Vecenie’s NBA Draft Live blog: Instant analysis from The Athletic’s draft expert (2024)

NBA Draft night is here. After months of speculation and years of evaluation, NBA teams will finally make their selections as to who will join their team. But who will be picking where? That remains an open question even as we head into the event, with plenty of picks still being discussed in potential deals.

When picks do get made on Thursday night in Brooklyn, the best place to find analysis and follow along with the draft will be here at The Athletic, where Senior Writer and NBA Draft Expert Sam Vecenie will be breaking down the action as the picks unfold as the ultimate companion piece to the draft.

In the meantime, be sure to check out Sam’s LIVE mock draft, with live updates up until the start of the draft as he continues to hear more intel coming from around the league. You can also read up on all of Sam’s scouting reports from the entire year, Sam’s College Coaches Poll where coaches gave him anonymous and honest feedback on all of the top prospects in this year’s draft, and even more draft analysis from Sam and our entire staff of NBA writers from around the league and our college basketball staff on our NBA Draft page.

Join our subscriber discussion below in the comment section leading up to and during the draft.

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No. 1: The New Orleans select Zion Williamson: No surprises here. From the moment the Pelicans won the lottery, this was always going to be the pick. I’ve written extensively about why I think Williamson is the best prospect since Anthony Davis. From a scouting standpoint, the elite traits are obvious. He’s the most explosive player at his size and weight to ever enter the NBA, but he’s not just that. He pairs his prodigious leaping ability and quickness with tremendous body control and a high level feel for the game.

He’s a great scorer around the basket, can you can’t stop him from getting there. He’s also an underrated passer. Defensively, the upside here is legitimately All-Defense. From a production standpoint, he put up 22.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting an insane 68 percent from the field. It kind of goes without saying, but no one in the last 25 years of college basketball has achieved those benchmarks. Honestly, no one has really come close to that level of across-the-board production. His 40.8 PER doesn’t just set the record for the highest mark in the last decade; it shatters it. And to top it off, he did while still only being 18 years old.

Williamson is deserving of all the accolades he gets, and should be a wildly successful centerpiece for David Griffin to build around in New Orleans.

No. 2: The Memphis Grizzlies select Ja Morant: Again, not all that crazy here. No madness. Morant has been anticipated to be the selection since the lottery, and thus that is exactly what has happened. Executives around the league have Morant as the clear No. 2 guy in this class behind Williamson, an opinion I don’t quite feel as strongly about, but ultimately concur with in ranking.

He’s an elite player off of a live dribble, due largely to his tight handle, terrific of change of pace, and ability to change direction without slowing down. It’s my opinion that Morant will enter the NBA immediately as one of the top 10 passers in the league. His vision is sublime, and his ability to pass one-handed directly off of the dribble allows him to make a pass immediately upon identifying it. As a scorer, Morant’s skinny frame gives some evaluators pause as a finisher. His jump shot also needs some work, as he’s not the most adept pull-up shooter yet. If a defender goes under a screen and he has time to set his feet, Morant has the ability to knock down a 3. But he’s not as dynamic getting into his shot at full speed yet, which is a critical piece of being a lead guard in today’s NBA. He’s a tremendous fit next to the team’s other franchise centerpiece, Jaren Jackson Jr., as a pick-and-roll partner. Also, he’ll bring a level of thrill and excitement to Memphis.

His personality isn’t out of tune with the grit-and-grind mentality of the city as he’s a really hard worker, but he’ll bring the kind of flash to the backcourt that the team offensively lacked at times during its previous era.

No. 3: The New York Knicks select R.J. Barrett: Guys, maybe this draft won’t go all that far off the rails tonight…right? RIGHT? In Barrett, the Knicks do the smart thing and just take the guy who is young, super productive, and an extremely hard worker who wants to be great and will embrace the New York spotlight.

He’s the first high-major player to average 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists — and he did it as an 18-year-old freshman who re-classified into the 2018 recruiting class. He’ll be one of the stronger wings in the NBA during his prime, possessing the ability to get to the rim and maneuver around players with a nice array of Eurostep moves. His ability to get to the foul line is also terrific, as he has expertly figured out the technique of James Harden holding the ball away from his body while someone rakes across his arms.

There are some concerns here in regard to sharing the load. At times, Barrett played selfishly this season. It would help him to change his mentality just slightly. The Knicks would want him to still be the confident player he is; they just also want him to make the confident passing reads that he made more of throughout the latter quarter of the season. Additionally, Barrett needs to work slightly on his jump shot, although I believe he’s a better shooter than what the numbers indicate largely due to shot selection. His jumper has taken tremendous strides over the last 18 months. Overall, I’d bet on Barrett becoming an all-star caliber player as long as his defense can go from poor at Duke to league average, something he at least has the tools to accomplish when he’s engaged.

No. 4: TRADE TIME: The Pelicans trade No. 4, Solomon Hill, No. 57 and a future second round pick to Atlanta for No. 8, No. 17, No. 35, and a protected first round pick from Cleveland in 2020; The Atlanta Hawks select De’Andre Hunter: Over the last 48 hours, it crystallized the Hawks were interested in acquiring Hunter, and that they would likely need to move up to No. 4 to make it happen due to Cleveland’s interest at No. 5.

What they gave up to do so? Quite a bit. They kept the No. 10 overall pick, but ended up dealing two first rounders instead of just one had they been able to get away with dealing just that one. Plus, they also had to move No. 35, a pick that should result in a fairly interesting potential role player for a cheap contract, in addition to taking on Solomon Hill’s contract for next season. I’m high on Hunter as a player, as he’s slotted into the No. 4 place on my Big Board. But this is a rather large ransom to pay that considerably overvalues this slot — especially considering none of the guys beyond the top-three but inside the top-10 of the draft really solve what the Pelicans needed and thus they were likely to trade the pick.

This brings the Pelicans haul in the Anthony Davis trade up to Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, No.8, No. 17, No. 35, three future first round picks, a pick swap, and cap space from getting off of Solomon Hill’s contract. I don’t think any executive has ever done better when trading a superstar than David Griffin has this offseason. That is not an exaggeration. Genuinely, the Pelicans are set to be a major player in the future because of all of the assets they’ve acquired in the last week.

For the Hawks, the Hunter selection makes a lot of sense and he fills the biggest hole on the roster: a two-way wing who is 6-foot-8 with a 7-foot-2 wingspan, can knock down shots form distance and defend multiple different types of players both across the perimeter and across the frontline. If Travis Schlenk is trying to build his version of the Golden State Warriors in Atlanta after coming from their organization to take over the Hawks, imagine Hunter as his Andre Iguodala, just with less ball-handling skills and vision on offense but better shooting ability. It’s an easy fit into their rotation, and he’ll be a key contributor from Day One on the defensive end. Offensively, the keys here are quickening up his release on his jump shot, and tightening up his handle just a little bit. He has a nice high release point on his jumper and he can act as a creator in mid-post settings and knock down contested shots off of screens, but you definitely want him in mote of a complimentary role on offense. Next to Trae Young and Kevin Huerter, that’s exactly what he’ll be asked to do, regardless of if he’s playing the 3 or the 4. It’s a great pick, I just think they might have overpaid a bit to get the pick.

No. 5: The Cleveland Cavaliers select Darius Garland: Cool! The first pick of the night that I’m not actually a huge fan of, despite the fact that I believe Garland has a really tremendous upside as a player. I don’t really see a world where the Cavaliers are going to want to have both Garland and Collin Sexton on the floor at once. I didn’t think it was possible for Cleveland to get worse defensively this year — given that they allowed the worst percentage at the rim in at least the last 25 years of the NBA and finished last in defensive rating — but they did just that. Garland has never been an average defender in his short time at Vanderbilt, nor in high school, and now the Cavaliers will likely be playing some dual point guard lineups with him and Sexton, who was one of the worst defenders in the NBA last season.

Sources told The Athletic throughout the day that the Cavaliers were honed in on taking Hunter if he were to fall to No. 5, which made sense given their hole across the wing and his defensive prowess. This is the antithesis of that, and as someone who does think that the way pieces fit together on a roster developmentally is incredibly important, I just can’t quite get 100 percent behind that.

But at the end of the day, I guess that the Cavaliers would make the argument that they’re so early in their rebuild that they simply should be taking the highest-upside players in the draft. Ultimately, at this stage, I think Garland is that guy, and most NBA executives feel the same way.

He’s an elite live dribble creator due to his ability to keep the ball on a string and change pace. His pull-up game is also lethal and makes him a tailor-made fit for today’s NBA as a scoring guard if he can finish around the basket. Now, much like Sexton, he’s not an elite level facilitator for others. And where the Kyrie Irving comparison that he often gets falls apart is in Garland’s finishing ability around the basket, something he struggles with currently, especially when defenses force him left. Still, if Garland hits because of his elite level pull-up game, the fit problems are ones that the Cavaliers would love to have to solve.

So I get the pick. I really do. But I probably would have gone a different direction.

No. 6: TRADE TIME: The Suns trade No. 6 to the Minnesota Timberwolves for No. 11 and Dario Saric; The Timberwolves select Jarrett Culver: So, I’m not all that excited about this deal for the Suns. Sources told The Athletic that had they stayed at No. 6, Culver was the favorite to be the pick. In my opinion, I would rather have Culver than No. 11, plus one year of Dario Saric at a $3.4 million before having to make a restricted free agency decision on him and potentially pay him into eight figures per season. We’ll see who the Suns pick and finish this out later, but I don’t think the price tag here was prohibitive for Gersson Rosas to pay, and he moved up a tier on my draft board to fill a position of need for the Timberwolves.

Culver is a wing who can excel on both ends of the floor, something that the Wolves desperately need. He’s also known as a tireless worker who consistently plays really hard, something that Wolves’ fans will appreciate. On offense, he’s a contested shot-maker and creator who isn’t an elite athlete, but does have high-level feel and makes the right decisions consistently on the floor. Don’t let the percentages scare you from distance; everyone expects him to develop into a high-level shooter from 3 and be the kind of spacing weapon that Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins need to operate in their best areas.

Defensively, Culver is skinny and needs to keep adding muscle, but he plays with effort and has tremendous hands and a tendency to disrupt the opposing team’s action due to his great hand-eye coordination. Overall, this is a terrific fit for the Wolves, and I think a perfect move by Rosas in his first draft in charge.

No. 7: The Chicago Bulls select Coby White: This was an easy pick for Chicago, who gets its wish as its biggest position of need, point guard, falls into its lap. White was my No. 7 player overall, so the value is right here. It’s a good pick. Schematically, the fit is … well, it’s interesting. From a roster standpoint, he’ll also give them something they’ve lacked beyond Zach LaVine since Jimmy Butler’s departure: a legitimately dangerous pull-up threat from the backcourt.

White is lightning fast and is at his best when he gets to push the ball aggressively in transition. How much will Jim Boylen want to up the tempo and push the ball in transition next season? I think that remains highly questionable, given that the team played at the 23rd-fastest pace last season during his two-thirds of the season. It might be a situation where the head coach tries too hard to impose his style on the team as opposed to letting the talents of the roster impose the style given LaVine and White.

Overall, the big key for White will be figuring out how to get consistent penetration and shots at the basket for himself. Last season, White took under two shots at the basket per game in the half court, which is a wildly low number due in large part to a handle that is still develop in terms of craft and tightness. He improved dramatically as a facilitator and passer this season, though, and his unique blend of size and speed at 6-foot-5 gives him legitimate upside offensively for the Bulls. I’m not sure his ceiling is that of an all-star point guard, but I do think he can be a starter.

No. 8: The New Orleans Pelicans select Jaxson Hayes: Hayes is a bit lower on my board and my No. 2 center behind Goga Bitadze, so it’s not necessarily the pick I would have made. But he’s within this tier of talent, for sure, and I understand why Pelicans general manager David Griffin made the selection. He fits extremely well with what figures to be an incredibly uptempo scheme under Alvin Gentry, with point guards Lonzo Ball and Jrue Holiday in the backcourt and Zion Williamson next to him in the front line. It’s very easy to imagine the Pelicans next season leading the NBA in pace of play and alley-oops, as that is the skill Hayes is best at right now. He’s a rim-running, high-flying center with about as much athleticism as any big man in the league.

Defensively, he also fits as an inside-out defender that could allow the Pelicans to run a defensive scheme that switches 1 through 5 when he’s at his peak. He’s comfortable defending against guards when switched in pick-and-roll settings, and is a high-level shot-blocker. If there is a weakness, though, it’s rebounding. Hayes is not a particularly strong rebounder, in part due to his size but also in part because he’s a pretty chronic chaster of blocks. With Williamson and some of the other help defenders the Pelicans have, it would probably behoove him to cut that out as he continues to develop his game. Additionally, he’s also going to be pretty limited offensively to the rim-running role, although he has shown some flashes as a short roll driver (he’s a non-existent passer right now). It’s a fine pick that fits within what they’re building, but not a home run like the rest of the Pelicans’ offseason.

No. 9: The Washington Wizards select Rui Hachimura: Look, I love Hachimura as a person. I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time writing about and talking to him over the years, and he’s the kind of personality that Wizards fans will gravitate toward instantaneously.

For me, though, this is a reach, given that I had him at No. 17 on my board. The positives here are that he’s a good athlete at 6-foot-8 with a 7-foot-2 wingspan because of his combination of strength and first-step quickness with ball in hand. He can get to the foul line because he can use his power and bend to get around guys and get the edge. He has great scoring instincts, and was the kind of productive force that you look for. But the key questions here are around translating to more of a secondary role. Defensively, he has slow feet that can get stuck in the mud sometimes. Offensively, the jumper is still being ironed out, as it has a hitch at the top that needs to be fixed. He’s also not really much of a passer who makes high level reads on drives.

Given that they’re going to be rebuilding over the next year, there is a lot of time for him to develop. The reason you can sell yourself on taking Rui this high is if you believe that you can continue to teach him some of the feel stuff he’s currently missing. He’s relatively new to basketball compared to his age, so there is a chance that’s within the realm.

There is upside here, and if it works, it could really work given the intersection of strength and first step. But this is a really big swing for the Wizards that I’d be pretty worried about taking. I’m rooting for him to succeed, and the story is amazing. I just have some very real questions about how this all goes on the floor at the next level.

Additionally, I’ll just note that if this pick does go wrong in any way, it’s going to be remarkably easy for the Wizards’ fan base and many around the league to look at the fact that Ted Leonsis chose to drag his feet on hiring a lead executive prior to the draft instead of really making an effort to bring in the next steward of his team.

No. 10: The Atlanta Hawks select Cam Reddish: Yeah, this is just a win all around. The Hawks get their certainty early on by taking Hunter, and now they go for a big swing on Reddish. It’s not particularly long ago that Reddish was considered a potential player in the race for the No. 1 overall pick. He’ll bring the Hawks the ability to play some point forward, to grab and go on the break, and to potentially space the floor a bit if he can iron out his jump shot’s consistently.

He’s an extremely fluid, high-body control type of athlete as opposed to an explosive leaper or hyper quick player, which means getting to play in the oceans of space that Trae Young and Kevin Huerter will provide for him should really help him flourish and improve upon his faulty finishing at the basket this season. Defensively, he was solid this season and also has some multi-positional upside as long as he’s engaged on that end of the floor.

Ultimately, engagement is the key for Reddish. It’s not that he doesn’t love basketball, it’s not that he is a bad kid. Sometimes, he just kinda loses focus a bit and his game suffers. The Hawks are about as good as anyone at developing guys and making them better, so to me, this is the best possible fit for us to see if Reddish still has some of the upside in him that many thought when he was at prep levels. I’d bet he develops into a starter in Atlanta, and this pick looks pretty good down the road. People have gone a bit too far around the bend of being down on Reddish.

No. 11: The Phoenix Suns take Cameron Johnson: There are a lot of jokes to be made about this pick, and only one of them has to do with Johnson himself.

The first one revolves around the team not doing a tremendous amount of scouting throughout the season, according to sources around the league, and taking the guy from the big school that they were familiar with.

The second one revolves around Robert Sarver empowering James Jones to run the organization despite him possessing no previous front office experience, something that drew derision around the league.

But the third one is the one that is most damning: the Suns just took what I believe to be the only player who will be selected tonight that is older than their superstar entering his fifth year in Devin Booker. And they took one that is extremely limited in terms of his defensive ability and ability to handle the ball.

It’s not that I think Cam Johnson is a bad player. He’s not. He’ll play in the NBA for a while because he’s an utterly elite level shooter from the stand still. The Suns could use more shooting around Booker, so it’s a fit. But it’s just such a low-upside play when you’re Phoenix and you’re hoping this is the last time that you pick in this area. The Suns will likely try to compare Johnson to a Klay Thompson type, but the difference between Thompson and Johnson is vast in terms of physical strength and ability to hold up on defense. Honestly, the difference is even pretty great in terms of overall creation and ball-handling ability. To me, Johnson screams third or fourth wing, the guy you bring off of the bench to knock down shots and space the floor. And given that he turns 24 before the end of next season, I’m not sure there’s much upside beyond that.

No. 12: The Charlotte Hornets select PJ Washington: I can assure you, there will be no more “on brand” pick in this entire NBA draft than the Charlotte Hornets selecting Washington. Every year, the Hornets default toward guys who produced at an extremely high level in college and were high-profile players. You can all the way back to Kemba Walker, to Cody Zeller, to Frank Kaminsky, to Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, to Malik Monk, to Miles Bridges .This is just what they do in the Michael Jordan era. Every time. It never fails.

In Washington, they get a guy who was an All-American last season at Kentucky, and profiles as a really solid rotation NBA player at the 4 and even potentially in downsized lineups at the 5. He can space the floor a bit direct off the catch, and his length and touch allows him to finish well in the paint even slightly away from the basket. I worry a little bit about foot speed, but Washington should be a pretty solid defender because of his feel for the game and athleticism at the 4 position. He reminds me a lot of Patrick Patterson back in Patterson’s prime, with maybe a little bit more upside because of more athleticism. It’s a solid pick. Probably not the one I would have made for a Hornets organization that is begging to be augmented with upside, but it’s fine. Honestly, knowing this, I probably would have explored trying to attach a contract to the No. 12 overall pick and tried to move off money in order to increase my cap liquidity and flexibility in the coming years.

No. 13: The Miami Heat select Tyler Herro: Sure, this makes sense. Just slightly higher than where I had Herro on my board, but it works. He’s an elite-level shooter off of movement. You can run him off of screens of an variety, and he’ll get his feet set and knock them down. He’s also pretty good at putting the ball on the deck for a couple of dribbles, and stepping into pull-up jumpers while moving forward, and he can also go into a crossover step-back to get separation to knock down a shot. He’s not a terrible athlete at all, but he has short arms that really will hurt him finishing around the basket as well as on defense, despite the fact that he’s an underrated feisty on-ball guy .

Ultimately, the thing to love here is that he’s a super-competitive dude with all sorts of swagger who won’t be intimidated by the moment. He’s a role player at the next level, but one that could stick due to his ability to shoot it and space the floor while not being a negative elsewhere. Solid pick.

No. 14: The Boston Celtics select Romeo Langford: Maybe I should have considered the Celtics more often when thinking about Langford. They’re often willing to take chances on guys who don’t shoot it well in college, but have potential to shoot it at the next level. In the case of Langford, I felt he was one of the toughest evaluations this year in large part because of the lack of true information on what he is as a shooter. At lower levels, he had the ability to knock down shots from the perimeter off the dribble, but wasn’t quite as efficient at it as you’d hope — in part due to shot selection. Then, this year, he suffered a torn thumb ligament and played through it, which obviously hindered his ability to hit perimeter jumpers. How much did it hinder that ability, though, is the question. Because while the injury is a fair excuse, Langford does still have some concerning mechanical issues, such as his footwork leading into his jumper as well as the unnatural 90-degree wrist bend that he has in his load-up prior to releasing.

The upside here is reasonable. Langford is a good creator with ball in hand who understands how to play at his own tempo, never gets flustered, and has extremely high level ability to finish at the basket. He’s also a strong passer who doesn’t play selfishly at all, and was a positive defender this past season for Indiana after years of ambivalence at prep levels. There are reasons to buy into this pick if you’re a Celtics fan. Ultimately though, how useful he becomes ultimately will come down to just how efficient he can get with the jumper. A solid pick here, even if there were guys I was higher on.

No. 15: The Detroit Pistons select Sekou Doumbouya: I like the upside swing here a lot. Doumbouya has the Pascal Siakam-starter kit, with high level fluid athleticism, potential to defend at a strong clip due to his footwork and quickness, and some shooting ability that is still developing.

The big thing to worry about here though is that he’s not particularly ready to play in the NBA on a consistent basis yet at this juncture. He doesn’t turn 19 until December. Scouts worry a bit about a consistent approach to the game, and his feel for the game comes and goes in flashes right now. He gets by on tools. The good news is that he was terrific late in the season for Limoges, his French league team, and NBA executives raved about a strong workout he had in Dallas following the conclusion of that season.

He might be coming on at just the right time for the Pistons to get a real high-end asset. But there’s a bust potential here, too, for the Pistons, given the age. I think that he’ll play in the NBA, but it might not be at a high level until year three of his rookie contract. If the team is going into this with a patient mindset and a willingness to put resources into developing him, then I think this will really work out for them. It’s an upside swing in a draft largely devoid of them.

No. 16: The Orlando Magic select Chuma Okeke: So, this definitely fits what Jeff Weltman and John Hammond look for in prospects. Okeke has great positional size and length for the 4 position. He also gives them some ability to shoot the basketball and space, although he’s a lot more comfortable from the corners right now than he is above the break.

The key skill here for Okeke is feel for the game. He’s a really smart passer, and an absolutely terrific positional defender who knows how to use his length and strength to his advantage. But he’s also not a super athlete, and he’ll be coming off of a torn ACL that he suffered in the NCAA Tournament in March that will likely force him out for a majority of next season. There is also, obviously, significant positional overlap between Okeke and past draft picks Aaron Gordon and Jonathan Isaac, although by the time Okeke gets back, the team may look markedly different in how it’s built.

I had Okeke as a first-round pick, but I would have rather seen Orlando take a guard that could help them knock down shots from the perimeter sooner rather than later, so that they can keep winning games in addition to hopefully better evaluating the young talent that they already have in the front court.

No. 17: The New Orleans Pelicans select Nickeil Alexander-Walker: This is going to be one of my favorite picks of the draft because of the perfect fit with the rest of this roster. Alexander-Walker is a three-level scorer with extremely high feel for the game offensively. He can play both on and off the ball, and he’ll consistently knock down shots both off the catch or off the dribble. He can take over as a half-court initiator at times, which will be a huge help next to Lonzo Ball, and he can play away from the ball and act as a floor spacer, something that will really help when he’s paired with Jrue Holiday.

His overall athleticism level ultimately hinders him a bit, which is the reason he’s more of a secondary ball-handler as opposed to a primary one that you can consistently run your offense through. But given the way the rest of this roster is built, and given its immense need for floor spacing around Zion Williamson, I can’t give this pick high enough marks. Great pick.

No. 18: The Indiana Pacers select Goga Bitadze: So, on the surface this is a bit of a weird pick from a fit perspective. The Pacers already have Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis at the center position, so it’s tough to see how Bitadze gets minutes early — something that could be useful given his readiness to play in the NBA.

But ultimately, I’m a huge fan of this pick because it’s just an absolute home run from a value perspective. Bitadze was the highest-ranked player remaining on my board, and had been for the previous 10 picks after the top-seven went according to plan. He’s an elite level pick-and-roll player, with the ability to roll all the way to the hoop, short-roll, or pick-and-pop and knock down above-the-break 3s. He’s also an elite level screen setter already. Defensively, he has a case as the best rim protector in this draft. The Pacers are also used to playing more of a drop-coverage pick and roll style with Turner, so that’ll fit really well with Bitadze.

While the fit isn’t here from a roster perspective, I do wonder if the Pacers are making this pick in part because it will give them flexibility here with Sabonis in the summer. He’s going to get expensive pretty quickly after next season, so it’s worth the team exploring his market this summer and seeing if it can get a little bit better on the wings or on the perimeter. In some ways because of that, the jury will be out on this pick until we learn more about what they’re thinking. Having said that, though, I’m a big fan of the value here and think the Pacers probably could not have done better.

No. 19: The San Antonio Spurs select Luka Samanic: Samanic has been on the Spurs’ radar throughout the entire draft process. He’s a high-IQ big man at 6-foot-11 who is excellent in the pick-and-roll because of his potential to shoot it and pass it. He also put on a ton of strength and good weight this season, tipping the scales at nearly 230 pounds at the combine after being extremely skinny up until the last 15 months.

With that weight has come the ability to accept contact and play through it, something that was critically missing from his game. Defensively, he’s not much of a rim protector, but teams have faith that he can be something of a versatile guy who can switch onto some perimeter players, albeit not necessarily elite quick-twitch guards. It’s earlier than I would have taken him, but he fits what the Spurs want from guys in terms of basketball IQ. It makes sense.

No. 20: TRADE ALERT: The Celtics trade No. 20 to Philadelphia for No. 24 and 33; the 76ers select Matisse Thybulle: Two things that I wrote about in the mock draft came to fruition here. First, Boston, seeing this draft as having some interesting depth, moved down and accumulated an extra second-round pick very early in the stanza. And the 76ers, who were connected with Thybulle as early as his decision to sit out the NBA Draft Combine, fulfill the prophecy of a potential promise and take Thybulle. It makes sense for everyone involved.

For the 76ers, they get a guy who is a high-level help defender as we enter an era in the NBA where help defense has become all the more important. He’s one of the best perimeter defenders in the class when you let him roam around and just make plays on that end. Between him and Ben Simmons, there will be no lazy cross-court passes to the backside. Those will get turned into pick-sixes with ease.

On-ball, he’s fine. A positive, but not an elite one. The reason I ultimately had Thybulle a bit lower on my board, though, and why he wouldn’t have ended up being my pick, was that I’m a bit more worried about him offensively than some. He shoots a bit of a hard ball, which makes me wonder how the jump shot will translate. He hit only 31 percent from 3 this season after better numbers during the previous two years. How well that skill translates will ultimately tell the tale of his success at the next level, because he’s not a high level creator with ball in hand. I think for the Sixers, given their star-filled lineup, this pick makes more sense than it would have otherwise. So I don’t hate it. I’m just also not quite as convinced it’s a killer, especially with them having to give up an extra asset in the process.

No. 21: TRADE ALERT: Oklahoma City trades No. 21 to Memphis for No. 23 and a future second round pick; the Grizzlies select Brandon Clarke: I mean, the Grizzlies couldn’t be building a better defensive front court if they tried. Both Jaren Jackson Jr. and Clarke are elite level defenders in switch scenarios for their size, in help scenarios on the back side and in gap defense, and they both are elite-level shot blockers.

The big thing worth noting here, though, is the offensive fit. Because Jackson is a spacing 5, they can slide Clarke down to the 4 and surround him and Ja Morant with shooting in order to foster successful lineups. Athletically, between that trio, the Grizzlies are going to be Lob City, Grit-and-Grind edition, with Morant tossing up just ridiculous touch passes that those two easily finish.

From a value standpoint, This might end up being my favorite pick of the draft. And the price they paid to move up was minuscule. All around, great work by Memphis in this draft to get Morant at No. 2, get a strong deal for Mike Conley, and then get Clarke here by just moving up at a small cost.

No. 22: The Boston Celtics select Grant Wiliams: This one will also be up there among my favorite picks of the draft. I’ve written in-depth on why I’m a big Grant Williams fan, but to bottom line it: he’s a high-level IQ player who is a tireless worker that produced at the highest levels in college on both ends of the floor. There are some translation concerns here, in regard to the way he was used on the floor and in regard to his foot speed.

But I’m willing to bet on him being a solid 3-point shooter off the catch in addition to a good defender due to his terrific help instincts. He strikes me as the kind of prototypical role player that teams look for today in the playoffs due to his physical strength to guard up the lineup, and his ball skills to play on the perimeter. I’d expect that he plays pretty quickly for Boston. Good pick here.

No. 23: The Oklahoma City Thunder select Darius Bazley: As reported by The Athletic’s Tony Jones, rumors swirled that Bazley had secured a first-round promise heading into the evening, and that bore itself out when the Thunder took him at No. 23 after moving down two spots. He had an absolutely terrific pre-draft workout circuit, according to sources, showcasing some of the terrific athleticism and shot-making abilities that made him a five-star prospect out of high school before he decided not to attend Syracuse and instead intern at New Balance for the year and work out.

I would have taken other players ahead of him, personally, but he fits the Thunder mold to a T: long athletes with great positional size that are said to be hard workers. It also helps Bazley considerably that the Thunder have one of the best G League situations in the NBA from a development standpoint. I think he’s unlikely to play for the Thunder at a high level next year, but I doubt Sam Presti will care, or thought he could pick up a valuable piece this late in the draft anyway. I’m a little lower on the value here, and would have taken guys like Nassir Little ahead of him, but I get what the Thunder are doing here.

No. 24: TRADE TIME: The Celtics trade No. 24 and Aron Baynes to the Phoenix Suns for a 2020 Milwaukee Bucks first round pick; the Suns take Ty Jerome: This one was a bit strange for me. This is something of a cap dump deal for Boston, as they took what is likely to become a worse first-round pick than No. 24 in what has potential to be a draft with less depth in order to dump Aron Baynes. They ended up taking Carsen Edwards at 33 anyway, so all is well that ends well, and they’re unlikely to take more than three drafted players on their roster, anyway. But yeah, I like this for Phoenix to use $5 million to acquire a slightly better first rounder and take a player that I think fits what they want.

In Jerome, the Suns get a mature, big lead guard who can play both on or off ball. He has a tremendous amount of confidence as well, and fits terrifically next to Devin Booker on offense due to his ability to knock down shots both on the catch or off the dribble, as well as his ability to initiate offense allowing Booker to play off the ball occasionally.

Where I’d be a little bit worried is on defense, where Jerome was an active defender in the Virginia scheme in college, but does not project well to the NBA due to his lack of length or strength to stand up in the contest. But as a third guard, I think Jerome has some upside, and that’s what the Suns will be hoping to get here.

No. 25: The Portland Trail Blazers select Nassir Little: This one is a steal for me. I get why Little fell this far. He had a bad season at North Carolina, where he wasn’t particularly a fit for the scheme under Roy Williams. But through the workout circuit, Little has shown that he’s rediscovered some of the shooting ability that eluded him with the Tar Heels. He’s also a powerfully athletic, high-motor player who plays a position of significant need for the Blazers. The ultimate key to his game will be his feel. He was pretty bad on defense this year, in large part because he was rough away from the ball. How he adjusts to the speed of the game in the NBA, and the advanced actions he’ll be faced with will ultimately be the biggest tell-tale sign of his success.

The good news? In Portland, he’s found an organization that tends to take things slow with their rookies, and doesn’t expect them to be a factor early in their careers. This is a terrific developmental situation for Little, maybe the best possible one he could have found. Given that it’s a late first-round pick, this doesn’t need to work out at an extremely high level for this pick to be worth it.

I bet Little exceeds the value typically associated with this selection and establishes himself as an NBA player — in part because I believe in the talent and the work ethic of the player involved, and in part because of the organization.

No. 26: The Cleveland Cavaliers select Dylan Windler: Windler is an elite level shooter and decision-maker who profiles well as an NBA role player. He is a smart passer, has good feet on defense, grabs rebounds, and was about as efficient as any player in college basketball over the course of the last two years.

The concerns here are that he didn’t perform all that well against elite competition, outside of the the game against Maryland in the NCAA Tournament this season. Can he adjust to the speed and physicality of consistently playing better athletes? There is also a concern among scouts that Windler’s performance was inflated by playing in the cheat code that was Rick Byrd’s offense at Belmont, due to its immaculate spacing and his level of running circles around his coaching brethren. I had Windler lower and some players ahead of him, but I get the pick.

No. 27: TRADE ALERT: The Brooklyn Nets trade No. 27 to the Los Angeles Clippers for Philadelphia’s 2020 first round pick and No. 56; the Clippers select Mfiondu Kabengele: I like this one a lot from both a fit perspective and a value perspective. Kabengele had a great workout circuit after a remarkably productive season at Florida State on a per-minute basis. The Clippers move what will likely be a bottom-10 pick in next year’s draft for a center in Kabengele who can knock down shots from distance and plays hard on both ends of the floor.

His feel is somewhat low, and he’s never really been anything resembling a passer. Defensively, there are some concerns about how quick his feet are on the perimeter despite his high-level motor. But what he does do is he fits the culture of toughness and energy the Clippers have tried to instill in the last year. The price wasn’t prohibitive, good fit, and good value. That’s an overall solid pick.

No. 28: The Golden State Warriors select Jordan Poole: I’m not at all a fan of this one, to be honest, but I’m not surprised. They brought Poole in for a late workout this week on Tuesday along with Dylan Windler. I was thinking speculatively that they bought No. 41 from the Hawks earlier on Wednesday to try and grab Poole and take Windler at 28. But when Windler went to Cleveland, it looks like the Warriors decided to pull the trigger.

This one is just, simply put, a reach for me. Poole has a lot of offensive skill both on and off ball because of his ability to shoot it and handle in pick-and-roll, but he’s an abhorrent defender and doesn’t really read the game well in regard to moving the ball on to teammates. There is a lot of Nick Young in his game in terms of decision-making, but he’s not as athletic as young Nick Young was, which makes me wonder about how this works out. Maybe the maturity of guys like Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala excise some of the poor choices from Poole’s game and he goes on to have a terrific career. But there were probably 20 players I would have taken over him.

No. 29: The San Antonio Spurs select Keldon Johnson: This is a good value pickup that fits the Spurs roster and culture. He’s a high-energy player and terrific culture personality in the locker room. On the floor, he’s good at a lot of things, including shooting the basketball, driving in a straight line, playing hard-nosed defense, and making the right decision on the floor — but he’s not great at any of it.

He’s also not a particularly elite athlete. But as a pairing with any of their backcourt members such as Derrick White, Dejounte Murray or Lonnie Walker, at both the 2 and the 3, Johnson’s game would mesh well. He profiles well as the kind of low-usage wing who does the right things consistently that can be on the floor during crunch time action, as long as his defense and shooting holds up. Smart pick here for San Antonio.

No. 30: TRADE ALERT: The Pistons trade No. 30 to Cleveland for four second round picks; the Cavaliers select Kevin Porter Jr.: This is a pairing that I’d been predicting in the mock draft over the course of the last week, as Cleveland has done as much background intel work into Porter as anyone, and has been as interested in him as any team over the course of the full season. Look, this is a home run swing where if it works out, the Cavaliers just picked up a guy who might turn into a starter. His ability to create shots with his ability to decelerate and shake opponents off is special. His step-back game is elite. He can finish above the rim, has a great, powerful frame, and he’s not at all a selfish player. Defensively, he’s rough, but you’re taking him for offense and his ability to make plays.

Obviously, that sounds like a lottery pick. That’s actually where I had him at No. 14. So why did he fall? Well, teams were concerned about his work ethic and coachability. Porter was suspended midseason at USC. The coaching staff did have occasional issues in the first half of the season before Porter’s suspension.

Following the suspension, he was considered to be a model citizen from those close to the program. But it also wasn’t the first time, as his high school coach additionally had to suspend him a couple of times as well. Having done some background work on him myself, the issues strike me as immaturity versus him being a bad person. He’s absolutely not. The best suggestions I’ve heard around the basketball industry about how to help him through that involve hiring someone from the Seattle area who can be a respected figure of authority and make him Porter’s player developmental coach. I still believe that to be the case.

I don’t know how this whole thing is going to go down. He could be a star, or he could be out of the league. Or, he could be something in the middle. The variance of outcomes here is vast. But I do think that the reward far outweighs the risk at No. 30. Now we’ll see if Porter is wiling to put in the constant work to prove everyone wrong.

(Editor’s note: Stick around. There will be more to come as the second round unfolds with a selection of things that catch Sam’s eye.)

Second round odds and ends

Brooklyn takes Nic Claxton at No. 31: That’s a great fit for a team that has a strong developmental culture, strong G League program, and a use for athletic big men that could potentially play in the playoffs at some point in the next few years. Claxton will take some time, but his defensive attributes make him a highly intriguing player long-term for the Nets. I had him at No. 21 on my board, and I think the Nets should give him a three year deal worth pretty real money with two guaranteed and a team option tacked on the end.

Miami takes KZ Okpala at No. 32: The Heat are another team that has a tremendous track record developing high-upside players. Okpala has real upside due to a 6-8 frame, 7-2 wingspan, and the ability to knock down shots off the catch. This is a good gamble for Miami that should also result in a multi-year deal.

Boston takes Carsen Edwards at No. 33: One of my favorite fits in the draft. He fits the culture Boston wants, and he’s the archetype of a Danny Ainge-type of player: tough, confident, and unrelenting. He’s an elite level shooter off of movement, capable of sprinting off of actions at high speeds and knocking down shots, or running around a drag screen and pulling up from 30 feet in transition. Straight up, I just think Edwards is an NBA player. I had him at No. 23 on my board, and this is a favorite of mine.

No. 34: Bruno Fernando goes to Atlanta: This makes a lot of sense as Atlanta could use a developmental center, and Fernando is intriguing as a pick-and-roll short-roll player who can really make passes to 3-point shooters — the kind that will surround him everywhere with the Hawks. Good fit here and a solid value in the second round. Travis Schlenk gave up three second rounders to do it, but I think it has a chance to pay off.

The Warriors take Eric Paschall at No. 41: I’m pretty surprised that Paschall lasted this long. As much as I’d been told, there were no red flags here. He’s a great kid, has a great frame at 6-7 with a 7-0 wingspan, can shoot above the break 3s, can defend up the lineup at the 5. That the Warriors got him after taking Jordan Poole and Alen Smailagic two picks that I’m somewhat less excited about is funny. I’d bet on him getting minutes over either of those two next season.

The Wizards take the Admiral: Admiral Schofield goes No. 42 to Washington in a smart little pickup for the Wizards, who have drafted two high-level culture kids in Rui Hachimura and Schofield. I think Schofield ends up sticking as a lower-end rotation player because he can knock down shots, and defend up the lineup for his size due to his strong 240-pound physique and 7-foot wingspan.

No. 43: The Timberwolves take Jaylen Nowell. If there’s one player that I regret not having higher on my big board already, it’s Nowell. I think he’s going to make it as a scorer at this level. He’s tough and confident, and I think he even has a shot to develop into a real NBA three-level scorer due to the efficiency of his footwork, his decision-making, and his lethal jump shot.

Bol Bol finally comes off the board, ends up in Denver after a trade: I haven’t really hidden throughout the process that I’m not really a Bol Bol fan. But even at this point in the draft, I get selecting him given that I had him at No. 37 on my board. While some people rave about the upside, I’m not really sure that I agree with it. He’s an extremely poor defender, he gets pushed around far too easily inside, and his high hips and high center of gravity aren’t exactly going away even if he puts on weight.

The skill level offensively is there, and I think he can stick as a floor-spacer, but I’m just not sure I see the talent level on both ends that make him a potential starting center, given the strength of that position across the league. Whereas Kristaps Porzingis fights on defense and doesn’t get pushed around all the time despite being skinny, Bol gets pinned and saunters around lazily far too often. That comparison doesn’t work for me. Then, you throw in the injury concerns, and the concerns about Bol not being in love with basketball and working hard consistently at it, and to me, this is the right range for him to be selected. I hope that he finds success, but I’m skeptical that this all works out in the end.

The Lakers buy into the second round, take Talen Horton-Tucker: Horton-Tucker is an analytics darling who compiles steals and blocks for his size, but doesn’t really actually defend well. He can handle the ball and make plays on the floor, but he’s a poor decision-maker who doesn’t shoot it well. He’s a Klutch Sports guy, so it’s not a surprise that the Lakers took him, and ultimately this was about his range for me because I think he’s a long way from competing for an NBA team at a high level. He has role player dimensions and people think of him that way, but he doesn’t actually have those tools yet. Of course, he’s only 18 right now. If you told me that by the time Horton-Tucker turns 22 that he’s an NBA player, I wouldn’t be wildly surprised by that. But I just think it’ll probably be for his second team.

The Clippers take Terance Mann at No. 48: I like Mann a lot and had him in this range. He’s just a gamer on both ends who knows how to play, and he fits right in with what the Clippers are doing in terms of instilling toughness throughout their roster.

(Top Photo: Sarah Stier/Getty Images)