NEW YORK — On a draft day that felt like the trade deadline, the Los Angeles Clippers never considered a deal.

Not when they were the ones who could take Blake Griffin.

Following a flurry of head-turning trades around the NBA, the Clippers started Thursday night's draft with the obvious choice: Griffin, the only player considered a sure thing in a class full of question marks.

Griffin was the consensus college player of the year after leading the nation with 14.4 rebounds per game while averaging 22.7 points last season for Oklahoma. Now he'll try to turn around the long-suffering Clippers.

"I'm looking forward to it," Griffin said. "I know what's happened in the past, everybody keeps telling me that. But you know, I'm not going to say, 'OK, we haven't had that many winning seasons, why don't we give up now?'"

That attitude, as much as his hardworking style of play that helped him lead the nation in double-doubles, immediately won over Los Angeles. The Clippers said they would take the forward with the top pick just hours after they won the draft lottery last month, and never considered changing their minds.

"The fact is we're getting an incredible player, incredible person, an impeccable work ethic and a guy that we plan on having in L.A. for many years to come," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "He's going to be a great, exciting fit for our ballclub."

The draft followed a day of big trades in the NBA.

The deal that sent Shaquille O'Neal to play alongside LeBron James in Cleveland was completed earlier Thursday, and Eastern Conference champion Orlando acquired Vince Carter from the Nets in a swap completed shortly before the first pick was made.

San Antonio landed Richard Jefferson from Milwaukee Tuesday, and more big names could be available this summer as teams are forced to slash payroll. The best way to improve quickly this year was through trades, because the draft was considered weaker than in recent years.

It lacked the star power of 2007, when Greg Oden and Kevin Durant battled it out for top pick honors, or when Derrick Rose beat out Michael Beasley last year.

There was no debate this time.

The Clippers began a marketing campaign featuring Griffin the day after the lottery, and are hoping the forward turns out better than their last No. 1 overall pick. They opened the 1998 draft by taking center Michael Olowokandi, a bust who is out of the league.

"Hopefully I can bring something they don't have," Griffin said. "I know they have a lot of great players but at the same time I'm excited about the opportunity and hopefully I can bring something to the table that they don't have or maybe they need."

The Memphis Grizzlies then grabbed Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet, a dominant rebounder and shot blocker who doesn't have strong offensive skills.

After the two big men, the rest of the first round was dominated by guards — the Minnesota Timberwolves going for a few of them — with at least 10 players selected who could play the point. Seven guards went in the first 10 selections.

The Timberwolves snapped up Spanish teenager Ricky Rubio at No. 5, a pick they acquired from Washington earlier this week, before going for Syracuse's Jonny Flynn with the next pick.

Second-round highlights included Pittsburgh teammates Sam Young and DeJuan Blair going with consecutive picks to Memphis and San Antonio at Nos. 36 and 37; and Taylor Griffin, Blake Griffin's older brother, going to Phoenix with the 48th pick.