2015 NBA Draft recap/analysis: T-Wolves land slam dunk in Towns
– How on God’s green earth did Duke’s Justise Winslow fall to Miami at No. 10? He is a player who had the best tournament performance on a national championship team in a league that adores 3-and-D wing players. Nobody would have batted an eye if Winslow had gone top 5. But somehow, he falls into Pat Riley’s lap and finds himself in a perfect situation. His positional versatility and defensive grit is perfect for the Heat culture that Riley and Erik Spoelstra have built, and he’ll have the consummate mentor in Dwyane Wade to teach him some tricks on the offensive end (assuming, of course, that the latter stays). Steal of the draft without a shadow of a doubt.
Hey, Justise Winslow… Welcome to Miami, now get used to ppl misspelling your 1st name. I know a guy who dealt w/ the same thing :)
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) June 26, 2015
– Myles Turner and Roy Hibbert are going to have a very David Lee Roth/Sammy Hagar dynamic between them and it’s going to be great.
– I liked Utah as a landing spot for Kentucky’s Trey Lyles at No. 12. The Jazz needed an offensively-savvy combo forward to play next to Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert, a frontcourt tandem that will also be able to erase Lyles’ weaknesses on the defensive end. The only problem is that the last Kentucky product to be drafted by the Jazz in the lottery was Enes Kanter. Oh.
– And speaking of Kentucky, with sharpshooter Devin Booker going to Phoenix at No. 13 (a pick that will definitely help a Suns team that ranked 20th in 3-point percentage last year), the Suns have an all-Kentucky guard rotation of Booker, Eric Bledsoe, and Brandon Knight. Has that ever happened before in the history of the NBA? First Doc and Austin Rivers, now this? Are we gonna see all of the Plumlee brothers playing on the same team next? What a damn time to be alive.
– Cameron Payne was selected by the Thunder at No. 14. Cameron Payne has nice range, playmaking skills, and craftiness around the rim that will be very welcome in OKC. Cameron Payne took out a selfie stick in the green room. Cameron Payne refers to himself in the third person. Cameron Payne will be carrying Russell Westbrook’s gym bags next year.
— The Cauldron (@TheCauldron) June 26, 2015
-We’re all going to be talking about how awesome the 71 seconds were that Kelly Oubre was a Hawk. Oh and his shoes, of course.
Thank the lord my golf ball didn’t land on Kelly Oubre’s foot pic.twitter.com/sQG0Wq9pTG
— Shooter McGavin (@ShooterMcGavin_) June 26, 2015
Live look-in at Kelly Oubre… pic.twitter.com/C700kjFVxN
— Darryn Albert (@dirnted13) June 26, 2015
– Danny Ainge was supposed to move mountains for the Celtics. Instead he took Louisville’s Terry Rozier about 10 picks too early at No. 16. (Fart noise).
– Sam Dekker’s game can be somewhat accurately summed up as a hybrid between Trevor Ariza and Josh Smith. It’s convenient then that the Rockets took him at pick No. 18 as he’s now going to be playing alongside the two.
– Virginia’s Justin Anderson is going to be the best dual-threat on the wing that the Mavericks have seen since Michael Finley.
– The biggest trade of the day (Greivis Vasquez’s zip code change notwithstanding) was the Blazers trading guard Steve Blake and the rights to Arizona’s Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to the Nets for Mason Plumlee and Notre Dame’s Pat Connaughton. Portland essentially swaps out a solid veteran backup PG and an elite young defender for a low-ceiling shooter and an unlikable center (albeit a Team USA one!) that’ll squeeze out Meyers Leonard. God bless Neil Olshey.
– The Spurs took Serbian center Nikola Milutinov 26th overall and we all saw this coming, yet none of us saw this coming.
– Mitch Kupchak must have thought he was drafting Larry Nance Sr. with the 27th pick. His son wasn’t projected to go until the late second round. Yeah, the Lakers really didn’t research this one all too well.
-Just like fellow UCLA alum Kyle Anderson, forward Kevon Looney fell to the defending champs with the final pick of the first round and it’s all too perfect. The Warriors take tweeners and turn them into something beautiful. Looney has to be happy to land in a situation where his ability to stretch the floor and play/defend a number of positions will be greatly appreciated and cultivated.
#dubnation is proud to call you a #Warrior, @Loon_Rebel5. Welcome to the squad. @JBLAudio #NBADraft pic.twitter.com/BwOCFAvlrt
— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) June 26, 2015
– The Rockets had to be happy about landing Louisville’s Montrezl Harrell 32nd overall. That is, until ESPN compared him to JJ Hickson on their broadcast. Nevermind.
– Best value pick of the second round? Probably Dakari Johnson at No. 48 whose post presence will aid OKC’s back-to-the-basket Renaissance movement or Indiana picking Oregon’s Joseph Young at 43, who they really could’ve used last year as a perimeter scoring threat with Paul George working his way back from injury.
– Celtic fans winced as the team selected Marcus Thornton 45th overall. Granted it was a different Marcus Thornton and not $10 million toxin Marcus Thornton, but the onomastic irony was still entertaining.
– Only one of the Harrison twins heard their name called today. YOU’RE RUINING THE NARRATIVE, NBA.
-The Dallas Mavericks made history by selecting 7-foot-2 center Satnam Singh Bhamara, the first Indian-born player to be drafted into the NBA, at No. 52 overall. Kudos. I just hope that’s not Pavel Podkolzin’s music I hear.
Welcome to the @dallasmavs Satnam Singh, the first Indian Born Player to be drafted ! Represent big guy. Represent !
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) June 26, 2015
– After a slew of draft-day trades, Tyus Jones ended up in Minnesota and there’s no reason for the Timberwolves not to be at the top of everyone’s League Pass rankings right now.
– The second round saw guys named Guillermo, Arturas, Sir’Dominic, and Dimitrios get drafted. I love the NBA.
– Free agency starts in less than a week. Buckle up.
