NBA Draft Takeaways & a new Top-50!
Chapter 39 (The NBA moves fast, but I move faster - let's talk about it)
What’s up everybody and welcome back to the latest edition of the YourFavoriteCasual Newsletter! Yesterday marked the conclusion of the 2024 NBA Draft and we do have a few extra topics to cover since the last post on this channel. Don’t forget to leave a comment down below about what surprised you most about this year’s NBA draft.
Some big trades have gone down this past week in the NBA, I also have a brand-new top 50 NBA player ranking list I want you all to see, and of course, we’ll get into some NBA draft winners and losers. So, if there’s nothing else that we need to worry about in the NBA world, let’s jump right in!
Big NBA Trades:
“Nova Knicks!”
Brooklyn Nets (receive): 5 future first-round picks & Bojan Bogdanovic
New York Knicks (receive): Mikal Bridges
This is a rare version of a true “win-win” trade in my opinion because I see why both sides would want to get this deal done. The New York Knicks now have 4 members of the 2016 & 2018 Villanova national title teams and a beloved story for Knicks fans.
After re-signing O.G. Annunoby to a 5-year 200 million dollar deal this week, the Knicks also now boast one of the best starting lineups in the NBA to help fuel their win-now aspirations (even if it financially straps them from participating in free agency next week).
The cost was not cheap as the large amount of draft capital the Knicks gave up for Bridges will fuel the Net’s immediate rebuild as they plan to move on from the players already on their roster and look to the draft to rebuild this team.
“Can I get that back actually”
Brooklyn Nets receive: 2026 Brooklyn first-round pick
Houston Rockets receive: 2027 Phoenix first-round pick & 2025 Phoenix pick swap
This is also a rare trade, not because I feel it’s fair, but because teams usually do not trade for their own future draft picks back once they’re already sent to another team. The Nets now have control of all of their own future first-round picks with this trade and can officially “tank in peace” and not worry about gifting another team a top 5 pick.
The Rockets were able to force a pretty penny by acquiring draft picks that were originally owned by the Phoenix Suns. The Suns are in a bad salary cap situation and gave up the majority of their draft future to add Kevin Durant, and ironically, the Rockets plan to use Phoenix’s draft picks to get Durant for themselves.
NBA Top 50:
In today’s exercise, I’m showing y’all my top 50 NBA Players going into next year (without rookies). This is slightly different as I used to only rank the top 25 or 30, but the total amount of players within the tiers has been the same with each update. This version is based on how I thought players performed in the playoffs and how I think their value stands going into next season.
NBA Draft Winners & Losers:
Minnesota Timberwolves: Winner
Draftees: Rob Dillingham (pick 8) || Terrence Shannon Jr (pick 27)
Usually, teams coming off of a conference finals appearance don’t also get a top 10 talent and two of the best shot creators in the draft, but here we are. After trading the rights to a couple of middle schoolers (2030 & 2031 first-round picks) to the San Antonio Spurs, the Timberwolves now have some youth on the roster that solves their largest issue from last season (consistently scoring on offense).
They now have two impressive shot-creators who can come off the bench and focus on scoring in the spurts where the team struggled last season’s playoffs, while the rest of the team can hold up their top-ranked defense. I see this as a great win-now move, and a big move for the future as Dillingham lines up as a successor to 37-year-old Mike Conley as the future lead point guard in Minnesota.
Atlanta Hawks: Loser
Draftees: Zaccharie Risacher (pick 1) || Nikola Djurisic (pick 43)
Djurisic is a second-round flyer with the potential to make the team and if not have time to develop, but the reason the Hawks find themselves in the “loser” section is what they decided with the #1 overall selection.
Risacher is a good prospect who was within the top 10 of many “draft experts” boards but had concerns keeping him from being considered the best in this year’s draft. Risacher is a “strong” shooter (very inconsistent) and passer with defensive upside, but his lack of skill in handling the ball prohibits him from creating his own shot opportunities and thus limits his potential to be a top option for a team.
Luckily with Trae Young he won’t be relied upon to create his own shot in most instances but taking a player with “role player” upside with the first pick in the draft is disappointing, to say the least.
Los Angeles Lakers: Winner
Draftees: Dalton Knect (pick 17) || Bronny James (pick 55)
Knect falling out of the top 15 was one of the biggest surprises from the first round of the draft. Knect is one of the best shooters in the draft and can score from any part of the court. The senior wing has a “seasoned” game that will be put to use immediately on a Lakers team that needs shooting to help space out the court for Anthony Davis and Lebron James. (Speaking of Lebron James…)
The Lakers also drafted Lebron James Jr or “Bronny” in this year’s draft. Bronny disappointed in his one season at USC but he did show flashes as a strong perimeter defender and spot-up shooter. The concerns for Bronny include his size as he is a smaller player (6’1) compared to his eventual NBA competition and he isn’t polished as a player yet. With time, this may be a good investment in the long run as he has the potential to become a solid NBA 3&D guard, and who doesn’t want to see a father-son duo succeed?
Detroit Pistons: Loser
Draftees: Ron Holland II (pick 5) || Bobi Klintman (pick 37)
I want to begin this by saying I love Holland as a prospect and believe he is one of the few guys in this year’s class that can become a #1 option for these teams that are still looking for high-end talent. I also understand that one of Holland’s biggest concerns as a prospect is his shooting ability and the Pistons already have enough poor shooters that demand playing time.
Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson, Killian Hayes (who was released), and now Holland were all top 10 NBA draft picks, but they all cannot shoot well from 3-point range.
Where’s the spacing Detroit??? It’s 2024!
Maybe this is a reason why they’ve had a top-10 draft pick in each of the last 5 drafts…
Thunder Corner:
Let’s conclude today’s topics with an update on the Oklahoma City Thunder (my favorite team). After becoming the youngest #1 seed in NBA history, the Thunder have been busy making changes this off-season as they’ve made some trades, added 3 rookies, and held onto their cap space so let’s see what I think about these moves.
Trade: Thunder receive - Alex Caruso |||| Chicago Bulls receive - Josh Giddey
After getting eliminated from the playoffs the Thunder asked Josh Giddey (who is still only 21 and an excellent passer) if he would be willing to come off the bench as his lack of shooting forced the team to bench him against the Mavericks. He declined and now he plays for a new team, but getting back Alex Caruso is a strong win-now move for the Thunder.
Caruso was a key piece during the Los Angeles Lakers title run in 2020 and since then has been one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA as he’s been named to the All-defense team in each of the last two seasons which Chicago. Caruso will provide a needed veteran presence for next year’s playoffs and elite defense to help bolster a unit that was already top-5 on that end of the court last season.
Thunder Draftees: Nikola Topic (pick 12) || Dillon Jones (pick 26) || Ajay Mitchell (pick 38)
The Thunder entered the draft with only pick 12 to use but used a handful of second-round picks (5) and Lindy Waters III to gain access to picks 26 and 38. Jones and Mitchell are small school standouts as they both averaged over 20 points per game in college last year. They’re both upperclassmen guards who excelled at creating their own shots and will look to compete for minutes off the bench to help add some needed bench scoring for the Thunder next season.
Topic is a crafty Serbian guard who was supposed to be a top-5 pick in this year’s draft before an ACL injury in pre-draft workouts set him back. The 6’7 18-year-old is one of the youngest prospects in this draft and will be spending all of next season rehabbing his injury. Luckily, the Thunder have a deep roster of young talent already and do not need him to be successful for next year, but if he can come back healthy, he slots in as a perfect bench point guard for the future of this team.
Final Offseason Opinion:
My final opinion on the Thunder’s offseason so far is, yes, their possible biggest need going into this offseason was to add another player with the size to successfully defend other big men and rebound in key situations, but the Thunder have already committed to not wanting to threaten their ability to have 5 offensive playmakers on the court at the same time, and finding a player with those abilities in this year’s draft that is ready immediately is a difficult ask.
The Thunder still have 30 million dollars in cap space and one roster spot left as free agency begins next week. I expect the Thunder to address their size and rebounding concerns when the official signing period begins (I would specifically look out for Isaiah Hartenstein from the New York Knicks). If they manage to add some help before the start of next season, I will give this entire offseason of transactions an A and would expect the Thunder to be ready to make the NBA Finals as soon as next year.
Outro:
Well, that’s all I have for you guys today and I hope you guys enjoyed today’s post. Make sure to leave a like and subscribe if you haven’t already. The NBA free agency period is set to begin soon, and I do have an NFL offseason update in the works for you guys too so stay tuned for those articles coming up. Anyways, thank you for all of the support, and as always stay safe, and until next time…
-YourFavoriteCasual