It was, as everyone predicted, unpredictable.
There was so much talent that was so similar in the 1995 NBA draft, most analysts acknowledged some players could go anywhere within a range of 20 or 30 picks.And they did:
Arizona State's Mario Bennett was projected as high as No. 10. He ended up going at No. 27 to Phoenix, which had blasted his attitude prior to the draft.
Wyoming's Theo Ratliff was projected by many analysts as a second-round pick. Detroit plucked him with the 18th pick of the first round. Doug Collins compared him with Horace Grant.
Memphis' David Vaughn, like Bennett a player with major-league talent but minor league work ethic, was originally projected as a lottery pick. He slipped to No. 25, where Orlando took him.
Wisconsin's Rashard Griffith, originally rated right behind Bryant Reeves and Cherokee Parks among this year's centers, fell all the way to the second round, where Milwaukee took him with No. 38.
The biggest news of draft day came from the Denver Nuggets, who traded up to the get the second pick overall and grabbed Alabama's Antonio McDyess to fill the void left by the injury to LaPhonso Ellis.
Michigan State's Shawn Respert, drafted at No. 8 by Portland, was traded to Milwaukee for Ohio University forward Gary Trent and a future first-round pick.
In perhaps the least scintillating trade of the night, Washington sent Rex Chapman and second-round draft pick Terrence Rencher to Miami for Jeff Webster, a second-round pick in 1994 and Ed Stokes, a second-rounder in 1993. Chapman was once a lottery pick.
Winners in the draft:
Denver, which turned a No. 15 and a No. 9 into a No. 2, giving them back the big, physical front line they had before Ellis was injured.
Atlanta, which may find it has a steal in Colorado's Donnie Boyce, drafted at No. 42 because of his broken leg.
Golden State, which not only got Maryland's Joe Smith with the first pick overall, but added another legitimate big man in Andrew DeClercq, who slipped into the second round.
Philadelphia. The Sixers had only one pick, but they may have gotten the draft's best player at No. 3 in Jerry Stackhouse.
Losers:
Charlotte. When you come out of a draft with only UCLA stiff George Zidek, it wasn't a good day.
Utah. When you come out of a draft with only Kansas stiff Greg Ostertag, it wasn't a good day.
Orlando. The Magic got David Vaughn, full of promise with no delivery.
Sacramento drafted the all-undersized team, taking small power forward Corliss Williamson with its first pick and tiny point guard Ty Edney with its second.
Although expansion Vancouver drafted Bryant "Big Country" Reeves with No. 6, Nuggets general manager Bernie Bickerstaff said they might trade to Dallas for Cherokee Parks and Loren Meyer, big men taken at Nos. 12 and 24.
The draft set a record for most underclassmen taken in the first round - 10.
But with the NBA's collective bargaining situation turning nasty, there was a paucity of trades or other major maneuvers. If you want to know how this draft went, check back at the turn of the century.