Washington Wizards forward Rui Hachimura speaks to reporters during a Wizards NBA basketball minicamp in Washington, Thursday, June 27, 2019. Hachimura is the first ever Japanese player selected in the first round of the NBA draft. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
BY: MALAYIA BATTON
This year’s NBA Draft started on June 20th, after the NBA lottery on May 14th reveals where the hopeful teams find their selection order. The world found out that the New Orleans Pelicans got the coveted number one pick. Beating out teams like the New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns, and the Chicago Bulls that had poorer records this past season. Whoever held that number one pick was going undoubtedly draft college superstar, Zion Williamson.
The other projected picks were JA Morant and Duke’s RJ Barrett and they were projected to go 2nd and 3rd overall picks to the Memphis Grizzlies and the New York Knicks. Also, no one at the time knew where the 4th pick was going since the first pick originally the LA Lakers’, but they traded it to the New Orleans Pelicans for Anthony Davis. After that blockbuster trade, the day of, New Orleans decided to trade their fourth pick to the Atlanta Hawks. And the Pelicans in return got the 8th, 17th, and the 35th pick as well.
As the NBA Draft began, the Pelicans wasted no time in deciding their pick, and to no surprise, it was Zion Williamson. He was wearing an all-white suit similar to LeBron James wore in the draft in back in 2003 when he was the number one pick. The Memphis Grizzlies had the next pick and they selected, JA Morant, the sophomore point guard from Murray State. Then the New York Knicks were on the clock and their pick was RJ Barrett, a freshman shooting guard from Duke. The first three selections of the draft went the way all the experts had predicted.
The 4th pick on the clock was up and the LA Lakers picked De ’Andre Hunter, a forward from the University of Virginia. That pick would eventually go to the Atlanta Hawks by a proposed trade. Each of the top four picks showed great emotion when they were selected and interviewed after they shook the commissioner Adam Sliver’s hand and with tears of happiness.
The Cleveland Cavaliers selected Darius Garland, a point guard from Vanderbilt after he only played only five games for them. A good thing is that he became a top-five pick with all of the work he put into himself outside of the injury. Then the other top ten picks were Texas Tech’s small forward, Jarrett Culver. North Carolina’s Coby White who was selected by the Chicago Bulls. Jaxson Hays a center from Texas, went to the Hawks and then traded to the Pelicans. Rui Hachimora was picked by the Washington Wizards. Lastly, Dukes Cam Reddish was picked 10th by the Hawks, and he was a top ten pick like his Duke teammates Zion Williamson, and RJ Barrett. This was the first time that Duke’s stellar program history that they had three of their players selected in the top 10.
The draft had two rounds where there were some shocking picks that maybe should have been first-round picks. For instance, Oregon’s Bol Bol was drafted by the Miami Heat but then was traded to the Denver Nuggets! He had an injury that kept him out for part of the year, but not too many analysts had his stock dropping so low. The Nuggets who had no picks were lauded as one of the great steals in this draft by landing Bol Bol. Also, Carsen Edwards, a point guard from Purdue, was originally picked by the Philadelphia 76ers and quickly traded to the Boston Celtics.
Looking back at this year’s NBA draft it was a good one. From seeing some of the projected picks actually, go to their ideal places and then seeing the players show emotion with their families and wearing fashionable suits when they were selected was all in good taste.
