NBA Draft Mock-Up for Lottery Teams
Every year, the NBA Draft Lottery basically dictates how a franchise will enforce itself for years to come. It’s not a complete guarantee that a high draft pick will be successful but it does create a massive amount of opportunities moving forward. In some draft classes, you have game-changing players like Lebron, Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, etc. While in other cases you can encounter players like Anthony Bennet, Kwame Brown or Andrea Bargnani.
All in all, it’s the franchise’s decision what to do with their pick, so now we get to speculate over what the following 13 teams will do with theirs on June 20th, 2019.
1st Pick – New Orleans Pelicans – Zion Williamson
There hasn’t been so much hype over a player like Zion Williamson since Lebron James, so this looks like a lock. We don’t think David Griffin ever thought about the possibility of having the 1st pick in his new appointed job as GM here so it’s interesting to see what he’ll do. Will he try and sway Anthony Davis into staying alongside Zion or will he use that asset to further build around the future rookie? Sources say Davis still wants out.
2nd Pick – Memphis Grizzles – Ja Morant
Memphis also caught a break by getting the second choice on Draft Night. We feel this is a perfect opportunity for the Grizzlies to focus on the future at their point guard position. There are two choices here, have Morant come off the bench and learn everything he can from Conley for better and faster development. Or look for trade options to bring more assets to revolve around their young core of Jaren Jackson Jr, Dillon Brooks, Kyle Anderson and Ja Morant.
3rd Pick – New York Knicks – RJ Barrett
For some reason, there was a huge disappointment that the Knicks didn’t get the 1st pick, but this doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t get a huge potential star in the mix. RJ Barrett is next up in line in terms of talent and the Knicks can get creative here. The question here is if they’ll acquire some big-name free agent this summer (Durant, Kyrie or both). If so, they might look to trade this pick for a strong base of role players to support their new stars. All in all, RJ Barrett has all the characteristics to be huge, so let’s hope the Knicks don’t blow it!
4th Pick – Los Angeles Lakers – De’Andre Hunter
This could be a good opportunity for the Lakers to get their act together and start making right moves, however, we doubt that’s going to happen. We predict the lakers are going to sacrifice this pick to work on a trade package for a big star. Lebron is eager to bring in bigger names to the franchise so I don’t see them banking on developing another young player for the future. However, if they were to actually go through the draft process, De’Andre Hunter is a right fit due to their need for a big man to complement their frontcourt.
5th Pick – Cleveland Cavaliers – Jarret Culver
Cavaliers will enjoy this position for sure as they look to continue to build upon a young core of players to help them develop into a decent team. Collin Sexton, in our opinion, had a solid rookie year finishing off the campaign strongly. Culver at shooting guard will make a great backcourt combo with Sexton if this pick happens. Culver would need to work on his three-point and free throw shooting though as he shot 30.4% and 70.7% respectively in those categories.
6th Pick – Phoenix Suns – Coby White
There are two options here, draft Coby White or Darius Garland. The problem here is that even though Garland showed great potential last year, he only played 5 games after getting injured for the rest of the season. In our opinion, 5 games is not a strong enough sample size to determine how good a player is. I mean, I could have a great game and go 3-3 from three, then miss my next 20 attempts in the following games. What we are saying is that he might’ve have been riding a good streak. Coby White, on the other hand, shows potential while playing all games last season for North Carolina.
7th Pick – Chicago Bulls – Darius Garland
Chicago’s selection in this draft will depend heavily on Cleveland’s choice, which in this case would be Mr Garland. We exposed his injury-depleted season and lack of experience, but all in all, the Bulls should bank on his potential to grow. He showed great signs of stardom last season so it just may be enough to sway the Bulls into choosing him. The Bulls are looking to strike gold for their second draft in a row as they chose the up and coming Wendel Carter in 2018.
8th Pick – Atlanta Hawks – Cam Reddish
The Hawks have a very interesting position in this 2019 NBA draft since they have the 8th and 10th pick at their disposal. I would even love to see them send both those picks to Washington in exchange for Bradley Beal. That would really bump them up in the standings as Tray Young and John Collins continue to get better. But, besides me daydreaming about that scenario, they should pick the next best player in the draft at this point, which is Duke Alumni Cam Reddish. Cam needs to work on his overall field goal shooting percentage as it dipped throughout last season, but there is potential.
9th Pick – Washington Wizards – Bol Bol
If Bradley Beal was to be traded, we would say then select his potential successor, Romeo Langford. But since this is too difficult to predict, why not risk the upside in selecting Bol Bol? Why do I say “risk”? Well, he is injury prone and has defensive weaknesses that could make him a bust. Also, they have the Dwight Howard situation where nobody knows what to expect from him anymore.
10th Pick – Atlanta Hawks – Goga Bitadze
Here is our “crazy” prediction of the draft and our first international selection. Goga Bitadze is an overseas stud who is positioned as a Center but has great shooting range and impressive offensive skills. Imagine having him spread the floor and then have all John Collins do damage inside. We believe a tandem with Collins would work wonders plus having Young shooting those long threes (making for long rebounds) will fit great with Bitadze’s game.
11th Pick – Minnesota Timberwolves – Romeo Langford
What to do with these Wolves? Are they forever going to be pups or are they ever going to grow into a dangerous and contending team? If Romeo Langford is available in the draft, then select him and modify your current lineup to use him as efficiently as possible. Have him focus on offence alongside Wiggings and Towns, and have Covington and Teague clamp down on their defensive assignments.
12th Pick – Charlotte Hornets – Sekou Omar Doumbouya
Another international selection on the horizon? This pick is basically banking on potential to draft a future star. Something like a “Greek Freak” project but instead of Greek, he is French. All in all, the Hornets are on the verge of rebuilding if Kemba jets out of Charlotte, so this might be a good opportunity to look into what the future holds by start planting seeds.
13th Pick – Miami Heat – Nickeil Alexander-Walker
We know, we all miss Dwayne Wade! But, life goes on and now its time to look for new pieces to continue to build on what the Heat have built throughout the years. We would love to see Nickeil Alexander-Walker go to the Heat this year. This Canadian born shooting guard shoots well from the floor (2FG – 53% and 3FG – 38%), hasn’t presented any major injuries and just came from winning the National Championship. If we were the Heat, we’d get on the Nickeil bandwagon right now!
14th Pick – Boston Celtics – Jaxson Hayes
Danny Ainge always has something up his sleeve so expect some weirdness from this pick. If the Celtics don’t use this pick in a trade package or to move up in the draft, then expect them to sign Jaxson Hayes. This is a highly ranked prospect that can easily get drafted much sooner than the 14th selection. However, if this player happens to fall on their lap at this point in the draft, don’t think too much about it and select Hayes.
This is our analysis of the NBA Draft that will be held on June 20th,2019. So hold on to your horses and expect some switches between teams or trades involving big stars. We are interested to see what the Lakers, Knicks and Celtics have up their sleeves before, during and after the draft.
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