With a new month comes another angle on the 2019 NBA Draft, including the Atlanta Hawks trading down with their 10th overall pick, and the Los Angeles Lakers completing an Anthony Davis trade with their 4th overall pick.
The Atlanta Hawks fell in the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery, but this draft still marks a major turning point for the team’s fortunes going forward in its rebuild. With a strong young core in place of Trae Young, John Collins, Kevin Huerter and ostensibly Omari Spellman, Hawks General Manager Travis Schlenk has a lot of decisions to make come draft day.
The first decision that we make for him in this mock draft is trading down with the 10th overall pick with the Boston Celtics.
Here’s the trade scenario:
In a watered-down 2019 NBA Draft, giving up the 10th overall pick to the Boston Celtics allows the Hawks to nab two later first-rounders from Danny Ainge. The Atlanta Hawks’ 10th pick serves as a substitute for the Grizzlies pick that Boston lost due to Memphis moving up 6 spots to 2nd overall.
Why are these Boston picks on the table, you ask? Well, because in more seismic news (in this hypothetical draft situation at least), the Los Angeles Lakers traded away the 4th overall pick and much of its young core for Anthony Davis – more on that later.
So read on to explore this wacky 2019 NBA Draft mock-up, which includes the trades previously mentioned.
As expected, Zion Williamson out of Duke University is the number one pick here, as he has been since roughly the first game of the NCAA Men’s Basketball season when Zion led the Blue Devils to an utterly destructive showing against the Kentucky Wildcats.
Though that was roughly where Duke peaked, Zion’s career is just beginning, and not to be hyperbolic, but he has the makings of a superstar due to his absolutely breathtaking athleticism, striking basketball IQ and ability to make jaw-dropping plays on both ends of the court.
Perhaps the lottery was rigged to keep the NBA in the New Orleans market with Anthony Davis likely on the way out via trade (as he is in the 2019 NBA Draft mock-up scenario in this very article), but the Pelicans are sitting pretty with the top pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Just to reiterate this, Zion produced the highest recorded Player Efficiency Rating in Sports Reference’s database with an astonishing 40.8. Notably, the second-highest mark belonged to Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke – who we’ll get to later in this mock draft.
Per Bart Torvik, Zion Williamson was second in at-rim attempts in the country last season at 313. Among players in the Top 50 of at-rim attempts, Zion was second in at-rim shooting percentage with a ridiculous 78.9 percent. The only player with a higher percentage at the rim? The aforementioned Brandon Clarke, who shot 79.7 percent at the rim.
Though the Pelicans were looking to be in an ugly position next season, their fates turned on the bounce of a ping-pong ball.
The next-best prospect in the 2019 NBA Draft is surely Ja Morant out of Murray State. This mid-major master produced some of the most scintillating highlights in the country last year, and he led the country in total assists (331) and assists per game (10.0) while also logging 24.5 point per contest, which ranked 7th in the country.
While drafting likely means that longtime Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley is on the way out to another team, the future in Memphis is bright. With a young core of Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr., simply think of the scrumptious pick-and-roll game that those two will play.
Jackson has tremendous upside, and the hulking big man out of Michigan State was named to the All-Rookie first team in May. Beyond those two cornerstones, the Grizz also have Jevon Carter, Dillon Brooks and SDS favorite Ivan Rabb to round out the team’s young core – perhaps ushering in a replacement for the beloved “grit and grind” era in Memphis.
As with many massively athletic prospects, there are questions about Ja’s jumper, but Morant shot 81 percent from the free throw line in his college career on a 50.1 percent free throw attempt rate per Sports Reference, which is a pretty good indicator that his jumper will translate to the NBA level.
The third-best prospect on the board is R.J. Barrett, Zion’s teammate at Duke, though some would argue that Barrett might be a better long-term player than Morant. No one (no one sensible at least) is claiming that R.J. has better long-term prospects than Zion, however.
For Barrett, he showcased a well-rounded skill set once Zion went down with an injury after his shoe memorably exploded due to overuse on a hulking, burly young man who seemingly can leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Barret’s shot profile in college can be described as one of a volume scorer. Per Bart Torvik, Barrett attempted more than 200 shots from all three levels (at-rim, non-rim two-pointers and from three), and he was the only player in the Top 50 of rim attempts who also attempted 200 each of the other two shot styles.
That volume came from having the greenest of lights on a shooting-challenged Duke team, while also being the single-best high school recruit in the 2019 NBA Draft class.
Though the Knicks were certainly “not tryin’ for Zion,” all that tanking only led to the 3rd overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, which is fine if they’re planning on trading it. In this scenario, another team lands the vaunted Anthony Davis via trading the next pick in this article…
As the late Heath Ledger said in 2008’s The Dark Knight “And here. We. Go.” Speaking of Heath Ledger, despite the absolutely stunning dysfunction surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers, as well as the general dislike of Rob Pelinka, LeBron James is somehow able to convince Anthony Davis that the Lakers are where he needs to be to take that next step as one of the most dominant players in the NBA.
As such, the Lakers trade away much of their young core along with the #4 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft (and some salary filler from somewhere) in order to obtain Davis. In this case, that pick will be De’Andre Hunter, the best player on Virginia’s national championship-winning men’s basketball team.
Now ponder this: With a cadre of the Lakers’ young core (including Josh Hart and Brandon Ingram), the Pelicans have a potential day one starting five that looks something like this:
C – Zion Williamson
PF – De’Andre Hunter
SF – Brandon Ingram
SG – Josh Hart
PG – Jrue Holiday
Though a Jrue Holiday trade might be likely after AD is sent away, that is an absolutely brilliant defensive unit with multiple good shooters to surround Zion with. Just seeing the combination of Williamson and Hunter on the court together would make for a suffocating modern NBA frontcourt.
Though Pelicans owner Gayle Benson has said that she would greenlight a trade with the Lakers “over her dead body,” well, sometimes the sway of King James is too much to take.
After wowing scouts and NBA front office executives at various pro days and workouts, Cam Reddish marks the third and final Duke Blue Devil off the board in the first round – all in the Top 5 of the 2019 NBA Draft, no less.
While Cam Reddish has been frequently mocked to the Atlanta Hawks at #8 overall on various occasions, as Atlanta Hawks fans, we all know that the team rarely gets what they want. As such, let’s just prepare for the fact that Reddish’s interesting skill set might be too much for teams to pass on in the upper echelon of the 2019 NBA Draft.
Though Reddish only shot 33.2 percent from deep on a fairly robust 61.8 percent three-point attempt rate at Duke, per Sports Reference, his free throw shooting was more promising at 77.2 percent (on a lesser 26.4% free throw attempt rate.
Beyond that, the eye test certainly treats Reddish’s shooting mechanics well, and his length and height make the case that he has plenty of untapped upside. Though extremely thin still, Reddish’s good frame conveys a player that can grow into his body as the year’s go on.
With only Collin Sexton and Cedi Osman in the Cavs’ coffers as players in the team’s young core, Reddish could be the centerpiece Cleveland is looking for.
Coby White of North Carolina produced a terrific freshman campaign that saw him catapulted into the conversation as being one of the best point guards in the 2019 NBA Draft class. Though the Atlanta Hawks don’t need a point guard, White has been seen linked to the team on multiple occasions – possibly due to the fact that White can work as an off-ball weapon alongside Trae Young.
However, in this case, the point guard-needy Phoenix Suns elect to take White 6th overall with Ja Morant off the board. Though Morant is obviously the best point guard prospect in the 2019 NBA Draft, White is an exceptional consolation prize.
Exceedingly fast in the open court, White provides a dynamism that the Suns just haven’t had at the point guard position unless Devin Booker mans the one spot. Even when he does, however, Booker often likes to take his time and get to his spots – as opposed to White who plays at a blistering, frenetic pace that would work well alongside Booker, Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges and other interesting young players such as De’Anthony Melton, Elie Okobo and ostensibly T.J. Warren.
In his freshman campaign, White put forth excellent shooting splits of 50/35/80, which portent an all-around offensive game that would make White the “glue guy” at the point that Phoenix so desperately needs.
For the third year in a row, the Chicago Bulls will be selecting 7th overall. In the 2019 NBA Draft, with some of the team’s top options off the board, the Bulls are in the same boat that Phoenix is in: Looking desperately to add a point guard of the future.
Perhaps either Phoenix or Chicago will look to make that addition in free agency with players such as Terry Rozier or Malcolm Brogdon, but the safer bet is that the Bulls will continue to build organically through the draft by selecting Darius Garland out of Vanderbilt.
Though Vanderbilt is a trendy choice to go Top 5 (often at #4 to the Los Angeles Lakers) because in this mock draft scenario that pick is traded to the Pels, New Orleans opts for an immediately impactful defensive front line – leaving Garland to fall, happily for the Bulls, to Chicago.
A terrific shooter from almost anywhere on the court, Garland’s freshman campaign was cut supremely short due to injury, but he showed enough in high school and college to indicate his stock as a lottery pick should not have fallen very far.
With a young core of Lauri Markkanen, Wendell Carter Jr., Zach LaVine, Otto Porter and Darius Garland, the Bulls could be a sneaky choice for the lower tier of the Eastern Conference Playoffs next year – if that young core can stay healthy, of course.
And finally, here it is. The Atlanta Hawks will be a major talking point in the 2019 NBA Draft after the team made the single biggest trade during last year’s draft. Though we all know what happened (the Luka Doncic for Trae Young swap), it must be remembered that Atlanta Hawks General Manager Travis Schlenk was lambasted for the move at the time.
Fast-forward to the end of the 2018-19 regular season, and Trae Young had proved himself to be perhaps in the same tier as Luka in his draft class – and was an obvious unanimous First Team All-Rookie selection (something that John Collins was robbed of in his first season).
In the 2019 NBA Draft, the Atlanta Hawks will certainly be looking to scoop up any player that is still available and widely regarded as a Top-5 talent in this draft. For the second straight mock draft, that player is Jarrett Culver out of Texas Tech.
An absolutely brilliant defender, Culver was often the number one option on a Red Raiders team that made it all the way to the NCAA Championship game. On the back of terrific team defense and just enough scoring, the Red Raiders as a three seed upset numerous juggernauts, such as the #1 seed Gonzaga as well as historic powerhouse Michigan State.
For Culver on the Atlanta Hawks, the team’s young core would be absolutely loaded. Though positions would be nebulous, the team could be looking at a starting lineup that looks something like this going forward:
C – Dewayne Dedmon (if he is re-signed)
PF – John Collins
SF – Kevin Huerter
SG – Jarrett Culver
PG – Trae Young
If that doesn’t get you excited for the future of the Atlanta Hawks, perhaps nothing will.
Though commonly linked to the Atlanta Hawks, the Washington Wizards will look to build towards the future with a raw big man prospect out of Texas: Jaxson Hayes.
Hayes is very young and incredibly raw, but his tantalizing physical gifts and rim-running, shot-blocking big man archetype is still extremely important in today’s NBA. Though Hayes still has plenty to learn in terms of the dark arts of (illegal) screen setting and figuring out more complex reads on defense, there is no question that he knows how to handle a lob.
As previously explored on SDS, Hayes was the best at-rim finisher in the country during the 2018-19 NCAA men’s basketball season – shooting an amazingly high 85.4 percent at the rim on 123 attempts, which was Top 15 in the Big 12 conference.
With Dwight Howard still technically on the roster for the Wiz, but likely not for long, Hayes could come in as a high-upside big man to pair with Bradley Beal and potentially Troy Brown as a part of the team’s long-term core.
Perhaps Thomas Bryant could be retained, as he is also a very young big man coming off of an extremely productive season with the Wizards, but Hayes’s upside will likely be too much for the Wizards to deny.
Here’s where things start to get interesting in this 2019 NBA Draft mock-up.
After the Atlanta Hawks select at #8 overall, the team has the 10th overall pick obtained in the Doncic/Trae swap. Instead of using that pick, Atlanta Hawks GM Travis Schlenk will look to make a deal with the Celtics for two of their own 2019 NBA Draft picks (#14 & #22). In return, the Hawks give up #10, and one of their second-round picks (#41).
With the pick traded from the Atlanta Hawks, the Celtics will be allowed to select one of the best players in the country last season: Brandon Clarke out of Gonzaga.
Clarke will indubitably not last until the 14th pick, which is where the C’s would be selecting, so moving up makes sense here in order for Boston to nab an amazing force on both ends to pair with the team’s young core.
In this hypothetical scenario, the Celtics strike out on obtaining Anthony Davis, and Kyrie Irving walks this summer. Though that might sound like a doom-and-gloom setup for Boston fans, take a peek at this young core:
C – Robert Williams (the beloved Time Lord)
PF – Brandon Clarke
SF – Jayson Tatum
SG – Jaylen Brown
PG – Terry Rozier (…?)
Of course, Rozier might also skedaddle in free agency this offseason, but not including the team’s current stable of veterans (Gordon Hayward, Al Horford, Aron Baynes, etc.), that is a highly interesting and upside-laden young unit to ponder going forward.
With perhaps the best fit on the entire 2019 NBA Draft board taken away one pick prior in Brandon Clarke for the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Wolves and new front office executives Gersson Rosas and Sachin Gupta will have to opt for their fallback options.
With the 11th overall pick, the Wolves will look to improve the team’s backcourt as Derrick Rose is not a long-term fit and Jeff Teague only has one more year left on his deal.
Kevin Porter Jr. is frankly one of the best athletes in this entire draft class, and his slithery ballhandling means he is able to get to his spots and get his shot off with relative ease. Beyond being a 41.2 percent three-point shooter in college per Sports Reference, Porter also shot 68.8 percent at the rim, which accounted for over 30 percent of his shots according to Bart Torvik.
By adding Porter, the Wolves would have an absolutely loaded young core, which would hopefully not include Andrew Wiggins if the team’s new leadership could pull off a miracle and unload one of the worst contracts in the NBA. If they did that, the team’s young core would look something like this, at least in the 2019-20 season:
C – Karl-Anthony Towns
PF – Keita Bates-Diop (would need to add weight to play the four full-time)
SF – Kevin Porter Jr. (would need to add weight to play the three full-time)
SG – Josh Okogie
PG – Tyus Jones (if signed to $3.6 million qualifying offer).
In previous mock drafts, Rui Hachimura out of Gonzaga has fallen a few spots down into the middle of the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft.
In this iteration, Hachimura’s stock stays roughly the same, and the Charlotte Hornets nab the West Coast Conference Player of the Year with the 12th overall pick. After missing out on various picks over the past few seasons – including trading away All-Rookie Second Team member Shai Gilgeous-Alexander last year for Miles Bridges – Hachimura will be yet another high-variance selection for Michael Jordan and the Hornets in the late lottery.
The Hornets will likely be looking at an extremely tough season next year – unless Kemba Walker decides to sign a supermax contract with the team, which means they might eke into the playoffs or will be selecting in the late lottery once again next season.
For his part, Hachimura was one of the two best players on a Gonzaga squad that had the best offense in the country per KenPom last season, and Rui was a beast on the interior. Hachimura was one of the most prolific rim shooters in the country last year with 257 attempts and a 72 percent clip at the rim per Bart Torvik.
Only Zion had more attempts at a better clip in the 2018-19 season.
After an impressive improvement from his freshman to sophomore campaigns, PJ Washington is certainly deserving of a lottery selection. Though he would honestly be an interesting fit for the Atlanta Hawks – especially if they took a swing on him at #10 overall – in this mock draft scenario, the Miami Heat nab him at #13 overall.
With the team tied to a bevy of ugly contracts going forward, the team must look to improve on the fringes. With young players such as Derrick Jones and Bam Adebayo already in the fold, Washington could provide a modern four archetype to a team that definitely could use some help on the perimeter.
Washington produced some excellent shooting splits in his sophomore campaign with Kentucky, delivering a 65.7 percent clip at the rim, a 45 percent clip on non-rim two-pointers and a 42.3 percent showing from downtown, per Bart Torvik. Beyond that, his 52/42/66 shooting splits per Sports Reference convey an all-around scoring efficiency that should translate well to the next level.
A terrific athlete with good size (6-foot-8, 230 pounds) and length (7-foot-3 wingspan), Washington plays with a motor that just doesn’t quit, which should also ingratiate himself with Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Now we get to the first pick in the 2019 NBA Draft that the Atlanta Hawks acquired from the Boston Celtics by trading down with the 10th overall pick.
The Atlanta Hawks desperately need an infusion of defensive talent in the backcourt, which is why the team might “reach” here for senior guard Matisse Thybulle out of Washington.
We have previously been high on Thybulle – providing a few reasons why drafting him makes sense, outlining his sleeper status among his peers in the 2019 NBA Draft, as well as exploring his brilliant at-rim finishing in his senior season.
Thybulle is a true defensive menace, and he is the only player in NCAA Men’s Basketball history to produce 100 total steals and 80 total blocks in a season – at least in Sports Reference’s database, which dates back to 1992-93.
Furthermore, Thybulle produced a career 35.8 percent three-point shooter on a 52 percent career three-point attempt rate in college; however, his sterling 85.1 percent clip from the free throw line in his senior (78.1 percent in his four-year college career) is a better harbinger for Thybulle’s likely role in the NBA as a catch-and-shoot threat on offense.
Certainly, taking Thybulle in the lottery will be seen as something of a reach – especially for a player that might not have the ceiling that many of his draft mates possess. None of that matters – Thybullle is a difference-maker who knows how to leverage his excellent athleticism and shocking explosiveness into transcendent defensive plays.
Thybulle’s brilliant defensive acumen is exactly what the Atlanta Hawks need going forward.
As is often the case with the first pick that is outside the lottery, the Detroit Pistons will likely be looking for any player that has fallen out of favor with the lottery teams above them. In the case of the 2019 NBA Draft, at least in this mock draft scenario, multiple players fit that bill.
For the Pistons, the choice here could potentially be a lead ballhandler like Carsen Edwards, but that might be something of a stretch here as his stock has him in the late first round or early second round.
Instead, Detroit will opt for a player with an impressive high school pedigree that failed to live up to expectations in college: Nassir Little out of North Carolina.
Little is a brilliant athlete with an extremely high motor that would definitely engender lots of support among Pistons fans who are treated to players that seem to be a bit relaxed when playing such as Reggie Jackson, Andre Drummond or Blake Griffin – even if Griffin is putting up one of his best-ever seasons despite limited athleticism these days..
This would be a beneficial partnership for both sides. Little would be able to serve the role of a high-energy, high-impact bench sparkplug that can wreak havoc on both ends with his athleticism.
Okay, so bear with me on this one.
Though it’s true that the Orlando Magic have taken extremely thin players with whopping wingspans in two consecutive drafts (Jonathan Isaac in 2017 and Mohamed Bamba in 2018), perhaps the player that Orlando Magic General Manager John Hammond has been searching for since his Milwaukee Bucks days is present in the 2019 NBA Draft. Perhaps that player is Bol Bol out of Oregon.
There are certainly questions present regarding Bol’s frail frame as well as his navicular bone injury in college. However, there can be no equivocation about Bol’s tremendous gifts as a shot-blocker on defense and a shooting, floor-spreading big man on offense.
With tremendous height due to his father being the tallest player in NBA history, Manute Bol, and a skyscraping 7-foot-8 wingspan, Bol is this year’s draft class man of mystery.
Bol has frequently been mocked to the Atlanta Hawks with one of their top 10 picks, but with that pick being traded in this hypothetical scenario, Bol falls to the Magic.
With Nikola Vucevic likely gone in free agency, Bol and Bamba could split time at the five as the team slowly rebuilds on the fly with a strong young core that includes the three aforementioned big men, Aaron Gordon and also Markelle Fultz. Interesting – to say the least.
The Brooklyn Nets are coming off the best season since the team made the Playoffs in 2014-15 with Brook Lopez, Thaddeus Young, Bojan Bogdanovic, Joe Johnson and Deron Williams manning the roster. That unit was ousted by the 60-win Atlanta Hawks in the first round.
The Nets were similarly outmatched in the first round of the Eastern Conference this season, as they stole game 1 against the Philadelphia 76ers before the piledriving lineup took its toll on the smaller, less Playoff-seasoned Nets.
Now with the team’s rebuild obviously a success despite not having their own first round pick due to the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce trade with the Celtics, the Nets can look to add talent in the 2019 NBA Draft that might have fallen down draft boards for whatever reason.
In this case, Sekou Doumbouya will fall to the Nets with the 17th overall pick. A fluid athlete with an immense amount of upside due to being one of the youngest players in this draft class, Doumbouya would slide into a solid role as a bench small forward for the Nets alongside last year’s draft pick Rodions Kurucs.
The Nets have shown a willingness to draft international players, as both of the team’s selections last year were international phenoms (Kurucs and Dzanan Musa). Doumbouya would continue that trend.
The Indiana Pacers will be looking to wash away the bad taste a four-game sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics left in the team’s collective mouth during the 2019 postseason.
Of course, the team’s main offensive engine – Victor Oladipo – suffered a gruesome injury in the regular season that kept him out of his teammate’s postseason efforts. Oladipo was coming off of a breakout season in 2017-18 in which he almost led his Pacers to an upset of LeBron James and the Cavaliers in the 2018 postseason.
Now, with Darren Collison likely gone in free agency, the Pacers could use some help in the backcourt. Enter Nickeil Alexander-Walker out of Virginia Tech. The cousin of Second Team All-Rookie member Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, NAW was terrific in his sophomore season – showcasing an interesting all-around skill set that would benefit any team that drafts him.
For the Pacers, NAW could provide some secondary ballhandling, as his usage rate (26.5%) and assist rate (24.6%) shot up in his second season, per Sports Reference. That assist rate is especially notable, as it represents nearly double his freshman season’s assist rate.
Furthermore, Alexander-Walker possesses a solid jumper (37.4 percent from deep in his sophomore year) combined with excellent defensive chops (3.4 percent steal rate was Top 70 in the country), which means that the Pacers’ culture of lockdown defense would be unaffected with the inclusion of a rangy swingman like NAW.
Sure, it might be clichéd, but the San Antonio Spurs will be taking a highly regarded international prospect in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft (at least in this humble mock-up!).
Goga Bitadze followed in the footsteps of his feted EuroLeague alumnus Luka Doncic by being named the league’s Rising Star for the 2018-19 season, and with good reason: He possesses the coveted combination of three-point shooting and rim protection that every single team in the league is looking for in today’s NBA.
Beyond that, his stats (per Tankathon) for Budućnost in Montenegro showcase a potentially interesting NBA future. With an insanely high 75.3 free throw attempt rate, Bitadze is shooting 71.4 percent from the line on over 5 attempts at the charity stripe per game. When you realize that Bitadze is only playing roughly 23 minutes per contest – that level of production at the stripe conveys a fascinating skill set for teams to ponder at the next level.
The Spurs often employ a rotating cadre of big men, though even Popovich has gone more in the direction of small-ball in recent years. With Bitadze, Coach Pop would have the best of both worlds, as the Georgia-born (the country, not the state) big man could hang out on the perimeter then be right back at the rim on defense on the other end. A seamless fit for the Spurs at #19 overall.
This actually represents a fairly precipitous decline for Indiana’s Romeo Langford, as the freshman was widely believed to be a Top 10 – or even Top 5 – pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
However, teams are seemingly low on Langford after a tough first season in the cream and crimson of the Hoosiers and, as such, his stock has faltered. With Langford’s stock at its nadir, this allows the Boston Celtics to take a swing on a high-upside prospect at #20 overall – pairing him with Brandon Clarke as part of the team’s core going forward – or representing another cost-controlled young asset for Trader Danny Ainge.
Langford had the ball in his hands a lot for the Hoosiers, which was typified by his 26.1 percent usage rate per Sports Reference, which was 11th in the Big Ten Conference. Beyond that, Langford was able to produce an impressive volume at all three levels, as he was on the only player on Indiana with over 100 attempts at the rim, from two-point range and from three-point territory.
His best zone was at the rim, where he shot a robust 65.9 percent, per Bart Torvik. Though a solid athlete, Langford lacks explosiveness, which means most of his shots were contested at all levels.
Though we have previously expressed why the Atlanta Hawks should take Langford, in this mock-up scenario, that is simply not possible.
We have previously mocked Ty Jerome to the Oklahoma City Thunder as a change-of-pace from General Manager Sam Presti’s fetish for long-limbed, athletic and rangy big men and wings. Though a noble pursuit in the modern, switch-everything NBA, the Thunder sorely lacked offensive verve and shooting throughout the 2018-19 regular season and Playoffs, which means the team needs to address those needs in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Jerome of the Virginia Cavaliers played out of his mind throughout the NCAA Tournament, helping to lead the Wahoos to the school’s first-ever men’s basketball championship.
There is no question that Jerome is a basketball savant, as he has a tremendous level of feel for the game on both offense and defense. Jerome was frequently tasked with initiating offense for the Cavaliers, and he capably did so in his junior season in Charlottesville.
Beyond that, Jerome notched the highest assist rate of his career in 2018-19 at 32.6 percent per Sports Reference, which was second in a stacked ACC.
On the shooting front, Jerome was proficient at all three levels per Bart Torvik – shooting 63.8 percent at the rim, 38.7 percent on two-pointers and 39.9 percent from deep. Beyond that, Jerome shot an exceptional 40.6% on NBA-range triples per The Stepien – showing that his shot should translate to the next level in OKC.
And here is the final pick the Atlanta Hawks obtained by trading down with the #10 overall pick with the Boston Celtics. This would be an absolute dream come true for this writer, who has loved Grant Williams for quite a while now.
Despite being mocked as high as #13 overall in our previous 2019 NBA Draft mock-up, it seems that NBA front office executives and scouts are a bit lower on Williams due to his size and “tweener” positionality.
However, why isn’t that regarded as a positive? Isn’t a lack of positionality and switchability one of the more coveted skills in today’s NBA? If so, why aren’t teams higher on a two-time SEC Player of the Year? Who knows, but in this case, the Atlanta Hawks are the beneficiary of those teams’ oversight.
Though certainly Williams might not fit elegantly alongside John Collins – who is better at the four at this juncture – there is no question that the 20-year-old college junior would be a huge boon for this Atlanta Hawks squad.
A supremely efficient scorer, especially from two-point range, Williams is also a terrifically strong defender that does not allow much in and around the paint – even against much larger players.
On offense, per Bart Torvik, Williams shot 72.2 percent around the rim on a 37.2 at-rim attempt rate, then Williams shot 50.2 percent on over 200 mid-range attempts – both of which were team-highs for the Tennessee Volunteers.
Perhaps most notably on offense, Williams shot 81.9 percent from the foul line on a 63.7 percent free throw rate – which was 44th in the country.
Williams might lack for eye-popping measurables and gaudy offensive highlights, but the simple fact is that he is an extremely productive and efficient player who makes the smart play and the right play pretty much every time. Atlanta Hawks General Manager Travis Schlenk has made some gutsy choices in the past, and taking Grant Williams in the 2019 NBA Draft could be his greatest masterstroke if he goes that direction.
One of the best three-point shooters in this entire draft, Cam Johnson out of North Carolina produced a tremendous season in his fifth-year senior campaign.
Though Johnson is certainly of advanced age for an NBA Draft prospect, that means Johnson makes sense for teams that are looking to win now with a roster that already has a playoff pedigree. The Utah Jazz certainly fulfill that requirement.
Utah is supremely reliant on Donovan Mitchell, yet his three-point shot did not get much respect in the 2018-19 Playoffs, when the Jazz were ousted by the Houston Rockets with relative ease – for the second straight year in a row.
Though Joe Ingles is an international treasure and a tremendous shooter, the rest of the roster leaves something to be desired on the three-point marksman front. The Jazz count one of the greatest shooters of all time among the team in Kyle Korver, but Korver is getting a little long in the tooth, so why not upgrade with one of the best shooters in this class?
Johnson showcased supreme scoring efficiency in his final year at UNC per Bart Torvik – a 71.3 percent clip at the rim, a 42.1 percent clip on other two-pointers and an astonishing 45.7 percent showing from deep.
The Jazz could run the same sets for Johnson that they do for Kyle Korver in a decades-younger frame with more athleticism. Sounds like a win.
One of the major weaknesses of the Philadelphia 76ers’ roster construction under General Manager Elton Brand revolves around the fact that the team was utterly bereft of guards. Once you get past Jimmy Butler and J.J. Redick, there was pretty much no one that could be relied on to capably run postseason offense.
Ben Simmons is a tremendous terror in transition, but he is not really an every-down ballhandler. While the team’s center rotation was clogged with the likes of Greg Monroe, Amir Johnson, Boban Marjanovic, Jonah Bolden (and more!) to spell Joel Embiid, the guard line was severely lacking.
With the 24th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Philly should opt for one of the most productive seniors in the entire draft. Like the Jazz, the Sixers have the luxury of taking higher-floor, older players in the draft due to the team’s expedited timeline.
There’s no other way to say it: Dylan Windler was a bona fide bucket in college. Per KenPom’s player page, Windler finished 34th in the country in offensive rating (126.6), 20th in effective field goal percentage (64.9%), 12th in true shooting percentage (68%), 42nd in two-point percentage (66%) and 90th in three-point percentage (42.5%).
Beyond that, Windler is a terrific rebounder (30th in defensive rebound rate at 27.2% per KenPom), and he shot 47.8 percent on NBA-range triples per The Stepien (on a limited sample).
A late riser in the 2019 NBA Draft process, Mfiondu Kabengele has one of the best names in the draft – as well as plenty of upside for whatever team drafts him.
In this mock, the Portland Trail Blazers nab Kabengele at #25 overall and look to groom him as a more athletic replacement for Al-Farouq Aminu in the short-term, as well as a potential franchise cornerstone in the long-term.
Kabengele was one of the best players to come off the bench in NCAA Men’s basketball in the 2018-19 season, as he was debatably the best player on a Florida State team that finished 4th in the ACC regular season and got beaten by Duke in the ACC Conference Tournament.
In limited minutes, Kabengele produced a striking 8.3 percent block rate, which ranked 56th in the nation per KenPom. He was also adept and producing fouls as his 55 percent foul rate and 6.6 fouls drawn per 40 minutes were both quite gaudy for his team.
Beyond that, Kabengele is a good, growing shooter who delivered on 36.9 percent of his three-pointers in his sophomore season. The combination of rim-protection and three-point shooting is exactly what every team in the NBA is looking for right now, so the Blazers would do well take a swing on Kabengele late in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft.
The 2019 NBA Draft Combine has come and gone, and this pick (as well as a few others later in this list) represents a player that shone bright during the scrimmage portion of the NBA-sanctioned event.
According to a Bleacher Report post-Combine big board by Jonathan Wasserman, Luka Samanic showcased a wide variety of skills in Day 1 of the Combine – so much so that he didn’t feel the need to play in the second scrimmage. Per Wasserman: “The 6’11” forward flashed scoring versatility with a three-point make, post-up spin move into a layup, tough drives and solid defensive foot speed.”
Indeed, Samanic provides that elusive combination of size and a gorgeous three-point shooting stroke that all NBA teams covet. Though he possesses a negative wingspan (6-foot-11 height and 6-foot-10½ wingspan), his offensive skills are the main reason to take a swing on Samanic – which is exactly why the Cavs employ their 25th overall pick on a potential project in the late first round of the 2019 NBA Draft here.
Also, Samanic possesses a popular name in NBA Draft circles with the moniker of Luka – so expect him to get plenty of love on draft day.
Another late riser who do not announce his intentions to stay in the 2019 NBA Draft until hours before the May 29 deadline, Nicolas Claxton of Georgia has been an extremely interesting prospect for the entire draft season.
Though we have previously explored why taking Claxton in the second round would be a huge win for the Atlanta Hawks, it seems that his terrific NBA Combine showing combined with his age and measurables (6-foot-11¾ height, 7-foot-2½ wingspan) means that Claxton will be a late first round pick – if not even higher!
On a Georgia team with a dearth of point guards, Claxton showcased the interesting ability to grab and go off of defensive rebounds, and his 12.2 assist rate on only 22.1 percent usage is fairly strong for a massively tall and wiry center prospect.
Per Bart Torvik, though most of Claxton’s scoring came at the rim (70.3% on 37.2 rim attempt rate) – as expected for a near-seven-footer – he did show a willingness to step out from deep, where he shot 28.1 percent on a 21.5 percent three-point attempt rate.
Though the Brooklyn Nets have a long-term traditional center locked in Jarrett Allen, Claxton would make for a gutsy home run swing by a front office that has shown a willingness to gamble with their first-round picks in recent years.
The Golden State Warriors are, once again, heading into an NBA Finals as the seemingly overwhelming favorite – and why wouldn’t they? On a roster littered with lottery picks, future Hall of Famers and brilliant role players with a terrific head coach in Steve Kerr leading the charge, the Warriors should be the favorites every year.
However, despite all of the team’s top-end talent, there is still room for improvement on the bench and on the margins, and the team will look to make those improvements in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Though it might seem like his skill set is a bit redundant, Tyler Herro out of Kentucky would make for a strong choice at #28 overall. Herro, who has deemed himself “a bucket” during the 2018-19 regular season, certainly lived up to that bill in college.
Herro is a terrific shooter off movement, and he is comfortable shooting from NBA distance – as his 113 NBA-range three-point attempts per The Stepien would attest.
Herro shot well at all three levels per Bart Torvik, with a 66.7 percent clip at the rim, a 46.7 percent clip on non-rim twos and a 35.5 percent clip from three-point territory. Perhaps most importantly, Herro shot 93.5 percent at the free throw line to lead the nation per KenPom. Since free throw percentage is often a better indicator of NBA shooting success, that’s music to the Warriors’ ears.
Though Bruno Fernando of Maryland is apparently (surprisingly) in the mix for the Atlanta Hawks with the #10 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, in this mock draft, he falls all the way to the end of the first round where the San Antonio Spurs take him with the pick acquired in the Kawhi Leonard trade.
While it seems that the Raps got the far better end of that deal as Toronto is headed to its first-ever NBA Finals appearance in franchise history, the Spurs having two picks in this draft is fortuitous. With plenty of young guard options already in the fold (Lonnie Walker, Derrick White, Dejounte Murray) as well as former All-Star DeMar DeRozan entrenched in the lineup, the Spurs will take two contrasting big men in the 2019 NBA Draft.
While the team previously opted for the stretch five capabilities of international star Goga Bitadze, later on in the first round, R.C. Buford and Gregg Popovich opt for the immense heft of Bruno Fernando – who showcased tremendous growth in his sophomore campaign.
Most of Fernando’s scoring damage was done in the paint (where he shot 71.3 percent at the rim, per Bart Torvik), but he also showcased the ability to step out for deep midrangers – shooting 45.5 percent on over 100 non-rim twos.
Beyond that, his 77.9 percent clip from the foul line conveys excellent touch, which is, of course, a better determining factor for NBA three-point success than other percentages.
What to get the best team in the regular season in terms of overall record; a team that boasts the presumptive MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo, one of the most prolific big man three-point shooters in NBA history in Brook Lopez, a steady All-Star sidekick in Khris Middleton and a First Team All-Defense point guard in Eric Bledsoe?
In the 2019 NBA Draft, or at least in this mock-up, that answer is fairly apparent.
Keldon Johnson is widely believed to be a mid-first or high-20s draft pick in his class, but in this scenario, he falls all the way to the Bucks with the 30th pick overall.
Johnson projects to be a swiss-army-knife, glue-guy type of prospect – hence why he might be available this low in the draft. As a jack-of-all-trades and master of none, the Bucks could bring him along slowly and allow him to contribute to a winning team immediately upon being drafted – something that not many freshman prospects can boast in their rookie season.
With good size (6-foot-6, 211 pounds) a projectable frame and rock-solid shooting numbers (38.1 percent on a 31.6 three-point attempt rate per Bart Torvik), the Bucks might be getting a steal with Johnson at #30 overall. The rich get richer indeed.
As Anthony Davis’s favorite t-shirt says: “That’s All Folks!” What did you think of this most recent mock draft? Let us know in the comments or on social media. As always keep it locked to Soaring Down South for plenty more Atlanta Hawks and 2019 NBA Draft coverage. Thanks for reading!