what's the deal with the NBA draft?

i consider myself a pretty big NBA fan, and of the all the players taken in the lottery, i'd heard of about a third of them.  the guy taken #1 overall played exactly 11 college games.  4 of the top 7 picks have never even played in the US.  and the one guy everybody knows is a star, who single handily carried his team to the national title, went 9th.  maybe it has to do with the lockout looming, and teams willing to take more chances on guys deemed "projects."  but i find it hard to believe that there can really be 8 guys in this draft better than kemba walker.  remember this?!  and i wrote that back in the big east tournament, before the big dance even started.  is "watching games" no longer a part of scouting players?