The 2015 NBA Draft is over, as Karl-Anthony Towns out of Kentucky ended up being the expected number one overall pick, going to try and build a nice future with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Following Towns was D’Angelo Russell, picked by the Los Angeles Lakers. This came as something of a surprise considering Jahlil Okafor (third, Philadelphia 76ers) was hyped up as the number two guy all along. But a day before the draft came this rumor which made a lot of sense considering their biggest needs.
It’s the third straight draft in which the 76ers pick a big man. Okafor, coming out of Duke, is much better offensively than both Nerlens Noel or Joel Embiid. More importantly, he’s healthy and ready to start the season, and isn’t a one-year (or more) rehabilitation project. Center? Power forward? It doesn’t really matter. The Sixers needed someone who can help right away like the deserts need the rain.
Following the top 3 came the two European, international picks. The New York Knicks ended up keeping the fourth overall pick and taking the intriguing Kristaps Porzingis, who many think has the biggest upside of any other player in this draft pick. Mario Hezonja, the Croatian wing player out of Barcelona, rounded off the top 5, taken by the Orlando Magic.
For now, the Kings aren’t trading DeMarcus Cousins. Instead, they took Willie Cauley-Stein with the sixth overall pick, possibly moving Cousins to power forward next to the former Kentucky big man. Emmanuel Mudiay, potentially a top 5 pick a month ago, ended up going 7th to the Denver Nuggets, which means Ty Lawson is probably going to be traded pretty soon.
The final picks of the top 10 were Stanley Johnson out of Arizona going to the Detroit Pistons, Frank Kaminsky slightly surprising going ninth to the Charlotte Hornets and 10th was Justise Winslow out of Duke, heading to the Miami Heat.
Rnd. | Pick | Player | Pos. | Nationality | Team | School / club team |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Karl-Anthony Towns | C | Minnesota Timberwolves | Kentucky (Fr.) | |
1 | 2 | D’Angelo Russell | PG | Los Angeles Lakers | Ohio State (Fr.) | |
1 | 3 | Jahlil Okafor | C | Philadelphia 76ers | Duke (Fr.) | |
1 | 4 | Kristaps Porziņģis | PF | New York Knicks | Sevilla (Spain) | |
1 | 5 | Mario Hezonja | SG/SF | Orlando Magic | FC Barcelona (Spain) | |
1 | 6 | Willie Cauley-Stein | C | Sacramento Kings | Kentucky (Jr.) | |
1 | 7 | Emmanuel Mudiay | PG | Denver Nuggets | Guangdong Southern Tigers(China) | |
1 | 8 | Stanley Johnson | SF | Detroit Pistons | Arizona (Fr.) | |
1 | 9 | Frank Kaminsky | PF/C | Charlotte Hornets | Wisconsin (Sr.) | |
1 | 10 | Justise Winslow | SF | Miami Heat | Duke (Fr.) | |
1 | 11 | Myles Turner | C | Indiana Pacers | Texas (Fr.) | |
1 | 12 | Trey Lyles | PF | Utah Jazz | Kentucky (Fr.) | |
1 | 13 | Devin Booker | SG | Phoenix Suns | Kentucky (Fr.) | |
1 | 14 | Cameron Payne | PG | Oklahoma City Thunder | Murray State (So.) | |
1 | 15 | Kelly Oubre Jr. | SG | Atlanta Hawks (from Brooklyn,traded to Washington) | Kansas (Fr.) | |
1 | 16 | Terry Rozier | PG | Boston Celtics | Louisville (So.) | |
1 | 17 | Rashad Vaughn | SG | Milwaukee Bucks | UNLV (Fr.) | |
1 | 18 | Sam Dekker | SF | Houston Rockets (from New Orleans) | Wisconsin (Jr.) | |
1 | 19 | Jerian Grant | PG | Washington Wizards (traded to New York via Atlanta) | Notre Dame (Sr.) | |
1 | 20 | Delon Wright | PG | Toronto Raptors | Utah (Sr.) | |
1 | 21 | Justin Anderson | SF | Dallas Mavericks | Virginia (Jr.) | |
1 | 22 | Bobby Portis | PF | Chicago Bulls | Arkansas (So.) | |
1 | 23 | Rondae Hollis-Jefferson | SF | Portland Trail Blazers (traded to Brooklyn) | Arizona (So.) | |
1 | 24 | Tyus Jones | PG | Cleveland Cavaliers (traded to Minnesota) | Duke (Fr.) | |
1 | 25 | Jarell Martin | PF | Memphis Grizzlies | LSU (So.) | |
1 | 26 | Nikola Milutinov | C | San Antonio Spurs | Partizan Belgrade (Serbia) | |
1 | 27 | Larry Nance, Jr. | PF | Los Angeles Lakers (from Houston) | Wyoming (Sr.) | |
1 | 28 | R. J. Hunter | SG | Boston Celtics (from L.A. Clippers) | Georgia State (Jr.) | |
1 | 29 | Chris McCullough | PF | Brooklyn Nets (from Atlanta) | Syracuse (Fr.) | |
1 | 30 | Kevon Looney | PF | Golden State Warriors | UCLA (Fr.) | |
2 | 31 | Cedi Osman | SG/SF | Minnesota Timberwolves (traded to Cleveland) | Anadolu Efes (Turkey) | |
2 | 32 | Montrezl Harrell | PF | Houston Rockets (from New York) | Louisville (Jr.) | |
2 | 33 | Jordan Mickey | SF | Boston Celtics (from Philadelphia via Miami) | LSU (So.) | |
2 | 34 | Anthony Brown | SF | Los Angeles Lakers | Stanford (Sr.) | |
2 | 35 | Guillermo Hernangómez | C | Philadelphia 76ers (from Orlando, traded to New York) | Sevilla (Spain) | |
2 | 36 | Rakeem Christmas | PF/C | Minnesota Timberwolves (from Sacramento via Houston, traded to Cleveland) | Syracuse (Sr.) | |
2 | 37 | Richaun Holmes | SF/PF | Philadelphia 76ers (from Denver via Houston, Portland and Minnesota) | Bowling Green (Sr.) | |
2 | 38 | Darrun Hilliard | SG | Detroit Pistons | Villanova (Sr.) | |
2 | 39 | Juan Pablo Vaulet | SF | Charlotte Hornets (traded to Brooklyn) | Bahía Estudiantes (Argentina) | |
2 | 40 | Josh Richardson | SG | Miami Heat | Tennessee (Sr.) | |
2 | 41 | Pat Connaughton | SF | Brooklyn Nets (traded to Portland) | Notre Dame (Sr.) | |
2 | 42 | Olivier Hanlan | PG | Utah Jazz | Boston College (Jr.) | |
2 | 43 | Joseph Young | PG | Indiana Pacers | Oregon (Sr.) | |
2 | 44 | Andrew Harrison | PG | Phoenix Suns (traded to Memphis) | Kentucky (So.) | |
2 | 45 | Marcus Thornton | PG | Boston Celtics | William & Mary (Sr.) | |
2 | 46 | Norman Powell | SG | Milwaukee Bucks (traded to Toronto) | UCLA (Sr.) | |
2 | 47 | Artūras Gudaitis | C | Philadelphia 76ers (from New Orleans via Washington and L.A. Clippers) | Žalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania) | |
2 | 48 | Dakari Johnson | C | Oklahoma City Thunder | Kentucky (So.) | |
2 | 49 | Aaron White | PF | Washington Wizards | Iowa (Sr.) | |
2 | 50 | Marcus Eriksson | SG | Atlanta Hawks (from Toronto) | FC Barcelona (Spain) | |
2 | 51 | Tyler Harvey | PG | Orlando Magic (from Chicago) | Eastern Washington (Jr.) | |
2 | 52 | Satnam Singh Bhamara | C | Dallas Mavericks | IMG Academy (Pg.) | |
2 | 53 | Sir’Dominic Pointer | SF | Cleveland Cavaliers (from Portland via Chicago and Denver) | St. John’s (Sr.) | |
2 | 54 | Dani Díez | SF | Utah Jazz (from Cleveland, traded to Portland) | Gipuzkoa (Spain) | |
2 | 55 | Cady Lalanne | PF | San Antonio Spurs | Massachusetts (Sr.) | |
2 | 56 | Branden Dawson | SF | New Orleans Pelicans (from Memphis, traded to L.A. Clippers) | Michigan State (Sr.) | |
2 | 57 | Nikola Radičević | PG | Denver Nuggets (from L.A. Clippers) | Sevilla (Spain) | |
2 | 58 | J. P. Tokoto | SG/SF | Philadelphia 76ers (from Houston) | North Carolina (Jr.) | |
2 | 59 | Dimitrios Agravanis | PF | Atlanta Hawks | Olympiacos (Greece) | |
2 | 60 | Luka Mitrović | PF | Philadelphia 76ers (from Golden State via Indiana) | Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) |