NBA Lottery 2015: Full Order and How Results Impact Top Prospects
Tuesday night brought jubilation for some and disgust for others as the 2015 NBA draft lottery slotted the first 14 picks for the June 25 draft in gripping fashion.
The team with the best odds won the No. 1 pick, guaranteeing that the Minnesota Timberwolves will welcome in a third straight top overall pick to follow Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett. While that was to be expected, the Los Angeles Lakers swapping spots with the New York Knicks for the No. 2 overall selection came as a surprise.
Potential scenarios for the upcoming draft have long been kicked around, but they are finally beginning to materialize now that every lottery team knows exactly where it is selecting. Let's take a look at how the lottery results will impact those prospects destined to go early in the draft.
How Results Impact Top Prospects
Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor
The hot-button issue in this year's draft hinges upon the debate between Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor, two star-studded freshmen big men who have each proved worthy of the No. 1 overall pick.
Tuesday's lottery brought promise of ending the debate, with a team assuming the top selection and seemingly proving which of the two would fit best in said team. And once the Timberwolves snatched it, plugging in Towns—the power forward with superior defensive ability—seemed to make much more sense alongside Nikola Pekovic than that of Okafor—a ball-dominant center.
However, Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com says not so fast:
While Flip Saunders hasn't made his intentions publicly known, he did go as far as to tell Ron Clements of Perform Media (via Sporting News) that "it isn't really a two-player race."
But Saunders also added enough to indicate that his team would address necessity more than anything, saying: "When we look at anybody in the draft, it's how they fit in with the players we have, what their dynamic is and how we want to play."
If that is truly the case, it will take some major roster shake-up to find as ideal of a fit as Towns would be. With the chance to be mentored under Kevin Garnett and immediately step into a primary role, it's hard to see the T-Wolves passing up on the Kentucky big man.
But should it unfold that way, Okafor shouldn't be too down about his No. 1 snub, as ESPN's Skip Bayless notes he's likely to be joining forces with Kobe Bryant:
Whether it goes Okafor-Towns, Towns-Okafor or one of the two teams throws a wrench into the general thought process and drafts a guard, the race atop this year's draft isn't short on excitement.
Emmanuel Mudiay
The draft lottery unfolded in disastrous fashion for the New York Knicks, but the same can't be said for Emmanuel Mudiay.
Arguably the top guard in the class alongside Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell, Mudiay played this past season professionally in China, but he immediately targeted the Big Apple as a preferred destination. He told ESPN.com's Ian Begley before the lottery, “Getting drafted by the Knicks would be definitely a blessing."
Of course, that scenario hinged upon the Knicks swinging and missing on picks No. 1 and No. 2, which they disgracefully did. But even though the two prized big men are virtually unattainable and Mudiay is ripe for the picking, that doesn't mean they are going to take the Mudiay route, as ESPN's Chad Ford noted:
While it's all gloom and doom in the Big Apple, ESPN's Andy Katz doesn't see as many reasons for sadness:
Mudiay has the chance to win over the 76ers at No. 3 overall, but should Russell's one year of stardom at Ohio State remain fresh in folks' minds, Mudiay will fall to at least No. 4. However, it's quite obvious that New York didn't have that as one of its preferred plans entering the lottery.
It will be interesting to see how the dynamic shifts over the coming weeks, with trade offers sure to fly into Phil Jackson's office.
Stanley Johnson
Deficiencies in Stanley Johnson's game have led to his stock slipping a bit in the predraft season, but his insane athleticism, defensive edge and attacking prowess have kept him squarely in the lottery mix. Implications of Tuesday's pingpong balls trickled down onto the former Arizona freshman.
Johnson has been tied to teams in the middle of the lottery pecking order, but none more so than the Detroit Pistons. The swingman even has friends on the Pistons roster and has generated interest from the organization, as Rod Beard of The Detroit News noted:
After Tuesday's lottery results, the Pistons didn't move up or down, instead staying pat at No. 8 overall. That's about the hot spot for Johnson's draft stock, considering the elite five prospects along with Latvian star Kristaps Porzingis and Duke freshman Justise Winslow look to be a cut above Johnson.
The Pistons certainly won't be disappointed if Johnson falls to them. His glue-man play on the wing will elevate the games of Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond, and a need for impact playmaking at his position would allow Johnson to develop his game on the fly.
The fit is there between a gritty Johnson and the tough-nosed Pistons, and the lottery results only reaffirmed the likelihood of an impending marriage.
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