The Trail Blazers traded the No. 4 pick, Tyrus Thomas, to the Chicago Bulls along with forward Viktor Khryapa and a conditional second-round pick for the No. 2 overall pick, LaMarcus Aldridge.

Portland also traded away guard Sebastian Telfair and center Theo Ratliff to Boston for the No. 7 pick, Randy Foye, then swapped him to Minnesota for the No. 6 pick, Brandon Roy.

Aldridge, a 6-foot-11 power forward/center who played as a sophomore last season at Texas, is known for his defense and could provide immediate help if the Blazers fail to re-sign free agent center Joel Przybilla. He averaged 12.4 points last season and was selected the Big 12 defensive player of the year.

"I really didn't know where I was going to end up," Aldridge said.

Khryapa, a 6-foot-9 Russian forward taken in the first round two years ago, averaged 5.8 points and 4.4 rebounds last season and showed promise when injuries gave him extra minutes.

Making the No. 4 pick before the trade was formally announced, the Blazers took forward Thomas, who played for Louisiana State as a redshirt freshman last season and averaged 12.3 points.

Despite wearing a Blazers hat, Thomas told ESPN he was "looking forward to being in Chicago."

Blazers president Steve Patterson, also serving as interim general manager, said the Blazers wanted Aldridge or Italian forward Andrea Bargnani, who went with the first overall selection to Toronto.

"We had to get up to No. 2 to do it, and we did," Patterson said.

The Trail Blazers dealt Telfair and Ratliff and a 2008 pick to Boston in exchange for the No. 7 pick, center Raef LaFrentz and Dan Dickau. The Celtics took 6-foot-4 Foye out of Villanova.

Foye was an AP All-America first-team selection as a senior last season when he averaged 20.5 points. But his time as a Trail Blazer was short-lived. Soon thereafter, Portland announced the deal with Minnesota for Roy, the Pacific-10 Conference player of the year after averaging 20.2 points for Washington.

"We have a young group," Roy said about the dynamic in Portland. "And now we get to go it together."

The Blazers finished last season 21-61, the worst record in the NBA. And the team's ownership situation is in limbo, with owner Paul Allen claiming the franchise is losing too much money.

Allen, nonetheless, participated in the draft, ensconced at the team's practice facility just south of Portland.

Portland also acquired the 27th pick, guard Sergio Rodriguez from Spain, from the Phoenix Suns for cash considerations. With the 30th overall pick, Portland took Joel Freeland, a 6-foot-10 forward from England.

"Fire Isiah" and "Sell the Knicks" were aimed at president-general manager-coach Isiah Thomas and Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan.

It didn't seem to matter the Knicks were still a while from making the first of their two first-round picks or that team officials were about 25 miles away at the practice facility in Greenburgh, the fans had something to say.

When the selection of South Carolina forward Renaldo Balkman was announced by commissioner David Stern as the 20th pick, the boos rained down. Longtime Knicks supporter Spike Lee was in The Theatre, and he was seen saying, "He's a sleeper. A sleeper," when Balkman's name was called.

When Temple guard Mardy Collins was announced as the 29th pick, the reaction from the crowd was almost subdued.

That's what happens when an NBA franchise is in the disarray the Knicks are. On Thursday, Dolan turned the coaching duties over to Thomas after firing Larry Brown after one season that saw the team tie a franchise record for losses with a 23-59 record.

"I think there was a lot of booing until they saw the highlight reel (of Balkman)," Thomas said.

The Knicks earned the second pick in the draft but Thomas traded it to the Chicago Bulls for center Eddy Curry and forward Antonio Davis.

The fans were upset that the pick wasn't "lottery protected" and they were chanting "Where's our draft pick?" right before the Bulls selected LaMarcus Aldridge of Texas, whose rights they later traded to Portland.

"I stand here before you in all honesty and still say I would still rather have Eddy Curry than any player in this draft and every GM would take Eddy Curry in this draft," Thomas said. "So would I. Had we had the second pick, I would've traded the second pick in the draft for Eddy Curry. I would've done that."

Thomas wasn't put off by the fans' reaction.

"I've been in sports all my life and I've been called a lot of bad names growing up on the West Side of Chicago, and being in an arena where people jeer and shout and say bad things about you, that's all right, that's what sports is all about," he said. "You take the good with the bad. That's what it's all about."

The 6-foot-8 Balkman led South Carolina to consecutive NIT titles, winning MVP honors this season at Madison Square Garden. He averaged a career-best 9.6 points and 6.3 rebounds last season as a junior and was selected to the Southeastern Conference all-tournament team.

The 6-6 Collins finished his college career as the fourth-leading scorer in Temple history. He averaged 16.8 points as a senior when the Owls went to their fourth straight NIT. An all-Atlantic 10 first-team selection as a junior and senior, Collins is second on Temple's career list with 290 steals.

"They can both step right in and play and compete," Thomas said. "They won't be afraid to miss a free throw or be booed at the Garden."

Thomas said he was looking for defenders going into the draft.

"Balkman is a very unique talent, a very unique player," Thomas said. "He reminds me a lot of a Dennis Rodman/Ron Artest-type player with his energy and defensive abilities."

The Toronto Raptors made Andrea Bargnani the first No. 1 pick from Europe to kick off a draft that began with a lack of buzz. But on a night when 15 trades were made -- with Portland involved in six of them -- it certainly didn't turn out boring.

"Apparently not a lot of people liked what they got at the top," Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo said.

How unpredictable was it? Even the guys who didn't get traded weren't convinced they were staying.

After watching what went on around him, no wonder Rudy Gay wasn't getting ahead of himself. Picked eighth by the Rockets but hearing his name rumored in a possible deal with Memphis, he wasn't ready to start house hunting in Houston just yet.

"I'm not saying we, because I'm not sure I'm going to play there yet," Gay said.

The wheeling and dealing started early, when LaMarcus Aldridge of Texas went second to the Chicago Bulls, starting a flurry of trades that would include the fourth, sixth and seventh picks.

Aldridge's rights were later dealt to Portland for the rights to Tyrus Thomas, who was chosen fourth, and forward Viktor Khryapa.

"Right before they said my name, they said, `They are going to call your name in a minute, but don't worry about it, they are going to trade you,"' Aldridge said.

The Trail Blazers weren't done. They acquired the rights to Foye, taken seventh out of Villanova by the Boston Celtics, along with Raef LaFrentz, Dan Dickau and cash for Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff and a 2008 second-round pick.

The Blazers then shipped Foye's rights to Minnesota for Brandon Roy, the Washington guard taken sixth by the Timberwolves.

"When I see the guys go 1, 2, 3, it was just nerve-racking," Foye said. "But then like two picks before, my agent and Brandon's agent were making eye contact and I didn't know what was going on at the time. And once I saw my agent's face light up, he was like, `Yeah, Boston is going to take you.'

"And then, `Portland is going to take you.' And then when they said Minnesota, I was like, `OK, good. Bring it on."'

The instability was likely the product of a draft that lacked star power. High school players are no longer eligible, meaning Greg Oden, who surely would have been the No. 1 pick, is headed to Ohio State instead of the NBA.

The Raptors didn't think they needed a deal, confident that Bargnani, a 20-year-old forward from Italy, can live up to comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki.

"Everyone has strengths, weaknesses, etc.," Colangelo said. "But, at the end of the day, it came down that we felt that Andrea Bargnani was really the best pick for the future of this organization going forward. It's not about today. It's about today and tomorrow, and we think that Andrea is a player that's not only going to help us in the short run, but we think he's going to grow into a terrific star in this league."

The 6-foot-10 Bargnani has drawn comparisons to the Dallas Mavericks' All-Star because of his outside shooting skills. Playing last season for Benetton Treviso in Italy's Lega A, Bargnani shot 37 percent from 3-point range.

He's the second straight foreign-born No. 1 pick after Milwaukee chose Andrew Bogut of Australia from the University of Utah last year. Bargnani is the first No. 1 pick to not play college or high school basketball in the United States since Houston took Yao Ming in 2002.

"I hope to help the team as soon as possible," Bargnani said. "I'm a young player, I know that I will find a lot of tough moments because it's a new league and I'm used to playing in Europe."

Gonzaga star Adam Morrison hoped to go first, but couldn't complain after Charlotte took him third with the Bobcats' first since pick Michael Jordan became a part owner of the team in charge of the basketball operations earlier this month. The mustachioed All-American led the nation in scoring as a junior with 28.1 points per game.

"It would be awesome if I could get some hands-on instruction from Mike," Morrison said. "Any time the greatest player of all-time is telling you what to do ... if he told me how to tie my shoes a certain way, I would probably listen."

Connecticut had a big night, tying a record with four players -- Gay, Hilton Armstrong, Marcus Williams and Josh Boone -- taken in the first round. Denham Brown, another former Huskies player, went in the second.

The draft ended with deputy commissioner and fan favorite Russ Granik announcing Iowa State's Will Blalock to Detroit with the last pick. The remaining fans chanted "One more year!" for Granik, who's leaving his position July 1.