Curry Spicing Up A Bland NBA Draft

He won't go No. 1 overall, but Davidson guard Stephen Curry is by far the most talked-about player in this year's NBA draft, which takes place tonight at Madison Square Garden. (Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated)

All most NBA analysts can tell you about tonight's NBA draft is that Blake Griffin will be selected first overall by the Los Angeles Clippers. What happens from there is anyone's guess, as this year's draft is one with puzzle pieces that still do not fit just a mere three hours away from David Stern opening the bottle on this year's festivities at Madison Square Garden.

One name that will definitely be called in the top five besides Griffin is that of Stephen Curry. The sweet shooter that ignited Davidson's Cinderella run to the Elite Eight in 2008 decided to skip his senior year to turn pro, and all indications are that he will go to the Timberwolves at No. 5 after Minnesota acquired that pick from the Wizards Monday night in exchange for Randy Foye and Mike Miller.

With Griffin off the board at No. 1, the Grizzlies have the second pick; and could go in either of two ways. Memphis needs a big man and will have UConn's Hasheem Thabeet on the board for them, or they could make things interesting by selecting Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio, whose stock rose after an exceptional performance in the Olympics last summer. However, Rubio is not exactly enamored with playing for the Grizzlies, a situation that is all too familiar to that franchise. Back in 1999, the then-Vancouver Grizzlies had the second pick in the draft, just as they do now, and chose Maryland guard Steve Francis; only to tradehim to Houston because Francis did not want to play in Canada. The Grizzlies ended up with Mike Bibby in return.

Oklahoma City and Sacramento are on the clock at three and four, respectively; and will be looking at players such as James Harden, Curry, Tyreke Evans, and whoever the Grizzlies pass on at No. 2.

Coverage of this year's NBA draft starts at 7 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN.