2017 OFFSEASON: Part 2The 2017 NBA Draft was pretty wild. Lots of potential stars here, and also some really, really weird trades. Hard to keep up with honestly... At any rate...
2017 NBA DraftIt's the NBA Draft! After years of dreaming of playing in the NBA, 60 guys will be picked... blah blah blah... Portland has the 28th, 37th and 57th picks in this year's draft, but will they trade up? Maybe... Anyway, Dallas is on the clock, and they select...
1 Dallas - G Dennis Smith (NC State)Dennis Smith! A guy they hope can be a franchise point guard and team up with Harrison Barnes and whoever to win titles for years to come.
2 Boston - F Jayson Tatum (Duke)Okay! They already have Jaylen Brown, but I don't follow college so okay!
3 Miami - F Josh Jackson (Kansas)It will be interesting to see how this guy fits in with Justise Winslow. Should be a beast though.
TRADE!Celtics trade Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder to Phoenix for pick #4, Solomon HillAvery Bradley and Jae Crowder are a pair of quality starters. Instead of trading them for someone like Boogie, they go for the #4 pick and a bad contract in Solomon Hill. They must think there's a star left on the board. Phoenix meanwhile decides they want to win now by adding two very good players. Does the addition of Bradley mean Devin Booker will come off the bench though?
4 Boston (via PHX) - G/F Terrence Ferguson (Arizona)Huh. Okay. That's interesting. Anyway... hold on - a trade!
TRADE!Mavericks trade Dennis Smith, 2019 first to Charlotte for #5 pick, Nicolas BatumInteresting... The Hornets trade up to get a franchise point guard, perhaps to move on from Kemba after a disappointing season. Or they want to play Smith at the 2? IDK. Dallas meanwhile looks to jump start their rebuild by trading down to acquire a quality vet in Batum...
5 Dallas (via CHA) - F Lauri Markkanen (Arizona)Received to a lot of boos by the NYC crowd of course, Markkanen may be a bit of a reach at #5, but Dallas is hoping for an instant Dirk replacement, and he is tall and white...
6 Milwaukee - G Markelle Fultz (Washington)Some thought Fultz would go #1, but he fell all the way to 6! The Bucks are looking really nice, with Giannis, healthy Jabari, Middleton, and now Fultz. Not to mention the veteran leadership of Thon Maker. Fear the deer?
TRADE!Nuggets trade #7 pick, 2018 2nd (via GS) to Atlanta for Dwight Howard, 2018 1st (via MIN)Nuggets will pair future hall-of-famer Nikola Jokic with Dwight Howard. That team will be unstoppable on the glass, but spacing is a major concern. The Hawks meanwhile look to go full rebuild, dumping their veteran Center for a lottery pick. Will they also let Millsap walk?
7 Atlanta (via DEN) - G Frank Jackson (Duke)Is Dennis Schroder now on the trading block?
8 Orlando - G Frank Ntilikina (France)So many good point guards in this draft! Elfrid Payton hasn't panned out, and Orlando hopes the guy with the hardest name to pronounce in the draft is also the hardest to guard.
9 Washington - G Kostja Mushidi (Germany)After two straight years in the lottery, are the Wizards looking to move on from the expensive and injury prone Bradley Beal?
TRADE!!!Mavericks trade Lauri Markkanen, Nikola Pekovic to Lakers for #10 pick, 2019 Kings second rounderDallas has now turned the #1 overall pick, and Pekovic's albatross contract into Nicolas Batum, the #10 pick and a future second. Smart? Hard to say
10 Dallas (via LAL) - G Malik Monk (Kentucky)This guy was born in 1998? Wow, I'm not making the NBA, am I?
TRADE!!!Knicks trade #11 pick to Suns for Darrell Arthur, 2018 Suns first rounderYeah, sure, why not?
11 Phoenix (via NY) - F Isaiah Hartenstein (Germany)Forget Markkanen, HERE'S the real next Dirk.
Pacers trade pick #12, pick #44 to Heat for Chris BoshBosh doesn't have blood clots any more, but he's getting traded anyway. Paul George, Bosh and Myles Turner is a pretty nice frontcourt!
12 Miami (via IND) - F Wenyen Gabriel (Kentucky)I'm not going to even pretend to know anything about this guy.
13 Seattle - F Ivan Rabb (California)The Sonics hope to add some talent to a team that was all heart last year.
Utah trades #14 pick to Milwaukee for 2018 first, Wilson ChandlerUtah just wants to make the playoffs, after a very disappointing 2016-17 season.
14 Milwaukee (via UTA) - F Jonathan Isaac (Florida State)The Bucks draft a raw prospect with loads of potential.
TRADE!Blazers acquire #15 pick from the Clippers in exchange for Meyers Leonard, the #57 pick and Cleveland's top-10 protected 2018 first rounderMeyers Leonard is Andrea Bargnani-lite, and at $11M per year, the Blazers don't want him on the team. With big names like Harry Giles, DeAaron Fox and Lonzo Ball still on the clock, they opt to trade Leonard, along with a future first and the 57th pick in this draft to the Clippers. LA adds a veteran player who can bolster their second unit, hoping it will help them keep Paul and Griffin, and perhaps entice another big-name free agent to join the team. If not, well, they get Cleveland's 2018 pick. Portland meanwhile clears up cap space and will add:
15 Portland - F/C Harry Giles (Duke)Giles is a talented big man with serious knee issues. Sounds like a guy Portland would pick! There are definitely some red flags with this guy, but they may have just acquired a future all-star for Meyers Leonard and a late future first...
16 Chicago - F Edrice Ayedubo (Kentucky)TRADE!!!Celtics trade #17 pick, Isaiah Whitehead to Dallas for Harrison Barnes, JJ BareaThe Celtics quickly replace Jae Crowder with Harrison Barnes. Probably a downgrade, but Barnes does have a gold medal and a ring! Not sure what Dallas is doing, but I'm not convinced I hate it. Maybe they really wanted Lonzo Ball and knew he would fall? Yep.
17 Dallas (via BOS) - G Lonzo Ball (UCLA)TRADE!!!Lakers trade Jordan Clarkson, pick #43 to New Orleans for pick #18The Pelicans improve their guard rotation, now loaded with Clarkson, Holiday and Hield. The Lakers clean up theirs, but it seems like they could have gotten more for a good young player in Clarkson...
18 LA Lakers (via NO) - C Jarrett Allen (Texas)
19 Philadelphia - G De'aaron Fox (Kentucky)
20 Kansas City - F Terry Larrier (Connecticut)
21 Minnesota - C Marques Bolden (Duke)
22 Houston - G Edmond Sumner (Xavier)
23 Atlanta - F DJ Hogg (Texas A&M)
24 San Antonio - C Omer Yurtseven (Turkey)
25 Detroit - G Nik Slavica (Croatia)
26 Denver - G Dwayne Bacon (Florida State)
27 Toronto - F Miles Bridges (Michigan State)28 Portland - G Grayson Allen (Duke)Terry Stotts begged and pleaded to Lyman Witherspoon to draft this guy, He's a nutcase, and lowkey not that good, but we'll see what he can do. Pat Connaughton's gotta be sweating bullets right now.
29 Chicago - F Justin Jackson (North Carolina)
30 Oklahoma City - F Vitto Brown (Wisconsin)TRADE!!!Warriors trade #31 pick to Milwaukee for Mirza TeletovicThe Bucks continue to get younger, while the Warriors improve their bench.
31 Milwaukee (via GS) - F Tyler Roberson (Syracuse)
32 Cleveland - G Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (Kansas)
33 Charlotte - G Josh Hart (Villanova)
34 Dallas - F Malik Pope (SD State)
35 Memphis - F Jordan Bell (Oregon)
36 Atlanta - G Alonzo Trier (Arizona)37 Portland - C Thomas Bryant (Indiana)Blazers take Center Thomas Bryant in the second round. Bryant might be a good backup center. Low risk, medium reward?
38 Milwaukee - G Blaz Mesicek (Slovenia)
39 Houston - G Devonte Graham (Kansas)
40 Washington - F/C Jonathan Jeanne (France)
41 Orlando - G Melo Trimble (Maryland)
42 Utah - F VJ Beachem (Notre Dame)
43 New Orleans - C Jessie Govan (Georgetown)
44 Miami - F Nigel Hayes (Wisconsin)
45 Brooklyn - F Austin Nichols (Virginia)
46 Seattle - G Monte Morris (Iowa State)
47 Minnesota - G Kobi Simmons (Arizona)
48 Sacramento - F Chris Boucher (Oregon)
49 Boston - F Cameron Oliver (Nevada)
50 Utah - F Jaron Blossongame (Clemson)
51 Boston - F Ray Smith (Arizona)
52 Kansas City - Rodions Kurucs (Latvia)
53 New Orleans - Tyler Lydon (Syracuse)
54 San Antonio - SF Bennie Boatwright (USC)
55 New York - F OG Anunoby (Indiana)
56 San Antonio - C Nienyuan Wang (China)
57 LA Clippers - F Aleksander Vesenkov (Czech Republic)
58 Oklahoma City - F Dillon Brooks (Oregon)
59 Toronto - C Moses Kingsley (Arkansas)
60 Houston - F Devan Robinson (Florida)
61 New York - C Amida Brimah (Connecticut)
62 Oklahoma City - G Donnie Kirk (Notre Dame)
63 Boston - G Elton Seymour (Vanderbilt)
64 Utah - G DJ Laurence (Oregon)