The 2009 NBA Draft is in the books, and just as expected the Los Angeles Clippers spent their No. 1 pick on power forward Blake Griffin from the University of Oklahoma. Given the weak draft class this year, the biggest acquisitions were made via trades before the draft even started.

The biggest splash was made by the Cleveland Cavaliers who acquired center Shaquille O’Neal from the Phoenix Suns for center Ben Wallace, guard Sasha Pavlovic, a second-round pick in 2010 and cash. O’Neal will undoubtedly help LeBron James and Cleveland become a better team, especially when they have to meet up with Orlando again.

This trade seemingly made Cleveland the favorite to win the Eastern Conference next season, but just as the trade was settling in, the reigning Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic made a move of their own. The Magic said goodbye to Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee and Tony Battie, but brought in perennial All-Star Vince Carter in a trade with the New Jersey Nets.

The other big trade for a title contender came in the Western Conference, where the San Antonio Spurs looked to add a piece to the puzzle, acquiring Richard Jefferson from the Milwaukee Bucks for Bruce Bowen and Kurt Thomas. Jefferson gives the Spurs a big-time scorer and makes one of the oldest teams in the NBA a bit younger.

The biggest story inside the draft was the amount of point guards that were taken high in the first round. The Minnesota Timberwolves alone took three point guards with the 5th, 6th and 18th picks in the draft, selecting Spain’s Ricky Rubio, Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn and North Carolina’s Ty Lawson respectively. Picking Lawson was a head-scratcher at first, but his draft rights were nearly immediately traded to the Denver Nuggets where Lawson will get to learn under one of the best point guards in the league in Chauncey Billups.

The other point guards selected in the top 10 include Memphis’s Tyreke Evans taken by Sacramento at No. 4, Davidson’s Stephen Curry taken by Golden State at No. 7 and Italy’s Brandon Jennings who was taken by Milwaukee with the No. 10 pick.

One point guard with major upside who’s going into a great situation however is UCLA’s Jrue Holiday, who was taken at No. 17 by the Philadelphia 76ers. Holiday at one point was the nation’s top high school recruit, but his stock fell after a subpar freshman season. That being said, he has a major upside and will most likely be the starter in Philadelphia within a couple years alongside Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala.

The other theme of the day besides the point guard position was the amount of international players that were taken. This is mainly due to the fact that the draft class in general was pretty weak and the vast majority of the good players were taken in the first half of the first round. Of course the most highly-touted international player is Rubio; however, there are reports now that Rubio may stay in Spain for a couple more years before come over to play in the NBA.