The NBA Draft went down on Thursday and after a couple of days to digest what went down, the staff of writers at HOOPSADDICT.com weighed in on who the steal of the draft was, the biggest surprise and they made their picks for Rookie of the Year.

The Portland Trail Blazers followed what many mock drafts predicted by taking Weber State junior point-guard Damian Lillard with sixth pick in the NBA Draft. Also following many predictions, the Blazers filled another need, getting a big man, 7’0 sophomore Meyers Leonard out of Illinois with the eleventh pick.

On the surface, it appeared like a stretch to select Mason Plumlee at No. 26; however, Larry Bird is renowned for placing very little value on projections

Sometimes teams walk away from the NBA Draft and it feels like they just added another guy to the mix. Then there are the drafts where it feels like a team is beginning to put together the championship formula.

Thursday night felt very much like the latter for the New Orleans Hornets franchise.

Bobcats general manager, Rich Cho, was undoubtedly fielding trade calls all the way up until decision time. The Bobcats stood firm and surprised some people with their draft pick.

Here’s my NBA Draft report from the Verizon Center following the NBA Draft. It’s my take on the recent trades the team has made and how their moves in draft night will effect the team.

The Atlanta Hawks – with new President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Danny Ferry – are busying preparing for the 2012 NBA Draft on June 28th.

The 2012 NBA Draft Cap from adidas – the first piece of authentic team apparel a player receives after being drafted – is now
available on NBAStore.com.

Here’s a sneak peak at what the New Orleans Hornets hat will look like:

We are less than 48 hours away from the 2012 NBA Draft and the Charlotte Bobcats are dealing. In a confirmed report from Yahoo Sports’, Adrian Wojnarowski, the Bobcats have traded forward Corey Maggette to the Detroit Pistons for guard Ben Gordon and a lottery protected first round draft pick in 2013.

The New Orleans Hornets made a trade Wednesday that showed the team has made an organizational decision to build towards the future and not allow themselves to be stuck in the middle.