NBA Draft Review

So it worked out for Malachi Richardson. He went in the first round, got the guaranteed deal, and didn’t look all too foolish for leaving Syracuse after just one year.

As for Michael Gbinije, he went just about where we expected him in the mid-second round. He may prove to be a better value than a mid-second round pick—I think he will at least—but then it becomes a good pick by the Pistons and they get a good second round value.

Let’s look at this further and see how the Syracuse players made out now that we know where they will land.

Malachi Richardson

Malachi is going to be going up against a former top 10 pick in Ben McLemore, who has failed to live up to any kind of expectations and has averaged just 9.7 points over his three year NBA career while not doing much in assists or rebounding. CBS Sports’ Sam Vencie gave the Kings a B+ for the Malachi pick, not something we usually see for the Kings. Chad Ford of ESPN added, “The Kings got this pick right, I think.”

It is really always hard to know with the Kings, but it looks like this is a good spot for Malachi. Sacramento is another young team, a team that has struggled to find its footing for basically the last decade and in this situation that may help Malachi, much like going to Philadelphia helped Jerami Grant. This could provide Malachi an opportunity to play, make mistakes and not get benched, and grow into a role that could make him stick in the NBA.

Michael Gbinije

Michael Gbinije got picked to a totally different situation than Malachi Richardson. Gbinije will walk into a team that made the playoffs this past season, albeit as an 8 seed that was swept by the Cavs, but a playoff team nonetheless.

Gbinije likely slots in as the 4th guard on the team, barring any other moves that the Pistons make. He’s a guy as a second round pick who will certainly need to fight to earn the playing time that he gets. CBS Sports’ Sam Vencie says of Gbinije, “He’ll fit right into Detroit’s offense under Stan Van Gundy.”

I do think that Gbinije will be a solid NBA player, and being drafted to a playoff team with a very good and well respected coach in Stan Van Gundy should only help that.

New York Knicks

Boy oh boy, what were the Knicks waiting for? Unlike their crosstown counterparts, I’ll get to that, the Knicks entered the NBA Draft with no picks, and left the draft with no picks. They did just trade for Derrick Rose, but the better way to build a team is through the draft. That does mean, that the Knicks had a draft room for a draft when they had no picks. Bold strategy.

Brooklyn Nets

The Nets entered the draft with just the 55th pick in the draft, but ended up with the 20th and 42nd picks. And overall, it wasn’t a terrible night. Yes, both picks come with risks. Caris LaVert out of Michigan has had big time injuries to his feet the last few years. Isaiah Whitehead has some questions, but is a Brooklyn kid and if when you’re a team that doesn’t have much else to attract fans, maybe it isn’t the worst idea to pick up a hometown kid who has some game.