Early Chaos in The NBA Draft

The NBA draft is tonight and there are a lot of big scenarios to watch out for. We all know who the top three picks will be Chet Holmgren, Paolo Banchero, and Jabari Smith Jr. Obviously anything can change, however, that is the most likely outcome. 

         It will get interesting at pick four with Sacramento on the clock. In my opinion, there are two players they could pick between, Jaden Ivey or Keegan Murray. Jaden Ivey is a guard from Purdue. Ivey has very quick but strong finishing abilities at the basket. Even though Ivey might be the best available player, I don’t think he is the right fit for the Kings. First of all, they are committed to De’aaron Fox being their point guard going forward, so why would they want Jaden Ivey. Second of all, in the last couple of years, the Kings have drafted almost all guards including Davion Mitchell and Tyrese Halliburton. Why would they draft another guard? Also, it has recently come out that Ivey hasn’t had any communications or workouts with the Kings. This is a major hint that Ivey may not be interested in getting drafted to Sacramento. If the Kings decide to pass on Jaden Ivey, they have two options. They could draft Keegan Murray and hope that he could be the guy they have been missing, or they could trade the pick away entirely. A lot of teams will definitely be interested in Jaden Ivey so the Kings could get some good assets by trading away the pick. 

        The Detroit Pistons have the fifth pick in the draft. Last year, they had the first pick for which they drafted a point guard, Cade Cunningham. Although they would love to get Jaden Ivey, I don’t think he is a priority because they already have their point guard for the future. I think their priority is drafting Keegan Murray. Keegan Murray was a star power forward for Iowa this past season. He averaged 23 points and 9 rebounds per game which I think was the best stat line out of every draft prospect this year. The main reason Detroit would be interested is because they just traded their starting power forward, Jerami Grant, to the Trail Blazers. Murray would be a perfect fit here to fill in their need at that position.

        This year’s draft is full of many possibilities and potential trades waiting to happen. Nobody even knows who will be drafted number one yet. Each pick will have a ripple effect for what the next pick is so don’t expect everything to go the way we think it will go. We look forward to finding out tonight, and watch for my post draft analysis!