There was not quite as much movement as expected on NBA Draft night, but for some teams, it was a night to remember. For some, it’s already forgettable.
Here’s how we’re grading your team...
Atlanta Hawks: B
There were widespread fears that guard Trae Young is too thin to handle the rigors of the NBA. In fact, one scouting report indicated that Young is so skinny his pajamas only have one stripe. Another noted that, in high school, he held a summer job as the minute hand on the town clock. (OK, you get the idea.)
But the Hawks need a centerpiece, and they felt Young is the kind of guy you can build an offense around. Atlanta also added shooter Kevin Huerter at No. 19 and stretch-4 Omari Spellman, who was tabbed with 13.75 percent body fat at the combine in Chicago, most of any player who remained in the draft. At worst, he and Young will make a great Laurel and Hardy at the Hawks' Halloween party.
Boston Celtics: A
The Celtics attempted to trade up into the top five in hopes of landing a young big man to develop, and instead, young developable big man Robert Williams fell to Boston at No. 27. This is a guy who was projected to go from pick Nos. 11-15.
It’s the kind of lucky draft-day break the Celtics would get when Red Auerbach was running the team, which might explain why, when Danny Ainge emerged from the team’s war room, he was two inches shorter, lost three inches off his hairline and sounded like Peter Falk when he spoke.
Brooklyn Nets: C+
Nets general manager Sean Marks is a native of New Zealand, and he selected high-scoring wing Dzanan Musa, a native of Bosnia, in the first round. Marks then picked Rodions Kurucs, a native of Latvia, in the second round.
These are high-value picks, but that’s a lot of international influence in an American sport and suffice it to say, Kevin McHale is not happy.
Charlotte Hornets: C-
Forgive the Hornets, if you will, for passing at No. 11 on a potential franchise player in Michael Porter Jr., instead winding up with polished Michigan State wing Miles Bridges. Given Charlotte’s inability to budge from its station as the 10th- or 11th-best team in the East, picking Porter appeared to be a worthwhile gamble.
But Bridges is a good fit with a team in need of some athleticism on the wing. What I can’t forgive Charlotte for, though, is trading away a second-round gem like Hamidou Diallo. Alas.
Chicago Bulls: C
The Bulls don’t like to mess with all of that upside nonsense, instead focusing on players who have experience and have proven themselves — you know, the Doug McDermott-types.
Wendell Carter is a big man with polish, who will go over well with segments of the city’s population if they take that to mean, “Polish big man.” Boise State forward Chandler Hutchinson had a Bulls promise all along, it turns out, which makes sense because he is 22 and averaged 20.0 points last year. A decent enough night, if uninspiring.
Cleveland Cavaliers: B-
The Cavs had one pick, and used it on point guard Collin Sexton, a tough and ultra-quick scorer who averaged 19.2 points in his one year at Alabama.
Sexton said that during his visit to Cleveland, he did not have a chance to go to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame or meet LeBron James. That’s not so bad, though — one of those two will still be in Cleveland when training camp comes around.
Dallas Mavericks: A
The Mavs entered with the fifth pick and came out with Luka Doncic, maybe the best player in the draft. Doncic has been playing with Real Madrid, maybe the best non-NBA team in the world, since he was 16, honing his skills against pros in their mid-to-late 20s who are able to be far more physical on the perimeter than NBA guards.
Doncic also cuts his fingernails with a meat cleaver, does barefoot fire-walks in his spare time and killed a bear when he was only three. So, yeah, the guy is tough. The Mavs added NCAA champ Jalen Brunson in the second round, as well as the final pick, Kostas Antetokounmpo, who is hoping to avoid the inevitable nickname, “The Greek Meek.”
Denver Nuggets: A
It was strange to see Michael Porter Jr. onstage at the Barclays Center on Thursday, because he somehow managed to walk there on his own and without the help of a personal scooter or a cane, which — according to some teams’ reading of his medical records — should have been physically impossible. A full-body scan of Porter was said to have revealed that he has the joint structure of a young Pinocchio, before he became a real boy.
Despite those profound concerns, Denver took the gamble on Porter that the Sixers (Hinkie would’ve drooled over a guy with so many medical red flags), the Hornets (really?) and Clippers (only months away from dumping gimpy star Blake Griffin) would not take. In the second round, the Nuggets took small forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who only played 19 games at Kentucky because of foot and ankle injuries, and also added UCLA center Thomas Welsh, who offered to throw himself down the stairs if it would help him fit in with his fellow draftees.
Detroit Pistons: B
The Pistons had no first-rounders, but pulled out two defensive-minded second-rounders with some talent — Khyri Thomas from Creighton and Bruce Brown from Miami.
Considering their last two lottery picks, Luke Kennard and Henry Ellenson, averaged a combined 28.7 minutes per game last year, this is an upgrade in draft results.
Golden State Warriors: B
Clearly, if there is one thing the Warriors were lacking, it is an experienced, intelligent and versatile defensive player who could be ready for immediate deployment off the bench.
Picking 28th, the Warriors got Jacob Evans, who is likely to be added to the pile of young late-first-round/early-second-round rotation players the Warriors have amassed in the last few years.
Houston Rockets: C+
The Rockets took De’Anthony Melton from USC, a guard who was hailed as a “darling of analytics” and, thus, a natural fit with the Rockets (which, according to Twitter, is apparently the only front office that knows how to use computers).
Melton could turn out to be a useful player, but we should stop calling him a computer darling, because one of the lessons from the movie, "Her," was that kind of thing just does not work.
Indiana Pacers: B
As a senior at UCLA, Darren Collison had to shift positions to make room for Jrue Holiday. Now, the Pacers are adding Aaron Holiday, their point guard of the future and a steal with the No. 23 pick. Again, Collison will again be pushed aside by a Holiday brother.
They really seem like a nice family. Just don’t tell Collison that.
Los Angeles Clippers: C-
Jerome Robinson has been the best player on Boston College’s basketball teams for the last three years, which is a bit like being the best steak in the steamer at the Golden Corral. They also wound up with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the 6-6 Kentucky point guard who was so afraid of news of his pre-draft workouts in Los Angeles leaking out that he had every NBA official who came to see him blindoflded, put in the trunk of a Lincoln and dropped off the end of the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.
We like SGA and all, but it was for these two guys that the Clippers passed on the chance to take a shot at Michael Porter Jr. and/or Robert Williams.
Los Angeles Lakers: C+
It’s not that the players who the Lakers wound up with — stretch-4 Moe Wagner and shooting guard Svi Mykhailiuk in the second — don’t have the potential to be good values as they start their NBA careers. It’s just that, for weeks, we’ll have to hear that the two are too valuable to include in a potential Kawhi Leonard trade.
Memphis Grizzlies: B+
The Grizzlies did two very normal things, drafting center Jaren Jackson Jr. with the No. 4 pick and taking bulldog perimeter defender Jevon Carter with the second pick of the second round. This was good, because heading into the draft, there was gossip that the entire franchise might collapse on itself like a dying star and be nothing but a single grain of sand by Friday.
Didn’t happen. Life goes on. The Grizz got a big-man project and a guard whose defensive skills should help him quickly crack the rotation.
Miami Heat: N/A
The Heat spent much of the run-up to the draft offering what was reportedly “anyone on the roster” for an opportunity to get into the top part of the draft, then came out afterward and said they never offered Justise Winslow.
Now, Winslow is a good defensive player who can perhaps get somewhat better offensively, but the Heat insisting they were not offering him in deals means they’re either A) lying or B) not very bright.
Milwaukee Bucks: C+
Shooting guard in Milwaukee has proven to be a black hole, where players — Rashad Vaughn, Tony Snell, O.J. Mayo — go in but are seldom heard from again. DiVincenzo was chosen by the Bucks with the 17th pick to change all that.
It’s been said that DiVincenzo’s status as a mid-first-rounder all came because he had one great game, 31 points in the NCAA championship win, but that’s one more great game than D.J. Wilson had when the Bucks drafted him last year.
Minnesota Timberwolves: B+
When the Timberwolves were considering their pick options at No. 20, two guys on their list were Georgia Tech defensive stud Josh Okogie and polished Ohio State forward Keita Bates-Diop, a senior who averaged 19.8 points and was the Big Ten Player of the Year. The Wolves managed to land both, taking Okogie first and Bates-Diop in the second round.
Now, the trick will be getting coach Ton Thibodeau to do something crazy, like insert them into games.
New Orleans Pelicans: C
The Pels only had one pick this year, a second-rounder they used to take Penn State guard Tony Carr, who will have a shot to make a roster short on depth.
One of the great disappointments of the night, however, was that New Orleans GM Dell Demps said of Carr, “He has a good frame,” and no one else but me got the pun, because who knew Demps was into puns?
New York Knicks: B
Kevin Knox is 18 years old and the youngest player in this draft. When his name was called on Thursday night, the New York backers in the audience booed his selection.
You were probably just going to your prom and such at this time when you were Knox’s age. Now imagine heading to your prom, your mauve cummerbund cinched neatly in place and your date’s corsage pinned carefully to her wrist. Then imagine a spotlight blaring on you the second you walk in, and everyone turning and booing — including your date. And now imagine it happening on national TV, with Adam Silver for some reason as your chaperone.
It was that kind of night for Knox, and we apologize if this gives you a month of nightmares. The good news is that Knox is an athletic combo forward who impressed in workouts and will be joined by Mitchell Robinson, a big man who did not play last year after he bolted Western Kentucky before the season.
Oklahoma City Thunder: B
The Thunder most likely followed the saga of Michael Porter Jr. to the Nuggets and gave the whole thing a shrug. After all, in the second round, they took a guy — Kevin Hervey with the 57th pick — who had surgery on his right ACL in high school and his left ACL last year. Now that is throwing MRIs to the wind. He still managed 20.5 points for UT-Arlington last season.
OKC also got Virginia’s Devon Hall, and have a trade-in-waiting for Kentucky super-athlete Hamidou Diallo.
Orlando Magic: A
As if to prove that the team is focused on bringing in length, the Magic picked center Mo Bamba (7-10 wingspan), forward Melvin Frazier (7-1.75 wingspan), Justin Jackson (7-3 wingspan) and a rare wandering albatross from the coast of New Zealand with a wingspan of 11 feet.
Many wondered why the Magic took Bamba instead of a point guard, because Orlando has two centers already and zero point guards, but those people were reminded that the two centers are Nikola Vucevic and Bismack Biyombo.
Philadelphia 76ers: B+
It may have been a cold thing to do, drafting Philly native and Villanova star Mikal Bridges, whose very own mother works for the Sixers, only to trade him shortly thereafter to Phoenix for Zhaire Smith and a 2021 first-rounder, a valuable trade chip going forward. But The Process is cold and unsentimental.
The Sixers worked out Smith twice, and the word on him is that he can jump out of the gym, which is great for dunking but presents insurance challenges for the franchise. The Sixers added Landry Shamet late in the first round, and took second-rounder Isaac Bonga
Phoenix Suns: A
The Suns checked off just about every box in terms of team needs in this draft, getting a stud inside scorer in Deandre Ayton, a 3-and-D wing with the trade for Mikal Bridges, a point guard with starting potential in Frenchman Elie Okobo and another shooter with potential in George King, the man with the most normal name in the entire draft.
The only potential issue is that Ayton termed the pairing of him with Devin Booker “Shaq and Kobe 2.0,” and now Gary Vitti is already choosing sides.
Portland Trail Blazers: C
The Blazers don’t necessarily need more youth, and they spent a chunk of draft night trying to find a veteran wing who could help the team in the short term.
Instead, when nothing came about on the trade front, they took point guard Anfernee Simons with the 24th pick and acquired second-rounder Gary Trent Jr., two players whose combined age is still younger than or equal to seven current NBA players.
Sacramento Kings: C-
The Kings again entrusted their draft to Vlade Divac, the man who brought you lottery pick Georgios Papagiannis and the swap of DeMarcus Cousins for, essentially, Buddy Hield. Little wonder, then, that Divac ignored the hollering in favor of Luke Doncic and instead chose to go with Marvin Bagley III, an offensive star whose defensive ineptitude was part of the reason that Duke had to go to a zone this year.
The best part is that the Kings will have Zach Randolph on hand to tutor Bagley, which is not as absurd as it might have seemed 10 years ago. But still, it’s worth remembering that Chong was on his way to law school before he met Cheech.
San Antonio Spurs: B
The Spurs were ready for someone unexpected to slip to them at No. 18, and it turns out it was versatile Miami combo guard Lonnie Walker.
The thrill was short-lived, though, as Spurs execs soon went back to glooming over their options on Kawhi Leonard, a process that is helped more by Johnnie Walker than Lonnie Walker.
Toronto Raptors: Shrug
The Raptors did not have a pick in either round of the draft, so the team brass mostly spent the night eating poutine and watching "Call the Midwife" reruns.
Utah Jazz: D
There were still some interesting prospects on the board when the Jazz picked at No. 21. Instead of going for a guy they could develop to contribute off the bench, they took the low-ceilinged Grayson Allen, who can be more annoying than spotty Wi-fi and remains the only college player who looks like Ted Cruz, only without all the charm and grace.
Washington Wizards: C
Ernie Grunfeld was granted an extension last year, despite leaving the Wizards backsliding and with an untenable payroll. He has been with the Wizards through three presidential administrations, which, in Washington, qualifies him as an official member of the Deep State. How else to explain his longevity?
Grunfeld, picking 15th, recognized a need for the Wizards — a reserve combo guard who can shoot — and took Troy Brown, who shot 29.1 percent from the 3-point line in his one year at Oregon.