The day most NBA fans were expecting is finally in the history books, as the NBA Draft came to an end and left a lot of fans in total disbelief thanks to some of the moves we saw.
While the top 3 picks were pretty much a lock, it was mayhem from then on, and every single mock Draft was completely destroyed in the blink of an eye by incredibly bold GMs.
But, even among all of the surprises – both good and bad – we saw yesterday night, there were a couple of them that truly stood out and will be talked about for many, many, years to come. Today, we’re going to talk about the top 5 most surprising things of the 2019 NBA Draft:
5. The Cavaliers Drafting Darius Garland
Ok, someone taking Garland may not be surprising at all, but the fact that among all teams it was Cleveland the one to take a gamble on him was pretty shocking. For starters, everybody was expecting them to try and move Kevin Love, but, obviously, that never happened.
Also, they now have Garland next to Collin Sexton, a couple of guys that are more of a scorer than a pass-first kind of point guard, and whose defense is still ages away from them. With Jarrett Culver still available at 5th, some people were completely shocked by this move.
4. Rui Hachimura Going To Washington
As per Hachimura himself, he hadn’t worked out for the Washington Wizards, nor a single person from the organization had talked to him prior to getting drafted by the team, so even he was pretty shocked about the fact that they took him as high as 9th overall with their 1st round pick.
Hachimura is still a work in progress. He has superstar potential thanks to his physical gifts, but he’s incredibly raw in both ends of the hardwood as of today. Also, the Wizards were supposed to try and move Bradley Beal to get their hands on more 1st rounders, but he eventually stood at the nation’s capital.
3. Nassir Little Slipping To 25th Overall
We all knew that coming off the bench, lack of playing time and his wild inconsistency were things that would end up hurting Nassir Little’s Draft stock, but nobody had him slipping all the way to the 25th spot and being the 3rd Tar Hell drafted in the 1st round of this year’s Draft.
The Portland Trail Blazers may have landed the steal of the Draft with Little slipping all the way to their laps. With two ball handlers creating chances in the offense for him, he might as well start finding his rhythm, and we already know he has all the tools to become a top-notch defender.
2. Bol Bol Going 44th
Some scouts had Bol Bol as a top 5 pick in this year’s Draft ever since the minute he set foot on the University of Oregon, but his poor work ethics and proneness to get hurt eventually hurt his stock. Still, nobody thought he was going to be drafted as late as 44th. Hell, nobody even thought he would’ve been available in the 2nd round.
Bol Bol is arguably the most intriguing talent of this class but the fact that he fell all the way to the 44th pick means teams are really concerned about his health issues and his lack of muscle. Hopefully, the Nuggets can bring the most out of him, but perhaps he’ll never end up playing big minutes in the league.
1. The Suns Drafting Cameron Johnson 11th Overall
If you’re a Phoenix Suns fan, you just can’t be happy with whatever the hell the team tried to do in this year’s Draft. No disrespect to Cameron Johnson, the nation’s best three-point shooter, but he was supposed to go from 25 to the 2nd round, and they took him as high as 11th overall.
The Suns drafted a guy that’s already older than Devin Booker when they were needing a point guard. They offloaded TJ Warren and a pick to get Dario Saric, and eventually Drafted Ty Jerome. Johnson was still going to be there later on, and they just didn’t need another wing right now.
