Boooooo!!! The Wizards take Otto Porter, Jr., the local Georgetown product. Speakers go clique, clique, clique and Nerlens Noel continues to fall. 7:55PM: Anthony Bennett is from Canada, so of course he mentions hockey in his first interview. Also Andrew Wiggins, the Canadian prep star who may be the no. 1 pick in a few short years. 7:59PM: Another shocker! Back-to-back Hoosiers, as the Bobcats pick Cody Zeller. Zeller is way in the back, and he takes his sweet time to get up to the stage. He is the size of two David Sterns, standing on each other’s shoulders. If that were the case, he’d get twice the boos. But a huge Indiana contingent in the house means nothing but love right now. 8:02PM: Of the first four picks, only one was a no-brainer: Porter to DC. It’s going to get even crazier, if this is any indication. 8:04PM Barclay’s in-house turntablist is named TJ the DJ. Just in case you were wondering. He’s playing Blurred Lines which seems very appropriate for this blur of a draft so far. 8:07PM: Suns pick Alex Len, who was a rumored no. 1 pick. He’s got a foot thing. He also just ducked down and I’m pretty sure gave David Stern a Ukrainian kiss on the cheek. Is that a Eastern Promises thing? Does anyone get that reference? 8:09PM: Also, if anyone was worried about Noel’s recovery from injury, someone just brought Alex Len a walking boot. Yikes. 8:11PM: And the Pelicans pick Noel. Thank goodness. Stern is openly mugging for the crowd now, milking the boos. He also heavily enjoyed saying “Pelicans” for the first time on stage. 8:16PM: Did Stern eat the first born child of every person in this arena? The boos, lord. Kings pick Ben McLemore, who fell much further than expected. Hopefully he fits in with the circus that is the Sacramento Kings at the moment. Maybe he’ll be in Seattle in a few years? 8:18PM: Noel being interviewed. The crowd gives him the saddest applause ever. He opens his jacket to reveal his Kentucky jersey stitched into the lining, and the crowd boos. So much hate in Brookyln! Ain’t no love in the heart of the city. 8:22PM: Ooh, a trade! Noel is NOT going to the Pelicans – he’s on the way to Philadelphia for Jrue Holiday and a pick.
Philadelphia sends Jrue Holiday and a first-round pick in 2014 to New Orleans for Noel, league source says.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 28, 2013
Makes sense, given that New Orleans already has a highly-drafted 7-footer with a lower body injury in Anthony Davis. Guess Noel is the Andrew Bynum replacement. 8:24PM: Detroit picks Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, which is an NFL name if I’ve ever heard one. I imagine him splitting time in the Cardinals’ backfield with Larod Stephens-Howling. //www.youtube.com/embed/gODZzSOelss 8:28PM: A montage of bad NBA Draft suits draws raucous applause. LeBron’s all-white suit is booed mercilessly, mostly because it’s LeBron. All-white? The dude was just MADE for Miami, right? 8:30PM: A HUGE round of applause as Michigan’s Trey Burke goes to Minnesota, where he will continue to freeze his ass off for another few years. Lots of Michigan alums live in New York City, in case you didn’t know. 8:33PM: Fatigue setting in all around – the jumbotron flashes the wrong faces/names for a trivia question. No one has booed anything for minutes. TJ the DJ tries desperately to get the crowd hype. According to phone voting, people in BK think Burke will win Rookie of the Year. Except… oops, Burke is going to Utah in a trade.
Trey Burke is going to the Utah Jazz in a trade, sources tell Y! Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 28, 2013
8:35PM: Portland picks CJ McCollum, to play with reigning ROY Damian Lillard. Nasty backcourt. I think boos sustain David Stern. Burke is being interviewed in a Timberwolves hat – is he unaware of the trade? Just an awkward night all around. 8:39PM: A montage of players dancing draws cheers and boos. Kevin Garnett is just slammed by the crowd, who may be unaware that he may be playing in this very arena next season. That’ll be a great fit! 8:42PM: A McCollum interview also elicits cheers – lots of Lehigh alum in the house. But none of these guys should feel particularly set on their new homes at the moment: trades are coming fast and furious. 8:43PM: Sixers take Michael Carter-Williams, and the Syracuse alum gets a warm reception. He’ll be stepping in for the departed Jrue Holiday, it seems. May want to let his new teammate Evan Turner know what’s up.
Wait, did Jrue get traded?
— evan turner (@thekidet) June 28, 2013
8:50PM:Thunder take Steven Adams, and the collective reaction around me is “Who?” But the Thunder tend to know better, except for the James Harden trade. And Kendrick Perkins. And uh… well, he’s quite tall! 8:57PM: Another trade, as it seems Boston will be making this next pick. Can’t wait for the boos!
Boston has traded for the 13th pick from Dallas, source tells Y!
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 28, 2013
8:58PM: Our first guy who isn’t here tonight – Gonzaga’s Kelly Olynyk, who is picked by Dallas for Boston. I predict he will have the best selling Celtics jersey of all time. 9:04PM Did Stern just goad the crowd into booing him? He looks like Mussolini with his hand gestures. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves pick Shabazz Muhammad, I think. Technically it was the Jazz pick, but… It’s starting to get confusing in here. May have to wrap it up, since there aren’t many guys left in the building and the David Stern booing is getting a little depressing 9:15PM: We’re officially in foreign guy/not here territory, and my computer is dead, so that’s it for tonight. Thanks for reading – and look for our exclusive photo shoot with no. 1 pick Anthony Bennett, among other players, tomorrow.