Here's my summary of the teams that I was trusted with:
Los Angeles Lakers
Picks:
#02. D'Angelo Russel, PG/SG
#34. Chris McCullough, PF
#44. Anthony Brown, SF
Trade:
The Lakers traded #27 for Phoenix Suns' #44 and the right for first round pick swap for 2017 with the Suns(if not conveyed it turns into two second round picks in 2017 and 2018).
Summary: The Lakers took
D'Angelo Russell who they considered the best player on the board at #2... An amazing shotmaker, scorer and playmaker, great distributor of the ball with swagger worthy of the flashy Lakers. Russell had of one of the most impressive offensive freshman seasons in the last 10 years and shot up through the draft to land at no. 2. The Lakers will be relying on him to be the teams playmaker, primary ballhandler and scorer post the retirement of Kobe. With the second pick the Lakers considered picking a center at #27 but since Upshaw was taken and the drop off past him was too big and the Lakers decided to move back to the second round and in the process secure at least two future second round picks and at best a first round pick swap with the Suns in 2017. The center spot will have to be addressed through free agency in the future or next year's draft(if Kobe stays healthy for the full year... blessed be Kobe's knees).
At #34 with their second pick of the draft the Lakers selected
Chris McCullough- a great value pick who slipped to the second round after being projected as a lottery pick before getting injured in January. The Lakers are shooting for the stars with that one. They will hope to develop McCullough slowly and through the D-League at first, but the expectation for the Syracuse PF are big - he has the potential to be very versatile defender with good offensive skill to add to it.
After that pick the Lakers were eying the Stanford product
Anthony Brown as their next target and desperately tried to make a trade up from 44 to mid 30s but their attempts didn't find a willing partner for a deal. The last offer was made to a team in the early 40s, still unsuccessful. Fortunately Brown slipped through the cracks and still landed with the Lakers at 44. He's not the most flashy player in the league, but he has major role player potential. He was one of the best shooters in the draft, recording impressive 46% and 44% last couple of shooting season. He's also a good defender and the hope is he will be a good complement for Russell's playmaking ability and will take advantage of the open shots that Russell will create in the future.
Houston Rockets
Picks:
#13. Kelly Oubre, SF
#25. Tyus Jones, PG
Trades:
Houston traded #18 (Sam Dekker) and Houston's 2016 top-3 protected first round pick to Phoenix for #13 (Kelly Oubre)
Houston traded #32 and $3M cash to Philadelphia for #25 pick
Summary: The Houston Rockets entered the draft with one major concern/need - the PG spot, which might be vacated by Patrick Beverley if he leaves during the summer, and another concern - wing depth/quality because of the possible departure of Correy Brewer, Jason Terry and the underwhelming performance of Kostas Papanikolaou in the second part of the season. The Rockets didn't think there are any PGs in the mid-first round worth a pick so they decided to focus on acquiring a major talent on the wing -
Kelly Oubre. It was clear that he wouldn't fall to #18, so the Rockets traded up using next year's pick(which projects to be late first) in order to move to 13 and pick up Oubre. Oubre's physical profile is one of an elite athlete with great length similar in some ways to Trevor Ariza. Oubre wouldn't be ready to play major role in the first year or two, but that would give him the possibility to learn from a guy with very similar physical measurements in Ariza and possibly take the reins from him in the future. Oubre has shown in college flashes of great defensive potential. He uses his long limbs to bother opponents shots, scoop the ball off opponent's dribble in a way eerily similar to the way Kawhi Leonard does it, and also plays the passing lanes. He also rebounds great and has great shooting form, that with improved consistency projects to make him a great shooter in the league. He also said in a recent workout in Utah that he might be better than Harden some day... well, what better way to get better than Harden than to play and learn every day in practice against him.
For the next pick the Rockets could either wait for the 32nd pick and pick whoever is left from the PG's projected to go in late-first-early-second or try to move up in the draft and pick the one they liked best. A great opportunity arose when Philadelphia declared they are willing to move back to the second. That was enough and a deal was made in which the Rockets moved up to #25 for the price of 3M in cash. The PG I chose for them was
Tyus Jones, who is one of the favorites of this year's draft when it comes to analytical projection models. James Harden is on the record saying he'd like the Rockets to upgrade the PG spot and for him to share some of the ball-handling responsibilities with a true PG. Tyus is the perfect fit for that role - he can both run the offense with his great vision and passing and hit open shots when he plays off ball when Harden collapses the defense on his drives and kicks out to perimeter shooters.
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Comments and critique are welcome