 | Rights: Be A atl GM | HT: 6-10 |
| Jersey: 60 | WT: 235 | |
| DOB: 12/20/1994 | Age: 29 | |
| Sal: $.00M | Inj: No Injury | |
| Player Avg: FBPPG =0.00 PPG=0.00 RPG=0.00 APG=0.00 | ||
| Contract Status: RET - Retired Player | ||
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| Trans. Jun 26 9:42 ET The 2015 NBA draft took place on Thursday, after a flurry of rumors and trades preceded the festivities. We thought we’d go in depth and look at each team’s haul for the week, grading each team in terms of context, potential, scouting, and the idea that half of these damn kids are 20 – so let’s give ‘em a little room to figure things out, OK? On to the grades *** Atlanta Hawks Acquired : Tim Hardaway Jr. (via trade with New York), Dimitrios Agravanis at No. 59, two future second-round picks. Because the Hawks’ outright theft of a midrange first-round draft pick from the Nets (a swap of selection from the three-year old Joe Johnson deal) was so cunning, it feels like a bit of a disappointment that the team was only able to parlay the 15th overall pick into Hardaway Jr. and a pair of second-rounders from Washington. Atlanta chose Kelly Oubre for the Wizards in the deal, moving them down to 19th in what seemed like a head-scratcher at the time – the price of moving up four slots in the middle of the first-round is only two second-rounders? Then the Hawks added to the confusion by adding Hardaway Jr. in exchange for the 19th pick, which New York used on Jerian Grant. If DeMarre Carroll returns as a free agent and Thabo Sefolosha comes back to full health (no sure thing, ATL doesn’t have Carroll’s Bird Rights and Thabo’s injury is a rare and unfortunate non-basketball one), the Hawks would have no immediate use for Oubre or any of the other several swingmen available at 15 (or 19), and they don’t need another point man. Hardaway has his merits. He took a step back in his second season but he could be the isolation scorer the Hawks sorely need in the backcourt. This still seems like a disappointment. Grade: C *** Boston Celtics Acquired : Terry Rozier at No. 16, R.J. Hunter at No. 28, Jordan Mickey at No. 33, Marcus Thornton at No. 45. Boston entered the night attempting to do damage with its cadre of young, solid-enough tradeable player assets, its two first-rounders this year, two extra first-round picks besides its own in 2016, and potentially 11 future extra second-round picks spread out between 2016 and 2018. It takes two or sometimes three teams to tango in the NBA, however, and when trades fell through the Celtics settled on taking hybrid guard depth with Louisville’s Rozier, a shooter/playmaker in Georgia St.’s Hunter late in the first, and a possible rotation-ready rim protector in LSU’s Mickey in the second round. The similarities between Rozier and last year’s lottery pick, Marcus Smart, are a little concerning, but the C’s seem convinced he was the best player available. They’ll rely on the brilliant Brad Stevens to turn Hunter into a consistent contributor, and Mickey does serve a need in the paint even with his whippet-thin frame. Marcus Thornton will have an uphill battle to make the team, which is a shame because the Celtics could have been one trade and one roster invite away from having two Marcus Thorntons on their team. We’re still upset at the fact that the Celtics waived Allan Ray just weeks after trading for Ray Allen, so this clearly drags their grade down a bit. Grade: C+ *** Brooklyn Nets Acquired : Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (No. 23 pick, via trade), Juan Vaulet (No. 39 pick, via trade), Steve Blake (via trade), Chris McCullough at No. 29. The Nets shipped center Mason Plumlee, who was oddly in and out of the rotation last season, to Portland for Hollis-Jefferson and Blake. The Arizona product is a killer athlete, teammate, and he’ll be a consummate pro, but he remains a terrible shooter with mechanics that need a complete overhaul. As we saw in Charlotte with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, even exacting attention to fixing these sorts of things oftentimes isn’t enough. McCullough was considered a lottery talent until he tore his ACL while at Syracuse, and it’s possible that he’ll miss all of 2015-16. Prior to the injury he still looked like a project, full of long arms but a wispy frame, but Brooklyn doesn’t mind developing him at the low-low price of the penultimate pick of the first-round. Vaulet is an Argentinean athletic swingman who has quite a bit to do in order to develop an all-around NBA game. Grade: B *** The Scoop: None. Jun 26 9:42 ET |
