The draft once again provided a lot of stories. SPOX reviews the night and selects winners and losers. In addition, there are once again the wildest stories around the event.
Sometimes you are in a position where little can go wrong. Sure, there were (justified) opinions that Luka Doncic could have been the first pick, but Phoenix took the sure thing in Deandre Ayton. It also makes sense, as the Suns were looking for a center and have now found it.
The Suns didn’t let themselves be deterred, didn’t get involved in ludicrous trades and simply did what was expected of them. Ayton was the best prospect, so he became the top pick. It’s as simple as that.
But that was not all. With pick 16 the Suns got Zhaire Smith, whom they immediately sent to the Philadelphia 76ers to get Mikal Bridges in return. The NCAA champion with Villanova was considered a safe facility before the draft and could become a reliable 3 and D player. Bridges probably won’t be a star, but he could become an important roleplayer in the formation with Devin Booker and Ayton.
At the beginning of the second lap the Suns grabbed Elie Okobo. The Frenchman was also considered a possible first-round pick and was also a solid choice.
To come back to Ayton for a moment. The center will run across the court with puma shoes in the future. A real coup for the German company, which did not play a role in basketball for years. With Marvin Bagley the No.2 pick also wears the shoes of Puma, more is actually not possible, the top dogs like Nike just look into the tube.
Traditionally, Bigs shoes don’t sell as well, but now Puma at least has his foot in the door. Besides the two top picks, Michael Porter Jr. (#14) and Zhaire Smith (#16) will also be equipped by the Germans.
So it wasn’t just smoke that the Mavs were very interested in Luka Doncic. The Texans were unlucky in the draft lottery when they slipped from third to fifth in the draft order, but just before the draft the Mavs corrected that. Looking back, it cost Dallas a first lap pick, but this could be more than worth it.
Doncic was not just any talented European, but a highly decorated youngster who delighted the fans in Europe and was also the best player on the court among former NBA players, which was reflected in MVP titles in ACB and EuroLeauge.
Together with Dennis Smith Jr. the Slovenian now stands for the new Mavs. The two should also complement each other more than well, especially Doncic should be able to play his strengths as a secondary ball handler in the association. Dallas should be a League Pass favourite next year. That’s all good Dirk could wish for in his old days.
From a German perspective, the evening could hardly have been better. Not only was Moritz Wagner selected by the Lakers, no, the native Berliner was even selected in the first round, which is connected with an automatic payday, because first round picks get a fixed salary.
Now Wagner is playing for one of the most famous teams in the entire US sport in front of all the Hollywood stars and those who think they are. Also the basketball celebrities can be seen. Everyone is happy to take advice from Magic Johnson or Kobe Bryant.
And there are the big plans in LaLa-Land. After all, it is well known that the Lakers are hunting the big fish that could be called LeBron James, Paul George or Kawhi Leonard. Either way, it should be an exciting rookie season for the next German import.
Maybe it was better that Robert Williams wasn’t present at the draft. His face would have darkened from minute to minute as numerous teams spurned the potential lottery pick. The center was finally passed through to position 27, where the Boston Celtics could hardly grasp their luck and struck with thanks.
“He’s very talented, we thought he was away at 17 or 18,” said coach Brad Stevens and GM Danny Ainge admitted that the Big was an absolute No Brainer so late in the first round as Best Player available. The only question is: Why did the former Aggies star fall so low anyway? No one can answer that at the moment.
Page 1: Winners
Page 2: Loser
Page 3: Curiosities