Grading 2020 NBA Draft: OKC Thunder are active and aggressive
The ‘Culture’ club
Certain teams become synonymous with a style, an identity, or a culture that permeates all aspects of how they run the team. This extends to draft nights which tend to become predictable in so far as these teams will make selections based on that identity or culture.
Heat
- Precious Achiuwa (20th), PF, Memphis
Talk about a player who is perfectly suited for a franchise and system – that’s what the Heat got with 20th pick Achiuwa. While the Heat has demonstrated their overall excellence Erik Spoelstra had to rely too heavily on Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo defensively.
Picking up Precious helps in the frontcourt and Bam specifically. If Precious does nothing else other than giving Bam a break from having to carry so much of the defensive load he’ll be worth his weight in gold.
Grade: B
Raptors
- Malachi Flynn (29th), PG, San Diego State
- Jalen Harris (59th), SF, Nevada
When franchises build up their culture it often incorporates an identity. The Heat for example is known as gritty with an almost military-driven mindset. San Antonio is synonymous with team first and fundamental excellence. The Raptors are increasingly recognized to have the best player development program. But, they are also known for their backcourt who are considered tenacious bulldogs particularly defensive, coupled with clutch time shooting, and physically diminutive, compared to their counterparts.
So the selection of Flynn to join the existing backcourt of Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet makes complete sense. Lowry will be 35 in March so bringing in Flynn now makes sense as he’ll get the benefit of mentoring and first-hand observation.
Harris at 59th is a good swing on a player who has playmaking and scoring skills that will sparkle under Nick Nurse’s schemes and the aforementioned player development.
Grade: B+
Spurs
- Devin Vassell (11th), SF, Florida St.
- Tre Jones (41st), PG, Duke
No draft would be complete without the Spurs swooping in and coming out with a stellar prospect. The difference this season was they did it in the lottery when Devin Vassell fell into their hands at 11th. Equally impressive was the Jones selection at 41st – a guard who is essentially tailor-made for the Spurs team concept and should end up getting serviceable minutes right away off the bench.