With the 2019 NBA Draft completes, let’s take a look back at the 2016 NBA Draft and see what each first-round pick was expected to be and where they are now.
In 2016, the draft was headlined by two polarizing prospects, Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram. One was a once-in-a-generation talent that had been projected to be a great player since early in his high school career. The other was a late bloomer who had a wiry build and an offensive package well beyond his years.
However, as is the case in nearly every draft, they weren’t the only two players to have a big impact on their team since they were drafted. Numerous players from all other parts of the first round have grown and developed into critical pieces. Some for the original team that drafted them and others for teams that acquired them in trades during and after the draft.
Everyone rushes to judge drafts right after the picks are announced but in most cases, you can’t really judge a team’s decision until they have had a couple of NBA seasons under their belt to show what they could do on an actual court. You can read all the scouting reports you want and watch all of the breakdown videos but until you see a player perform in the league there’s no clear understanding of what these players will bring to these different teams.
Below we’ll be going back through the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft pick-by-pick for all 30 selections. You’ll see a recap of what the player was thought of as a prospect entering the 2016 NBA Draft as well as a quick recount of what each team was dealing with as a franchise going into the 2016-17 season. Finally there will be talk of what the players did as rookies and then a look at where they stand in their basketball careers as of this article being posted.
Get ready for some Back to the Future style fun and to kick things off we begin with the only player from the 2016 NBA Draft to make an All-Star team so far.
1. Ben Simmons, Philadelphia 76ers
Entering the 2015-16 NCAA season, Ben Simmons was supposed to be the dominant force. His choice to attend Louisiana State University (LSU) instead of one of the college basketball blue-blood schools made the Tigers appointment viewing. However, the Tigers failed to make the NCAA Tournament and Simmons left campus before the team even began playing in the NIT. Yet, team disappointment didn’t overshadow the fact that Simmons’ singular accomplishments were extraordinary. He averaged 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and two steals per game over the course of 33 contests.
Leading up to the draft a debate broke out whether Simmons or Duke’s Brandon Ingram would be the better choice for the 76ers with the first-overall pick — a debate that, not surprisingly, looks foolish in hindsight. Simmons would ultimately be the choice for the Sixers. He backed up this choice with an impressive performance during Las Vegas Summer League and the “Trust the Process” fans felt like their years of tanking were finally working in their favor. However, during the final scrimmage of training camp, Simmons fractured the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot and missed the entirety of his rookie season.
Fast forward to the present, and Simmons remains a pillar of Philadelphia’s present and future. Simmons bounced back from the fracture to win Rookie of the Year in 2018. Teamed with Joel Embiid the Sixers look to be set to be one of the elite teams in the Eastern Conference. Last season, Philadelphia went all-in and traded for Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris. They would lose in the conference semifinals after a seven-game series against the eventual champion Toronto Raptors — on a Kawhi Leonard buzzer beater.
Simmons is eligible for a contract extension this summer. Yet, his jump shot remains the fatal flaw of his game. For his career, he has only attempted 18 total three-pointers with the majority coming in late clock situations. It is likely that Simmons remains with the franchise for the foreseeable future.
2. Brandon Ingram, Los Angeles Lakers
Brandon Ingram had always been a talented player but it often took him time before he was able to showcase his full array of skills. His time at Duke was no different, in five of his first seven games as a Blue Devil he scored in single digits. In the remaining 29 games, he played he would only register less than 10 points once. Following up the 2015 National Championship team, Ingram’s Blue Devils were a let down in Durham losing to Oregon in the Sweet 16.
As mentioned in the Ben Simmons slide, there was some talk of Ingram being worth the top selection in the 2016 NBA Draft. Whereas Simmons had the all-around game and brought the skills of a point guard in the size of the big man, Ingram had a more refined offensive game as he showcased the ability to knock down perimeter shots and was adept at creating offense with the ball in his hands.
Ingram was the second consecutive second overall pick for the Lakers and the fan base convinced itself that D’Angelo Russell and Ingram would be the cornerstone pieces in rebuilding the Lakers into the league’s best team. With Simmons’ sidelined for the 2016-17 season expectations naturally fell on Ingram’s shoulders to be the top rookie in the 2016 draft class.
However, Ingram once again got off to a slow start. He would finish his rookie season averaging 9.4 points per game, four rebounds, two assists per game and shot 40.2 percent from the field, 29.4 percent on three-pointers, and 62.1 percent from the free throw line–surely not Rookie of the Year-worthy numbers.
He would bounce back in his next two seasons and with the addition of LeBron James on the Lakers, Ingram had his best season to date, but injuries would limit him to just 52 games and he is currently recovering from deep venous thrombosis (a blood clot) that was discovered towards the end of last season. In New Orleans, the hope is that Ingram has had his time to adjust and will help headline the Pelicans’ youthful roster alongside Zion Williamson and Lonzo Ball.
3. Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
The 2016 NBA Draft was initially thought of as being a two-person draft with a steep decline in talent behind Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram. Sitting at third thanks to the infamous Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce trade with the Brooklyn Nets, the Boston Celtics hoped to take advantage of this high draft pick and continue to add to their collection of assets.
Finding the player who could do that was the tricky part facing Danny Ainge and the rest of the Celtics front office during the draft. Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram were clearly the cream of the crop, but figuring out who to select third-overall was a lot trickier.
While Dragan Bender and Kris Dunn received some looks from Boston and both carried intrigue, the Celtics ultimately decided to go with Jaylen Brown out of the University of California at Berkeley. Brown was a top recruit in the 2015 senior class, but he opted to create his own path–and challenge himself in the classroom as well–by going to Cal for one season. The Golden Bears had talent (Jabari Bird and Ivan Rabb played with Brown) but the skills of their best players didn’t merge well with each other and the team had a disappointing season culminating in an opening-round upset in the NCAA Tournament.
Brown’s intellect and interests off the court made some question his dedication to the game and coupled with his underperformance as a freshman there were eyebrows raised at this selection. However, over the course of his inaugural NBA season, Brown showed enough potential as a rookie (named to the 2016-17 All-Rookie team) that it quickly quieted any critics of the choice. Even though he was selected high, he looked like a steal given Simmons’ injuries and Ingram’s up-and-down rookie season.
The Celtics were, and remain, high on Brown as they elected to hold on to him instead of dealing him to the San Antonio Spurs in an attempt to get Kawhi Leonard last summer. Boston’s 2018-19 season didn’t go as planned. Brown struggled initially to gel with the Celtics “superteam” lineup of Kyrie Irving, Brown, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward, and Al Horford. Brad Stevens would move Brown to the bench after starting in the first 19 games he played and by January Brown looked to have regained his confidence. With the inconsistent season behind him and Irving and Horford likely playing elsewhere next year, Brown is one of the Celtics building blocks for the future.
4. Dragan Bender, Phoenix Suns
Entering the 2016 NBA Draft, Croatian big man Dragan Bender was easily one of the most intriguing prospects available. Bender was a member of one of the top teams in the EuroLeague (Maccabi Tel Aviv) and had a skill set that isn’t often seen in a seven-footer on the basketball court. Bender was billed as a playmaking big who was capable of playing on the perimeter as a creator. Bender had been playing professionally overseas since he was 15 years old. Bender would not turn 19 until a month into the 2016-17 season and it was easy to project great things coming down the pipe for whatever team took Bender on draft night.
Armed with two top 10 picks, the Phoenix Suns were a team that had a lot of options on the night of the 2016 NBA Draft. Given that the team had just made one of the best picks in franchise history a year ago when they took Devin Booker 13th-overall there was hope that the team could strike gold once more in the draft; though selecting fourth and eighth overall put a damper on the expectations of just how good the player they could get would be. Yet, on draft night arguably one of the best prospects fell to them at four and they took Bender. The idea of pairing Booker and Bender was tantalizing and too good for Phoenix to pass up at the moment.
After dealing with some turmoil the season before bringing Bender onboard (Morris twins trades and firing Jeff Hornacek), the Suns were getting ready to start from scratch and this pairing seemed like a great way to jump-start the rebuild in Phoenix. However, that promise never got off the ground. Despite joining Booker and Giannis Antetokounmpo as the only 18-year-olds to score 10-plus points in an NBA game Bender’s rookie year would be largely forgettable — starting with a woeful performance in the Las Vegas Summer League. He played just 43 games and missed the bulk of that time due to a bone spur in his right ankle.
Following a brief resurgence in his sophomore season, Bender tumbled back down to earth again in the 2018-19 season. It began with the embarrassment of being a third-year player being on a summer league roster–where he underperformed once again–and ended with him playing just 46 games total. The addition of No. 1 overall pick, DeAndre Ayon, did nothing to help ease Bender’s burden and after beginning the season in the starting lineup he was soon a complete afterthought for the franchise.
In October, the Suns elected not to pick up the fourth-year team option on Bender’s contract and unless another team is willing to take a swing on the 21-year-old international it’s more likely he plays in Europe than America next season.
5. Kris Dunn, Minnesota Timberwolves
With Karl-Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine, and Andrew Wiggins already on the roster, the Minnesota Timberwolves looked well on their way to turning into one of the most promising young teams in the NBA, adding a fifth-overall pick to that tandem seemed like the best way for the Timberwolves to rebrand themselves in the post-Kevin Garnett era.
Dunn was joining a team that already had Ricky Rubio slotted in as the starting point guard, however, there was talk of Rubio being available for the right price as Tom Thibodeau was hired before the 2016 NBA Draft and wanted to put his imprint on the roster.
After three years at Providence, Dunn was thought of as being a well-rounded guard. A big, strong, athletic defender on one end and a downhill driver capable of getting his own shot at any time on the other. Entering the draft as a junior also made teams believe that he was a ready-made prospect who could come in and have an immediate impact in the NBA. All those things made him a player too enticing for Thibodeau to pass up in his first go-round calling the shots as the president of basketball operations.
His first season didn’t go as planned. Dunn would play in 78 games and start in seven, however his numbers were very pedestrian. He put together a rookie season where he averaged 3.8 points per game, 2.1 rebounds per game, 2.4 assists per game, and one steal per game. Dunn was unable to surpass Ricky Rubio as the team’s starter and it wasn’t until the offseason that he would get his opportunity to showcase his abilities as a lead guard. That chance wouldn’t come with the Timberwolves as he was dealt during the 2017 NBA Draft to the Chicago Bulls (along with the draft rights to Lauri Markkanen) in the Jimmy Butler trade.
Dunn has been the point guard for the Bulls for the last two seasons and though his numbers have improved the once sure thing has become outdated by today’s standards. Dunn’s inability to be a consistent perimeter threat has caused him to miss out on the pace-and-space revolution the NBA has undergone during his short career.
With opposing teams basically ignoring Dunn when he’s stationed outside of the paint, it has hampered the ability of Chicago’s other top tier players to flourish offensively. John Paxson knows this and is ready to make a change unless Dunn shows drastic improvement as a shooter quickly.
6. Buddy Hield, New Orleans Pelicans
Since drafting Anthony Davis in 2012, the New Orleans Pelicans had struggled to acquiesce enough talent to get the most out of their once-in-a-generation star. The 2015-16 season saw the Pelicans deal with a multitude of injuries to their top players. Davis, Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans all missed significant time and the Pelicans limped their way to a 30-win season. With Gordon and Ryan Anderson’s contracts expiring that same summer, New Orleans was going to need to find a way to replace the perimeter shooting that they were losing.
Enter Buddy Hield. Coming off one of the most memorable collegiate seasons in recent memory, Hield — the Big 12 Player of the Year, and Wooden and Naismith Award recipient — was the perfect prospect for the Pelicans to bring in. There was some debate about whether Hield or the younger Jamal Murray of Kentucky was the better pick, but given Holiday’s status as the starter, it felt like New Orleans needed a true shooting guard and Murray was not that. Hield’s historic senior season made it easy to see him as a plug-and-play shooter.
New Orleans tried to go that route with Hield as a rookie, yet an ill-timed shooting slumped kept him from paying off for the Pelicans. Hield wouldn’ make multiple three-pointers in a game until his fifth career game. Over the first two months of his first season, Hield shot a pitiful 23.7 percent on 76 three-point attempts. However, a resurgent December where Hield shot 47.8 percent from beyond the arc looked like the beginnings of a turnaround. That turnaround wouldn’t happen in New Orleans though as Hield was moved to the Sacramento Kings in a blockbuster deal that sent DeMarcus Cousins to the Pelicans.
Hield would go on to average 15.1 points per game over the final 25 games he played in the 2016-17 season and make the All-Rookie team. Hield’s renaissance continued over the last two seasons, including last year where he averaged a career-high 20.7 points per game (shooting 42.7 percent on three-pointers and attempting 7.9 per game) as he played and started in all 82 games.
7. Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets
One year after taking Emmanuel Mudiay — one of the first prospects to skip college to play professional basketball overseas — with the seventh-overall pick, the Denver Nuggets found themselves selecting seventh in the 2016 NBA Draft. Ignoring any potential fit issues, the Nuggets selected point guard Jamal Murray out of Kentucky with their pick.
At 6-foot-5, Murray had good size for a point guard and there was some talk that he could even operate as a shooting guard at stretches. Despite being the primary ball handler for the Wildcats, the book on Murray as he entered the NBA is that he was more combo guard than a true point guard.
In his one season in Lexington, Murray quickly established himself as the alpha dog among another loaded John Calipari recruiting class. He was a dominant scorer–averaged 20 points per game–capable of scoring effectively from all three levels. His size and speed at the position made him a mismatch for many opposing guards in college and he would routinely take advantage. Murray would be named to the All-SEC, All-SEC Tournament, and SEC All-Freshman teams at the conclusion of his freshman year. Kentucky’s inability to get to the second weekend of the 2016 NCAA Tournament likely kept Murray from rising higher up draft boards.
With the Nuggets, Murray would split time at point guard with Mudiay and Jameer Nelson. He would play the most games out of the trio, 82, but only started 10 games. Yet, the signs were there that Murray could grow into a bigger role in Denver over time. He still had a way to go as a facilitator (2.1 assists per game and 1.4 turnovers per game) but his capabilities as a scorer were promising as he averaged 9.9 points per game as a rookie while playing just 21.5 minutes per game.
Since then, the Nuggets moved on from Mudiay (Feb. 2018 trade) and Nelson (waived in Oct. 2017) and gave complete control of the point guard slot to Murray. While Murray’s playmaking is still a weakness, the development of Nikola Jokic into one of the best passing big men in NBA history has allowed for Denver to craft one of the most potent offenses in the league. Murray showed during the Nuggets 2019 playoff run that he has the ability to be a key part of this team for many years.
8. Marquese Chriss, Sacramento Kings
Marquese Chriss was one of the risers during the 2016 NBA Draft process. Coming out of Washington, Chriss was an unheralded high school recruit but in one season in the Pac 12 the Sacramento native was someone who was projected to be a lottery pick by the time draft night rolled around. Turned out that the hometown team, the Sacramento Kings, would be the team that selected Chriss. However, the homecoming angle wouldn’t last long as the Kings would trade Chriss to the Phoenix Suns as part of a multi-pick draft swap.
We mentioned earlier about how the Suns were attempting to find the right pieces to surround Devin Booker with as they attempted to get out of the basement of the NBA standings. Bender along with Chriss was supposed to be the frontcourt tandem that made life easier for Booker. Bender would be the offensive compliment and Chriss would be their anchor defensively, while also bringing a vertical game that no other player on Phoenix’s roster could match. As shown by using two lottery picks, the Suns were very invested in getting the most out of Chriss and Bender.
Chriss’ rookie year was much better than Bender’s entire career as a member of the Suns. He was selected as a member of the All-Rookie team, he started in 75 of the 82 games he played that year and looked like the player Phoenix was most likely to keep around as they tried to re-work the roster to better fit around Booker. In light of Phoenix finishing with a one-win improvement in 2016-17, Chriss’ first season could be construed as a step in the right direction for the franchise.
Currently, Chriss is on his third team in two seasons and finished the 2018-19 season in the abyss known as the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Houston Rockets traded for Chriss and there were expectations that he could become a broke man’s Clint Capela while there but that quickly flamed out. He was then moved to the Cavaliers and he didn’t do anything there to rehabilitate his image around the league. Like Bender, Chriss could find himself out of the NBA entirely sooner than later.
9. Jakob Poeltl, Toronto Raptors
The world-champion Toronto Raptors famously just won the NBA Finals with a roster that didn’t feature a single lottery pick in any NBA Draft. However, in 2016, the Raptors did select someone in the lottery. They took Utah’s Jakob Poeltl with the ninth-overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. The Austrian center played two seasons for the Utes and left as a consensus All-American after nearly averaging a double-double (17.2 points per game and 9.1 rebounds per game) as a sophomore.
The Raptors had Valanciunas locked in as a starter, but wanted to use this shot at a lottery pick to fortify the depth behind him going forward. Poeltl was one of the top interior players available by consensus and getting him at nine was thought of as a great move by Toronto. The rest of the roster was pretty set and the Raptors felt confident that they were just some additional frontcourt depth away from being a team that could truly challenge LeBron James in the Eastern Conference.
During his first year, Poeltl appeared in 54 games but only in spot minutes for the Raptors. Valanciunas and Serge Ibaka ended up being the two primary big men for Toronto that season. In just 11.6 minutes per game, Poeltl had a minimal impact as a rookie. His role was truncated in the playoffs as his playing time dropped to just 4.3 minutes per game in six games.
The following year, Poeltl saw his role increase and it seemed like Toronto was well on its way to getting a good return on investment of the choice to bring Poeltl on board during the 2016 NBA Draft. They truly got that in more when they packaged Poeltl with DeMar DeRozan and their 2019 NBA Draft first-round pick to obtain Kawhi Leonard last offseason. In San Antonio, Poeltl became the Spurs starting center and averaged a double-double (12 points and 11.6 rebounds per game).
10. Thon Maker, Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks believed that they had their two premiere pieces for their future after pairing Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker together in back-to-back drafts. Figuring out a way to get the right pieces around those two forwards to get Milwaukee to the top of the Eastern Conference. One choice they made that raised an eyebrow was selecting Thon Maker with the 10th-overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. Maker did not play college basketball, instead, after a prep year at Athlete Institute Academy in Canada, Maker filed to be cleared as an eligible international prospect and the NBA obliged.
As he went through high school, Maker was a prospect that kept making noise and getting coverage over the years. Maker would eventually end as a seven-foot player who was capable of putting the ball on the floor, shooting from the perimeter and defending the rim. With the rise of the “unicorn” prospect in the aftermath of Kristaps Porzingis’ transition to the NBA, Maker was often lumped in as a player with the potential to do something similar. In theory, a frontcourt of Parker (great scorer from mid-range), Antetokounmpo (point-forward and defensive stalwart) and Maker (3-and-D center) sounds like pieces that should work very well together.
In his rookie year, Maker was unable to immediately deliver on that perceived promise as he averaged four points and two rebounds per game in 9.9 minutes a night. He played in 57 games and started in 34 of them. Yet, by the postseason, Maker was a much more involved player for the Bucks. His minutes per game doubled and he started all six of the team’s first-round games against the Toronto Raptors.
Maker was never able to fully find his place in Milwaukee and ended up demanding to be traded last year. The Bucks shipped him to the Detroit Pistons at the trade deadline. With the Pistons, Maker was firmly behind Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin in the rotation but was used as a change of pace piece for Dwayne Casey’s team. While Maker has yet to miss the playoffs in three seasons, he has also never averaged over five points per game for an entire season.
11. Domantas Sabonis, Orlando Magic
In recent draft history, the Orlando Magic usually found themselves just outside of the range of getting one of the upper echelon prospects. The one year that they had one of the top two picks they came away with Victor Oladipo (who would end up prospering elsewhere).
In the 2016 NBA Draft, they paired Oladipo with the draft rights to Domantas Sabonis and sent them both to the Oklahoma City Thunder in return for Serge Ibaka. Though the Thunder were unsure of what Kevin Durant’s plans were in free agency, they were attempting to re-tool the team in hopes of surrounding Durant and Russell Westbrook with a better supporting cast.
Sabonis is the son of Hall of Fame center Arvydas Sabonis, unlike his dad, he opted to spend his developmental years in America instead of overseas. Domantas attended Gonzaga for two years and showed in his sophomore season that he was great on the glass and could be an impactful player on offense either by scoring or passing. While he wasn’t a great athlete by any stretch of the imagination, he possessed a high basketball IQ that allowed him to be in the right spots and disrupt plays as a defender.
With Durant choosing to leave the Thunder for the Golden State Warriors that summer, Sabonis’ role with Oklahoma City changed drastically. Sabonis would start 66 games as a rookie and though his numbers wouldn’t jump off the page–Westbrook’s triple-double quest had an impact on that–he looked the part of serviceable NBA player right away. His feel for the game allowed him to contribute right away for the Thunder.
However, Sabonis’ time with the Thunder wouldn’t last beyond one season. The following summer he was dealt to the Indiana Pacers (once again along with Oladipo) for disgruntled star Paul George. With more responsibility on his shoulders with the Pacers, Sabonis’ stats improved right away. He now is part of Indiana’s current core and has helped them climb the Eastern Conference ladder of late.
12. Taurean Prince, Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz also decided they would move their lottery pick in a draft-night deal with the Atlanta Hawks. Eager to upgrade their point guard position and with no home-run prospects left on the board, the Jazz used the 12th-overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft to broker a three-team trade with the Hawks and Indiana Pacers. The Jazz sent the pick to Atlanta and got George Hill from Indiana. Indiana sent Hill out and received Jeff Teague from Atlanta. The Hawks would send Teague to the Pacers and receive the rights to Taurean Prince who was taken with the 12th pick.
Prince was the rare four-year college player who was taken in the lottery of an NBA draft. Never a true standout as a star during his time at Baylor, Prince was a jack-of-all-trades but a master of none. The best attribute he brought to the NBA was his ability to shoot from the perimeter. For his career, Prince shot 37.6 percent on three-pointers, including a season as a junior where he connected on 39.5 percent of his three-pointers on 4.6 attempts per game. Prince was also an above average rebounder for his position, pulling down 5.6 and 6.1 rebounds per game in his last two seasons respectively.
The Hawks were two years removed from their improbable 60-win season and had already seen several of the key members of that 2014-15 team move on elsewhere (Teague, Kyle Korver, and DeMarre Carroll) but Budenholzer was able to keep Atlanta in the playoff race in Prince’s rookie year. Prince provided depth on the wing off the bench and played in 59 total games his first season. Given what he did at Baylor, shooting 32.4 percent on three-pointers in year one was certainly a letdown.
Over the next two seasons with the Hawks, Prince would become more comfortable and a more vital piece to what Atlanta was trying to build. Last season was a roller coaster for Prince as he adjusted to a new head coach, Lloyd Pierce, and constantly battled nagging injuries. He played a career-worst 55 games in 2018-19. Ultimately, the Hawks would send Prince to the Brooklyn Nets a month ago and he would be on his way to getting a fresh start in the NBA.
13. Georgios Papagiannis, Sacramento Kings
This pick was part of the deal between the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings that was referenced in the section about Marquese Chriss previously. Even though the deal had been announced before the selection, taking Georgios Papagiannis at this point in the draft was definitely a head-scratcher at the time.
In Sports Illustrated’s final big board, Papagiannis was ranked as the 52nd-best player in the class. The article says, “Papagiannis is gigantic, talented and still just 18. He’s also not in great shape and will need a lot of time to pan out. He’s had strong moments for Greece at youth levels internationally after spending some time in the U.S. in high school. A wait-and-see pick.”
Following a season in which head coach George Karl famously clashed with DeMarcus Cousins and then general manager Vlade Divac, the Sacramento Kings brought in Dave Joerger to be their head coach for the 2016-17 season. Change was very much the headline for what the Kings experienced that season. Cousins would be traded halfway through it and the Kings once again were without a player they could conceivably build around. The hope was to let their young talent grow together instead of focusing on just one player.
Papagiannis would quickly find his way out of that unit. After opting to remain in Greece instead of attending college in the United States, Papagiannis helped greek powerhouse Panathinaikos win two Greek Cups and played in six EuroLeague games before he was drafted in 2016. Though the team did well, Papagiannis wasn’t really a major factor and that would be the same story with the Kings. As a rookie, Papagiannis played in just 22 games spending the bulk of his time with Sacramento’s NBA Gatorade League affiliates, Reno Bighorns.
The Greek center’s NBA career would only last for 17 more games after his rookie year (16 with the Kings and one with the Portland Trail Blazers). Sacramento would cut him on February of 2018 and in less than two seasons, Papagiannis would find himself out of the league. He returned home and continued to play for Panathinaikos where he signed a five-year contract with an NBA opt-out clause in the third year.
Panathinaikos would win another Greek Cup in 2019 and also take home the Greek Basket League championships. This time Papagiannis was a key contributor as he was named a Greek League All-Star.
14. Denzel Valentine, Chicago Bulls
The second four-year college player to be taken in the 2016 NBA Draft, Denzel Valentine entered the NBA after having one of the best seasons in the history of Michigan State basketball. Valentine’s leadership and all-around skill led to many considering him as the guard version of Draymond Green. Like Green did during his four years in East Lansing, Valentine grew into a player that was perfect for Tom Izzo’s coaching style and was able to use his talents and intelligence to help make all the players around him better.
The Chicago Bulls had previously taken a highly-touted player out of Michigan State when they drafted Gary Harris 16th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft but Harris would never suit up for the Bulls as he was traded to the Denver Nuggets during the draft. Chicago is lead by Gar Forman and John Paxson who are known to be in favor of drafting older players who have performed well at the collegiate level. The Bulls and Valentine looked like the perfect match on paper.
In his rookie season, Valentine was trying to adjust to the increased speed and athleticism that the NBA provided in comparison to the Big Ten. In college, Valentine played at a very methodical pace but being able to connect from the perimeter forced defenses to respect him away from the basket and he would wait until the defender was out of position and then get a step ahead and find his way to the paint. Not only did he not create that same separation in the pros but his shot from three-point range was not worth being defended as he only attempted 3.6 per game.
Valentine’s second season is where he showed the promise that many thought he had following his storied Spartan career. He averaged 10.2 points per game, 5.1 rebounds per game, and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 38.6 percent on three-pointers.
However, Valentine would miss all of this past season with an ankle injury. Chicago hopes to have him available to resume basketball activities this summer and will take a wait-and-see approach on whether or not he will continue to be a part of the Bulls plans.
15. Juan Hernangomez, Denver Nuggets
Hernangomez was one of the most interesting international prospects available in the 2016 NBA Draft. Coming off of winning the ACB Best Young Player Award in 2016 while playing for Estudiantes, it was clear that he was talented. It was unknown whether or not Hernangomez would remain in Spain or come to the NBA after being selected. Hernangomez turned pro in 2012 at the age of 17 and after two years at the second team, he then spent 2014-16 on the main team.
Denver had accumulated several picks in the 2016 NBA Draft, including three in the first round. This was their second of the night after taking Jamal Murray with the No. 7 pick earlier. With a lot of youth coming their way via this draft, the Nuggets weren’t scared away by the possibility of Hernangomez remaining overseas after they took him. They had time to wait and also had room to work in multiple rookies heading into the 2016-17 season.
In his first year in the NBA, Hernangomez played in 62 total games and even got to start in nine of them. He brought two things to the table immediately: three-point shooting and rebounding. Hernangomez made 40.7 percent of his three-pointers and averaged three rebounds per game as a rookie. His Per 36 minutes averages of 13 points and eight rebounds made it seem as if he was just waiting to break out if he was given more minutes the following year.
But mononucleosis would sideline him for all but 25 games in year two and his lack of conditioning saw his minutes actually drop. Last year, he played a career-high 19.4 minutes per game and shot a respectable 36.5 percent on three-pointers. Yet, the momentum he had built up during his rookie season had passed him by.
On a very deep Nuggets team, Hernangomez could potentially be the odd man out—especially with Denver very high on last year’s 14th-overall pick Michael Porter Jr. If he can get back to a 40 percent three-point shooter it’s likely that he would secure a spot in the rotation.
16. Guerschon Yabusele, Boston Celtics
Keeping with the international flavor of recent picks, the Boston Celtics opted to select French forward Guerschon Yabusele 16th overall in the 2016 NBA Draft. At 6-foot-8 and 260 pounds, Yabusele was a physical marvel and his agility helped him earn the nickname “Dancing Bear” during his time overseas. He started his professional career with Chorale Roanne in 2013 and then made the move to Rouen Metropole who played in France’s top league in order to improve his draft stock.
The move worked as he found himself being taken in the middle of the first round. Versatility was Yabusele’s calling card and with teams across the league attempting to recreate the magic that the Golden State Warriors found with Draymond Green, Yabusele was the Celtics swing st finding that rare player. Boston was another team with multiple first round picks (three, 16, and 23) and even more second rounders the thought was that they were going to bet on the upside and overseas players for a majority of their choices.
A month after being drafted, Yabusele announced that he would sign with the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). In his one season in China, he would average 20.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game and be named a CBA All-Star. After the season ended he signed with Boston’s G-League team, the Maine Red Claws for the remainder of the 2016-17 season. The next year he would be a member of the Celtics and in his rookie season, he would see time with both the G-League and NBA teams.
Last season was more of the same as Yabusele appeared in just 41 games for the Celtics. Given the changes that are likely coming to Boston with Kyrie Irving and Al Horford entering free agency, there’s a path to Yabusele earning more time next year. Brad Stevens has dusted him off for specialty assignments (mainly defending Giannis Antetokounmpo for short stints in playoff series) but if Yabusele can prove he can contribute more in a bigger role Boston’s role of the dice in 2016 may pay off huge.
17. Wade Baldwin, Memphis Grizzlies
The most notable fact about Wade Baldwin when he was selected 17th-overall by the Memphis Grizzlies was that he was the former high school teammate of Karl-Anthony Towns. In two years at Vanderbilt, Baldwin did enough on his own to merit a selection in the 2016 NBA Draft. Baldwin was a 42.2 percent three-point shooter in his college career and was a high-caliber defender at his position.
In Memphis, the Grizzlies were looking to find someone who could serve as a quality backup to Mike Conley Jr. Baldwin’s outside shooting and defensive abilities made it seem as if the two could not only operate as starter and substitute but that they could share the floor at the same time. The Grizzlies had just let Dave Joerger walk to Sacramento after an attempted power grab and in his place, they hired former Miami Heat assistant coach David Fizdale.
In his rookie season, Baldwin ended up splitting his time between the Grizzlies and their G-League affiliate at the time, the Iowa Energy. When he did get his opportunities on the big stage he largely disappointed. One stat that stands out is that he shot 13.6 percent on three-pointers as a rookie. Without bringing much on the offensive end the prospect of keeping him on seemed like more of a burden. After one year, Memphis opted not to bring Baldwin back and he was waived after one season.
The Portland Trail Blazers decided to roll the dice on Baldwin and signed him to a two-way contract a few days after he was released by Memphis. His time with them didn’t go much different as he spent the bulk of his time in the G-League with the Texas Legends. Last season saw Baldwin involved in multiple NBA transactions. He was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in February.
The Cavaliers then moved him a few days later to the Houston Rockets. The Rockets held onto him for a couple of hours and then dealt him to the Indiana Pacers. Finally, he was waived by the Pacers. All within the span of four days. Baldwin would end the year as a member of the Raptors 905 G-League team.
18. Henry Ellenson, Detroit Pistons
A one-and-done prospect out of Marquette, Henry Ellenson’s strong showing for the Golden Eagles made the former McDonald’s All-American a viable choice in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft. Ellenson averaged 17 points and 9.7 rebounds per game and showed the ability to operate as both a power forward and center when on the floor. He would also take home Big East Rookie of the Year and First-Team All-Big East honors after one season.
The Detroit Pistons were fresh off of one of most tightly-contested playoff sweeps after losing four straight to the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers. The feeling was that a few tweaks to the roster were all that was needed to have the Pistons operating as one of the Eastern Conference’s top teams in 2016-17. However, the year would end up being a disappointment as the Pistons ended up missing the playoffs completely.
Disappointing would be an apt way to describe Ellenson’s rookie performance as well. He would appear in only 19 games with the Pistons as a majority of his rookie season saw him instead suit up for the G-League team, the Grand Rapids Drive. His defense was the biggest issue for Ellenson as he was too slow to defend most power forwards and not long or athletic enough to hang with centers either.
Ellenson would continue to bounce back and forth between the NBA and the G-League for the duration of his time with the Pistons. By February, Detroit decided to part ways with its former first-round pick as they released him. The New York Knicks signed him to a 10-day contract and had some of his best NBA performances to date (13 points and nine rebounds against Orlando and 16 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks against Houston). Eventually, he signed a formal contract with the Knicks and remains part of their team.
19. Malik Beasley, Denver Nuggets
A surprise early entrant into the 2016 NBA Draft, Malik Beasley performed well enough in his one season at Florida State to get selected in the first round by the Denver Nuggets with their final pick of the first round. As a Seminole, Beasley would be named to the ACC All-Freshman team as he averaged 15.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, shooting 38.7 percent on three-pointers.
The Nuggets ability to bring in multiple first-round picks was key in allowing them to choose the players they liked most regardless of position or available playing time. Denver already had Gary Harris, Danilo Gallinari. Wilson Chandler, and Will Barton on the wing so it was obvious that Beasley wasn’t going to get early playing time unless the Nuggets were overcome by numerous injuries. Even still, it says a lot about what Denver’s brass thought of Beasley’s ability that they wanted to bring him in despite having an already deep wing rotation.
Just like the previous two choices, Beasley spent the bulk of his rookie year in between the NBA and the G-League. He played 22 total games with the Nuggets and even earned one start despite the logjam at the wing in Denver. His time with the Sioux Falls Skyforce allowed for him to build confidence in his game and it paid huge dividends for the Nuggets in short order.
The following season saw him play 62 games with Denver, but he made a huge leap last season appearing in 81 games and averaging 23.2 minutes per game. Injuries to Barton and the departure of Gallinari and Chandler paved the way for Beasley to get his chance to shine and shine he did. He averaged 11.3 points per game and shot 40.2 percent on three-pointers while attempting five per game. With Barton seeing more time as a starter, the Nuggets have been able to seamlessly slot Beasley into the role vacated by Barton.
With a bright future on the horizon, Beasley looks locked into a big role with Denver.
20. Caris LeVert, Brooklyn Nets
A three-star recruit that was nearly redshirted his freshman season, Caris LeVert is one of the crown jewels of the John Beilein era for the Michigan Wolverines.
On the 2013 national runner-up team, LeVert found his way onto the court due to his defensive abilities. With a bigger role as a sophomore LeVert showed that he was more than just a defender. Heading into his junior year many thought it would be his final one in Ann Arbor but injuries would rob him of most of his final two years in college and he entered the NBA draft with the recovery from multiple broken foot injuries hanging over his status.
The Indiana Pacers selected LeVert 20th overall and before trading him to the Brooklyn Nets on draft night. The Nets were not worried about any perceived foot issues slowing down LeVert’s NBA career mainly due to the fact that it was their doctor, Dr. Martin O’Malley, who performed the surgery on LeVert’s foot.
Brooklyn was patient with LeVert in his rookie season and he didn’t return to the floor until early December. His defense once again was the best part of his game early. He had three steals (in only nine minutes) in his debut game, becoming the first Nets player to have three steals in their debut since Chris Childs did in 1994. In spite of his late start to his rookie year, LeVert played so well that he almost made an All-Rookie team as he finished 12th in voting for the 10-man selection.
At the start of the 2018-19 season, enough rumbling had come out of Brooklyn’s training camp and preseason that there were players who said LeVert looked like the best player on the entire team. That seemed to be proven true when he opened the season with career-highs of 27 and 28 points in back-to-back games.
A horrific leg injury in mid-November against the Minnesota Timberwolves that many initially believed would end another productive season for LeVert. Yet, he would triumphantly return to action in early February and played the rest of the year. With cap space for two max free agents, LeVert might not start next season as Brooklyn’s best player but he certainly is a building block for the franchise.
21. DeAndre’ Bembry, Atlanta Hawks
DeAndre’ Bembry finished his high school career at the famed New Jersey institution, The Patrick School (where Kyrie Irving went to high school) and from there he took his talents to St. Joseph’s. Bembry was immediately a force to be reckoned with in the Atlantic 10. By his sophomore year, Bembry was on NBA radars and following a junior season that saw him take home A-10 Player of the Year, Bembry took his all-around game (17.4 points per game, 7.8 rebounds per game, 4.5 assists per game, and 1.4 steals per game) to the NBA.
The Atlanta Hawks had already made a move into the 2016 NBA Draft when they were part of a three-team trade with the Indiana Pacers and Utah Jazz. Atlanta acquired Taurean Prince, the 12th pick by the Jazz, and sent Jeff Teague to the Pacers. With some of the Hawks wings leaving the team in recent years Atlanta was using the 2016 NBA Draft as their way of replenishing their stocks.
Like most other players taken in this range, Bembry spent most of his rookie season in the G-League playing with then Hawks affiliate the Salt Lake City Stars. He got 38 games with the Hawks but was nothing special in those performances.
In the next season, Bembry would injure himself multiple times (strained right triceps, left adductor strain) and miss a lot of time during an important year of his development. By the time he returned to action he was buried in Mike Budenholzer’s rotation. Yet, with Atlanta opting for a rebuild, Budenholzer wouldn’t remain the man in charge for much longer. Lloyd Pierce was chosen to replace Budenholzer when the latter left for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Under Pierce, Bembry got a fresh start and separated himself from his peers with his commitment to the defensive end. He would play a career-high 82 games and start a career-high 15 of them in 2018-19.
22. Malachi Richardson, Charlotte Hornets
Another surprise early entrant in the 2016 NBA Draft, Malachi Richardson rode the momentum of his stellar 2016 NCAA Tournament performance during the Syracuse Orange’s unlikely run to the Final Four into a first-round selection by the Charlotte Hornets. The Hornets then traded Richardson to the Sacramento Kings — who were very active on the night — in exchange for Marco Belinelli. Richardson was a five-star recruit upon signing with Syracuse but ran hot and cold during his freshman season. It just so happened that he finished his career with the Orange hot.
Richardson ended up being the second of three first-round picks the Kings brought in during the 2016 NBA Draft. Sacramento was clearly taking as many bites of the apple as they could. With the eventual deal of DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings would find themselves with a whole lot of inexperienced players trying to take over as the face of the franchise.
However, Richardson’s face wasn’t one that you would have linked to the franchise following his rookie season. Richardson played 22 games his first season and spent the bulk of his time in the G-League with the Reno Bighorns. The hot three-point shooting at Syracuse proved to be nothing more than a flash in the pan as he shot 28.6 percent from deep in his first NBA season.
Halfway through his second season, Richardson was moved to the Toronto Raptors for Bruno Caboclo. However, he wouldn’t catch on in Canada either. Once again, Richardson saw most of his playing time during stints in the G-League, this time with Raptors 905. The Raptors would trade Richardson to the Philadelphia 76ers this past February and he was immediately waived by the Sixers. He found his way back to the G-League when he was picked up by the Canton Charge in mid-March where he remains.
23. Ante Zizic, Boston Celtics
Another Croatian big man, Ante Zizic was taken with the last of the Boston Celtics first-round selections in the 2016 NBA Draft. A professional overseas since 2013, Zizic had racked up a few accolades in his time before declaring for the 2016 NBA Draft as he was named to the FIBA Europe Cup Starting Five and ABA League Top Prospect in 2016.
Boston was looking to take advantage of all of their picks that they controlled during the 2016 NBA Draft and after securing Jaylen Brown at third and going international with Guerschon Yabusele at 16, they plucked from the overseas crop once again by drafting Zizic with the 23rd pick. The Celtics had the luxury of already having a deep roster before the draft so by taking two international players they were prepared to stash them if need be.
Zizic was stashed. After having a great showing at the Las Vegas Summer League, Zizic returned to the ABA League but moved to the Turkish Super League and played for Darussafska where he got the chance to play in the EuroLeague. His rookie season wouldn’t happen in Boston as he became part of the Kyrie Irving trade between the Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers. Once a member of the Cavaliers, Zizic promptly followed the G-League route for the majority of his first season.
This year, injuries to Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson opened up a spot for Zizic to get consistent minutes for Cleveland. He played 59 games and started 25 of them. With the bigger role, he was decent when on the floor, but the player we thought Boston had acquired after watching summer league in 2016 looks to have disappeared of late. Zizic will have another season in Cleveland to show who he is and what he can bring to the NBA game.
24. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Philadelphia 76ers
Luwawu-Cabarrot continued the late run on international players in the 2016 NBA Draft.
Luwawu-Cabarrot really made a name for himself when he joined Mega Leks the season before he would become eligible to be drafted. The Serbian program was well-known as one of the few European programs that would feature younger players and Luwawu-Cabarrot made the most of the spotlight that he got during his time there.
The 76ers were still in the middle of their process-driven rebuild and Luwawu-Cabarrot was a likely stash option for the Sixers at the time of the draft. Even if he did come over he was scouted as a perimeter shooting threat and even if a team is planning on tanking a season there’s no such thing as too much shooting.
Luwawu-Cabarrot would decide to ditch the ABA League and join the Sixers in the NBA following the draft. Once again, he saw a lot of time in the G-League as a rookie with the Delaware 87ers but with Ben Simmons’ preseason injury and Joel Embiid sidelined the Sixers season was already down the drain. It gave them the chance to let Luwawu-Cabarrot be baptized by fire and he would see action in 69 games (still a career-high) as a rookie. With that early experience, the hope was that Luwawu-Cabarrot’s development would be fast-tracked going forward.
Since then, Luwawu-Cabarrot has had a hard time cracking into a rotation with any NBA team. He spent a second season with the Sixers before he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the summer before his third season. His time with the Thunder didn’t last long as he was moved again in February to the Chicago Bulls. With the Bulls also attempting to tank at the end of the 2018-19 it was NBA life coming full circle for the French swingman.
25. Brice Johnson, Los Angeles Clippers
After four seasons as a member of the North Carolina Tar Heels, Brice Johnson heard his name called 25th in the 2016 NBA Draft. Johnson had a spectacular career with the Tar Heels as he was a two-time All-ACC selection and a consensus All-American. Johnson was a force in the interior thanks to his quick leaping ability and his long arms and it was those attributes that made him worthy of a first-round pick.
The Los Angeles Clippers were the team that took him and after a few seasons of watching the trio of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan lead the franchise to heights it hasn’t seen before—while still falling short of the conference finals. The Clippers were attempting to final players that were ready to make an impact right away for them as they didn’t have time, or need, to wait on a prospect to develop.
A herniated disk in his lower back kept him out until February of his rookie season. In all, he would play just three games as a rookie and instead of being a contributor right away, he would make more of an impact with the Salt Lake City Stars during his G-League assignments. It was definitely a letdown for the Clippers and the injury would quickly sink Johnson’s hope of a sustained NBA career.
Johnson didn’t make news again until he was a member of the package that the Clippers sent to the Detroit Pistons in the Blake Griffin blockbuster deal. Johnson didn’t stay in Detroit for long as he was moved to the Memphis Grizzlies for James Ennis. Memphis didn’t keep him as they waived him near the end of March. In February, Indios de Mayaguez of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional announced that they had signed Johnson.
26. Furkan Korkmaz, Philadelphia 76ers
Furkan Korkmaz has been a mainstay with Turkish team Anadolu Efes since 2013. In that time he had been loaned out twice (2013-14 to Pertevniyal and 2016-17 to Banvit) over the four-year span that he was a member of the team. His athleticism and ability as an outside shooter made him a player that NBA teams were monitoring dating back to when he won gold at the 2014 European U-18 Championship in Turkey.
With their second choice in three picks, the 76ers once again went with a sharpshooting international prospect. As aforementioned, the Sixers were still in their tear it down to build it up reconstruction plan and unlike Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Korkmaz opted to remain overseas after being drafted by Philadelphia in the 2016 NBA Draft.
When Korkmaz did come over in the 2017-18 season, he only played 14 games for the Sixers, spending the majority of time with their G-League affiliate the Delaware 87ers. Korkmaz’s shooting wasn’t as billed in his first year, he shot a lowly 29.4 percent on three-pointers in his 14 games. However, a great showing in the Las Vegas Summer League had faith restored in the young prospect.
Last season, his percentage rose to 32.6 percent, which still isn’t great. He played in 48 games with the Sixers in 2018-19. At just 21 years old, he turns 22 in late-July, there is still hope that Korkmaz will turn things around going forward and make true on his original scouting report if being knockdown perimeter shooter for Philly.
With J.J. Redick entering free agency along with Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris the Sixers are really going to need more reliable outside shooters and soon. Korkmaz will likely get all the opportunity on the world to show Philadelphia that he is capable of filling that slot in case they are unable to bring back all three players this summer.
27. Pascal Siakam, Toronto Raptors
Another Cameroonian gem unearthed by Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Pascal Siakam didn’t start playing basketball until he was around 15 years old. Mbah a Moute would serve as Siakam’s mentor and eventually he would come to the United States at 16 and moved around until landing at God’s Academy in Lewisville, Texas.
Since he came on the radar late he was under-recruited and ended up signing with New Mexico State where he would be for three years (redshirted in 2013 due to injury). By 2015-16, Siakam’s numbers were standing out by averaging 20.3 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game on his way to winning Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year.
The Raptors were just looking for players to fill out their roster with, but president Masai Ujiri had a previous connection with Siakam because he attended a Basketball Without Borders camp that Siakam played in and came away very impressed with his motor and effort.
As a rookie, Siakam was much more important to the Raptors G-League team, Raptors 905. He was part of the team that won the championship and Siakam would take home the MVP of the G-League championship as well. It wouldn’t be the last time that Siakam would be a vital part of a championship team.
Siakam just helped lead the Raptors to their first NBA championship. He exploded for 32 points in their Game 1victory and tied for the most points in their Game 6 clincher on the road to close down Oracle Arena for good.
As the frontrunner to be named the 2018-19 NBA Most Improved Player Award it could be argued that Siakam is the best pick in the entire 2016 NBA Draft given how late in the first round he went and that he’s risen to become one of the best players on the Raptors team.
28. Skal Labissiere, Phoenix Suns
As a rising senior in 2014, Skal Labissiere was projected to be the top choice in the 2016 NBA Draft by most websites. After surviving the devastation of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Labissiere and his family moved from Port-au-Prince, Haiti to Memphis, Tennessee. Once in the states, Labissiere’s height, defense, and ability to shoot from the perimeter made him a tantalizing prospect to many. When he committed to play at Kentucky for what many perceived would be his only season in college it was believed he would have similar success to Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns in Lexington.
This was the second pick that the Sacramento Kings received from the Phoenix Suns as part of the deal that sent Marquese Chriss to the Suns. For the Kings even though they already used their lottery pick from Phoenix to take another center, Georgios Papagiannis, they opted that at this point in the draft, Labissiere’s potential upside was too good to pass up on.
Labissiere’s poor showing as a freshman — he started just half of Kentucky’s games — carries over into his rookie year as he would play just 33 games and start 18 of them. However, there were flashes of the potential that scouts saw in high school as he ended his rookie season by scoring 32 points against Phoenix becoming the 41st player 20 or younger to score 32 points in a game—the first Kings player to do that since Tyreke Evans.
His next season and a half with the Kings were much of the same as the first. He played nearly double the games with Sacramento in his second season but he didn’t splash enough to remain with the team. In February, he was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers for Caleb Swanigan. Labissiere is buried behind Jusuf Nurkic, Zach Collins, and Meyers Leonard in Portland’s rotation at the center and next season will be his last chance to prove his worth to an NBA team.
29. Dejounte Murray, San Antonio Spurs
A well-known commodity in the West Coast high school circuit after playing four years at Rainier Beach High School in Seattle, Washington, Dejounte Murray opted to stay in state and attend the University of Washington for just one season and it was all he needed to cement himself as a first-round pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. Standing at a slim 6-foot-5 with a 6-foot-10 wingspan, Murray looked the part of a defensive ace and his 1.8 steals per game as a freshman helped back that up.
The San Antonio Spurs were coming off a 67-win season that saw them eliminated in the conference semifinals by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Getting over the hump against Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant might have played into the Spurs choosing to take Murray when it was their time on the clock. With Tony Parker nearing 40 and Patty Mills barely being six-feet tall getting size at the point guard position was a much-needed addition for Gregg Popovich’s team in the 2016 NBA Draft.
Yet, the Spurs still had faith in their Parker and Mills pairing in Murray’s rookie year and he would only appear in 38 games in his first season with the Spurs. Instead, they ran him through the wringer in the G-League with the Austin Spurs. A lot was put on his plate in the G-League and San Antonio was keeping a close eye on how he would respond. He also spent a lot of time with renowned shooting coach Chip Engelland and tried to remake his shot into something more respectable from the perimeter.
Feeling confident about the work out in during year one that in his second year, Murray would appear in 81 of 82 games and even start 48 of them. With both Manu Ginobili (retirement) and Tony Parker (signed with Charlotte) leaving in the offseason it created an opening for more minutes to give Murray. Things looked great for Murray entering the 2018-19 season, but a torn ACL in a preseason game against the Houston Rockets would force him to miss the entire season. He will join Derrick White in San Antonio’s backcourt of the future next year.
30. Damian Jones, Golden State Warriors
The final choice of the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft, the Vanderbilt product, Damian Jones was brought in to Golden State Warriors with the hopes of shoring up the Warriors rotation at center. In three seasons as a Commodore, the 6-foot-10 Jones’ numbers stayed remotely similar each season. His failure to average double-digit rebounds was concerning, but his athleticism was definitely on display each year.
Coming off of one of the biggest upset defeats in NBA history—blowing a 3-1 NBA Finals lead to the Cleveland Cavaliers—the Warriors were searching for something that they didn’t already have on the roster to make sure that something like that could never happen again. After playing Festus Ezeli major minutes in the Game 7 loss, getting a more reliable center was definitely on top of that list. As good as Draymond Green played at the five, it wasn’t a smart idea to overuse him there as it would cause unnecessary stress on his body over the duration of the regular season and playoffs.
Well, Jones wasn’t relied upon as much as expected as a rookie due to the fact that the Warriors followed up drafting him by signing Kevin Durant as a free agent on the Fourth of July. Jones would spend the bulk of his rookie year—and his second year too—playing with the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G-League. Most of his early minutes came in blowouts or when the top tier players were sitting out with injuries or resting.
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However, things changes this year. Jones was slated in as the fifth starter along with Golden State’s four all-stars (Durant, Green, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson) as DeMarcus Cousins sat out to recover for a torn Achilles. Jones worked perfectly with the other stars and he started in 22 of the 24 games he played before suffering a torn pectoral muscle injury. Jones would make it back for the playoffs and even started Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals. With question marks all over the roster going forward, Jones could have a big impact on the future of the Warriors.