NBA Draft Winners and Losers: David Griffin is back, Suns not shining, where OKC Thunder land
By Rylan Stiles
David Griffin was announced as the New Orleans Pelicans general manager on April 17th, 2019. Since that date, he has won the NBA Draft lottery, cashing in that ticket for the most hyped NBA prospect this side of LeBron James, in Zion Williamson.
David Griffin is back! He should have never been out but way to come back.
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) June 20, 2019
Despite the lottery win, Griffin inherited a disgruntled NBA Superstar in Anthony Davis, and OKC Thunder fans know that trading away or for a disgruntled star does not always net the return it should. The OKC Thunder nabbed an MVP caliber player in Paul George for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. The Raptors grabbed a finals MVP (now two-time Finals MVP) Kawhi Leonard for DeMar DeRozan.
Yet, David Griffin flipped a superstar on this last year of his deal for an absolute haul.
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Anthony Davis was shipped to Los Angeles to team up with LeBron James and sport the Purple and Gold on June 15th. The Pelicans got Josh Hart, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and three first-round picks for the superstar.
One of those first-round picks was the fourth overall pick in Thursday’s draft which the Pelicans flipped to the Atlanta Hawks for the 8th pick, 17th pick, and 35th pick in the NBA Draft, as well as a protected first round, pick from the Hawks via the Cleveland Cavs (a pick Griffin himself dealt to the Hawks to grab Kyle Korver for Cleveland)
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David Griffin walked out of the NBA Draft with Zion Williamson, Jaxson Hayes, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker to go along with their 35th pick in Didi Louzada who will be stashed overseason for the upcoming season. And oh yeah, he also dumped Solomon Hill.
David Griffin stole all of the headlines in the NBA Draft, and even leading up to it with the improbable lottery win, and the Anthony Davis trade.
The future is bright for the city of New Orleans, a fanbase that was dragged through the mud when Anthony Davis first requested a trade. At the time, Zion was a pipe dream, and David Griffin had not yet inked a deal.
How quickly things could change in the NBA.