Draft Winners: 23/08/2021

 

I usually do a draft Grades type of insider but this year I�m a bit past that right at this moment so I have a couple of other snap ideas to roll with. First of which, are the teams I believe were big winners on the day! Keep an eye out for some fantastic Draft Grades articles to come though!

 

LA Lakers:

I know this is an easy start point, but what else did the team that got ravaged by inactivity and poor returns in deals need but the injection In the arm that is the winning of the lottery, and taking the consensus #1 selection in Cade? The most deserving team in the league got the best spot in the house and the rebuild started in earnest as they shipped out Murray on the same day for Washington and assets to clear Cade�s starting spot. How can the #1 spot not be a winner? Cade looks like a monster waiting to happen and the LA world starts now.

 

Atlanta Hawks:

Oh wow�you selected the team that was #2 and could very well have drafted the guy that ends up being better than Cade, big call. Jokes aside, Green could legit be the best guy in this draft as the debate will probably always rage, so pair Green, with the selection of Bouknight at 10 who was mocked as high as 6, and might already be one of the most offensive wing combos with Green going round (big call? Lol). It was Sengun who they were waiting to be there, but Bouknight already looks legit too and at worst is some deadly trade bait waiting to happen. Their 3^rd pick? (where did those 6 1sts go?) was #31 and they went for Cooper who was mocked as high as pick 20 at one stage but slipped in the NBA and thus slipped here, but was due to go 33^rd anyway.

 

Boston Celtics:

This is Toby�s jam, the draft. Every year you know he�s trying to swing a swathe of young assets, of which he has plenty, at getting up near the top for better or worse. Can you imagine if he decided to go for the win one year? BANG! He drafted Kuminga at 6, and while that�s polarising, I�ve been turned on him from summer league and I think he looks like he could legit be top 3 in this draft in the washdown. If he puts that head to it, he�s got it. They moved themselves up into 9^th spot to guarantee the safe arrival of Sengun, and he too has shown a polished post game and ability to be a big man monster at a very young age. He was slated at 10, too, so any suggestions of a reach should be nullified. They were back on the clock with 11 and Moses Moody was the man here who again was mocked in the top 10 at times, and will you look at that backcourt of Garland, Porter, Dort, Moody, Beasley (on the block). Finally, they hit the clock again at 35 and while they didn�t get the man they were hoping for, they instead got the guy who was slated to go pick 28 until there was a great slide from Tre Mann compared to the NBA. Thor is raw but he�s got the tools and behind Wiseman, Kuminga and Sengun, he�s got plenty of time to develop.

 

Utah Jazz:

I care not how the Jazz got their way to all these picks, but look at the results! Josh Giddey at #7 and honestly, with the numbers he put up in the NBL last year, I kind of have similar comparisons in my mind to LaMelo being a big PG with some flash, not the best jump shot yet and quite similar numbers as an NBL rookie too. Now look at LaMelo! He caught the falling Franz at 16 which should turn out to be fantastic value for a kid that looks like he�ll have a long career doing good on both ends. Duarte was another big faller be caught all the way down at 23 where he might just end up being the steal of this NSL draft and finally, they bought their way into 34 and didn�t disappoint taking a ready to go Miles McBride who showed out in summer league and is the perfect guy for his coach in the NBA. He could easily have gone1st round here, but 34 it was. Value.

 

Denver Nuggets:

The Nuggets killed this draft. Johnson was a beast at summer league and was a surprise how far down he went in the NBA with a lot of mocks saying he should have been top 10 anyway, so pick 12 is by no means a stretch (he was rumoured to be going no lower than 14 anyway). Keon is a project, and possibly this pick doesn�t work out as well as it could have, but when you back that straight up with Hyland who was probably the bigges mover through the whole draft process and then continued on his merry way through combine and finally summer league, it�s hard not to be happy. Queta gets little rap, but the man is a monster and he loves interior defence. You get yourself a man that could very well man the middle for a decade at 37? Mind you, he starts on a Sactown 2way so anything could happen. And finally, another who had a great summer league showing in Dosunmu and you�ve had yourself a draft.

 

LA Clippers:

The Clippers round out my vote for biggest winners on the day not because their draft made much noise overall but because of just how very solid it was. Kispert I think many thought would fall down a bit from where he was taken at 13, and maybe that ends up being the case, but if you project as a worst case Doug McDermott, that�s going to be needed and coveted for a long while and that�s a very high floor IMO. Murphy might yet be someone who in a year or 2 people suggest should have gone in the top 10 while Garuba isn�t a highlight pick, but he�s likely to have that rock solid career maybe as a bigger PJ Tucker developing that jumpshot? And, he�s the perfect fit in LA too. Ad finally, at 52, you get a 2way guy but Garza is a big big man with some great skill and if he can ever defend someone in the league he will have a role.

 

We had a fantastic draft day! Thank you to Pete for all his tech work which made everything run as smooth as it ever has and the site looked phenomenal. The radio crew were perfect, no dead air (even with Ethan talking with no mic on�) and fun was had by all!

 

- NSL Insider News.