Joined by my favorite basketball minds, I give you the first annual Hayden Coombs draft diary. Our draft day roster includes:
– Hayden Coombs: Your host and resident NBA Draft guru.
– Skyler Coombs: My big brother, who is much more rational with ACC love than I am.
– Bryson Lester: Comm director for the Big Sky, lover of Gary Payton Jr., probably golfing.
No. 1: Detroit Pistons select Cade Cunningham
HC: No surprise here. It was reported earlier today that this would be the pick, and I think it is probably the right pick. He has a lot of upside and a very high basement.
SC: The type of guy you have to pick because you’ll get fired for going against the grain. But, I still like Evan Mobley the best. Maybe it’s because of the era we grew up in. I just like big men, but that’s not really how the NBA plays anymore.
HC: Agreed. I think Evan Mobley has the highest upside in this draft, and I think it’s because of how uniquely suited his game is to today’s NBA. That being said, I was in love with Cunningham all season and I think Oklahoma State’s roster gave him every excuse to fail, and he didn’t.
No. 2 Houston Rockets select Jalen Green
HC: Big W for the G-League. I’ve been a big G-League follower since I was in high school and it was still called the D-League. I hope to see the league continue to expand into a true farm system for the NBA.
SC: The Westbrook trade is officially official. I just don’t like the fit for LA. I think they would’ve been better off with the package that Sacramento was offering.
HC: Yeah, Westbrook does nothing to help LA’s shooting woes, which were a major reason why they struggled this year. Shifting gears, I see Jalen Green scoring a ton for Houston. Really interested to see how he meshes with Kevin Porter Jr.
No. 3 Cleveland Cavaliers select Evan Mobley
HC: The Cavs get it right. I think Mobley will be great, and I think he will be able to play really well next to Jarret Allen. Cleveland has the makings for a dominant front court. I also think Kevin Love, if he stays, will be a great mentor for him.
SC: NBA Twitter is reporting Scottie Barnes for Toronto at 4.
HC: I really like Scottie Barnes, and he’s from the ACC, so I think he’ll be amazing, but I also have concerns because he can’t shoot very well. In a normal year, I’d be all about Scottie being the top pick, but we just saw a player who can guard every position, do everything on offense excpet shoot in Ben Simmons become the laughing stock of the NBA. Maybe it’s recency bias, but I just can’t imagine a player who isn’t a good shooter being super successful.
No. 4 Toronto Raptor select Scottie Barnes
BL: I would NOT have left Suggs on the board. But that being said, asking Suggs to immediately fill in the void that Lowry will leave is asking a lot of any kid.
HC: It seems like Toronto is committed to VanVleet at point.
SC: I really like Suggs’ attitude. I loved his quote about making all the teams regret who pass on him.
BL: Multi-sport athletes will always have my heart.
SC: Apparently Suggs was on top of Orlando’s draft board, so they got super lucky.
HC: Super lucky that they’re not married to Cole Anthony as their starter when Fultz gets inevitably injured.
No. 5 Orlando Magic select Jalen Suggs
SC: Orlando fans across the internet are rejoicing. The first great thing that has happened to them in a long, long time. But the Magic now have a ton of guards.
HC: I’m fine with that because the majority of their guards are very replaceable. Let any of them go and replace them with any average player.
SC: Twitter reporting that OKC is taking Josh Giddey!
HC: No one loves Josh Giddey more than I do; I’ve been a huge fan of his through the entire year, but I feel like OKC is reaching because they were afraid of Memphis grabbing him.
No. 6 Oklahoma City Thunder select Josh Giddey
SC: Shocking, but it makes sense because all OKC wants right now is high upside guys.
BL: I can’t believe it. I was never a Bouknight fan, but shocked Giddey went first. I hate the pick for OKC, but I really hate it for Giddey. Not the type of environment you want to bring him up in. Things should start to get very interesting now.
HC: Warriors picking next will be very interesting. It’s been reported for a few days that they’d pick Kuminga if he were on the board still.
No. 7 Golden State Warriors select Jonathan Kuminga
SC: I should’ve trusted my gut and not put Bouknight so high on my board.
HC: Yeah, Bouknight may be this year’s “mock draft guy” who was projected to go high just because a few websites said so. Was anyone really in love with him, or was it all smoke?
BL: On Kuminga,
No. 8 Orlando Magic select Franz Wagner
BL: Tell me why everyone likes Wagner.
HC: I’m not going to lie, I am not a Wagner fan. I know the analytics guys really like him, he’s viewed as a safe pick, and maybe it’s just that his brother sucks, but I’m not a believer. I don’t think he’ll be a great player.
SC: He’s such a different player than Mo, and there’s nothing that says he won’t be successful because his brother hasn’t been, but the best he’ll ever be is Joe Ingles, which isn’t bad, but that’s his ceiling. I was shocked he rose so high.
No. 9 Sacramento Kings select Davion Mitchell
HC: Of course Sacramento found a way to F this up.
BL: Sacramento needs a lot of things…but not Davion Mitchell.
SC: That is such a small backcourt. And I doubt that he can develop being a third or fourth guard…not even a third or fourth option. It didn’t even cross my mind that the Kings would select him.
HC: Older players drafted in the top-10 rarely pan out. I just don’t think he is ever be more than an on-ball defender. And he’s not big enough to guard some wings because he’s way shorter than advertised.
HC: Maybe Sacramento is trying to conjure up memories of that Phoenix team that started Goran Dragic, Isaiah (Isiah?) Thomas, and Eric Bledsoe.
No. 10 Memphis Grizzles select Ziaire WIllims
HC: WOAH!
BL: I love it. I love Ziaire as a prospect and I’ve been confused why more teams didn’t like him.
HC: Well, he kind of sucked this year at Stanford. But based off his high school film, he’s a top-3 talent in this draft. I really really like him, more than most people do, but I worry he is more Quincy Miller than Kevin Durant.
SC: I also really like him, just not this high. I feel like he would’ve been available later in the first. But what makes me feel better about it is that the Grizzlies are a smart, solid organization that gets a lot of its picks right.
HC: Considering how much I like Zaire Williams and how much I dislike James Bouknight, I talked myself into a Morant/Bouknight backcourt really fast. I kind of feel like they should’ve gone that direction, but from a pure talent standpoint, I do think Williams is the better talent. But has Bouknight fallen too far now? I don’t see Charlotte taking him because he doesn’t fit with LaMelo.
BL: No. Bouknight isn’t going to be good. It’s a win if you get him this late, but I still don’t trust him.
HC: And just like that, it’s being reported that Charlotte is taking Bouknight. I just don’t see it working next to LaMelo because he also needs the ball in his hands to be effective.
No. 11 Charlotte Hornets select James Bouknight
SC: Hornets get a surprise here, very high value for no. 11, and continues to UConn to Michael Jordan pipeline.
HC: I don’t really believe in Bouknight, but he was probably the right pick. When a top guy slides to you, you gotta pull the trigger.
BL: If Bouknight is taking shots from LaMelo, it’s a problem.
HC: Cue the “Michael Jordan Last Dance Looking At His Tablet” memes.
No. 12 San Antonio Spurs select Josh Primo
HC: How?!? What a terrible pick.
SC: He wasn’t a top-3 player at Alabama. He’s another high upside guy, but he would’ve been available at the end of the first round.
BL: Why? I don’t get it. San Antonio has lost touch.
HC: Primo is so raw. I guess he made the right pick by staying in the draft, but he is a great example of a guy that could’ve improved so much with another year in college. He’ll definitely be spending the year in Austin.
No. 13 Indiana Pacers select Chris Duarte
HC: He’s like 30 years old.
SC: Indiana wants to win right now, and Duarte is an instant impact guy. Interesting to see Primo and Duarte go back-to-back in that Primo is such a project and Duarte is a low ceiling/high basement guy that could help a team right away.
HC: I struggle with the pick because his window is so much smaller than most players. He’s over 24-years-old already…he’s like 3 years older than Cam Reddish, who is on the trading block. And I worry about his ability to compete athletically.
No. 14 Golden State Warriors select Moses Moody
SC: I really like Moody, I thought he was going to go higher.
HC: I like his defensive potential a lot, and I think he could be a solid 2-way player, but I think it’s interesting how the Warriors are drafting. A lot of people assumed that Golden State would be drafting in win-now mode, but they’re definitely building for the future or compiling young assets for a trade.
HC: How about that Monteverde Academy roster? Cunningham, Barnes, Moody, and Day’Ron Sharpe all on the same roster? That team was 100% better than Oklahoma State.
NBA selects Terrence Clark
BL: BRB, just wiping off the tears.
HC: Love that the NBA did this. So heartbreaking.
SC: I really hope the NBA or a franchise throws some money at his family.
HC: Yeah. He was a likely first round selection, so I’m glad the NBA is keeping him in the front of our minds.
BL: Oh no, Wizards.
No. 15 Washington Wizards select Corey Kispert
SC: The Wizards want to build around Bradley Beal now, and Kispert is a good shooter and potential role player. I’m not sure how much of an immediate impact he will have for a team that wants to compete.
HC: I like Kispert a lot more at 15 than I did early in the lottery, where a lot of mocks had him. I was high on Kispert pre-NCAA Tournament, but he faded so much in the tourney. I don’t see him reaching JJ Redick or Joe Harris level of success.
BL: He has way more Doug McDermott in his game than JJ Redick. I don’t love him as a prospect, but I’m relieved no one bit on him any earlier than this. It’ll probably work out in his favor that he was selected later so there won’t be much expectation to contribute immediately.
No. 16 Oklahoma City Thunder select Alperen Sengun
HC: John Hollinger thrilled to see his guy come off the board, finally.
SC: In a totally Presti move, OKC is moving this pick to Houston for a 2022 first from Detroit and a 2023 first from Washington.
HC: Interesting. I really like Sengun, and I would have drafted him a lot earlier and kept him if I were OKC, but this pick makes me feel a lot better about Houston passing on Mobley.
SC: That’s a good point. Houston stocking up on high-upside players. I still prefer Mobley over Green and Sengun, but this makes more sense.
No. 17 Memphis Grizzlies (for NO) select Trey Murphy III
HC: Wishing my best to Kelton Jacobsen, who dreamed of Trey Murphy being available at 30 for Utah.
SC: Admittedly, I don’t know a ton about Trey Murphy, but I was surprised to see how high he jumped on draft boards since the combine.
HC: I like Trey Murphy because of the ACC thing, but I’m not sold. Virginia struggled to find consistent scorers, so they let him do whatever he wanted on offense and he was useless a lot of the year. Murphy has all the physical tools, but struggled to consistently do anything off the dribble and didn’t shoot good enough to be a true 3&D guy.
No. 18 Oklahoma City Thunder select Tre Mann
SC: I had Tre Mann much lower than this. Feels like a reach. But I’ve read a lot of good things about him.
HC: It looks like the Knicks are trading 19 to Charlotte for a future first.
No. 19 New York Knicks (for Charlotte) select Kai Jones
HC: This is such a Charlotte pick. They always love athletic, high upside guys, who likely won’t pan out.
SC: Like Kispert, I like Kai Jones here way more than what some mocks were reporting.
HC: Out of the three uber-athletic Texas bigs who will likely get drafted, the one who will go in the late second round (Jericho Sims) was the best this year. I’m not a believer in Jones or Greg Brown.
No. 20 Atlanta Hawks select Jalen Johnson
SC: I think Jalen Johnson is mentally weak and that’s caused him to have problems in high school and in college, but he will never be expected to be “the guy” in Atlanta, so I think he could do well there.
HC: Yeah, I think he plays way smaller than he really is. He should be Rudy Gay at worst, but he’s nowhere near that level. For someone so athletic, so talented, with such a great body, you’d think he was 6’5″. That being said, coming into the season he was a top-5 pick, so you can’t go wrong swinging for the fences here.
SC: I think it makes a lot of sense for that reason. Atlanta is stacked right now with young talent, so why not take a guy with a ton of potential you can bring along slowly? I’m all for drafting for potential this late in the first.
HC: Probably my homerism speaking, but he seems like a problem child. He’s a diva. Never stayed at a school in high school or college for an entire season. I don’t like him.
SC: You’re betting on him putting it together. Think about Perry Jones. No reason not to go for a guy that could be great if you aren’t going to play whoever you draft right here anyways. From a pure talent standpoint, he’s probably a top-10 guy.
HC: I just read a TJ Warren/Jalen Johnson comparison, which suddenly has me upset Chicago didn’t trade up for him.
SC: Reports coming in that New York is trading 21 to the Clippers.
No. 21 New York Knicks (for LAC) select Keon Johnson.
HC: It’s about time.
SC: Great value pick for the Clippers. The best athlete in the draft, can play defense at a high level right now, rebounds well, but is really raw offensively.
HC: Yeah, this is another “best player available” pick. Crazy to see a player this athletic last this long. Rich getting richer.
No. 22 Washington Wizards (for Indiana) select Isaiah Jackson
SC: Pairing Isaiah Jackson with Chris Duarte.
HC: Yeah, I like that Indiana drafted a high potential player to go with a win-now guy. Does this mean Myles Turner is gone?
SC: Wizards getting Aaron Holiday and no. 31 from Indiana for this pick.
No. 23 Houston Rockets select Usman Garuba
HC: Really like this pick. I love Garuba’s motor and defensive potential. I thought he’s go a bit higher, but I think Houston is a good spot for him. Houston gets the two best European bigs in the draft.
SC: Yeah, I see a Clint Capela ceiling and Bismack Biyombo floor.
HC: Just watch a video of him boxing out and picking fights for rebounds. He has some Dennis Rodman in him. Will be interesting to see him play alongside Sengun.
No. 24 Houston Rockets select Josh Christopher
HC: Christopher was rising on boards for a while, then fell pretty dramatically, settled into a late first/early second consensus, so no major surprise here.
SC: Also interesting to note, Josh Christopher is good friends with Jalen Green, so that should make them happy.
HC: I don’t see Green and Christopher playing together, as they are both ball-dominant off-guards, but Houston can also bring him along slowly.
SC: I also wouldn’t be surprised if Houston moves this pick, since this is their fourth (fourth!) first round selection.
No. 25 LA Clippers (for New York) select Quentin Grimes
HC: Love this pick. Grimes was the darling of the draft combine, just destroying the 5-on-5 scrimmages. Very high basement, imo. But, I am confused why Jared Butler hasn’t been selected yet. Maybe his medical stuff scared teams off despite being cleared by the league?
No. 26 Denver Nuggets select Bones Hyland
SC: Great pick for the Nuggets. A scoring point guard who can step in and alleviate some of the Monte Morris burden.
HC: Agreed. Good upside for a guard being selected this late in the first. Could develop into a great floor spacer.
No. 27 Brooklyn Nets select Cameron Thomas
HC: Would’ve bet my life on Day’Ron Sharpe here. Not that I love Day’Ron Sharpe by any means, I just read a bunch that he had a promise from Brooklyn.
SC: I think I liked Cam Thomas more than the rest of the league. He’s an instant offense, off the bench, create his own shot type. I think he should have gone a lot higher than this.
No. 28 Philadelphia 76ers select Jaden Springer
HC: I liked Jaden Springer, I think he’ll have a better NBA career than Keon Johnson. That’s my hot take for the late first round.
SC: Yeah, I think he can help Philly soon. Probably doesn’t make Ben Simmons expendable, but fills a need. Doesn’t look like Simmons will be traded tonight.
No. 29 Phoenix Suns (for Brooklyn) select Day’Ron Sharpe
HC: Vindication!
SC: Solid value in Thomas and Sharpe for the Nets this late. Those guys are more valuable on the court than Landry Shamet and DeAndre Jordan would be.
No. 30 Utah Jazz (for Memphis) select Santi Aldama
HC: Really think Utah should’ve gone after Jared Butler here. Barring a major medical issue, I think he could’ve been a rare late-first round instant contributor.
SC: Aldama is also a bit of a surprise. Was entirely absent from a lot of mocks.
HC: He was a big name as a teen in Europe, stock plummeted at Loyola Maryland. I was always confused why he came to the states to play for a small program instead of going to the likes of Gonzaga or Kansas. I think he has good potential, just bummed to see Utah trade out of the first when Jared Butler, Sharife Cooper, JT Thor, Isaiah Todd, Jason Preston, Ayo Dosunmu, and Miles McBride still on the board. There’s a lot of value in picks 31-40, so hopefully the Jazz can still get their guy with the 40 pick.
That’s the end of the first. The really interesting picks are around the corner, but that’ll wrap up this post. Draft grades are on their way.
Hayden Coombs 