2006 NBA draft

The 2006 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2006, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. This was also the only time the New Orleans Hornets would draft under the temporary name of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets as the city of New Orleans was still recovering from the events of Hurricane Katrina after the 2005-06 NBA season. Italian Andrea Bargnani was selected first overall by the Toronto Raptors, who won the draft lottery. Bargnani became the second player without competitive experience in the United States to be drafted first overall, after Yao Ming was picked first overall in the 2002 NBA draft. Prior to the draft, Bargnani was playing with Italian club Benetton Treviso for 3 years. Sixth-overall pick Brandon Roy from University of Washington was named Rookie of the Year for the 2006–07 season. Roy was originally drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves but his draft rights were traded to the Portland Trail Blazers on draft day. Portland also acquired the draft rights to the second-overall pick from the University of Texas, LaMarcus Aldridge from the Chicago Bulls on draft day. The University of Connecticut had four players selected in the first round, tying the record set by Duke University in 1999 and the University of North Carolina in 2005. These players were Rudy Gay, Hilton Armstrong, Marcus Williams, and Josh Boone. With Denham Brown also selected in the second round, Connecticut became the first school ever to have five players selected in a two-round draft. Connecticut joined eight other schools that had five players selected in a single draft, second only...