Indiana Pacers
Round 1: Solomon Hill, F, Arizona
I see why Indiana drafted Hill. He is a mature individual who is ready to contribute in the NBA right now. However, Solomon Hill goes down as one of the biggest reaches in the draft as he was largely regarded a second round prospect. If the Pacers were willing to be a little more patient, they could have gone for someone with more upside such as Archie Goodwin or Alex Abrines. Even if the Pacers were looking for someone who is ready to contribute straight away, I would have had Reggie Bullock ahead of him.
Grade D+
Chicago Bulls
Round 1: Tony Snell, G, New Mexico
Round 2: Erik Murphy, F, Florida
The Bulls were looking to address two positions of need in this draft: perimeter shooting and a defensive big man. If I were the Bulls, Dieng would have been on the top of my list; despite his age, he has been playing basketball at a high level for a few years and is actually a surprisingly strong distributor. Snell does give them a solid defender who has good range on his jumper, and I think he is a better pick than Bullock would have been. If Snell can improve his ball handling and not become such a one-dimensional scorer (jump shots), then he could turn out to be a good value pick here. Erik Murphy gives the Bulls a modern day hot commodity in the NBA: a stretch four who will make teams pay if they leave him open. The real question is will he be able to defend to a high enough level to get minutes on this tenacious Bulls team. For me, Peyton Siva would have been a better pick due to his nose for defense and a winning pedigree.
Grade B-
Milwaukee Bucks
Round 1: Giannis Adetokunbo, F, Greece
Round 2: Nate Wolters, G, South Dakota State
It is hard to really give this draft a grade due to Giannis being years away from contributing at the NBA level, so you will have to come back to me in 2015! The Bucks are not scared of taking risks on draft picks; look at Ilyasova (International), Brandon Jennings (Character issues & unique path to the NBA), and finally Larry Sanders (Insanely skinny big man). If Adetokunbo gets anywhere near his ceiling, then this will be a great value pick. Nate Wolters was a borderline first round talent, and the fact that he slipped down to #38 was great for the Bucks. With free agency coming up and the future of Jennings and Ellis unsure, he will provide a valuable cover at the position. I should also mention that Wolters is one of the best defensive point guards in the draft and should fit well into the defensive mindset of Milwaukee.
Grade B+ (I give bonus points to any team that swings for the fences!)
Detroit Pistons
Round 1: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, G, Georgia
Round 2: Tony Mitchell, F, North Texas/Peyton Siva, G, Louisville
The Pistons were believed to be high on Carter-Williams, Burke and CJ McCollum so that Brandon Knight could slide over to shooting guard. However, the selection of Caldwell-Pope suggests that either they want Knight as a combo guard coming off the bench or they plan to move him back to the point guard spot and not bring back Jose Calderon. Either way, the selection of Caldwell-Pope seems to unbalance the roster and does not even appear to be the best player available. However, the second round selections of Tony Mitchell and Peyton Siva are great picks in my opinion. Mitchell is the risky pick with high upside but a number of red flags, and Siva will bring a winning attitude to the team and is a strong perimeter defender. My grade would have been in the Cs if not for the second round selections.
Grade B-
Cleveland Cavaliers
Round 1: Anthony Bennett, F, UNLV/Sergey Karasev, F, Russia
Round 2: Carrick Felix, G, Arizona State
Cleveland shocked the NBA world with their selection of Bennett at number one; all these so-called experts saying the pick was down to Noel and Len should know better. The Cavs have kept their draft plans a secret for the last two years (Waiters and Thompson), so why would they change now? Bennett creates a logjam at the PF spot, with Thompson coming off a promising sophomore season, unless the Cavs are planning to have Bennett log minutes at SF. This could only happen if Bennett trims down and begins to focus on defense, because in the Eastern Conference, he would go up against guys such as Lebron, Rudy Gay, Melo, and Paul George. Karasev is a strong pick at 19; he can shoot lights out and has a very high basketball IQ. Watch him to have a bigger role than most think. Felix wasn’t a great pick with the likes of Withey, Canaan, Rice Jr. and more talents on the board. However, it doesn’t appear that any of those guys would have played much of a role anyway.
Grade B
By James Plowright
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