FanSided'sNBA Draft Centralhas you covered from every angle with the latest mock drafts, rankings, detailed notes on every top prospect and more.
It’s Day 1 of the NBA Draft! That means, tonight, 30 players will be selected by 30 teams. (The second round is Thursday night.) As we know, the draft is a spin of the roulette wheel, no matter where you’re picking. Sometimes you get Tim Duncan with the top pick, sometimes you get Markelle Fultz.
To prove my point, let’s take a look at the best, worst, and most average picks by lottery draft slot over the last 25 years.
No. 1 Pick
Best: LeBron James, 2003
Worst: Anthony Bennett, 2013
Average: Andrew Wiggins, 2014
No. 2 Pick
Best: Kevin Durant, 2007
Worst: Hasheem Thabeet, 2009
Average: Brandon Ingram, 2016
No. 3 Pick
Best: Luka Dončić, 2018
Worst: Adam Morrison, 2006
Average: Ben Gordon, 2004
No. 4
Best: Chris Paul, 2005
Worst: Marcus Fizer, 2000
Average: Tristan Thompson, 2011
No. 5
Best: Dwyane Wade, 2003
Worst: Nikoloz Tskitishvili, 2002
Average: Devin Harris, 2004
No. 6
Best: Damian Lillard, 2012
Worst: Jan Veselý, 2011
Average: Marcus Smart, 2014
No. 7
Best: Stephen Curry, 2009
Worst: Killian Hayes, 2020
Average: Kirk Hinrich, 2003
No. 8
Best: Jamal Crawford, 2000
Worst: Joe Alexander, 2008
Average: Channing Frye, 2005
No. 9
Best: Amar’e Stoudemire, 2002
Worst: Patrick O’Bryant, 2006
Average: Andre Drummond, 2012
No. 10
Best: Paul George, 2010
Worst: Johnny Davis, 2022
Average: Caron Butler, 2002
No. 11
Best: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 2018
Worst: Jerome Moiso, 2000
Average: JJ Redick, 2006
No. 12
Best: Tyrese Haliburton, 2020
Worst: Joshua Primo, 2021
Average: Thaddeus Young, 2007
No. 13
Best: Donovan Mitchell, 2017
Worst: Georgios Papagiannis, 2016
Average: Thabo Sefolosha, 2006
No. 14
Best: Bam Adebayo, 2017
Worst: Romeo Langford, 2019
Average: Kris Humphries, 2004
Subscribe to The Whiteboard, FanSided's daily email newsletter on everything basketball. If you like The Whiteboard, share it with a friend. If you hate it, share it with an enemy!
Jordan Poole
Miami Heat v Washington Wizards | Scott Taetsch/GettyImages
NBA news roundup
After trading Jrue Holiday to the Trail Blazers on Monday night, the Celtics are trading Kristaps Porzingis to the Hawks in a three-team deal that includes the Nets. Boston sends Porzingis and a second-round pick to Atlanta, Terance Mann and Atlanta's No. 22 pick go to the Nets, and Georges Niang and a second-round pick go to the Celtics.
The Pelicans are trading CJ McCollum, Kelly Olynyk and a future second-round pick to the Wizards for Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey and the No. 40 pick in the NBA draft. The Wizards create close to $100 million in cap space for next summer. What are they up to?
Kyrie Irving will stay in Dallas after agreeing to a three-year, $119 million contract with the Mavericks. He’ll opt out of his $43 million salary for next season to sign the new deal.
The sale of the Timberwolves is complete. NBA owners approved the $1.5 billion sale of the Timberwolves from Glen Taylor to an investment group led by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez.
The Knicks are interviewing Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori for their head coach position. Nori, who stood in for Chris Finch as head coach during a portion of Minnesota’s 2024 playoff run, is regarded as a bright offensive mind.
Vit Krejci, Kristaps Porzingis
Boston Celtics v Atlanta Hawks | Kevin C. Cox/GettyImages
Does Kristaps Porzingis help the Hawks?
The crowning moment of Kristaps Porzingis’ career, at least of his Boston Celtics tenure, was checking into Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals to roars from the crowd and swinging momentum of the game and the series with en route to 20 points in 20 minutes off the bench. He helped the Celtics deliver a championship to Boston, even if he wasn’t essential to their postseason run.
Chances are, Porzingis won’t have the same opportunity in Atlanta after being traded to the Hawks as part of a three-team deal Tuesday that included the Nets and provided the Celtics with enough salary cap relief to duck the second apron. Even in an open East, the Hawks don’t project as favorites.
Porzingis is a nice addition, but not a needle mover. He’ll be 30 when next season begins and hasn’t played in more than 65 games since he was 21. He toiled through this last postseason with a mysterious “post-viral syndrome” that made him look like Patrick Ewing after getting his talent drained byaliens. Expecting him to step in as Atlanta’s nightly answer at center would be setting one up for disappointment.
My guess is that Onyeka Okongwu remains the starter after his strong finish to the season. He started the final 40 games and averaged 15 points on 58% shooting and 10 rebounds over that stretch. Porzingis will then come off the bench when he’s available.
The Hawks should make the playoffs next season. This is probably another sign that they don’t aim to trade Trae Young and aim to make a run. Porzingis’ value, like it had been in Boston, is for the playoffs. Atlanta just hopes that his mysterious illness is behind him. It’s a good sign that he plans to participate in EuroBasket with Latvia and recently posted on social media that he’s “been feeling excellent all offseason.”
It’s a low-risk, highish-reward move for the Hawks. Porzingis is on an expiring contract worth $30 million this season. If it doesn’t work out, they can walk away with more cap space in 2026 after shedding Terance Mann’s longer-term contract, or even use him as a trade chip at the deadline.