Wrapping Up: The 2020 NBA Draft
Drafting in professional sports is always going to be risky. Drafting for professional sports in 2020 when there is a pandemic and we did not have a finish to the college basketball season is like playing Russian roulette except three of the chambers are loaded. This year saw the likes of Killian Hayes anywhere from number one on pre-draft rankings to number seven. Hayes would go in that seven slot coincidentally, but the draft this year had many big issues, the biggest one being that not a single player in this draft is or was a sure thing.
I find grading drafts to already be near impossible and a little futile, and that’s without the ever present factor that is the pandemic preventing teams from really getting to see everything from these players. I will never give out a draft grade until at least one season after the draft. We have no idea what these players will really be, and frankly we will probably only be getting a glimpse after one season, but at least there will be some inclination as to who the guys can become. So for now, let’s just quickly go over some of the more fun story lines from Wednesday night.
The Top Three Went Chalk
After weeks of speculating that Minnesota was actively wanting to move out of one, Golden State was primed to move down from two, and Charlotte was going to be Charlotte, absolutely nothing of interest happened. The first three picks were Anthony Edwards, into James Wiseman, into LaMelo Ball. The most interesting thing here was how we now get to see LaMelo traverse his fathers seeming disdain for Michael Jordan stealing Lavar’s title as greatest basketball player of all time. Wiseman should be very good for Warriors and with Klay going down for the year, the fans there needed something more exciting than Wendel Carter Jr. and the fourth pick to cheer for.
May we now say our condolences for the offensive production of professional basketball player Anthony Edwards. Though you never saw an NBA court, the potential of your scoring power was immense. As you are now sent to go play with two players whose usage rates add up to fifty-seven percent, we lament the scoring you could have done. May your talent propel you to being more than just Otto Porter Jr. lite. In all seriousness this was the right pick for Minnesota to make, the fit just seems off. Maybe D’Angelo Russel can take the smallest of steps back in the offense to open things up for Edwards.
Oh the Reaches You’ll See
It all started at the number four overall pick. My beloved Chicago Bulls selected Patrick Williams. Williams seems like a fantastic kid and a really hard worker, but with Deni Avdija, Killian Hayes, and Isaac Okoro sitting there this pick just seems ill advised. Maybe the Bulls saw something in him during interviews, and definitely not during workouts, that the rest of us just did not. It just feels really hard to justify a guy that didn’t start during college as the number four overall pick, no matter how hard he works.
The next big reach was at the ten spot. Apparently my affinity for a team makes them infinitely more likely to reach wildly on a position of need over taking the best available talent. The Phoenix Suns selected Jalen Smith as the tenth overall pick. Tyrese Haliburton was sitting right there. You traded for a thirty-six year old Chris Paul and had the option to draft a kid who could slide in as his back up, learn everything he needs to for two years, and then take up the mantle as your long-term starting floor general, and instead you go with a guy because Aaron Baynes is leaving. I will never understand this pick. Jalen Smith should be a fine player. Stretch fours are always in demand in this league; but when you already have Frank Kaminsky and free agency to fill that need, this will always feel short sighted.
This last one isn’t as big of a deal but as for Aleksej Pokusevski, I am fully out. The man is fourteen inches taller than me and roughly fifteen to twenty-five pounds heavier. He also does not dunk. If you are seven feet tall, do not dunk, and weigh less than most NBA point guards, I am just out. Apologies to the Timberwolves’ fans and the Pokusevski family.
Picks Worth Loving Like a Spouse
Killian Hayes is very controversial. The difference in pre-draft rankings based on the day you visited a particular website says enough about that. The reason I love this pick is not because of what pick he was taken with, it’s because of where he went. Detroit is a barren wasteland devoid of talent outside of an aging Derrick Rose and an over the hill Blake Griffin. What this means is one of two things: either Hayes will get to learn from Derrick Rose and be under his tutelage, or Rose will be traded and Hayes will get to be this year’s Trae Young. Either way, I see this as a win-win for Detroit and its fans.
How does Tyrese Haliburton fall to pick twelve? Did he kick someone’s dog during an interview? For the entirety of the college season Haliburton was an early-to-mid lottery pick. Most pre-draft boards had him firmly inside the top ten. But as the night continued he just fell and fell, before finally the Sacramento Kings got what was probably the best pick of the night. Haliburton is an NBA ready guard who can pass and rebound. Haliburton getting to play alongside De’Aaron Fox is just, *chef’s kiss.*
A couple of later picks I love are Precious Achiuwa going at twenty to the Miami Heat and RJ Hampton falling to the Milwaukee Bucks at twenty-two. Is there a more Heat player in this draft than Achiuwa? He fits in so perfectly with what they want to do. As for Hampton, he is as athletic as it gets, and going to a great team where he will be given time and attention to develop the finer skills he lacks is the absolute perfect fit for him.
The Draft this year will always be remembered whether it is for a high amount of busts or misses, or for the guys that nobody saw becoming what they did, or even just for the ridiculous circumstances that it took place in. The 2020 draft is in the books and now we get to watch Free Agency unfold. The NBA offseason truly does remain undefeated.