Thursday night's NBA Draft left three Kansas players with a swirl of emotions with Brandon Rush on the high end, Darrell Arthur somewhere in the middle and Mario Chalmers feeling chilly as a second-rounder.
"I guess that's why they say you never know what's going to happen in the draft,"
Arthur said after slipping to the 27th pick of the first round.
To be sure, it was a wheeling-dealing night for the ex-Jayhawks. Rush, Arthur and Chalmers were all involved with trades or proposed trades. Arthur apparently will end up with Houston, Rush at Indiana and Chalmers at Miami.
When it was all over, five players off KU's national championship team were drafted. In the second round, forward Darnell Jackson went to Miami with the 52nd pick and center Sasha Kaun landed at No. 56 with Cleveland.
For Rush, the night brought just about everything he could want. Not only was he a lottery pick, going with the 13th pick to Portland, but he was then part of a proposed five-player trade that will send him to Indiana where he could join his older brother, Kareem, who is an unrestricted free agent this year.
"I hope everything works out,"
Rush said, "because that would be really sweet to play with my brother."
Arthur apparently is the part of two deals. After New Orleans picked him at No. 27, the Hornets sent his rights to Portland. But in a report by The Oregonian newspaper's Web site, Arthur was then traded to Houston.
While Rush was the first ex-Jayhawk taken on a night when a record number of KU players were selected, it was a long and agonizing wait for Arthur and Chalmers.
Projected by some to be a lottery pick, Arthur was the last player remaining in the green room at New York's Madison Square Garden. Reports that he might have a kidney problem apparently scared off some teams while lower-rated power forwards were picked ahead of him.
But after being selected, Arthur said, "My health is fine. I took another blood test at Washington (during a workout) this week. Everything came out fine."
"I guess the other guys didn't contact anybody."
No problem was found during an official NBA physical, but some teams were skittish after they were denied access to the report on the physical.
KU coach Bill Self also said no problems were found with Arthur's kidney during his two years as a Jayhawk.
"It's disappointing because our medical people ran tests on our guys and everything turned out well,"
Self said. "We don't know how it transpired, but rumors were that some tested him that his levels were high with kidneys."
"Washington tested him after that and it came out fine. I had some team call me that would have taken (Arthur) earlier in the draft if this had been cleared up. It's disappointing for a talent like this to fall to 27th. But whether it's Portland or Houston that winds up with him, they're getting a heckuva talent at 27."
Hanging around so long in the draft wore on Arthur.
"It was pretty nerve-racking, waiting like that,"
he said. "But I know I can bring energy and a defensive presence to the league."
Rush was traded along with point guard Jarrett Jack and forward Josh McRoberts to the Pacers for forward Ike Diogu and Jerryd Bayless. Bayless, a point guard from Arizona, was selected at No. 11 by Indiana
As first-round picks, Rush and Arthur will receive guaranteed three-year contracts. Rush's take will be about $4.835 million, while Arthur will draw around $2.636 million.
As a second rounder, Chalmers won't receive a guaranteed contract.
"I'm very surprised,"
Self said of Chalmers going so late. "It's very disappointing that a guy with eligibility left would fall to the second round."
Although he wasn't invited to sit in the Green Room, Chalmers did go to New York and waited in the audience at the Garden with expectations that he would be selected in the first round. After all, that's what so many teams had told him and why he opted to give up his senior year at KU.
While Chalmers didn't make it in the opening round, an ex-Jayhawk was selected when J.R. Giddens was taken by the Boston with the 30th and final pick.
Giddens played two years at KU before transferring in June 2005 to New Mexico where he revived his career.
Jackson was more than thrilled with his chance in Miami.
"I'd rather be drafted than go as a free agent,"
he said. "I want to know where I'll be. All I have to do now is go work hard. I can do that."
But Kaun, who was taken No. 56 by Seattle but is part of a proposed trade to Cleveland, won't be available to the Cavaliers for some time, since he just signed a three-year, multi-million contract with a pro team in his native Russia.
