The 2020 NBA draft class contains no obvious franchise player. Instead, there are question marks attached to almost every potential lottery pick. Teams will choose from volatile, ball-dominant playmakers, imposing big men who aren’t well-rounded, tantalizing athletes who either can’t shoot or don’t defend and speedy, undersized floor generals. Outside these specific categories are three […]
The NBA draft lottery isn’t all about luck — teams tank for a reason, of course — but the bouncing pingpong balls do play a big role. Good or bad bounces can mean the difference between drafting a future Hall of Famer and drafting just another mediocre non-star. Before Thursday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves had […]
Undrafted contributors used to be rarities in the NBA, with a few special exceptions over the years. We all remember Ben Wallace pulling down rebounds for the champion 2004 Detroit Pistons, for instance, or Udonis Haslem patrolling the paint for the Miami Heat. But the harsh reality about the league was that most (American) players […]
When NBA commissioner Adam Silver took the stage Thursday, the first names he called were generational athlete Zion Williamson and pass-and-attack wizard Ja Morant. The draft, it seemed, was appropriately going chalk. Until it didn’t. The Duke Blue Devils became the second team in the modern draft era to produce three Top-10 picks, while the […]
A year after an NBA draft dominated by very large human beings, the draft class to be announced Thursday night should look a lot … shorter. Big men are obviously still alive and well in the NBA, but this class illustrates that the league now focuses on positional flexibility and finds itself firmly rooted in […]