"Other people may be surprised, but I always thought I should go No. 1," Gordon said.

High school senior Shaun Livingston of Peoria, Ill., went fourth to the Los Angeles Clippers, who had traded down from No. 2 this week in a deal with the Bobcats. The baby-faced, lanky 6-foot-7 guard had originally committed to play at Duke.

Wisconsin guard Devin Harris was chosen fifth by Washington, which was picking for Dallas as part of a trade agreed to Wednesday night that sends Jerry Stackhouse and Christian Laettner to Dallas and Antawn Jamison to the Wizards.

If the Mavericks keep Harris, he could be a replacement for Steve Nash at point guard if Nash leaves as a free agent. But Dallas was involved in trade discussions with several teams, and even Harris acknowledged he was "clueless" as to what the true identity of his team will be.

Stanford junior Josh Childress went at No. 6 to Atlanta, which had been trying to move into the No. 1 spot.

"This draft in particular, no one had any idea which way it would go," Childress said.

Duke freshman Luol Deng was picked seventh by Phoenix, which traded him to Chicago for a future first-round pick, cash and the rights to the 31st pick, Jackson Vroman. The Suns, who owned three first-round picks before dealing them all away, wanted to get rid of the No. 7 pick to clear enough salary cap room for a maximum salary offer to one of the top free agents.

San Antonio, Denver and Atlanta also have enough room to offer a "max" contract to a free agent class headed by Kobe Bryant and Nash.