“NBA Draft Recap”

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The top phrases you hear from NBA people at the draft:

I can’t believe he was there.
He was the guy we wanted all along
Can’t wait to get there and start working out

So the NBA draft is history, with beauty in the eye of the beholder, once we got beyond the top 3-draft picks.

Orlando surprised people by taking Duke F-Paolo Banchero-explosive-active-dynamic scorer, now we see what he does against qualifyt pros.  He might be the second coming of Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee down road

Oklahoma City has a really good night, starting with the tougher than nails 7-center Chet Holmgren of Gonzaga, but they also added a shooter from Santa Clara-Jalen Williams-, and a prospect from France in 6’7-Ousmaine Dieng via a trade.

Houston got a gem in Jabari Smith, the do-everything forward from Auburn, who dropped from the top slot.  They also got a couple of grinders in forwards Tari Eason of LSU and Wendell More of Duke.

Sacramento kept the 4th pick and took Keegan Murray, a superb guard from Iowa.

Detroit, building towards great things, took G-Jaden Ivey of Purdue, a lightning fast guard, and then traded for Memphis F-Jalen Duren-a huge undeveloped athlete..

From then on, it was who you liked, who fit best with what you needed.

Among the other picks I liked:

Indiana, yet to make trades, got Arizona G-Benn Mathurin
Washington got gifted Wisconsin guard Johnny Davis
Cleveland got a shooter in kansas guard Ochai Agbaji
Charlotte picked Duke shot blocker Mark Williams.
Chicago took an underrated guard in Dalen Terry from Arizona
Denver got a tough guy guard in Kansas star Christian Braun.
Memphis got bigger with a rim protector in Walker Kessler of Auburn and then traded for Colorado State F-David Roddy.
Miami may have the steal in the draft in Serbian teenage star Nikola Jokic.
Golden State drafted at the end of the round, and what they got has upside in 6’7-Milwaukee forward Patrick Baldwin.

The Lakers trade a future 2nd to get Orlando’s pick and took young Michigan State G-Matt Christie, who averaged 9-points per game but was not a great outside shooter but a good defender.  Bypassed a bunch of big bodies, but maybe a player that fits the Darvin Ham mold.

Still to come, all the uncertainty about the big name players with opt-out clauses in theri contracts, and the potential of some sign and trade deals.

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