Surprise Scenarios That Could Alter the Course of the 2015 NBA Draft

You don't have to look back very far in the annals of NBA draft history to realize unpredictability often rules the day.

Even with years to scout talent, months to organize it on draft boards and spread sheets, and weeks to scrutinize it in person, nobody's ever really sure how things will shake out.

Sometimes everything goes to plan.

Sometimes Anthony Bennett happens.

And sometimes, Andrew Wiggins has to look for a new hat not too long after going No. 1.

Things can go sideways for any number of reasons. We might see an established veteran traded for picks, which would not only realign the draft order but also change the roster needs of the parties involved. And even in the unlikely event there aren't any draft-night swaps, there's still the potential for a big reach from a brave team or an out-of-nowhere move to kick off the night.

Everybody comes to the draft with a plan, but there are a handful of chaos-inducing scenarios that could blow those schemes to smithereens.

Whatever Those Wily Wolves Do at No. 1

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

All right, sure, it's obvious the team with the top pick in the draft has the power to shake things up.

Whatever the Minnesota Timberwolves do will set the rest of the dominos to toppling, but what's most interesting about the 16-win outfit is the way its three most likely options at No. 1 could lead to such different outcomes.

Say the Wolves take Jahlil Okafor, ignoring the fact that the modern NBA has less and less room for throwback, offense-only bigs who don't defend the rim or help on the defensive glass. That would leave Karl-Anthony Towns to the Los Angeles Lakers at No. 2. L.A. would almost certainly snap him up and dangle him in front of free-agent-to-be Kevin Love as bait.

Love isn't a defender, and if he opts out this summer to explore free agency, you'd have to assume he'd be wary of joining up someplace without a defensive safety blanket in the frontcourt. Towns would appeal to him a whole lot more than Okafor.

See how far down the rabbit hole we are already? The Wolves just hypothetically took Okafor first, and now Love is in Los Angeles alongside Towns.

Whoa.

Things get tamer if Minnesota goes with Towns, though you'd likely see it explore the market for Nikola Pekovic shortly thereafter.

And if the Timberwolves snag Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell, a Ricky Rubio trade could quickly be in the works, per ESPN.com's Chad Ford: "And do not totally discount D'Angelo Russell here either. I am told [Flip] Saunders is also a big fan and might be willing to move Ricky Rubio for the right deal."

Possibilities abound.

The Knicks Get Crazy

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Knicks president Phil Jackson at Arkansas vs. Kentucky

The New York Knicks maxed out Carmelo Anthony and remain stubbornly married to an offense that may not work against modern NBA defenses, so it's fair to say the organization has a recent track record of ignoring conventional wisdom.

Taking Kentucky big man Trey Lyles at No. 4, despite Bleacher Report draft expert Jonathan Wasserman pegging him as the Boston Celtics' No. 16 selection, would fit into the Knicks' we-do-it-our-way model.

It would also leave a handful of teams behind New York marveling at their good fortune.

Perhaps Willie Cauley-Stein is there for the Orlando Magic at No. 5. And maybe Emmanuel Mudiay slips all the way to the Denver Nuggets at No. 7, which could put a charge into Ty Lawson trade talks.

There's serious fallout potential here, and it's worth considering because the Knicks may be doing more than blowing deliberately misleading predraft smoke about Lyles. They've checked up on him during scouting visits to Kentucky.

Lyles told Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv: "They were just trying to learn more about me as a person. They’ve seen me play and all that stuff so they know what I’m capable of doing. It was just more about them getting to know me as an individual."

Phil Jackson has always trusted his own instincts over outside input, and it made him wildly successful in his years as a head coach. If he sticks to the plan as an executive, the success might not materialize.

But it could make things pretty wild.

A Ty Lawson Trade

Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Nuggets are the only NBA team without a head coach, and depending on the guy they pick to fill that vacancy, all manner of roster upheaval is in play.

A Mike D'Antoni hire would seem to indicate more of a win-now approach, but if the organization hands the reins to last year's interim coach, Melvin Hunt, perhaps a rebuilding effort would follow. And virtually any reconstruction in Denver would have to start with a Lawson trade.

Per Steve Kyler of BasketballInsiders.com: "Lawson represents the Nuggets’ best trade asset and it seems both parties are at least open to exploring Lawson’s trade value. For the Nuggets to truly turn the corner, a major trade may be inevitable and Lawson is likely the center piece of the deal."

Bleacher Report's Alec Nathan highlighted the Dallas Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers and Sacramento Kings as possible destinations, with that last spot holding real intrigue because of the George Karl-Lawson reunion it'd bring about.

Both Philadelphia and Sacramento pick in the top 10 this year—third and sixth, respectively—so a Lawson acquisition would alter their plans on draft day. Depending on the details of a hypothetical trade, we could see D'Angelo Russell slip out of the top three, creating new possibilities for teams like the Knicks, who probably never dreamed he'd be available.

The uncertainty surrounding the draft isn't confined to the picks themselves. A veteran player on the move could cause bigger ripples than anything else.

Somebody Reaches for Shooting

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Friendly reminders:

• Kyle Korver was an All-Star in 2015.
• The four teams to reach the conference finals ranked Nos. 1-4 in percentage of offense generated via three-point shots during the regular season.
• Stephen Curry broke his own record for single-season makes from long range.
• The NBA as a whole shot and made more triples than ever before.

Some enterprising team in this year's draft is going to take heed of the trends and snag a top shooter earlier than expected. It has to happen.

And it'll likely pay off for whichever club is forward-thinking enough to reach for Florida's Michael Frazier or Eastern Washington's Tyler Harvey, neither of whom are projected to go in the first round.

ESPN.com's Kevin Pelton lists those snipers as the best in this year's class, and B/R's Adam Fromal opined Frazier "shouldn't have any trouble making the transition to the next level, so long as he finds himself on a team that can make the most of his biggest talent."

Shooting is in, and there's a short list of top-end perimeter specialists in this draft.

Maybe we'll see early reaches for shooters lead to bigger names slipping down the draft board, or perhaps we'll see teams scramble to secure the few high-end marksmen available, like a run on closers in fantasy baseball drafts.

Either way, an early reach for the NBA's most in-demand commodity, shooting, could flip this draft on its head. 

Somebody Gets Bold About Myles Turner

If you're looking for a prospect who ticks off all of the important next-generation-NBA-big-man boxes, Texas' Myles Turner is your guy.

Turner sports a 7'4" wingspan, an insane block rate of 12.3 percent and a silky jumper in which he has limitless confidence. He was one of just eight Division I players to post a block rate of at least 12 percent last year (among those logging at least 700 minutes), per Sports-Reference.com, and he was the only one in that group to knock down double-digit threes on the year.

The stretch 4 is so 2014. Turner profiles as a legitimate stretch 5.

There's also this tidbit from Turner, who responded to Hoops Hype's Raul Barrigon on the topic of comparisons to LaMarcus Aldridge and Anthony Davis: "Well, I think that's very accurate. I think my game could be more similar to Aldridge, but I feel my body is developing more like AD."

All right, that sounds like something most NBA teams would be interested in. Given his 6'11" size, range and in-demand skills, someone's going to have to explain to me why ESPN.com's Chad Ford has him going 12th to the Utah Jazz and Draft Express has him landing with the Indiana Pacers at No. 11.

Floor spacing and rim protection are basically the most important aspects of NBA basketball today, and Turner figures to help his team immensely in both areas.

There's going to be a squad out there that recognizes his value, and if it's a team with a top-five or top-seven pick, not only will it be a smart move, it'll also be one that sends shockwaves through the rest of the draft.