Tag: 2020 nba draft lottery

Golden State Warriors comfortable drafting best player available with No. 2 pick

The Golden State Warriors have a host of options when it comes to the No. 2 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and are still comfortable taking the best player available.

The Golden State Warriors have a number of options available with the No. 2 pick in the upcoming 2020 NBA Draft. The least-discussed option, though, is the team actually drafting a player with the pick. A mixture of there being no clear-cut top option at the top of the draft along with none of the top prospects being perfect fits with the current Warriors core has led most to expected the team won’t make a selection.

Despite the reservations, the Warriors haven’t ruled out selecting a player with the No. 2 pick, as reported by Wes Goldberg of The Mercury News.

They are open to trading the pick, but are also comfortable selecting the best player available at No. 2.

The “best player available” aspect of that certainly leaves the door open for LaMelo Ball. By many accounts, he is the top player in the draft and, at the very least, in the conversation for that spot. It still feels like a bit of a long shot for Ball to end up in Golden State, given the issues with fit and the team’s aspirations for a title.

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Pistons adviser Ed Stefanski on LaMelo Ball: ‘He has a lot of talent’

The Detroit Pistons are a team in desperate need of a point guard like LaMelo Ball and are also one of the few teams that scouted him in-person.

The Detroit Pistons were one of a few teams heading into the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery with a need for a point guard. With teams in varying parts of rebuilds across the lottery, the Pistons are at the beginning stage of their teardown.

A player like Ball, then, would have been a great asset to start off with. However, the big jumps from the Hornets and Bulls came at the expense of the Pistons, who dropped from No. 5 to No. 7.

Still, Detroit was one of the few teams that got a firsthand look at Ball and remain high on him heading toward the October draft. Pistons’ senior advisor Ed Stefanski spoke this week on a local radio show about Ball.

“I would just say, that young man has a lot of talent. There’s no question about it. And we were able to see him early, we had a scout for a while overseas in Australia to watch. So we were fortunate there, where some teams were going to go over in the spring to see him play and obviously that’s not going to happen now.”

Stefanski has spoken about Ball on the same radio show in the past. He noted then that the team had a chance to scout Ball and that the team wouldn’t be turned away from LaMelo because of LaVar.

The problem for the Pistons is that they will be forced to trade up if they want a chance at Ball. The team isn’t due any first round draft picks in the coming year but doesn’t owe any either. Despite both Markieff Morris and Reggie Jackson being on title-contending teams in Los Angeles after starting the year in Detroit, the Pistons could not manufacture a trade for either.

With a lack of young assets to trade, though, it would require a healthy amount of draft picks to move up into the range to get Ball, a risk that may not be worth taking for a team only starting a rebuild.

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Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak says team can’t afford not to take best player available

Like most teams atop the NBA Draft order, the Charlotte Hornets can ill afford to draft for fit over talent with the third pick.

Like most teams that find themselves in the draft lottery, the Charlotte Hornets are a side lacking in talent and in the middle of a rebuild. After losing Kemba Walker last season to free agency, the Hornets shifted focus into acquiring and developing young talent.

A breakout season from Devonte Graham moved the process along last season but the team still finds itself with the third pick in the draft after some lottery luck. In a three-player draft, that should typically be considered a positive but two of those three players are guards in LaMelo Ball and Anthony Edwards.

The Hornets have holes on their team but guard is not one of them with Graham and Terry Rozier anchoring the backcourt. Still, the team has enough of a talent deficiency that general manager Mitch Kupchak doesn’t see the team drafting for need over fit this draft.

Via Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer:

“I don’t feel we have the luxury of being able to, at this point, pick-and-choose the position.”

Interestingly, when it comes to Ball, Kupchak was one of a select few number of people that scouted Ball in-person in the NBL during his 12-game run. To what degree that will factor into their decision on whether to draft Ball or not remains to be seen.

Ball wouldn’t be a particularly great fit for the backcourt alongside Rozier and Graham, but as Kupchak noted, when a team is in the lottery and as high as the No. 3 pick, generally speaking, they can’t afford to draft on fit over talent.

The decision, though, will likely be taken out of their hands as, barring a dramatic rise from another prospect or fall from one of Edwards, Ball or James Wiseman in the pre-draft, Charlotte will simply take whichever of the three is left.

[lawrence-related id=25598,25592,25587]Draft order, the Charloote Hornets can ill afford to take fit over talent.

Forbes projects LaMelo Ball No. 3 overall to Charlotte Hornets in 2020 mock draft

With mock drafts aplenty in the aftermath of Thursday’s lottery, it appears LaMelo Ball’s floor is the third pick in the upcoming draft.

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LaMelo Ball’s draft position in October’s 2020 NBA Draft will be an interesting one to monitor. Given the perceived lack of interest from the Golden State Warriors, it seems plausible that Ball will either be the top pick or the No. 3 pick.

While both DraftExpress and Stadium both projected Ball to go No. 1 overall, The Athletic slotted Ball third overall as did Tommy Beer of Forbes. Beer’s post-lottery mock draft featured Anthony Edwards as the top pick to Minnesota, James Wiseman as the No. 2 pick to Golden State and Ball this to the Hornets.

“Point guard is the one spot on the floor the Hornets don’t need to address, as the team’s two leading scorers (Devonte’ Graham and Terry Rozier) are both PG’s by trade. Still, assuming Charlotte considers Ball the best player available when they are on the clock, it makes sense to get a potential franchise-changing talent and figure out how all the pieces fit later on. Ball significantly boosted his stock in Australia last season, with consistently impressive performances for the Illawarra Hawks before injuring his foot in December. Over his final five appearances, Ball averaged 23.2 points, 9.4 assists, 9.0 rebounds. In the process, he became the first Australian NBL player in the modern era to post back-to-back triple-doubles.”

The Hornets do already have a host of guards in the aforementioned Terry Rozier and Devonte’ Graham as well as Malik Monk and both Cody and Caleb Martin. While Ball’s versatility would allow him to play next to any of those guards offensively,

The other obvious takeaway of Ball landing in Charlotte is that the team is owned by Michael Jordan, who has been in LaVar Ball’s crosshairs many times in recent years.

Scottie Pippen says LaMelo Ball should be the No. 1 pick of the 2020 NBA Draft

LaMelo Ball’s growing list of supporters added a very notable name with Scottie Pippen choosing the youngest Ball brother as the No. 1 pick.

LaMelo Ball has gained many fans along his winding path to the precipice of the NBA but he may have just had his biggest fan speak up for him. Scottie Pippen, an NBA Hall of Farmer who was one of the centerpieces of “The Last Dance” this summer, chose the youngest Ball brother when asked who would be the top pick in the upcoming 2020 NBA Draft (h/t Christian Rivas of Silver Screen & Roll).

“I’m going to be honest, I think it’s going to be LaMelo Ball — I really do. I think just because his dad has stayed out of the way, he looks composed. We’ve watched this young man for the last couple of years . He’s a very handsome young man, solid on the basketball court. I think he is going to be the player — I’ve interviewed with him on ‘The Jump,’ he speaks very intelligently — I think he’s going to surprise people. I think he has the leadership qualities to go into a team like Minnesota and help bring them to life. I think this young player will be a player that fans and young men and women can follow and love and adapt his style of play.”

Ball appeared on “The Jump” nearly a year ago to announce his decision to join the Illawarra Hawks in the NBL. That appearance looks to have been enough to make Pippen a fan.

Pippen’s scouting report of Ball is one of the more glowing ones as well. Few people have credited Ball’s leadership despite him having led a professional franchise in Illawarra at 18 years old. Whether it’s Minnesota, as Pippen predicted, or another team near the top of the draft, Ball looks likely to find success at the next level.

New Orleans Pelicans land variety of 3&D players in post-lottery mock drafts

The New Orleans Pelicans’ need for 3&D players in the upcoming draft led to a host of players being projected to them in mock drafts.

The New Orleans Pelicans did not move up in Thursday’s NBA Draft Lottery, staying put with the No. 13 pick. While still having a lottery pick, the Pelicans will be at the back end of the lottery.

Following Thursday’s draft lottery, mock drafts were in abundance from multiple sites and had a common theme for the Pelicans in wing players.

Stadium’s Jeff Goodman had the Pelicans landing Aaron Nesmith, a small forward out of Vanderbilt. Yahoo Sports had the Pelicans drafting a different forward in Precious Achiuwa out of Memphis.

DraftExpress had New Orleans drafting Patrick Williams, a wing player out of Florida State that has been linked in other mock drafts to the Pelicans.

“Williams has tremendous physical tools in terms of size, length and strength, and he is the second-youngest player in this draft class. His shooting indicators are promising, even if he is still a fairly raw player overall on both ends of the floor. Williams’ defensive versatility could be appealing to a New Orleans team that needs to improve on that end, and adding another combo forward could allow Zion Williamson to play more minutes at center.”

The Athletic also had the Pelicans drafting a familiar name in Saddiq Bey out of Villanova.

“The Pelicans don’t really have a ton of needs, so they should just be taking the best player available who can help them on the defensive end and grow with their young core. Bey, for me, is that guy, even though they have Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram across the frontline. You can say that they have guys everywhere, to be honest. Getting another good player is the best thing they can do. Bey’s shooting and defense is a perfect fit.”

The Pelicans’ need for 3&D players is their most obvious one. The team lacked shooters on the wing aside from JJ Redick this season and certainly lacked defenders of any form. Landing a 3&D player in the draft could be a huge boost for the team moving forward.

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LaMelo Ball lands with Hornets at third pick in The Athletic mock draft

After being the biggest movers in the lottery, the Charlotte Hornets’ prize could be landing LaMelo Ball in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Few people covering the draft have watched and analyzed prospects as much as The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie. Interestingly, few people covering the draft and prospects are as high on Ball as Vecenie as he’s long had Ball atop his draft board.

His post-lottery mock draft on Thursday evening slotted Ball third overall to the Charlotte Hornets, though he maintained he still thinks Ball is the most talented prospect.

Here is a section out of his explanation on Ball landing in Charlotte:

“The big question here is obviously about his efficiency. He’s not a great shooter right now, having hit just 28 percent of his 86 3-point attempts this past season. I think he’s probably slightly better than that as a shooter in terms of touch. While his decision-making as a passer is great, his shooting decisions leave a lot to be desired. There are some possessions where he simply makes a pre-determined choice and says that he’s going to pull up and take a shot, regardless of how the defense is playing. His floater game is strong and his finishing package isn’t terrible, but his lack of strength is a significant hindrance in how he plays through contact. As Ball gets stronger with age, I expect that he’ll really improve around the rim and in his ability to accept contact as a ballhandler when coming off ball-screens.”

The Hornets and Ball were not linked hardly at all prior to Thursday’s draft lottery given the Hornets standing coming into the lottery at the No. 8 spot. However, Charlotte general manager Mitch Kupchak was one of the few NBA executives to see Ball in-person for Illawarra last season.

The fit would be an interesting one as the Hornets do have some guards already, including one of the league’s most improved players this season in Devonte’ Graham. The team’s star free agent acquisition last summer also was a guard in Terry Rozier. But both of those players could play alongside Ball, which shouldn’t rule him out of contention to go third overall.

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Yahoo Sports projects LaMelo Ball No. 2 overall to Golden State Warriors

As more mock drafts come out in the aftermath of Thursday’s NBA Draft Lottery, the consensus opinion is that LaMelo Ball will be a top pick.

As more and more mock drafts hit the internet after Thursday’s NBA Draft Lottery, it is becoming abundantly clear that LaMelo Ball will be one of the first names to be called on draft night.

Ball’s stock has steadily risen as October’s draft date nears. While mock drafts from DraftExpress and Stadium slated Ball to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who won Thursday’s lottery to land at the No. 1 spot, not everyone has Ball as the top pick.

Yahoo Sport’s Krysten Peek slotted Ball to the Golden State Warriors with the No. 2 pick in her first post-lottery mock draft.

“Ball is the younger brother of Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball and has a tight handle and great size. He is a phenomenal passer, especially in the pick-and-roll, and averaged 6.8 assists per game for the Illawarra Hawks in Australia. He has had one of the craziest roads to the NBA, playing two years at Chino Hills High School in California before his dad, LaVar, pulled him out of school to play a year in Lithuania. Then he came back to the states and played one year at a prep school before heading to Australia. The Warriors could trade this pick because they have an elite backcourt and are in win-now mode.”

The Warriors will have one of the most interesting decisions in the draft this season as they weigh drafting a player for the future versus trading the pick to contribute to their championship window, if it’s still open. Their decision as to who to pick became slightly easier with the Wolves landing the No. 2 pick, taking some of the deliberations out of their hands.

If they keep the pick and draft Ball, he would fit in like a glove into the team’s system, even if he doesn’t fit quite as seamlessly with their current backcourt of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.

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DraftExpress, Stadium project LaMelo Ball to Wolves No. 1 overall in post-lottery mock drafts

After the Minnesota Timberwolves landed the No.1 pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft Lottery, LaMelo Ball could be the prize at the top spot.

Thursday’s NBA Draft Lottery provided a shakeup in the draft order as thee lottery often does. The Timberwolves nabbed the top spot, jumping two places to do so, while the Warriors fell one spot to the No. 2 pick. The biggest winners on the night were the Hornets and Bulls as the latter moved up five spots to take the No. 3 pick and the latter jumped three spots to get the No. 4 pick.

With some clarity in the NBA Draft after the lottery, mock drafts begin to carry more weight. Both DraftExpress and Stadium’s Jeff Goodman released mock drafts in the immediate aftermath of the lottery results and both had LaMelo Ball going first overall to the Timberwolves.

DraftExpress’ mock draft, at least at the top, mirrored its mock draft from Tuesday with Ball landing in Minnesota, though at the No. 1 pick instead of the No. 3 pick. Stadium’s mock draft from Jeff Goodman also had Ball as the top pick to the Timberwolves.

Ball was not heavily linked to the Timberwolves prior to the lottery given Minnesota’s position in the lottery and Ball’s position on most big boards. Only a handful of mock drafts slotted Ball to the Timberwolves in recent months.

New Orleans Pelicans will officially select 13th in 2020 NBA Draft

After having Lady Luck on its side last season, the New Orleans Pelicans did not jump up in the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery and will select 13th overall.

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The New Orleans Pelicans did not have Lady Luck on its side for the second consecutive year on Thursday. After jumping up to the top pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, the Pelicans stayed put in Thursday’s NBA Draft Lottery.

Coming in with the 13th-best odds and just a 1.2% chance at the No. 1 pick and a 5.7% chance at a top-four pick, the team stayed in its original spot and will pick 13th in the 2020 NBA Draft.

The Minnesota Timberwolves moved up to the top spot after coming in with the third-best odds of the No. 1 pick. Golden State dropped one spot to second, Charlotte will pick third and the Bulls will pick fourth.

The big movers on the night included the Charlotte Hornets and Chicago Bulls jumping into the top four after having the eighth- and seventh-best odds coming into the night.

The Pelicans have picked 13th just once in its history, selecting Julian Wright 13th overall in the 2007 NBA Draft. This year marks the first time since 2012 and 2013 that the team will have lottery picks in successive years.

The 2020 NBA Draft is currently slated to take place on October 15, though a piece from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Thursday suggested the date could be moved back along with the start of free agency.

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