Grading 2020 NBA Draft: OKC Thunder are active and aggressive
Do the right thing:
Sometimes taking the top talent on the board can end up affecting a team but not necessarily in a positive way. It’s a dilemma franchises typically face at some point. In this 2020 class, it became even more pronounced since the prospect pool was guard-heavy and there wasn’t a lot to separate the talents.
Taking the best player on the board might be the right move, but if your club is in definite need of a positional player would it be wiser to draft for the role?
A few teams will get that answer soon as they selected the player who seemed to be the top talent but their club already has depth at that position.
Atlanta Hawks
- Onyeka Okongwu (6th) C, USC
- Skylar Mays (50th) SG, LSU
The NBA is the trendiest of all major sports so it’s not surprising every team is covetous of big men who resemble Bam Adebayo. That’s likely what Travis Schenk was thinking with his selection of big man Onyeka Okongwu. The issue is the Hawks frontcourt is jam-filled with John Collins, Clint Capella and they keep adding to it in free agency including Danilo Gallinari.
Depending on how quickly Okongwu cracks the rotation and how well he can contribute immediately on defense this pick could end up paying huge dividends. BUT — with the glut of frontcourt talent how much playing time will Okongwu get?
Grade: B-
Celtics
- Aaron Nesmith (14th), SF, Vanderbilt
- Payton Pritchard (26th), PG, Oregon
- Yam Madar (47th), PG, Israel
Aaron Nesmith is perhaps the best shooter in the class. Jerry Stackhouse raved about his Vanderbilt charge noting his other attributes. He’ll contribute immediately. Although it was good to add some guard depth the fact the Celtics ignored their frontcourt needs was head-scratching. That decision is more concerning in hindsight with Enes Kanter leaving and Gordon Hayward opting out, leaving town, and then signing as a free agent with the Hornets and NOT via a sign and trade.
Did Danny Ainge just assume he could get Hayward to opt-out and then still help out the Celtics via a sign and trade by going to the Pacers because that’s what HE wanted? I’m not sure how things got lost in translation but Michael Jordan gets the last laugh this time. Can’t you visualize an addendum to The Last Dance where MJ the owner is laughing at simultaneously affecting two of his greatest team nemesis’ the Pacers and Celts.