WASHINGTON -- The NBA bandwagon has gone from a Ferrari to a Ford.

	Lamar Odon congratulates Elton Brand at the draft Wednesday night.

Chicago's selection of Elton Brand over more explosive players like Steve Francis and Lamar Odom gives the Bulls a solid foundation. And with Tim Duncan being annointed as the league's best player while leading the Spurs to the first post-Jordan NBA title, the Bulls are buying into the thinking that the rough road to the top is best taken in a V-8.

Brand fits that blueprint perfectly. A robust 6-foot-8, 275 pounds at the pre-draft camp at Chicago, Brand can bully with the best of them on the boards one minute and confound low-post defenders with his feathery touch the next.

After speculation on who would be picked No. 1 flipped from Odom to Francis to Brand and back to Francis, the Duke sophomore was in the dark about where he was going to go.

"I had no clue when they called my name," Brand said. "I had to sit there for a minute or two to make sure. I haven't spoken to the Bulls in three weeks (since his workout).

"I didn't know where I was going to fit into this draft."

Francis had a better idea, but his fiction didn't fit with fact when the Maryland star heard Brand's name announced as the No. 1 pick instead of his.

"They took a big gamble by not taking me," Francis said of the Bulls. A ticket to Vancouver was not high on Francis' draft wish list -- he said that he wanted to take off his new Grizzlies hat "as soon as I have a chance."

"I hope when I wake up tomorrow I'll be happy," Francis said. "Now I'm just relieved."

Odom showed considerable poise after sliding down to No. 4, putting to rest some of the cracks about his maturity. Even getting picked by the Clippers, who have as much luck with No. 1 picks as France has with land wars, didn't rattle him.

"When the Bulls drafted Michael Jordan, they weren't the best team in the NBA either," Odom said. "Let's face it, this is the NBA. We (the Clippers) have a great new arena, and I am going to be living in Los Angeles and playing basketball for a living. You ask for more than that, and you are just being greedy."

After an 11th-hour workout with Chicago on Tuesday night, Odom's hopes of being picked No. 1 overall skyrocketed. But that disappointment quickly dissipated after Odom realized his lifelong dream of making it to the NBA.

"I could have been 50th and it wouldn't have mattered," he said. "I might have been a little disappointed at first, but tomorrow, I'll have woken up and been over it and ready to work. I've been through a lot in my life, much worse than this.

"I'd probably make some different decisions so the ride could be a little smoother and you guys wouldn't rip me as much," Odom said with a laugh.

Underclassmen again ruled the top of the draft. The top five picks (Brand, Francis, Baron Davis, Odom, Jonathan Bender) combined to play all of 186 Division I games in their college careers. But after the rush of youngsters, the draft switched to teams prizing production over potential.

Looking at Wally Szczerbiak, Richard Hamilton, Andre Miller, Jason Terry and Trajan Langdon, you find four four-year players and one three-year player, along with two national titles and four Final Four appearances. Only UNLV's Shawn Marion, who was picked No. 9, stands out as a guy without much D-I experience.

"I think teams are very thorough with their picks," Szczerbiak said. "They do a lot of psychology testing and sit down and meet with the players to get to know the players individually. It's all a projection with many guys -- it's even a projection with me. I've never been on an NBA floor. But if you look at my college game, I'm pretty well-rounded and ready to contribute on an NBA team."

On the whole, the draft failed to meet its free-wheeling projections until late in the evening, when Seattle traded the rights to Corey Maggette and the contracts of Dale Ellis, Billy Owens and Don MacLean to Orlando for Horace Grant and two future second-round picks.

Rumors of an Antonio Davis-for-Jonathan Bender deal swirled around the draft, and were all but admitted to by Raptors coach Butch Carter during a TNT interview. But like that swap, the night reeked of things yet to come.

Several players mentioned a sense of relief after being picked. While the debate about who was going to be picked No. 1 is over, the waiting game continues for many players because of the specter of looming trades.

Welcome to life in the NBA.