The NBA Draft never disappoints. It always grabs the attention of many who love college basketball, the NBA or both, and this one was no exception. No matter how much we want to prognosticate on how it will go, there are always plenty of picks that don’t quite go as we expect. Some of them go very differently than we expect, and not just many months earlier.
What was not a surprise:
- Deandre Ayton being the first overall selection
- Eight of the first nine selections were freshmen in college this past season; in all, 14 freshmen were drafted in the first round
- Only two seniors being selected in the first round
What was a surprise:
- Boston College guard Jerome Robinson went 13th overall to the Los Angeles Clippers
- Missouri forward Michael Porter Jr. was the last pick in the lottery, 14th overall to the Denver Nuggets
- Georgia Tech wing Josh Okogie went 20th overall to Minnesota
- Texas A&M big man Robert Williams, thought to be a lottery pick, went 27th overall to the Boston Celtics
Certainly, a couple of these will be reason enough for many to once again pound home that the NBA needs to get rid of the one-and-done rule. Freshmen dominated the early portion, and Michael Porter Jr. was thought by many to potentially be a top three pick before he got hurt in his first few minutes of college basketball.
Who would have imagined Robinson going in the lottery back in the fall? Heck, who would have ever imagined that when he first arrived in Chestnut Hill? Interestingly, reports suggest that NBA types were high on Robinson from a character standpoint in part because he didn’t bolt after the Eagles didn’t win a single ACC game his freshman year; he stayed and lifted them up along with his own game.
Robinson is one of a few players who worked their way up to their draft positions. A few picks earlier, Mikal Bridges went tenth overall to the hometown Philadelphia 76ers a few years after he redshirted at Villanova. Another Villanova player who redshirted, Donte DiVincenzo, went 17th to the Milwaukee Bucks, completing a meteoric rise in terms of draft stock from the national championship game. Chandler Hutchison (22nd overall to the Chicago Bulls) wasn’t exactly all over draft lists as a future first round pick when he first arrived in Boise.
Mikal Bridges was at the center of the story of the night. At first, his was a feel-good story, getting drafted by his hometown team and his mother’s employer. His mother appeared on the NBA Draft broadcast. For a young man who redshirted, then was basically a bit player on the 2015-16 national champions, before turning into a lottery pick, it was the kind of story that makes you feel good. But over an hour later, that all changed: he was traded to the Phoenix Suns for Zhaire Smith.
As is usually the case, there were players who left school early and probably were not selected where they hoped to be – or even at all. While some players declare so they can get on with their pro careers and with no real reason to expect to get drafted, plenty think they will hear their name on this night. Among the players in that category:
- Rawle Alkins (Arizona), who left after his sophomore year, went undrafted
- Tony Carr (Penn State), who left after his sophomore year, went 51st overall
- Tyler Davis (Texas A&M), who left after his junior year, went undrafted
- Trevon Duval (Duke), who left after his freshman year, went undrafted
- Brandon McCoy (UNLV), who left after his freshman year, went undrafted
- Chimezie Metu (USC), who left after his junior year and did not play in the NIT, went 49th overall
- Malik Newman (Kansas), who left after his sophomore year, went undrafted
- Allonzo Trier (Arizona), who left after his junior year, went undrafted
And there were others. You could even put Robert Williams in this category, but he’s in a special category in that he surprised a lot of people by coming back to school this year despite being perceived as a lottery selection. Still thought of that way at least from a talent standpoint, he barely made it into the first round.
Duke and Villanova each had three players selected in the first round, and each had a fourth selected in the second round. Kentucky matched them with four total picks, but had an even split of two in each round.
That will wrap up this special NBA Draft edition of The Morning Dish. We hope you continue to enjoy the off-season, including our conference post-mortems, and stay tuned for upcoming podcasts.
