Guarding the Garden

When the Celtics acquired Kevin Garnett after the 2006-2007 season, they traded away their first round draft pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. So, the Celtics had but one pick in this year's draft: the 58th overall, third to last in the whole draft. They picked senior shooting guard Lester Hudson out of Tennessee-Martin. Almost 25 years old, he was oldest player selected in this year's draft. (It's too bad that college prospects get penalized for staying in college for four years, e.g. Tyler Hansbrough: ACC's all-time leading scorer, dropped to the Pacers at the 13th pick. In the past three drafts, 17 seniors went in the first round, compared to 22 freshmen. This year, we saw the first American player to sidestep the new rule requiring one year of college before entering the draft by playing professionally in Europe: 10th overall pick, Brandon Jennings.) The UT Martin Skyhawks led the Ohio Valley Conference (D-1) with 22 wins last season. Lester Hudson made headlines last year as a junior when he recorded the OVC's first ever quadruple-double (25 points, 12 rebounds 10 assists, 10 steals). A talented all-around player, Hudson was the only player in the nation to average 5+ points, 4+ rebounds, 4+ assists, and 2+ steals per game. He led the OVC in scoring with 27.5 points per game, which was good enough for second-best in the nation, behind Davidson's Stephen Curry (7th overall in the Draft). During his two years at UT Martin, he received a number of significant honors: two-time AP All-American Honorable Mention, back-to-back OVC Player of the Year, 7-time OVC Player of the Week (single-season record). Flying under the radar in a conference that has seen only one player get drafted to the NBA since 2004, Hudson was projected by ESPN to go in the late first round to early second-round. He had good numbers in college, but he's already older than Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, Lebron James, Glen Davis, and Kendrick Perkins, and I don't know how much better this guy is going to get. Furthermore, the Celtics still have two young guards, J.R. Giddens and Gabe Pruitt, waiting for their chance to play at the Garden. Giddens and Pruitt (2008 and 2007 draft picks, respectively) have a team option for next season. Drafting another guard could be Danny Ainge's way of telling them that they better work their tails off, or this newcomer is going to take their spot. Or, maybe Ainge really likes the athleticism and maturity of Hudson and expects him to get a little bit of playing time next season. Regardless, it's nice to see a kid who actually graduated from college get drafted to the NBA.