NBA Draft Thoughts
The 2018 NBA Draft has come and gone. It will take several years before we can definitively say who the winners and the losers were, but here are five thoughts in the aftermath of this year’s draft.
· It is absurd that Luka Dončić fell to third. The Slovenian is the most accomplished teenage basketball player since LeBron. He should’ve gone first overall. The league is favoring versatile ball-handlers and Dončić is just that. The Suns and Kings will look foolish for passing on Luka.
· I am not a fan of Mohammad Bamba’s fit in Orlando. Aside from the Magic’s inability to draft competent players this decade, Orlando just drafted a center last year in Jonathan Isaac. How are the two supposed to develop when they are being played off of the court by one another? For many players, success in the NBA is determined by fit and environment and I am not sure that Bamba wound up with an organization that will maximize his vast potential.
· Jerome Robinson was a reach in the lottery. The Clippers had a perplexing performance on Thursday night, but their most notable blunder was selecting the 21-year old with the 13th overall pick. When the college season ended, Robinson was projected by most as a mid-second-round selection. Then over the course of pre-draft workouts, when he was competing against chairs and broomsticks, he vaulted up the draft boards. When a player’s stock improves that drastically with no games being played I am always skeptical.
· The Nuggets pounced on a falling prospect. With the fourteenth pick, Denver selected Michael Porter Jr. Had MPJ been allowed to enter the draft out of high school a year ago, he likely would’ve been the first overall pick. His freshman campaign at Missouri was plagued by injuries, but if he can correct his back ailment the Nuggets might have landed Kevin Durant 2.0.
· Best value picks: Lonnie Walker IV, Spurs (18); Aaron Holiday, Pacers (23). These two players should have wound up in the lottery. Walker is a versatile wing who can really stroke it. The Spurs always seems to find gems in the draft and this year was no different… The Pacers needed a point guard to pair alongside Victor Oladipo and they found just that in the UCLA guard. Holiday is a Swiss army knife offensively who will thrive in Nate McMillan’s system.
