An eventful draft night for several Trojans

Two former USC basketball players were selected in the first round of Thursday night’s NBA draft. Shooting guard/small forward DeMar DeRozan was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the ninth overall selection, and center Taj Gibson was drafted by the Chicago Bulls with the twenty-sixth overall pick.

DeRozan went about as high as most draft experts pegged the 6’6″ swingman to go. ESPN’s Chad Ford had in fact forecasted that DeRozan would be taken off the board by Toronto at number nine. However, Gibson’s first round selection was in fact a surprise to many. Most draft gurus had Gibson being taken in the early to mid second round, but much to his surprise, Gibson became a first round pick at number twenty-six.

In addition to being selected highly in the draft, DeRozan and Gibson also landed in some good situations. While he will play for a sub-500 Eastern Conference team in Toronto, DeRozan will be afforded the opportunity to earn a lot of playing time for a team than just made the playoffs one year ago in 2008. Playing with Chris Bosh and in a high-tempo offense, DeRozan will get plenty of opportunities to score and pad his statistics.

Gibson joins a young, energetic Chicago team that is coming off an impressive first round performance against the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics. With the Bulls in need of some big men, Gibson may have the chance to step in and play right away alongside Joakim Noah in the frontcourt. The Bulls also feature rookie of the year point guard Derrick Rose, who has showed the ability to elevate the performance of his teammates. Therefore, playing alongside Rose could help Taj to grow as a player.

But while both DeRozan and Gibson had memorable nights, it was a night to forget for former USC guard Daniel Hackett. Hackett, who was a junior last season, went undrafted Thursday night. However, it was not a surprise, as few mock drafts even included Hackett. Yet, it certainly has to be a dissapointment for the Italian guard, who had made it clear that he felt ready for the NBA.

“My goal is to play in the NBA,” Hackett told the press. “I’m sure I won’t be a top-10 pick, but I feel comfortable enough to say I can play at that level.”

If the so called “Italian Stalian” still seeks the opportunity to become an NBA player, he does have a few options remaining. It’s certainly not the end of the line for Hackett. Option one is be invited to a team’s training camp in October and then make the team as a free agent. If that plan doesn’t fall through, another option is to work his way up through the NBA’s developmental league. However, few players have been successful in making the jump from the D-league to the NBA.

Therefore, the most likely scenario for Hackett is to return to his native Europe to play pro ball with an Italian, Spanish, or Israeli, team. If he plays well, he could eventually be signed to an NBA contract, much like the Raptors’ Anthony Parker, who played six seasons in Europe before returning to the States.