Fans and members of the Wizards front office staff weren't the only ones who turned out at The Lodge in Bismarck for the 2011 D-League Draft. Second-year guard Anthony Goods was in attendance as well greeting season ticket holders and helping to get fans excited for the upcoming season. The sharp shooting guard was kind enough to take a few minutes to talk with us for a few minutes about his tryout with Team USA, coming back to the Capital City for another winter and his early impressions of Nate Bjorkgren. (Note: this interview took place prior to the conclusion of the draft and the trade involving Renaldo Major.)

In a move that can only be described as shockingly unexpected, long-time Dakota Wizard Renaldo Major was traded to the Bakersfield Jam late Thursday night following the 2011 D-League Draft. The 6-foot-6 guard was set to begin his 5th season with the only D-League franchise he has ever played for and has posted career averages of 15.7 points and 5.2 rebounds on 51% shooting.

Major and 12th overall pick Osiris Eldridge are being sent to Bakersfield in exchange for Edwin Ubiles (the 6th overall selection last night) and Travis Walton (41st pick). Wizards head coach Nate Bjorkgren had expressed in the past that he was high on Ubiles, a former standout at Siena who had an excellent showing in the Pan-American Games recently, helping to lead Puerto Rico to a gold medal. The 6-foot-6 guard is no doubt a talented player and certainly one of the more promising young backcourt players that were available last night. Walton was a defensive standout at Michigan State, earning 2009 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors, and most recently has been playing overseas. He was a summer camp invite of the Detroit Pistons in 2009 as well. Eldridge, who the Wizards ultimately selected for Bakersfield, spent last year playing in Turkey and prior to that was a star at Illinois State where he led the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring as a senior.

KFYR-TV first learned of this trade late last night and was able to have the rumors confirmed by both team sources and outside sources familiar with the situation. We'll have more from this later in the day when we speak with Bjorkgren, but for the time being, below is the breaking report that aired last night at 10 PM CT.

Major has certainly been playing at an elite level as of late, coming off of a stint with Team USA in the Pan American Games where he helped the team earn a bronze medal. Is there an inherent risk in trading away a consistent veteran for a pair of D-League newcomers? At its base, of course, but there is absolutely upside to Ubiles and Walton which should be fun to see unfold.

Ultimately though, in the short term, this is not going to be a popular choice with the Wizards fan base. Major is one of the all-time favorites at the Civic Center and he will be missed. But, like any sport, winning tends to be a good cure all.

Nate Bjorkgren had certainly dropped enough hints that he would be looking to make moves early in the season, especially with the importance that he places on tonight's draft. The first shot has been fired.

Shortly after the Wizards released their training camp invitation list - one that included big man Chris Ayer - it was announced that the center was on his way to the Reno Bighorns. Ayer appeared in 20 games with Dakota last season, averaging 12 points and 5.8 rebounds while providing a tough presence inside. The Wizards will receive Reno's 3rd round selection from the 2012 draft.

Bjorkgren has also said in the past that he wouldn't be opposed to trying to trade up in tonight's draft, going so far as to tell the Bismarck Tribune yesterday, "It depends. There could be some movement. There could be a lot of movement. There are some guys in the draft we really like." There certainly are some interesting names near the top of this draft class, with handful of NBA veterans included. Dakota would likely need to move up from their current spot at No. 12 in order to select one, if that is the direction the team chooses to go. Remember, follow me on Twitter with @JoeyWhelan for live updates from tonight's draft.

Unlike the NBA Draft – where the pool of available players is known for months in advance and open to endless scrutiny and analysis – the D-League Draft is a convoluted and largely mysterious list that most are never privy to. Through conversations with coaches, agents, players and the reporting of a select few we are able to glean at least a handful of the bigger names that will be on the board in war rooms around the League tonight (Scott Schroeder has put together several posts detailing some of these, check them out, as well as the D-League’s official site listing some of the top entries).

It can be said with certainty though that familiarizing oneself with the entire draft pool is not a process for the weary. A little over a week ago at the Wizards open tryout in Bismarck, first year head coach Nate Bjorkgren informed me that he and his staff were making calls and watching tape of more than 160 players that they already knew of who had entered the draft. What makes tonight such a fun and interesting event is the mix of talented rookies fresh out of college and the influx of NBA veterans hoping to extend or resurrect their careers.

Below is a list of some of the top names to know entering tonight’s draft (I’ll be live tweeting from the Wizards war room). Dakota owns the 12th pick overall, but doesn’t select again until the 3rd round, so it’s entirely possible they could miss out on all of the names listed, but that’s the beauty of the draft: you never know.

NBA Veterans

Jamal Tinsley
The former Indiana Pacer and Memphis Grizzly is the marquee name of this year’s draft class and stands a good chance of being selected 1st overall by Los Angeles. A former second-team All-American and Big 12 Player of the Year, Tinsley spent eight seasons in the NBA, starting for Indiana as a rookie. The 6-foot-3 point guard is now 34, has a long history of injuries and was out of the NBA last season. Still, a savvy NBA veteran who appears motivated to get back to the League is a hot commodity in the D-League.

Alando Tucker
Another former conference player of the year (Big Ten), the former Wisconsin star was a first round selection of the Phoenix Suns in 2007. The 6-foot-6 forward has more than twice as many games in the NBA (51 with Phoenix and Minnesota) as he does in the D-League (23 with Iowa and Albuquerque), but last played overseas in Russia. Still, at 27 and not all that far removed from the NBA, Tucker stands a good chance to be one of the first few names off the board tonight. Don’t forget, he posted averages of 26 ppg and 6 rpg in his brief stints in the D-League.

Chris Taft
College basketball fans will certainly remember Taft more than the NBA crowd will. Rewind to 2005 and the 6-foot-10 forward was getting tremendous amounts of hype thanks to his impressive physical profile that included a 7-foot-2 wingspan. He was an impact player in the Big East and at one point was even being forecasted as a future lottery pick if he could continue to develop and improve his work ethic. But, like so many, Taft bolted school after his sophomore season, was a late second round selection and floundered in the NBA. He lasted just 17 games with the Golden State Warriors after being diagnosed with plymyositis, an inflammatory muscle disease than can significantly impact the strength of the skeletal muscles. He was out of basketball for a year and then returned in 2008 with Rio Grande Valley, but injuries soon became an issue again. Now, at age 26, Taft is attempting one more time to get back to the NBA. It’s been years since he’s played competitive basketball, but if he can return to the kind of shape he was once in as an up and coming college prospect, he could be a real D-League success story.