Every year, the NBA Draft boasts a few special players who have the unenviable task of restoring a franchise to glory, or at least providing for a little much needed excitement.  This year's edition was no different.  There are always a few surprises, and sometimes good college players can fall into the 2nd round.  A few picks are always obvious.  Others, not so much.  Let's start with the overall #1 pick, John Wall.

The Washington Wizards were the team lucky enough to land the #1 pick this year.  Everyone automatically predicted they would draft Wall, and they didn't deviate from the assumption.

John Wall played one year at Kentucky under John Calipari, and was the consensus best player in the NCAA.  Wall had an incredible season and brought a level of relevance to Kentucky that had been missing for quite some time.

Although the Wizards already have Gilbert Arenas, not selecting Wall would have been inexcusable.  He reminds many of Derrick Rose, with his quickness and hops.  John Wall will have a great opportunity to turn around a franchise in Washington who struggled desperately last year, missing Arenas due to suspension and then the trade of Jamison to the Cavaliers.  In my opinion, Wall is one of a select few players who have the ability to come directly out of the draft and make a huge impact. 

The 2nd pick belonged to the Philadelphia 76ers, who selected Ohio State's Evan Turner.  Evan has the ability to play point guard, shooting guard, and also small forward.  He was a 1st team All-American, 2010 Player of the Year, and was the leading scorer in the Big 10 for consecutive years.  Turner is 6 feet 7 inches, and weighs in close to 210 lbs.  Basically, he has the body for an NBA player.  Alongside Andre Igoudala, Turner has the capability to Turn-In a big season for the 76ers.  When all is said and done, he might end up being a bigger impact player than Wall.

There were some other players drafted, who have a chance to make big contributions, but none close to Wall or Turner.  Demarcus Cousins was John Wall's teammate at Kentucky, and he has the makings of a solid NBA power forward at some in point in the future.  Sacramento picked him at #5, but there are still some questions about his motivation and his weight problem.  Once he puts his mind to it, he can be a dominant rebounding PF much like Glen Davis.  Derrick Favors and Wesley Johnson will also be solid, but need time to further develop.   

I liked the fact that Gordon Hayward went #9 to the Jazz, although he might not see a ton of playing time with them this year.  He was one of the feel-good stories in this years NCAA March Madness, and his play at Butler was flat-out impressive.  His last-second heave came within inches of beating Duke in the Championship.  Utah always seems to like having at least a few token white players on their roster, so naturally he was a good fit.

Much was made of Chicago's move to send Kirk Hinrich to Washington.  Their obvious move to make salary cap available was a message to LeBron and the other big-name free agents.  They are now in position to bring in two great players, alongside Derrick Rose and an already formidable Bulls squad.  New Jersey is the other team that has a ton of cap-space, but I really don't see LeBron making that move either.  July 1st is only 4 days away.  Of course LeBron would overshadow the draft, I mean he's basically Brett-Favre status right now.  Even so, LeBron James is still Underrated