NBA Draft grades: Each team’s picks and trades, and what I liked and didn’t like

I’ve never done draft grades before at The Athletic. I think they’re a bit reactive and silly, and they’re a great way to look incredibly stupid a few years down the road when undoubtedly some of my evaluations will be wrong.

But everyone gets stuff wrong when evaluating players. And ultimately, grades are a great way to talk about how each team handled the NBA Draft and take a bigger-picture look at their roster-building goals and the overall process.

Below, I’ll break down all 30 teams, explaining what I liked, didn’t like and thought was interesting in regard to how they decided to proceed at the draft. Teams are in letter-grade order, and I tiered them into how I’d evaluate them. I didn’t spend a ton of time parsing through how to order each team within the same grade, so I wouldn’t say I “ranked” them. But I did dive deep into my thought process on the draft and the week leading up to it with any deal that involved picks.

Here are my 2023 NBA Draft grades, and for a deeper look at this year’s group of prospects and how I had them ranked, check out our NBA Draft Guide from mid-June.

A GRADES: MY FOUR FAVORITE DRAFTS

San Antonio Spurs

• Selected Victor Wembanyama (first), Sidy Cissoko (44th)
• Acquired a 2026 Utah second-rounder and 2028 Minnesota second-rounder for No. 33

There is no place to start other than San Antonio. They had the easiest job in the draft this year, and they didn’t screw it up. All they had to do was submit a card to Adam Silver that said “Victor Wembanyama.” The French superstar is the highest-upside prospect to enter the NBA since LeBron James. Some things, of course, could go wrong here and hold him back from that type of upside — particularly, if his body breaks down and his durability becomes a question. But it’s hard to overemphasize how incredible Wembanyama’s long-term potential is on both ends of the floor. He is a historic prospect, one well within the tapestry of former elite big prospects such as Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan. Expect greatness.

The Spurs have a largely open roster at this point, and Wembanyama fits perfectly. They can play him at the four next to Zach Collins to start games or can play him at the five next to someone like Jeremy Sochan, a perfect Swiss Army knife to place next to him. The team has a good 3-and-D wing in Devin Vassell, plus a bowling-ball driver in Keldon Johnson who will thrive playing next to the spacing provided by Wembanyama. Tre Jones figures to return next season, as he’s a restricted free agent who had a strong season. Plus, the Spurs have a ton of cap space moving forward to be able to add. The only question is how quickly the team decides to shift into contender status. Do they give it a year? Do they try to sign a veteran star guard now? Do they try to sign someone like Austin Reaves who matches the age timeline a bit better? All options should be on the table.

San Antonio also acquired two seconds for the No. 33 overall pick. If I were them, I would have just taken Leonard Miller, whom the Timberwolves took at No. 33. I think Miller profiles as the exact kind of big I’d want next to Wembanyama — an aggressive rebounder who runs out on the break, attacks the glass aggressively and is willing to play physically on the interior as an elite finisher. But two seconds for a high second-round pick, in a vacuum, is not a bad deal. The team also took Cissoko out of the G League Ignite, another French wing who can drive and finish. He has a great physical frame and real passing instincts out of ball screens. The Spurs have worked magic with jumpers before, and Cissoko’s inconsistent mechanics need it. He’s a good flier for where they selected him.

The Spurs got the centerpiece of their rebuild. That’s the most important thing any team can do.

Grade: A+

GO DEEPER

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Portland Trail Blazers

• Selected Scoot Henderson (third), Kris Murray (23rd), Rayan Rupert (43rd)

The Blazers also had a superb draft night, in part because they were the beneficiaries of Henderson falling to them after the Hornets took Brandon Miller. But let’s not act like this is a decision every single team in the league would make. Many teams would have traded the pick to build around Damian Lillard. Many teams would have potentially looked a different direction in terms of talent, thinking that they didn’t want to take Henderson when they already have Lillard at the point. But the Blazers front office was brave. They might the right decision for their organization, relationships or fit be damned. They took the guy in Henderson who I think is going to be the centerpiece of their franchise for the next decade. The 2010s were the Lillard decade in Portland. The 2020s will be the Scoot decade.

I had Henderson at No. 2 on my board, and he was in a tier to himself below Wembanyama and ahead of everyone else. To get him at No. 3 is an enormous moment for the Blazers. He’s going to be an exceptionally hard problem to solve for defenses from day one because of how well-rounded he is in ball-screen actions. He can pull up and hit floaters, he can get all the way to the rim and finish with authority or touch, he can play slow or fast, and he can make high-level passing reads. He’s explosive but balanced as an athlete. He’s going to force the action in transition and drive easy points, as well as be the guy who immediately sets the tone for your organization due to his competitiveness and drive. He’s one of the best guards I’ve evaluated, and I completely buy him as a long-term All-Star.

Henderson is the key, but don’t sleep on the others. Murray can fill a rotational role immediately, knocking down shots from distance along with providing size and athleticism defensively and out in transition. He helps the team both in the short- and long-term regardless of whether Lillard is there. Rupert is another interesting flier for the team, a 6-foot-6 wing with a 7-foot-2 wingspan who was a defensive menace in the NBL this past season. His offensive game has a lot of work to do both as a shooter and ballhandler, but he’s well-regarded for having incredible character and work ethic. He’ll get the most out of whatever he has offensively, and the tools are pretty vast. He’s a project worth investing in as a second-round pick, and I had him at No. 34 on my board.

The Blazers front office didn’t give into pressure and took three players who were strong values across the board, including a lead guard I strongly believe can be a franchise-changing player. A perfect draft all around.

Grade: A+

GO DEEPER

Trail Blazers think they made move that trumps any trade in drafting Scoot Henderson

Houston Rockets

• Selected Amen Thompson (fourth) and Cam Whitmore (20th)

I think the Rockets had one of the three best nights of any NBA team Both Thompson and Whitmore were top-five players on my board, and they ended up getting them at picks No. 4 and No. 20. It’s an enormous infusion of talent to a roster that already has a ton of athletic youth. Thompson will combine with Jalen Green to become the most explosive, athletic backcourt in the NBA. Thompson will make all of the winning plays around this roster both on defense and in terms of transition play and passing. It’s a great fit for a team that needs someone whose sole focus is winning. I love the pick, and it’s the selection I would have made.

Whitmore, however, was the surprise of draft night. He fell to No. 20 for a number of reasons, not just one. Teams did have some concerns with his medicals. I spoke to representatives for eight teams about Whitmore prior to the draft, all of whom who were granted anonymity as teams are not allowed to publicly talk about prospects in the pre-draft stages. As The Athletic’s John Hollinger wrote, the concern came with his knee. There wasn’t really a consensus on it in terms of how serious the medical was. Some sources felt like it was a big deal, while some were entirely comfortable with it. Obviously, the Rockets were one of those teams that was comfortable, as general manager Rafael Stone said in his news conference after the draft. Generally, it’s seen as a potential long-term issue as opposed to one likely to impact him during his rookie-scale contract. The general feeling I got was that the medical was a yellow flag for most teams, not a full-scale red flag.

But team representatives also pointed to interviews, where Whitmore can be a bit short with his responses and is generally a low-key person. He didn’t endear himself to decision-makers in those settings. His workouts were hit or miss, with some being very good and others being quite poor. The reps who pointed to the poor workouts tended to discuss low energy in those settings. Additionally, Ryen Russillo noted on The Bill Simmons Podcast earlier this week that the intel trickling down to NBA teams from the Villanova coaching staff wasn’t exactly glowing. Essentially, Whitmore was a complicated evaluation. The vibe I got when researching Whitmore pre-draft was that he is an 18-year-old. Not a single source called Whitmore a character concern in terms of being a bad person. A few sources had questions about how motivated he was to be great, given his season at Villanova and how low his energy was when he came into their building.

The intel side of Whitmore’s drop is stuff that I had access to when I ranked him at No. 3 in this year’s NBA Draft Guide. It did not sway me because it was not universally negative but rather a mixed bag and explainable by him being one of the youngest prospects in this class, not turning 19 until July 8. I learned the information about the medical after the draft guide had already been submitted. If I’d had that information prior to that, I would have ranked Whitmore fifth and likely knocked him down into the next tier of my board.

In general, I think teams are far too sensitive toward long-term medical questions. They matter, but teams overreact far too often. Malcolm Brogdon had them pre-draft, which is why he fell to the second round. He won Rookie of the Year in 2017 and won Sixth Man of the Year this past season, his seventh in the league. Michael Porter Jr. had, as Hollinger called them, “the worst medicals he has ever seen in a prospect” back in 2018. He was just the third scoring option on a title team. Robert Williams was flagged coming in and fell to 27th. While he’s been in and out of the lineup with injuries, he also has earned All-Defense honors. O.G. Anunoby’s medicals dropped him to No. 23 in 2017 after he tore his ACL at Indiana. He is currently among the most popular trade targets in the NBA and just made an All-Defense team. Even if some of these players do end up missing games, they’re so valuable in the minutes they’re on the court that they end up being steals.

With all of the information at play, I think Whitmore is pretty clearly the steal of the draft at this point. Maybe I end up being wrong and the teams that passed on him end up being right. But I’ve done a good amount of due diligence on him as a prospect and would feel comfortable making an informed bet on him even with the concerns that NBA teams presented. Additionally, the Rockets being the team to select Whitmore actually makes me feel even more comfortable on the intel side. The Rockets employ former Villanova star and assistant coach Ed Pinckney as a scout. Sources across the NBA will tell you there is no scout more connected to the Villanova program than Pinckney. If there were substantial issues that were disqualifying, he would know about them. For the Rockets to have the intel Pinckney would be able to acquire and still be as high as they were on Whitmore — considering him as an option at No. 4 — is a direct argument against the typical appeal-to-authority fallacy that says, “A lot of NBA teams passed on him, so something must be wrong.”

That the Rockets didn’t even need to move up to get Whitmore — despite their best efforts to move up during the draft, per Stone — is all the better. This was an outstanding draft.

Grade: A+

GO DEEPER

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Dallas Mavericks

• Traded No. 10 and Dāvis Bertāns to Oklahoma City for No. 12; selected Dereck Lively II (12th)
• Acquired Richaun Holmes and Olivier-Maxence Prosper (24th) from Sacramento

I love everything about what Dallas did on draft night. I’ve been skeptical at times regarding Nico Harrison’s approach, but he deserves an immense amount of credit for what he pulled off.

Entering the evening with the 10th pick, I wrote pre-draft that the Mavericks’ goals were to move off salary and add some cost-controlled depth. Mission accomplished on both fronts. They moved down two spots and offloaded Bertāns’ contract to Oklahoma City, a deal worth $17 million this season that has a partial guarantee of $5 million next season. They took Lively at No. 12, likely the same player they would have selected at No. 10 had they kept the pick. I’m a big-time believer in Lively and had a top-10 grade on him. By the end of his freshman season at Duke, I thought there was not a more impactful defensive player in the entire country, and on offense, Lively should feast as a rim runner in a well-spaced Dallas offense. Luka Dončić should have no issues feeding him for eight to 12 points per game as a roller or as a transition partner due to his ability to cover ground quickly. Lively is a perfect blend of talent and fit for a team that needs a defensive infrastructure long-term around Dončić and potentially Kyrie Irving.

Using a trade exception, the Mavs took on Richaun Holmes’ contract from Sacramento while acquiring the 24th pick in the process, selecting Olivier-Maxence Prosper. The player I’ve compared Prosper to throughout the process is someone Mavericks fans will be very familiar with: Dorian Finney-Smith. Prosper is an elite on-ball defender with immense size at 6-foot-8 in shoes with a 7-foot-1 wingspan. He’s excellent at staying in front of his opposition on the ball and chasing them around screens off-ball. On offense, you want to keep him in a more limited role because he’s not the quickest decision-maker. But Dallas’ offense is tailor-made for him to thrive, as all he’ll be asked to do around Dončić is make catch-and-shoot 3s — again, a perfect blend of filling a need and drafting talent.

In terms of Holmes, I think he is much more likely to be able to rehabilitate some value in Dallas than he would have been in Sacramento. Holmes is a great leaper and finisher around the rim, but, more importantly, he’s an awesome short-roll pick-and-roll scorer, something Dallas really values given how teams often try to play two on the ball against Dončić to get the ball out of his hands. He has one of the best floaters in the NBA, a shot he rode to averaged 12.5 points and eight rebounds in 28 minutes per game with Sacramento in the three seasons prior to the team’s acquisition on Domantas Sabonis. To get the most out of Sabonis, the team completely changed its scheme and used its centers in ways that don’t accentuate Holmes’ skills. More than anything, that’s why he got benched. But I think the fit in Dallas in terms of offensive scheme is strong, and Holmes could end up being really useful.

That extra $5 million Dallas saved through all this will allow them to use their full midlevel exception this offseason and should give them a chance to add another valuable two-way player. This is a home run draft for the Mavs.

Grade: A

GO DEEPER

Intriguing prospects and much-needed flexibility make Mavericks' 2023 NBA Draft a success

B+ GRADES: Teams that exceeded the value of their assets

Indiana Pacers

• Selected Jarace Walker (eighth), Ben Sheppard (26th), Mojave King (47th) and Isaiah Wong (55th)
• Traded No. 7 to Washington for No. 8 and two future second-rounders; traded No. 29 and No. 32 for a 2024 first-round pick and No. 40; traded No. 40 for No. 47 and cash

The Pacers entered draft week with a ton of pick capital that included three first-rounders (accumulated from deals for Malcolm Brogdon and Caris LeVert) and a fourth top-32 pick. And, overall, they did well. They turned one of those picks into a future first-rounder for next season and selected two rookies who fit what they want to do and what they need.

Throughout the pre-draft process, the Pacers were seen as in the market for a four to pair with Tyrese Haliburton at point, Bennedict Mathurin on the wing and Myles Turner at center. Mission accomplished. They drafted Walker at No. 8 after working the board well and moving down a slot so that the Wizards could trade up to get French wing Bilal Coulibaly. Walker is a perfect fit for the Pacers schematically. He’s not a great shooter yet, but teams started to put two on the ball against Haliburton regularly last year to try to slow him down out of ball screens. Using Walker as a screener in those settings will make it much harder to do that. He’s an excellent passer as a four who can handle the ball and make high-level four-on-three passing reads in those advantage situations. He’s also an excellent defensive prospect, a help-defense havoc-wreaker who can fly around and plug gaps all across the court. This is important because the Pacers had the 26th-best defensive rating in the NBA last season.

Sheppard is a really sharp pick here too, purely because of his fit within what the Pacers will want to do. Rick Carlisle loves players who can space the floor and knock down shots from distance. The Belmont wing can do that, and he doubles as a sharp defender who made the All-Defense team in the Missouri Valley Conference this past season. There will be some concerns for him early defensively due to his still-developing frame, but he has great feel for the game and strong instincts. I had Sheppard at No. 28, so this is a solid pick.

The two second-rounders should be pure two-way guys. King is a developing, athletic 3-and-D guard who still needs to iron out his jumper. Wong is a scoring guard who doesn’t bring much else to the table but is incredibly creative. Overall, kicking the 29th pick down the road hopefully into a better pick in 2024 was sharp, and on top of it, they added two excellent fits within their scheme while working the draft board in their favor. All told, a good night for the Pacers.

Grade: B+

Boston Celtics

• Traded Marcus Smart, Danilo Gallinari, Mike Muscala and the 35th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft for Kristaps Porziņģis, the No. 25 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft and the Warriors’ 2024 first-round pick in a three-team trade with Washington and Memphis
• Traded the No. 25 pick to Detroit for the No. 31 pick and two future second-round picks. Traded No. 31 to Charlotte No. 34 and No. 39. Traded No. 34 to Sacramento for No. 38 and Dallas’ 2024 second-round pick. Traded No. 39 for Atlanta’s 2027 second-round pick.
• Selected Jordan Walsh (38th)

The Celtics completed arguably the most complicated set of transactions I’ve seen in the last few years of the NBA Draft. But, beyond the sheer activity, the Celtics’ draft will be remembered as the week the team traded Marcus Smart. The 2022 NBA Defensive Player of the Year has been the Celtics’ spiritual leader for a long time and will undoubtedly be missed. But the team got a large amount of value for him. In total, the Celtics ended up trading Smart for Porziņģis, a 2024 first-round pick, Walsh and four additional second-rounders.

Porziņģis’ 2022-23 season went underrated nationally while playing for a directionless Wizards’ team. He notched a career high in scoring at 23.2 points per game while continuing to drain 3s at an exceptionally high clip at volume as a 7-foot-3 big man. His efficiency marks were about 8 percent about league average last year while also being a floor-spacing five who creates driving lanes for his teammates while also being the fourth-highest scoring center in the NBA. Al Horford is valuable because of his shooting; Porziņģis is a different beast. He’s one of the few centers to whom you have to stay attached away from the rim because he has a quick release and range far beyond the NBA line. Per Synergy, he made 38 percent of his 87 attempts from at least 28 feet last season.

Where Porziņģis will need to prove himself is in his ability to make quick decisions and read the play. Horford thrived with his quick decision-making to get things moving along the perimeter with dribble handoffs and high-post initiation. Porziņģis tends to hold the ball a bit more, which won’t help Boston’s issue with stagnation. But his gravity as a shooter is real. He should open up a ton of lanes for drivers with his trailer 3-point shooting in transition if nobody picks him up, as well as ability to play out of slip ball-screen actions. He made more pick-and-pop 3s per game than any player in the NBA this past season, per Synergy.

Walsh is the kind of player the Celtics love to try and develop. He’s 6-foot-7 with an 8-foot-11 standing reach and has ridiculous defensive tools. His motor runs incredibly high, and he has as much long-term defensive upside as any player in this class. He’s awesome across the board on that end, be it as a switchable on-ball defender who has a chance to be one of the very few one through five defenders the league has or as a help defender instinctually rotating around. Offense is the issue, as his jumper is a real work in progress, and he’s not quite good enough as a driver to put the ball in his hands. But he moves the ball on offense and makes quick decisions. After a year of development in the G League, the Celtics might have something real. He’s worth a guaranteed contract.

I like what the Celtics did here as a change-up from the last two years. They needed to do something that wasn’t quite seismic but rather would make a meaningful change. A Smart trade accomplishes that, and the value they got for it was right.

Grade B+

GO DEEPER

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Memphis Grizzlies

• Acquired Marcus Smart from Boston for Tyus Jones, pick No. 25 and a 2024 Warriors’ first-round pick
• Selected G.G. Jackson (45th) and Tarik Biberović (58th)

I liked the Smart trade for Boston, and I also liked it for Memphis. While the team seemingly gave up a lot on the surface, the key here is the way Smart actually impacts their team. Smart is one of the rare players who can double as an elite wing defender in addition to being able to handle backup point guard responsibilities. Essentially, the Grizzlies replaced Jones’ role while Ja Morant is out next season due to suspension, while also adding one of the premier defenders in the league to replace Dillon Brooks. It might seem like they paid a lot to do that when they could have just re-signed Brooks and kept Jones, but having that package of skills consolidated in one player is invaluable and allows them to be even more flexible moving forward in terms of roster construction.

It also allows them to be incredible flexible with lineup options. Presumably, the Grizzlies will now close games with Morant, Smart, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. Having that foursome on the court at once is remarkably valuable. Jackson and Smart are elite defenders. Jackson and Bane are elite shooters. Morant is an elite creator. Smart provides your second-side creation if you want to shift Morant off ball to get him into some different actions. The biggest key, though, is it allows Memphis to be remarkably flexible in terms of matching up with its opposition. If the Grizzlies need to go big, you can construct great lineups with Steven Adams joining that group. Want to play a bigger wing or forward? Maybe one of Jake LaRavia or David Roddy develop into a player who can close games. Want another athletic wing defensively? Ziaire Williams could be a long-term option if he rebounds from the patellar tendinitis that plagued his second season. How about another shooter? You can easily pop Luke Kennard into that lineup.

The Grizzlies still have all of their own picks that they can move in a trade if they want. If a star wing or star center comes available, the Grizzlies have their core group they can fit around that player, and nearly every star player who could come available fits into that closing lineup. That’s why you pay what looks like a big price on its face to get Smart. He makes building out the rest of your roster even easier as they look to put the finishing touches on what should be a legitimate contender.

Beyond Smart, the team drafted Jackson and Biberović. Jackson’s general youth and immaturity caused his slide down the board, as teams worried about whether he would be able to actually contribute to a winning team any time soon or if he’d end up being more of a second-draft candidate by the time his talent showcased itself. Undeniably, he’s a gifted shot maker, but there isn’t much to his game on defense or from a basketball IQ perspective. I love the flier here at No. 45, though, on a former top-five recruit in his class. Biberović is not a player I would have ranked in my top 150 if my board went that far after a rough 22-year-old season with Fenerbahce. He’ll likely be overseas for a while. Still, this draft will be known for the Smart acquisition more than anything else.

Grade: B+

Minnesota Timberwolves

• Acquired Leonard Miller (33rd) for a 2026 Utah second-rounder and 2028 Minnesota second-rounder
• Selected Jaylen Clark (53rd)

The Wolves traded their first-rounder to Utah within the Rudy Gobert deal. Gobert is still good, and, even if the deal was an egregious overpay, that pick was just a fraction of what the Wolves gave up to acquire him. The deal included essentially five first-round picks (including Walker Kessler), a pick swap and Jarred Vanderbilt. I docked the Wolves one-third of a letter grade for this deal being in that trade but didn’t overcompensate for it.

As you’ll see, the grade is still going to be quite positive anyway. The Wolves traded into the top of the second round and got Miller, a player to whom I gave a lottery grade pre-draft. Miller was certainly a polarizing prospect for evaluators. Some loved him; other didn’t get it. I am firmly in the camp of being an enormous fan and think he has real upside long term. The 19-year-old Canadian was incredibly productive this year, especially by the end of the season. Beyond that, he does stuff you can’t really teach. He’s a big ballhandler who hits the glass and can really attack and cover ground quickly with long strides. However, he can also decelerate and change direction with the ball in his hands. His athleticism is a rare blend. It’s not traditionally explosive, but it’s shifty. He’s an elite finisher with incredible touch around the basket — the touch that kind of gives you long-term hope that an elite shooting coach can fix it. There’s some passing ability and defensive upside here, too. It’s all just in the form of an entirely unshaped diamond who may never reach its full form because he’s starting from such a deficit in terms of experience.

If you put time in — something the Wolves undoubtedly will do under Tim Connelly and that sharp front office — Miller is going to give you something valuable. I feel extremely confident in this, even if it takes a year or two to happen. He’s also going to a coaching staff led by Chris Finch, who will allow him to be who he is. He’ll be able to grab and go on the break and push tempo. He’ll be able to attack and make plays within the scheme. This is one of my favorite picks of the draft. If it wasn’t for Whitmore falling to No. 20, this would be my steal of the draft. It’s a home run for Minnesota.

The team also selected Clark at No. 53. He was one of the best defensive players in all of college basketball last season but unfortunately suffered an Achilles injury late in the season, and it’s unclear if he will be able to play at all this season. Still, it was a good bet to make, as Clark’s defense is game-changing on perimeter players.

Grade: B+

GO DEEPER

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Oklahoma City Thunder

• Acquired Cason Wallace (10th) and Dāvis Bertāns from Dallas for No. 12
• Selected Keyontae Johnson (50th)

The Thunder tend to love guys with great positional size, length and basketball IQ. Wallace certainly ticks the box of great feel for the game and innate understanding of how to get things done on the court. While on its face he may not tick the size box — he’s only about 6-3 without shoes — he does have a plus-six wingspan and, functionally, plays much larger than that due to his strength. Wallace is one of the strongest guards in the class, which shows up well on the defensive end. He’s able to fight through screens, dribble handoffs and off-ball actions at an exceptionally high level. His awareness and anticipation are elite skills that translate to any winning situation. He can also knock down shots and makes strong passing reads. These are all the skills NBA teams look for when trying to spot a complementary player who will thrive next to stars.

In the Thunder, he’s found an ideal fit. The team already has Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as an All-NBA player, plus has potential future All-Stars in Chet Holmgren, Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams. Wallace’s ability to defend at the point of attack is the exact skill set those four players needed to be able to play in a strong lineup together. Lineups with Giddey, Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Lu Dort were a plus-1.3 last season per 100 possessions, and those lineups only figure to get better as the former trio continue to improve. The only question in my mind is whether the team needed to trade up to get him, or if it could have stayed at No. 12 and still gotten Wallace.

Rumors circulated post-draft that a couple of teams had their eye on Wallace, including Atlanta and Toronto. In general, the Thunder tend to be aggressive when they feel like they have to be to get their player. They traded multiple picks for Aleksej Pokuševski. They moved up for Ousmane Dieng last year. To do so this year, they took on Bertāns’ contract in a salary dump move from Dallas, a deal that piqued my interest. Bertāns has $17 million guaranteed on his deal this season, followed by a vesting option for next season that has $5 million guaranteed. If he plays 75 percent of the Thunder’s games, the deal becomes fully guaranteed for $16 million. On the surface, that looks like a terrible deal, but I wonder if the Thunder saw value in it as a potential trade deadline chip.

The Thunder only had one deal on the books this season between the $33.4 million Gilgeous-Alexander is slated to make and Holmgren’s $10.4 million salary. That is Dort’s $15.3 million deal. However, by adding Bertāns, the team now has a fascinating combination of contracts. The team could combine Bertāns’ and Dort’s contracts together to acquire a player with a contract worth up to about $40 million per season without dealing any of their core pieces. Given that the Thunder also have one of the best asset chests in the NBA, combing the Bertāns and Dort deals puts the Thunder in play for myriad potential trade options who may hit the market over the next year. It’s noticeable that the team acquired a readymade replacement in the draft for Dort in Wallace, potentially making him expendable into the future.

The Thunder have real trade flexibility over the next year, especially given the salary relief that acquiring Bertāns could provide in a deal prior to the deadline for a trade partner in future seasons. It would be wrong to call the Bertāns deal an “asset,” but it could come in handy if the team takes another leap toward contention. The most important part of the grade here, though, is Wallace, who is a perfect fit for the Thunder.

Grade: B+

B GRADES: Teams that got the value they should have

Detroit Pistons

• Selected Ausar Thompson (fifth)
• Acquired Marcus Sasser (25th) for No. 31 and two future second-round picks

This was an interesting draft for the Pistons. Rumors circulated ahead of the draft about the team being willing to discuss trades down the board, with Utah being seen as a potential prime target given the Jazz’s draft capital both entering Thursday and moving forward. But nothing materialized, and the team ended up taking Thompson at No. 5.

I ended up with Thompson at No. 9 on my board, but I had all of the players in the No. 6 through No. 9 tier very close. If the Pistons simply didn’t have comfort with Cam Whitmore’s medical, that pushes him out of the mix and the Pistons firmly into that tier. Anthony Black shouldn’t have been on their board because he’s a non-shooting lead guard for a team that already has both Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey. If the team is committed to Isaiah Stewart — something The Athletic’s James Edwards has reported — Jarace Walker made a bit less sense. That brings it to Thompson versus Taylor Hendricks. If I were Detroit, I probably would have tried to execute a trade down and take Hendricks, but it’s entirely possible there wasn’t a deal on the table that made sense. But Thompson is a tremendous defensive player who also has the ability to act as a secondary ballhandler and scorer. He moves the ball well as a passer and is an excellent transition player and half-court driver as an elite athlete.

At No. 25, the team moved into the draft for Sasser, essentially traded three picks to acquire him. Sasser is an awesome two-way point guard capable of playing both on and off the ball, and he ticks the two boxes Detroit needs most — defense and shooting — as he made almost 46 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3s this past season, per Synergy. I actually like him best on defense, where he’s one of the most dogged on-ball defenders in the class. The Pistons tried to plug one of their biggest issues — perimeter defense — by taking two incredible, young perimeter defenders.

Speaking of that those needs, though, I am just a bit worried the three most important players the Pistons have surrounded Cunningham with — Ivey, Thompson and Jalen Duren — aren’t exactly shooters. If the goal is to close with those four on the court long term, some real growth will be necessary. Ivey has touch and showcased improvement this past season but still isn’t a player opposing teams will close out on heavily. Thompson has also improved recently but still has a long way to go. Duren is a non-shooter as a center. The best way to get the most out of Cunningham is to surround him with shooters. The picks of Ivey and Thompson are big bets in the team’s developmental staff. If it pays off with Thompson and Ivey being able to shoot by the time they’re 24, the Pistons will be great. It’s a bet, but, in total, I’m good with this draft class.

Grade: B

Ausar Thompson (Jeff Haynes / NBAE via Getty Images)

Washington Wizards

• Acquired Tyus Jones, No. 35, Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala for Kristaps Porziņģis
• Acquired Jordan Poole, Ryan Rollins, Patrick Baldwin Jr., a 2027 second-round pick and a 2030 first-round pick for Chris Paul and No. 57
• Acquired Bilal Coulibaly (seventh) for pick No. 8 and two future second-round picks
• Acquired two future second-round picks for No. 35 from Chicago
• Selected Tristan Vukčević (42nd)

It was an extremely busy draft week for the Wizards as the new front office led by Michael Winger, Will Dawkins and Travis Schlenk pivoted out of the Bradley Beal era and into the unknown of a rebuild.

Honestly, it’s about time. The team waited two years too long to move out of this era, and it showed in the return it got for Beal following the organization’s nonsensical decision to give him a no-trade clause last offseason. The good news is that the team was able to turn Paul into a couple of interesting prospects in Rollins and Baldwin in addition to a 2030 first-rounder. I don’t know how enthused I would be about acquiring Poole and his enormous four-year contract while rebuilding, but the team likely won’t pivot toward contention for a while, and we’ve seen Poole be effective in the regular season as a scorer. His playoff performance was a disaster, but I don’t think Washington was in a place to where it could overthink getting assets for older players.

The team also acquired Jones and a high-value second-rounder, a terrific return in a deal for Porziņģis given the fact that Porziņģis had a lot of leverage after it traded Beal due to the player option in his contract. Jones has been awesome as Ja Morant’s backup in recent years, and I think he’s more than ready to take over as a starter while setting the table for everyone around him. Given that the front office had zero leverage over any of Beal, Porziņģis or Kyle Kuzma, I think the Wizards did about as well as they could have in the week leading up to the draft.

As far as the draft itself, it’s a process that I’m genuinely fascinated by from the perspective of this new front office. The team took an enormous home run swing, and I’m here for it even while acknowledging the risk of it. After starting the evening with No. 8, the team moved up to No. 7 in a quick deal with Indiana that cost two second-rounders and took Coulibaly. The Pacers clearly had strong intel on the Wizards after Anthony Black went off the board and were able to convince them that there was real interest in other teams sliding up the board to get into their spot. The Wizards obliged and made sure that they got their man.

Coulibaly is one of the most interesting mixes of immense upside and raw, unrefined polish to enter the NBA Draft in a long time. There are so many pieces of his game that make you want to buy in, and I ultimately ranked him at No. 12 as an informed bet. But right now, he doesn’t do enough on the court. His offensive role with Metropolitans 92 in France prior to a little run in the playoffs was equivalent to that of Isaac Okoro’s role with Cleveland this past season. It was that low usage. I don’t think there is a prospect in this draft with a wider gap between his floor and ceiling. Coulibaly has all the tools to be an All-Star, and we all want to buy into players reaching their fullest potential. But because he is such a late bloomer physically and is just starting down this road, I’m not sure we have enough evidence on how strong his feel for the game is or what his overall potential is as a creator. Coulibaly is the epitome of a player where you will see what you want to see. If you want to see the best in prospects and value the best flashes, you’re going to love him. If you nitpick players’ weaknesses, he has a lot of them, and you’re probably going to be less interested.

What I was most worried about entering the event was that a team drafting him wouldn’t be patient and be willing to ride out what will undeniably be a long-term project. But in Washington, Coulibaly’s found a perfect home. The Wizards will be able to bring him along at his own tempo because there are absolutely no stakes here. The other thing worth noting is that Coulibaly is a classic Oklahoma City pick under Sam Presti, which should come as no surprise for anyone who knows Dawkins’ background. He was at Presti’s right hand over the last five years as a draft evaluator, a span of time when the team has valued positional size, length, athleticism, a professional demeanor and high feel for the game in all of its picks. Coulibaly ticks those boxes. Maybe it works out, maybe it doesn’t. But the Wizards needed to take a big swing here. I probably wouldn’t have taken Coulibaly at No. 7 or No. 8, but I respect them for going for it and think they have a better case than anyone else for taking such a swing. Had Coulibaly gone back to Europe and had a strong year, he could have gone No. 1 in the weak 2024 draft. I don’t think you can say that, necessarily, about someone like Taylor Hendricks, on whom the team passed to take Coulibaly.

In the second round, the team moved pick No. 35 for two future second-rounders. That’s because the team currently has 15 guaranteed contracts in addition to Coulibaly on its roster. I would assume the Wizards will look to move one of Monté Morris or Delon Wright into someone’s cap space in the coming days, given how valuable those two figure to be on the market. But there was no room for a rostered player in the second round here. That makes their choice of Vukčević, a 7-foot big out of Serbia who Jonathan Givony at ESPN reported pre-draft is looking to come over immediately as opposed to being stashed, more fascinating. I’m not particularly a fan of Vukčević and think his lumbering movement skills make him unlikely to ever be a passable NBA defender. I ranked him at No. 58 and would imagine the team will try to persuade him to be a stash for another year given its roster crunch. This wasn’t exactly a great draft for international stash candidates, though.

All told, it was a busy but good week in Washington. I don’t think the team is particularly well-positioned to turn it around any time soon, so the grade is a bit muted even though I think the front office did as well as it could have. There probably wasn’t an A+ move to be had. But at least they’re finally making a change. They weren’t going to win a title doing what they were doing. At the very least, this could be the start of a road that leads them there.

Grade: B

L.A. Lakers

• Selected Jalen Hood-Schifino (17th)
• Acquired Maxwell Lewis (40th) from Indiana for No. 47 and cash

It was another solid draft for the Lakers. Throughout the years, the organization under assistant general manager Jesse Buss has been known for evaluating players well, and this year was no different. The Lakers took Hood-Schifino at No. 17, a player I had at No. 15. It’s a strong fit moving forward for the organization both within its short- and long-term goals. Hood-Schifino is a very strong defensive player both on and off the ball. He’s physical and tough at 6-foot-5 as a lead guard with a 215-pound frame. His pairing with Austin Reaves, who thrives more defensively away from the toughest assignment while being able to be smart rotationally off the ball, should work well. Hood-Schifino might not be ready to play from day one if his shooting from distance doesn’t improve, but I think it will long term, and I buy him as a good rotation player.

Lewis was perceived to be a faller during the draft, but that wasn’t really the case. Few people within team circles saw him as likely to go in the first round. Still, I love the flier from the Lakers here, as Lewis is 6-foot-6 in shoes with a 7-foot wingspan and real athleticism. The issue for him is that he doesn’t really defend and doesn’t pass at a high level right now. You’re just acquiring him hoping the shooting translates while the rest of it comes in waves. Still, it’s hard to find players this big with this much shooting potential. Lewis is a really good pick as a player I had ranked No. 35 on my board. I also loved the team’s immediate post-draft pickup of Colin Castleton. A 6-foot-11 center out of Florida, I thought he was among the most valuable, underrated players in college basketball this past season. I had him ranked in my top 45 and think he should have been drafted. I bumped the Lakers up a bit because of his signing.

Grade: B

GO DEEPER

Lakers prioritize future over present with Jalen Hood-Schifino pick and trade inactivity

Toronto Raptors

• Selected Gradey Dick (13th)

It’s hard to overemphasize how much of a departure the Dick pick is from the Raptors’ previous draft history. Over the last few years, the Raptors have had a real tendency to take guys with elite positional size and length mixed with high-level athleticism. Think guys like Scottie Barnes, O.G. Anunoby, Pascal Siakam and others. Occasionally, they will switch it up and take a guy like Malachi Flynn, but for the most part, they’re sticking to bigger athletes.

In this draft, they chose Dick, who does have positional size but isn’t their typical athletic profile. The Kansas wing is a sharpshooter from distance, having hit 40.3 percent from 3 this past season on high volume. He’s outstanding off movement and flies off screening actions into shots. He has a case as the best shooter in the draft even if I’d take Jordan Hawkins slightly ahead. He can play in a ball-movement-heavy scheme or in a heliocentric scheme where one player dominates the ball. I also think he has a chance to be a solid defender. His hand-eye coordination is really good, and his overall feel for the game is very good. I had him at No. 16 but firmly in this tier.

Dick fits well within the Raptors ecosystem too. The team has Gary Trent Jr. on the team for next year, but the Raptors need more spacing to create an open half-court setting for Barnes and Siakam. They only hit 33.5 percent from 3 last season and only took 3-point attempts on 35.1 percent of their field goal attempts in total. Those numbers were 28th and 25th in the NBA, respectively. Dick fills a significant need and is right in terms of value.

Grade: B

New Orleans Pelicans

• Selected Jordan Hawkins (14th)

This ended up being a relatively quiet draft for the Pelicans after an incredibly loud week, with questions swirling about attempts to move up and get Scoot Henderson. The team ended up not executing a deal and took Hawkins at No. 14.

Hawkins is a perfect fit for the Pelicans within their scheme, assuming Zion Williamson stays healthy and can get back on the court. The player Hawkins reminds me of a lot in terms of his ability to sprint off actions and fly into high-speed 3-point attempts is JJ Redick. And anyone who watched the Redick-Williamson combination back in 2020 and 2021 knows how lethal an elite shooter working in a two-man game for the freight train that is Williamson can be. If you have to stay attached to the shooter with Williamson rolling, it creates a free runway for the most powerful athlete in the NBA to get to the rim. If the shooter is the one setting the screen and slipping the action, you have to stay attached and either switch it or be incredibly disciplined in your coverage. Even then, you’re still probably creating a real mismatch opportunity for Williamson on his drive.

Zion Williamson tore the Grizzlies apart in actions where JJ Redick was screening for him. Check out some of the plays from tonight.#NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/EOrhTndgDz

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) February 17, 2021

Hawkins will simply act as a floor spacer around guys such as Williamson and Brandon Ingram, with his overall gravity making defenders stay attached. Hawkins shot 47.1 percent on spot-up 3s this past season and 42.4 percent of his 3s off screens. I think he’s the best shooter in the draft class. He’ll need to get stronger to stay on the court, but I’d bet Hawkins makes an instant impact off the bench in a dozen games this season even while rounding out his ability as a ballhandler and working through his defense. He’s a worker on that end, though, and I buy him eventually becoming a solid defensive player.

Grade: B

Miami Heat

• Selected Jaime Jaquez (18th)

I ranked Jaquez No. 23 and immediately regretted not having him higher in the draft guide. He embodies everything the Heat look for in players from an evaluation perspective. He is tough and plays with real aggression. He’s a genuine shot creator who is comfortable putting the ball on the deck and being able to take advantage of mismatches. He can score from all three levels. I’m a believer in Jaquez as a shooter, as he made 35 percent of his catch-and-shoot chances from 3, many of which were tightly contested as he was UCLA’s top option. He’s an incredibly smart team defender who knows exactly where he needs to be and will likely benefit from Miami’s incredible strength-and-conditioning program in terms of adding to his lateral quickness.

There just isn’t anything to complain about with this pick. It’s right from a value perspective. It’s right from a fit perspective. And it’s right from a culture perspective, as Jaquez was well-regarded throughout his time at UCLA as a team leader and high-character individual. It’s not a home run or anything, but it’s exactly what Miami should have done.

Grade: B

Golden State Warriors

• Selected Brandin Podziemski (19th)
• Acquired Chris Paul and Trayce Jackson-Davis (57th) from Wizards for Jordan Poole, Ryan Rollins, Patrick Baldwin Jr., a 2027 second-round pick and a 2030 first-round pick

The Warriors were active in the days leading up to the draft, acquiring Paul and the 57th pick for Poole, Rollins, Baldwin, a 2027 second-rounder and a 2030 first-rounder. Paul’s fit in Golden State is worthy of a breakdown on its own, as it’s a fascinating blend of a ball-dominant point guard who likes to slow things down and play methodical half-court offense with an offensive scheme predicated on playing up-tempo and fostering high-level ball movement. There might not be an acquisition I’m more looking forward to seeing next year. More than anything, though, the deal seemed to be about getting off Poole’s contract extension that starts next season and is valued at four years, $120 million. The Warriors did good work getting off that contract following Poole’s disastrous playoff run where, despite winning a playoff series, the team was actually 2.7 points per 100 possessions worse than its opposition when he was on the court as he shot 34 percent from the field and 25 percent from 3 while being a revolving door on defense.

To persuade the Wizards to take Poole’s contract, the team had to also move two picks and two interesting prospects. But I like Jackson-Davis’ fit in Golden State better than both of the prospects. I had Jackson-Davis ranked 39th on my board and would have had him higher than that if I were building a specific board for the Warriors, who seemingly orchestrated his fall to No. 57 by telling his agency that he would be a rostered player on a guaranteed contract if he got to that spot. The player who stylistically is the most comparable to Jackson-Davis in the NBA is Kevon Looney. And Jackson-Davis will get to learn the tricks of the trade from him. Defensively, Jackson-Davis is a solid rim protector who has just an 8-foot-10 standing reach but real vertical pop off two feet when rotating over from the weak side. His offensive skill set is tailor-made to play in the Warriors’ scheme. Indiana used him a ton this past season as an initiator at the top of the key both in dribble handoffs and out of short rolls. He dished out four assists per game and reads the court remarkably well in the middle of the floor. He can dribble and pass at a high level. I don’t buy him ever bringing shooting to the table, but he won’t have to with the Warriors.

I also love Podziemski’s fit. I’ve been lower on him throughout the process as an evaluator, as I really worry about his potential to defend. I ended up with him at No. 42 on my board. But again, if I were building a team-specific board for the Warriors, I unequivocally would have had a first-round grade on him. His fit within their offense is pristine. He’s a high-IQ player who knows how to move without the ball in his hands and can make quick reads in terms of dribble/pass/shoot when he does have the ball. He made 45 percent of his 3s this past season at Santa Clara. He’s also extremely competitive and tough. These are the characteristics that will allow guys to thrive with this iteration of the Warriors. Switching defensively in their scheme will be an issue for him, as he has just an 8-foot standing reach and doesn’t flip his hips super well. But it’s easy to imagine him as a bench scorer early in his career as long as the jump in competition doesn’t prove to be too much.

The process for the Warriors under new general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. made a lot of sense.

Grade: B

GO DEEPER

Steve Kerr on the Warriors' big moves — 'We sensed we needed a shift'

Brooklyn Nets

• Selected Noah Clowney (21st), Dariq Whitehead (22nd) and Jalen Wilson (51st)

It was a fairly simple draft in Brooklyn. More than just using the picks they had, I love that the Nets took a couple of swings on upside in the first round. The Nets are well-positioned moving forward with high-end role players plus a player I think will eventually be an All-Star in Mikal Bridges. In Clowney and Whitehead, the team at least took bets on guys who can turn into starting-caliber players in the next couple of years — especially Whitehead if he can get over his injury concern.

I had Whitehead ranked No. 20 and Clowney ranked No. 21, so the value here is right. At the time of their pick, both were in the top-five available players. Clowney is a four/five hybrid big who figures to be most valuable long term on defense. He has real potential as a switch defender and is a sharp rotator on the interior at the basket. Offensively, his game will be predicated upon his shooting. If he can turn his shooting potential into actual value, then he should play in the NBA for a while. He’s already a sharp finisher. Ultimately, the Nets have experience with a player type like this, having just developed Nic Claxton into a valuable starting center. Claxton hits free agency next season, which means Clowney provides some insurance if Claxton departs.

Whitehead had a tough year at Duke but entered the draft cycle as a potential top-five pick following a standout career at Montverde. He’s become a terrific shooter, consistently hitting over 40 percent from 3. But Whitehead last season was lacking athletically in comparison to his previous time at Montverde, likely a product of the foot injury he suffered in the preseason. It never fully healed right and required a follow-up surgery in June. The surgery was conducted by Nets’ team orthopedist Martin O’Malley, meaning the Nets should have better information than anyone on its long-term prognosis. Whitehead is an informed bet for an NBA team. Believe in your doctors being able to get the foot right, and you might have just drafted a top-10 talent in this class. I’ll also spare a thought here for Wilson, a player I had ranked in the top 40. Wilson is a really sharp ballhandler with legitimate size for the wing position. He was good defensively in 2022 when Kansas won the national title, and he followed it up with an All-American season. Much like Dillon Brooks dropping on draft night, he has a chance to work his way into being a player.

Grade: B

Atlanta Hawks 

• Selected Kobe Bufkin (15th), Seth Lundy (46th)
• Acquired Mouhamed Gueye (39th) for Atlanta’s 2027 second round pick

The Hawks did really well on draft night largely because of what happened with their top pick. After a week of speculation regarding whether Bufkin had a promise in the lottery, that did not come to fruition, and he dropped into the Hawks’ lap. Bufkin is a great blend of fit and talent for Atlanta. I ranked him at No. 11 on my board and believe he has a skill set somewhat similar to that of Derrick White. He’s a sharp defender, a good shooter, an elite finisher at the rim and is improving as a passer and playmaker. The Hawks needed one more ballhandler to be able to weather the moments that Bogdan Bogdanović misses due to injury every year, so Bufkin will provide insurance there. He also provides insurance in the possibility that Dejounte Murray departs next offseason as a free agent. This was one of my favorite picks in the first round.

The two second-rounders are solid. I liked Lundy a bit more than Gueye, but the latter is an intriguing upside swing. Lundy is a patented 3-and-D player who is a physical on-ball defender who made 41 percent of 200 catch-and-shoot 3-point attempts this past season. I had him ranked No. 47 on my board. He could help the team this year in Quin Snyder’s floor-spacing-conscious offense but will likely be a rotation guy long term. Gueye is a developmental big prospect whose tools are incredible. His footwork and ability to handle the ball offensively is tantalizing given that he is a true center with a 9-foot-2 1/2 standing reach. The issue is that he doesn’t do a ton of the things that NBA teams will ask him to reliably do yet. He can’t really defend and is super late rotationally around the basket. You can drive him in space and attack him in closeouts. He’s going to require a lot of work developmentally. I graded him as a two-way prospect. If the Hawks are patient and really work with him on defense, the tools are there. The team only gave up its 2027 second-rounder to get him, so I think the price paid is fine.

Grade: B

LA Clippers

• Selected Kobe Brown (30th) and Jordan Miller (48th)

The Clippers love guys who tick the box of toughness and selfless, team-first play on both ends. Both Brown and Miller tick those boxes. The team slid down from No. 20 to No. 30 in a trade deadline deal to acquire Eric Gordon. It was a genius deal for the Rockets, who ended up getting Cam Whitmore because of it. But you can make a case that the process on the deal was right for the Clippers too, so I didn’t downgrade them here.

I was one of the few in the public sphere who had a first-round grade on Brown, a big, physical 6-foot-7 forward who is extremely well-rounded while also having strong basketball IQ. At Missouri this past season, he was everything, a big-bodied 250-pound creator who can dribble, pass and shoot. He’s a tough rebounder who creates early offense with awesome outlet passes. He hit 45.5 percent from 3 (although it was on low-volume and Clippers fans shouldn’t expect that from him immediately). He passes well within the flow of the offense. You can use him as a screener, a high-post initiator, a cutter or as a floor spacer. He’s a multi-versatile player on offense who also works really hard on defense, although it will help him to thin out his frame a bit and add a bit of quickness at the NBA level.

Miller is a solid swing in the second round too, and I had him ranked No. 50 on my board. He’s an awesome driver and finisher with his preferred left hand and is one of the best cutters in the draft. He defends well against wings with his near-7-foot wingspan. He just needs to prove he can make spot 3s. He only made 32.5 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3s this past season, but he’s better than that if he can just be stationary with his feet set. Both Brown and Miller are 23 years old, so the team didn’t take projects here. They’ll need these guys to come in sooner rather than later to prove they’re NBA players. But for where the Clippers were picking, I like the value of both and think this was an entirely sensible, if unsexy, draft.

Grade: B

B- GRADES: Some minor questions, but overall fine

Utah Jazz

• Selected Taylor Hendricks (ninth), Keyonte George (16th), Brice Sensabaugh (28th)

On the surface, the Jazz ended up taking my No. 7, No. 19 and No. 26 players at picks No. 9, No. 16 and No. 28. They drafted an influx of shooting and offensive talent for a roster that desperately needed it. But I do wonder if the Jazz, with myriad picks in their asset chest and three selections in this draft, didn’t end up missing some opportunities to take high-upside swings.

Let’s start with Hendricks. Throughout draft week, rumors circulated the Jazz were interested in moving up to secure the player they most wanted. That made sense, given the capital they have at their disposal. Ultimately, they were unable to complete a deal and got Hendricks at No. 9. In a vacuum, I think that makes a lot of sense. For a Jazz-specific board, I would have ranked him at No. 9. Hendricks was the best guy available here if the team didn’t feel comfortable enough with Whitmore’s medical in the top 10. I may have potentially been more aggressive in trying to move up the board than Utah was to try to get perimeter talent given how few young guards are on this roster, but you never know whether a team is willing to actually accept an offer even if it’s an overpay.

Hendricks is a great fit for a team that proved last year it loves to play big. Lineups featuring a Lauri Markkanen/Kelly Olynyk/Walker Kessler frontcourt trio, per PBPStats, posted a 121.2 offensive rating and a 114.1 defensive rating in 454 minutes. The pre-deadline Markkanen/Olynyk/ Jarred Vanderbilt lineups were also plus-2.2 per 100 possessions. Hendricks fits well between those two, with Markkanen playing on the perimeter as a creator at the three and Hendricks playing the four as a floor spacer who can hit 38 percent from 3 and also crashes around defensively in help scenarios. Following the acquisition of John Collins, I would imagine the Jazz will often play three of the Markkanen, Collins, Olynyk, Kessler and Hendricks together on the floor in most of their minutes next year. That’s a versatile, enormous, potent-on-both-ends frontcourt rotation that will allow the Jazz a number of different iterations.

I had Sensabaugh at No. 19 on my board and think he is an outstanding flier for the team to take after he fell due to concerns over the long-term stability of his knee following multiple meniscus surgeries already. Sensabaugh does the most important thing a player can do in the NBA at a hyper-elite level, and that is get buckets. To get Sensabaugh here is a steal, even if he has an immense amount of work to do on his defense.

The pick I don’t get is George. I had him at No. 26 on my board, and the feeling I got generally heading into the draft was that George could fall in a similar way to how Nick Smith Jr. did. I don’t deny George has tremendous feel as a scorer, and I think there is real upside for him as a pull-up threat. He plays in-between cadences and has real shake as a ballhandler. But I don’t love the rest of his game. I thought he struggled as an on-ball defender too often and was extremely inattentive off the ball. His passing reads were quite poor, posting a negative assist-to-turnover ratio with many of his assists seemingly coming from pre-ordained reads in the Baylor scheme as opposed to reactive passes in the flow of the offense. He often also got trapped and didn’t manage those situations well. I truly do not think there is a case, yellow-flag-medical or not, to take him over Whitmore if you’re hunting for upside. George played in arguably the best free-flowing offense in the country this past year, with pristine spacing provided by elite-level shooters Adam Flagler and L.J. Cryer, and still posted a 52.4 true shooting percentage. The Baylor offense was actually more efficient when he was off the court, posting a 118.3 offensive rating when he was out there versus a 121.0 offensive rating when he was off the court. I don’t really buy him as a point guard, which means he’s more of an undersized combo guard. I hope he proves me wrong, because he does have real talent. But he has a ways to go as a decision-maker, and I don’t know that I’d want to be the team that rides the wave.

If you buy George as a shooter — and generally, I think you should despite his shooting just 33.8 percent from 3 — the team brought in three high-end shooters and much more offensive firepower than it had. It’s also clear that trades were hard to come by in the 11-20 range, given comments from Rockets general manager Rafael Stone and Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan post-draft. So you can’t ding them for not trying to move up to secure someone like Kobe Bufkin or Cason Wallace. The fact that the next two drafts are loaded with high-upside talent leaves me feeling a bit underwhelmed by the chances Utah left on the table, but they ended up coming away with a trio of players that makes sense for the draft capital they had.

Grade: B-

Taylor Hendricks (Wendell Cruz / USA Today)

Milwaukee Bucks

• Acquired Andre Jackson (36th) for a 2030 second-round pick
• Selected Chris Livingston (58th)

The Bucks moved their first-round pick to Houston in a deal to acquire P.J. Tucker back in 2021, a trade they’d assuredly make 100 times out of 100 given his role in the team winning a title. But throughout the pre-draft process, league sources told The Athletic the Bucks were active in trying to move into the top 40, and that happened. Given how easy it is to move around second-rounders, that is a remarkably minimal price point for a valuable pick.

The team selected Jackson, who was one of my favorite players in all of college basketball this past season. The best word to describe Jackson is “winner.” His ability to play at high speed and process everything that’s happening around him is not normal. His reactivity and quick decision-making are superb. His movement without the ball is terrific. He’s an elite athlete with functional traits and a never-ending motor. He’ll defend across the positional spectrum and will provide terrific team defense. The only issue is that he can’t shoot, which is why it’s such a fascinating pick for the Bucks. Under Mike Budenholzer, the Bucks surrounded Giannis Antetokounmpo essentially only with players who could shoot. Does this represent a potential shift under new coach Adrian Griffin in terms of scheme? We’ll find out. I had a first-round grade on Jackson, ranking him at No. 29. During the draft broadcast, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Jackson was red-flagged medically by a few teams, which undeniably led to his drop to the second round. As long as he stays healthy, I think Jackson sticks for a long time.

The Bucks also took Livingston with the final pick. I don’t think Livingston is anywhere near contributing to an NBA situation soon, and I ranked him at No. 60 on my board after he averaged six points and four rebounds at Kentucky. Overall, though, I like the way the Bucks used their picks in this draft and really love them taking a shot on Jackson.

Grade: B-

Sacramento Kings

• Traded Richaun Holmes and No. 24 to Dallas
• Acquired Colby Jones (34th) for No. 38 and Dallas’ 2024 second-round pick
• Selected Jalen Slawson (54th)

The Kings took the approach of creating flexibility as opposed to adding multiple younger, talented players. They used the No. 24 pick to get off Holmes’ contract. While I like the schematic fit of Holmes in Dallas as a reclamation project, it was clear he no longer had a home in Sacramento. The team changed its scheme under Mike Brown to accentuate Domantas Sabonis’ passing and ballhandling ability, pulling its centers away from the rim and asking them to play with the ball. Holmes is a pick-and-roll diver in short rolls and rim runs. He had three great years in Sacramento, but it wasn’t a match anymore, and he was out of the rotation by the end of the year. Getting off his money had value.

It especially had value if the team wants to try to hit free agency. Following the Holmes trade, the Kings have upward of around $35 million in cap space and a need for another bigger wing to pair with Keegan Murray, Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk, and that’s a place where there is depth in this class. The team could look at players like Jerami Grant or Kyle Kuzma, with Kuzma actually lining up pretty well, in my view. The 6-foot-9 forward is a terrific transition player who would pair really well with De’Aaron Fox and Sabonis as they try to push the tempo. He’s a smarter cutter than he gets credit for and versatile enough to run all of the different actions this intricate offense asks of its wings, from taking second-option dribble handoffs to running off screening actions. He can get a bit shot-happy, but he’s generally a confident catch-and-shoot player who hits the open ones if you leave him alone. He’d give the offense a bit more of a different dynamic from what Harrison Barnes was able to last season.

If the idea here is to trade something like the No. 24 pick for a player like Kuzma on a four-year, $100 million deal, I think I’m OK with that as a strategy. But at the end of the day, the Kings need to actually lure a player to sign there. And in general, they haven’t exactly had an immense amount of success clearing cap space to be players in free agency and actually having success. The disaster of the summer of 2015 should ring a bell for Kings fans, when the team dumped Nik Stauskas, Jason Thompson and Carl Landry to the 76ers along with a first-round pick and two pick swaps to get space. That ended with the team signing Rajon Rondo, Marco Belinelli and Kosta Koufos after missing out on a couple of targets. The Kings are in a much better place organizationally than they were then. The Monte McNair-led front office has much more positive cachet league-wide than the Vlade Divac-led one did. I would bet they’re able to get a real difference-maker. But on some level, this grade is incomplete until we know how successful they are in this pursuit.

I did like some of the maneuvering Sacramento did at the top of the second round. Jones is an awesome fit for the Kings at No. 34, another well-rounded guard/wing with real dribble/pass/shoot/defend skills. He’s not a superb athlete, which is why he ended up slipping, but I had him at No. 27 on my board and am a believer in him being a genuine rotation player. He was worth giving up No. 38 and a future second. Slawson is a good bet for the team due to his basketball IQ and defensive ability, where his awareness rotationally and size allows him to fly around the court and be impactful. I like him as a two-way player worth investing in.

I’m going with a slightly lower grade until we actually know what the Kings are able to acquire. There is a chance they miss out on players and end up signing guys who aren’t worth having given up the No. 24 pick over. But I don’t mind the strategy for now.

Grade: B-

C GRADES: Value-based or team-building-based questions

Charlotte Hornets

• Selected Brandon Miller (second), Nick Smith (27th), Amari Bailey (41st)
• Acquired James Nnaji (31st) from Celtics for picks No. 34 and 39

I had Miller fourth on my board. Had I known more about Whitmore’s medical concern before submitting the draft guide, I would have ranked Miller third. But regardless, if I were in Charlotte’s shoes, I had Scoot Henderson in a tier above Miller as a prospect and would have selected Henderson. I just do not buy the argument that Henderson wouldn’t fit with LaMelo Ball and believe their games would have complemented one another.

Undeniably though, the Hornets will be a better team moving forward following the draft. Miller is a great wing to pair with Ball as a floor spacer and should also work well with Miles Bridges if the team brings him back. My ultimate question on Miller is in regard to upside, as his finishing at the rim was historically low for a player both of his size or in his role selected in the lottery. He’s going to have to live with tough jumpers. He has the touch and natural scoring ability to make that work, but it would really behoove him to keep getting stronger and more capable of absorbing contact. I understand why Charlotte chose Miller in a league desperate for big wing creators. It’s placing a huge bet on being able to develop his overall strength and his shooting,

The rest of the Hornets’ draft looks good from a value perspective, but I have some questions on the overall roster build. Smith and Bailey are right in the wheelhouse of where I had them ranked and make a lot of sense for Charlotte. Smith played AAU basketball with Miller, which should help Miller get settled into Charlotte a bit easier. I had him ranked 22nd, and no one would deny the upside that we saw from him at lower levels. He’s a dynamic scorer when he has things going. But we also watched Smith play at Arkansas, and the tape was not that of a first-round pick. He dealt with a persistent knee issue through the year, so Charlotte is betting on us not seeing his best this year. Bailey is also an interesting pick, and I love his fit. He’s an aggressive on-ball defender who fights over screens well and should thrive in Steve Clifford’s defensive scheme. He can also be a secondary ballhandler next to Ball. If I were making a board specifically for Charlotte, I might have had Bailey ranked ahead of Smith. I think he sticks.

In a big picture, roster-building sense, this is where the confusion comes in for me. Between Smith, Bailey, Bryce McGowens, James Bouknight and Terry Rozier, the Hornets have invested a lot in score-first guards who aren’t quite big enough to play on the wing. I wouldn’t love playing two of these guys on the court together in an NBA setting, and the team now has five such players. A similar case also stands for James Nnaji, a high-upside swing at the center position with tremendous tools. He’s 7-foot in shoes with a 7-foot-7 wingspan and real athleticism. However, the team just invested a top-15 pick in a very similar player in Mark Williams last year and signed Nick Richards to a team-friendly three-year extension. I get that, in the late first and early second rounds, you’re just trying to find players you believe can play. But I’m just not sure where the route to playing time is for some of these guys developmentally. There’s real risk in cannibalizing the assets you’ve spent here.

Ultimately, the Hornets got better on draft day. That’s the important part. But given that they had more pick capital than anyone else in the league outside of San Antonio, I’m a bit worried they didn’t take advantage of those assets.

Grade: C+

Denver Nuggets

• Traded their protected 2029 first-round pick to Oklahoma City for a 2024 first-rounder, a 2024 second-rounder and the No. 37 overall pick
• Traded the 2024 first-rounder acquired from Oklahoma City and No. 40 to Indiana for No. 29 and No. 32.
• Selected Julian Strawther (29th), Jalen Pickett (32nd) and Hunter Tyson (37th)

I love everything about the process the Nuggets undertook. The NBA champions are loaded in terms of the salary cap and project to have very limited flexibility under the new collective bargaining agreement. How to get that flexibility back is by acquiring young, cost-controlled players who can contribute on rookie-scale deals early. And, by moving its 2029 first-round pick and the 40th overall pick this year, the team was able to acquire three top-37 picks and took three older players who, theoretically, should be closer to bringing present-day value. More contending teams should aggressively pursue strategies like this.

I just wish I liked the players the Nuggets selected more. Strawther is the important one, and he’s the one I like most. He’s a sniper from deep and one of the best shooters in the class. He has ridiculous range and a lightning quick release, having hit 42.1 percent of his 95 3-point attempts this past season from beyond 25 feet, per Synergy. He’s a great mover off the ball who should thrive in this scheme and be a lights-out transition trailer for Nikola Jokić leading the break and collapsing defenders onto him. I’m a bit worried about the defensive fit, though. Strawther struggles as an off-ball defender in terms of attention to detail and doesn’t have a ton of lateral quickness. He might end up being a real issue on that end because he doesn’t navigate on- or off-ball screens well. There are probably players I would have selected over Strawther if I were in Denver’s position, such as the 30th overall pick, Kobe Brown. But if I were making a team-specific big board for Denver, this is right around the range I would have had Strawther. Even though I had him at No. 46, it’s a reasonable pick.

I thought the other two were real reaches. I had Pickett at No. 55 and saw him purely as a two-way target, something Denver clearly disagrees with. Rumors have swirled for about a month that the Nuggets promised Pickett after the combine, as many opposing teams could not get the Penn State guard in for a workout in June. Pickett had a phenomenal season in Happy Valley, but he did so playing a style that is not really commensurate with NBA basketball, as he largely played out of ball screens and turned them into post-ups, christening an affectionately titled style known as “booty ball.” In the NBA, where players are bigger, longer and quicker, I worry he’ll get swallowed up on these drives and not be able to force doubles or help in the way that he did in Happy Valley. Also, in the last four years of his collegiate career, Pickett made just 29 percent of his nearly 150 3-point attempts from NBA 3-point range.

Tyson is a guy I grew to like a lot throughout the process as a shooter, and I ended up with a higher grade on him than Pickett. He knows how to play and is a legitimate shooter with real range. He moves well without the basketball. Similarly to Strawther, he’s just not an awesome athlete and might struggle a bit to defend. He actually showed a bit more fight on that end this past year than Strawther did, though, and has better size. He might be able to play the four and be OK, but he’s not quite the sniper Strawther is.

If the team had ended up with a draft along the lines of Brown at No. 29, Strawther at No. 32 and Jordan Walsh at No. 37, I think this would have been nearly a Grade A draft. I just wish they’d done something a bit different.

Grade: C+

GO DEEPER

With their 2023 draft, Nuggets begin working around the margins of their title window

Phoenix Suns

• Selected Toumani Camara (52nd)

The Suns traded their first-rounder to Brooklyn in the Kevin Durant deal. Time will tell if that deal brings a title to Phoenix, but it’s hard to feel all that bothered by moving the No. 21 pick in a deal when you’re getting Durant.

They kept the No. 52 pick and selected a bigger wing defender in Camara. Camara can play the four and is a switchable, active player on that end of the floor. I buy him making an impact on that side. He just needs to keep improving his offensive game to actually make an impact at the next level. He’s limited off the bounce and isn’t all that versatile of a shooter. He might be able to make spot 3s in time, though. If he does that, it could be a enough for him to stick if the defense translates fully. I had him ranked 67th, so I wouldn’t say I was overly high on him. I felt he was a two-way grade. But the opportunity cost here was not exactly high in terms of whom the Suns missed out on, either.

Grade: C+

Cleveland Cavaliers

• Selected Emoni Bates (49th)

The Cavaliers moved their first-round pick to Indiana at the 2022 trade deadline to acquire Caris LeVert. The value on that ended up OK, as the team only moved the 26th overall pick in this year’s draft to the Pacers. LeVert’s role became a bit messy this past season after the team chose to acquire Donovan Mitchell last summer, but he was productive enough to where Cleveland won’t be stewing over its choice to trade for him, even if he doesn’t re-sign.

The Cavs only had one pick and selected Bates. Everyone knows Bates’ name, as he was anointed as a future No. 1 overall pick as a freshman in high school. But he hasn’t gotten much better since then because his frame hasn’t developed. He’s 6-foot-9 or so and still just about 180 pounds. He doesn’t have any length and really only brings shooting and shot creation to the table. I buy him as a shooter, but he desperately needs to round out his game. He’s an extremely bad defender right now and generally doesn’t have great vision as a passer. He takes a ton of difficult shots, which was true even in his year playing at Memphis next to more talented players in 2021-22. I had him ranked 69th and didn’t see him as a draftable prospect. My guess is he’ll be on a two-way, and the Cavaliers will give him a chance to develop the rest of his game.

Grade: C

Orlando Magic

• Selected Anthony Black (sixth) and Jett Howard (11th)
• Acquired a 2030 second-round pick for No. 36

The Magic’s draft confused me. I can’t say I am an enormous fan of what they did here, even if I am generally a big fan of Black as a prospect and ranked him at No. 8 on my board. I love bigger guards who have real athleticism and can process the game well when playing at full speed. Black is that, on top of being an awesome perimeter defender. He’s an extremely high-IQ guard who ticks a lot of what the Orlando Magic have selected previously. They love players with real positional size, length, defensive potential and high intelligence, which Black has as a 6-foot-7 primary ballhandler.

But I’m a little bit confused on the team’s direction around its potential future All-Stars Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. To me, you want to surround those guys with shooting and floor spacing. They’re both going to have the ball in their hands a ton, especially as they continue to improve and grow into their games even further. Black is many things, but he’s not a great shooter. In that vein, I actually think there is significant overlap with the team’s current point guard Markelle Fultz, who has developed into a good, starting-caliber guard after struggling early in his career. He is creative and sharp off the bounce and as a driver and is a good passer and playmaker. He’s long and effective on defense. But he also isn’t someone opposing teams guard out beyond the 3-point line. Jalen Suggs still has a bit of a ways to go, but he’s similarly an elite-level defensive guard who is working through jump shot issues. Fultz only has one year left on his deal. I’d be trying to extend him if I were Orlando. But does this change that? Maybe the team looks to move him? I like Black, the player. I just would like to know a bit more about the team’s direction in the backcourt. There is a lot of skill set redundancy.

That pales in comparison to how I feel about taking Howard at No. 11. On the plus side, he fills a genuine need as a real floor spacer. Howard has long been an awesome shooter going back to high school and shot 38 percent from 3 this past season while battling through an ankle injury late. He will help in that respect. But he needs to be able to get on the court to be able to do that, and I did not think his overall tape was remotely worthy of a lottery pick. I ranked him at No. 25. I’d rank him a bit higher than that on a board specifically for Orlando, but I certainly would have had other floor spacers Gradey Dick and Jordan Hawkins higher — let alone the potential of taking Cam Whitmore.

I also had his teammate, Kobe Bufkin, much higher. Bufkin is younger and was a drastically more effective player who impacted winning for Michigan. We have a directly comparable situation, as they played together on the same team. When Bufkin was on the court, Michigan beat its opposition by 10 points per 100 possessions. When he was off the court, Michigan lost its minutes by 12 points per 100, per Pivot Analysis. When Howard was on the court, Michigan won its minutes by 3.3 points per 100. When he was off the court, they won those minutes by 10.4 points per 100. It’s not an accident that Michigan’s defense got drastically better later in the season, resulting in the Wolverines actually finishing second in Big Ten play in defensive efficiency. In total, Michigan was about 14 points per 100 better without Howard on the court in Big Ten play versus when he was out there. He has a long way to go on the defensive end and doesn’t really have anyone he can guard right now. For as much as Black ticks just about every box a typical Magic draft pick does, Howard is kind of the opposite.

To top it off, the team traded a valuable pick at No. 36 to Milwaukee for a 2030 second-rounder. It’s hard for me to believe they couldn’t get multiple picks. Boston traded the No. 31 pick for No. 34 and No. 39. San Antonio got multiple seconds for No. 33. Washington got two future seconds for No. 35. And you just gave up No. 36 for a second-rounder you won’t see for seven years? This was kind of a baffling draft from a number of different angles, and that’s without even diving into the opportunity cost of who they passed up.

Grade: C-

Chicago Bulls

• Acquired Julian Phillips (35th) from Wizards for two future second-round picks 

The Bulls’ first-round pick went to Orlando to round out the disastrous Nikola Vučević deal at the 2021 trade deadline. That deal saw them give up Wendell Carter and two first-round picks for Vučević. One of those first-rounders turned into Wagner. The other turned into the No. 11 overall pick this year, Howard. Now Vučević has re-signed in Chicago on a three-year, $60 million deal, and the Magic have Carter signed to an even cheaper, team-friendly deal for the next three years. Even just a Carter-for-Vučević deal would have been lopsided in favor of Orlando. Throw in the real key to the deal (Wagner) and whatever Howard turns out to be, and this is a contender for the worst trade of the past decade or so. I don’t think you can separate that context from the Bulls’ draft night when grading the team’s moves. That basically started the Bulls at an F grade.

Having said that, Phillips is a good bet at No. 35. He’s a big, rangy wing who can defend multiple positions. I loved him on that end this past season. He’s going to have to shoot the ball to be impactful in the NBA. While there were signs of him being able to do that in high school, he hit just 23.9 percent from 3 this past season. He’s a project but an interesting one. I did like the Bulls’ move to acquire Adama Sanogo on a two-way deal post-draft. I had a top-50 grade on him and think he has a real chance to be an NBA player.

Grade: D+, mostly because of how they got here

GO DEEPER

What’s next for the Bulls after re-signing Nikola Vučević?

DID NOT PARTICIPATE

Philadelphia 76ers

• Did not participate

The 76ers did not end up doing anything during the 2023 NBA Draft. They traded their first-rounder to Brooklyn originally as part of the deal to acquire James Harden back in 2022. Brooklyn then flipped that to Utah for Royce O’Neale in the summer of 2022. Ultimately, you have no qualms about giving up the No. 28 pick in a deal to acquire Harden.

Philly did get busy after the draft, reportedly signing Ricky Council IV, Terquavion Smith and Ąžuolas Tubelis to two-way contracts, per our Shams Charania. I like Council the best of that group because of his potential as a defender. He must keep improving his jumper, but there is some upside there as he’s a good midrange shooter. Smith is a shot creator who has range far beyond the college 3-point line. Tubelis is a tremendous transition player whose game has some questions in terms of scaling to the NBA. I had Council at No. 43, Smith at No. 53 and Tubelis at No. 65. All worthy fliers and smart post-draft pickups.

Grade: N/A

New York Knicks

• Did not participate

The Knicks entered the cycle with a strong likelihood of possessing two first-round picks, their own and the Mavericks’, as a final remnant of the Porziņģis trade. But they traded their first-rounder (No. 23) to the Blazers for Josh Hart at the deadline, and the Mavericks then fell off a cliff late and decided to tank the last couple of games to attempt to keep their own. The basketball gods shined brightly on the Mavs, who retained the No. 10 overall pick. The Hart deal is one I loved at the time and continue to like for the Knicks. As long as he re-signs in free agency, it was a good way to utilize their first-round pick as an asset.

The Knicks have potential to add three additional picks. They own the Mavericks’ top-10 protected pick (a selection I’d judge as likely to confer), the Pistons’ top-18 protected pick (unlikely to confer) and the Wizards’ top-12 protected pick (unlikely to confer). They own the Wizards’ and Pistons’ picks for three and four seasons respectively, with diminishing protections each year.

Grade: N/A

(Top photo of Victor Wembanyama: Caitlin Smith / NBAE via Getty Images)