2018 NBA Draft Results: Team Grades and Analysis of Top Prospects
The 2018 NBA draft is in the books.
Months of analysis, speculation and reporting of all types gave way to a single night of optimism, excitement, mystery and frustration.
While time will be the ultimate judge of these selections, we have made an early evaluation on every team's additions and the value of those picks. After going through our team grades, we'll take a closer look at three of the earliest selections
Team Grades
Atlanta Hawks: B-
Boston Celtics: A
Brooklyn Nets: C
Charlotte Hornets: C+
Chicago Bulls: B
Cleveland Cavaliers: B
Dallas Mavericks: A
Denver Nuggets: A-
Detroit Pistons: B-
Golden State Warriors: B
Houston Rockets: B
Indiana Pacers: B
Los Angeles Clippers: C
Los Angeles Lakers: C
Memphis Grizzlies: B+
Miami Heat: N/A
Milwaukee Bucks: B
Minnesota Timberwolves: B
New Orleans Pelicans: D+
New York Knicks: B-
Oklahoma City Thunder: C-
Orlando Magic: A
Philadelphia 76ers: B+
Phoenix Suns: A-
Portland Trail Blazers: D
Sacramento Kings: B-
San Antonio Spurs: B+
Toronto Raptors: N/A
Utah Jazz: B
Washington Wizards: C
Missed Opportunities at No. 2
Some might look at Marvin Bagley III and see a big man whose skill set may not easily fit in today's NBA.
When Kings general manager Vlade Divac views Bagley, he somehow sees a player built for all three frontcourt positions:
Clearly, Sacramento sees something in Bagley that most of us don't.
That probably explains how Divac could deem Bagley an "easy choice" at No. 2, per Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
It couldn't have been an easy choice. Not when Luka Doncic was there offering the Kings an offensive identity. Or Jaren Jackson Jr. providing a chance to modernize the front line. Or Mohamed Bamba presenting an opportunity to escape the bottom five in defensive efficiency.
Bagley could be a pretty good player. The Kings had other opportunities to chase potentially great ones.
Hawks Bet Farm on Trae Young
Let's hope Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk knows what he's doing.
It's pretty easy to tell what he's trying. The Hawks invested two top-20 picks in a point guard with handles, range, a small stature and limited athleticism and a 6'7" shooting guard who's deadly from distance, especially coming off screens and catching and shooting.
Does that combination sound familiar? What if we told you that Schlenk came to Atlanta from Golden State's front office—then could you see which model he's trying to follow?
No one knows if Trae Young and Kevin Huerter can really become Splash Bros. Lite, but it looks like Atlanta has staked its franchise to that possibility. Taking Young at No. 5 alone was risky; he might have the widest divide between ceiling and floor of any player in this draft. But positioning yourself to make that move by letting go of Luka Doncic could be a career-defining transaction for better or worse.
There's an outcome to this where Young and Huerter form the backbone of a rapidly rising attack built around their gravitational pull on defenders. There's another where stardom doesn't reach Young, Doncic joins the NBA's elite and Schlenk is probably looking for work.
The Hawks have everything riding on this trade.
The 'A' Teams
Three clubs earned "A" grades, all for different reasons.
The Mavs were on the receiving end of the Doncic deal, meaning they entered the draft with the No. 5 pick and exited it with the player atop Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman's big board.
"The safest pick in the draft, since we've already seen him beat up on pros during EuroBasket and in the EuroLeague, Doncic also has star-caliber upside for his 6'8" size, elite passing, crafty scoring and effortless shooting stroke," Wasserman wrote.
The Magic sat back at No. 6 and watched Mo Bamba fall right in their lap.
He'll make his debut with the league's longest wingspan (7'10"). He'll be a defensive presence from opening night and possibly an elite anchor not too much later. He'll be hard enough to handle as an explosive lob-finisher, but he'd be unstoppable if he keeps sharpening his jump shot.
So, even if center might not have seemed like Orlando's biggest need, the value is tremendous, as president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said, via Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel:
Melvin Frazier was a sneaky-good three-and-D addition for the Magic at No. 35, too.
The Celtics walked away with the most improbable "A."
They held a single selection in the entire draft, and it was the seemingly forgettable 27th pick. But something happened—some type of Brad Stevens wizardry maybe—and the basketball gods dropped an athletic center thought to be taken in the lottery right in Boston's lap.
Robert Williams is no franchise savior, but his length, athleticism and activity both around and above the rim are exactly what the Celtics needed. How he slipped past the Wizards, Bucks and Lakers defies explanation.
Statistics used courtesy of NBA.com.
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