The highly anticipated 2016 NBA Draft has come and gone. Depending on which team your loyalties lie with, you may have gone to bed content, bewildered, annoyed or indifferent. Either way, the night was lackluster at best.
As expected, LSU forward Ben Simmons was chosen with the number one pick to the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers will look to Simmons to turn their team around, to be the building block on which to bring their team back from the basement. Philadelphia fans far and wide are hoping for lightning in a bottle on the twentieth anniversary that the 76ers chose Hall-of-Fame guard Allen Iverson with the 1st pick overall. Iverson even took to Twitter to send Simmons a message of his own:
Congratulations @BenSimmons25. I know you’ll make all of us Philly fans proud!!
Guess we’ll have to wait and see. The 76ers are going to need a lot more than Simmons to compete in this league right now, but Simmons may be that stepping stone.
With the number two pick, the Lakers snagged Ingram, shocker there. No doubt Ingram has the skillset and the athleticism to be the next Laker superstar. However, this is just the beginning of the offseason for the Lakers, expect a blockbuster trade this summer to bring a big name to LA. The Lakers are in frantic, rebuild mode, but they have never been a patient franchise. In a market like LA, there is little tolerance for the Lakers not to be competitive. I’m sure the Lakers want nothing more than to take back their city from the Clippers.
If you are a Celtics fan, you may be experiencing bouts of confusion, extreme displeasure, or reached the apathetic stage due to the first two. Celtics made 6 of their 8 picks much to the dismay of fans everywhere expecting a blockbuster trade for a veteran. With the 3rd pick, the Celtics chose Cal forward Jaylen Brown. Although Brown was not the expected choice, he will help solidify the wing, is one of the most athletic players in the draft and has a high basketball IQ. The Celtics other picks include French forward Guerschon Yabusele, 6-11 C Ante Zizic from Croatia, Notre Dame PG Demetrius Jackson, Providence PF Ben Bentil, and Iowa State PF Abdel Nader. They traded away the number 31 and 35th pick to the Grizzlies for a 2019 1st round pick. No trade for Demarcus Cousins or Greg Monroe. No Durant rumors. For Celtics fans that want to win now, this was not the dream draft they were hoping for. In fact, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck was booed heavily at Boston’s draft party at TD Garden.
Much to the dismay of Demarcus Cousins, the Kings passed up the opportunity to draft Marquese Chriss 8th overall and instead traded the pick to the Suns, who in turn gave the Kings the 13th and 28 overall pick along with the rights to Bogdan Bogdanovic. With the 13th pick, the Kings chose C Georgios Papagiannis and with the 28th chose 7 ft PF Skal Labissiere. It’s not like the Kings don’t have Cousins, Cauley-Stein, and Koufos still on the roster. How many big men does one team need? With Rajon Rondo a free agent also, I am finding it more likely that Cousins will be in a new uniform for the 2016-17 season. Never one to hide his feelings, Cousins tweeted this during the draft:
Lord give me the strength 
Notes: A record was set when 15 of the first 30 players taken in the draft were International, breaking a previous record of 12 in 2013. A lot of teams are looking for the next Kristaps
A record was set when 15 of the first 30 players taken in the draft were International, breaking a previous record of 12 in 2013. A lot of teams are looking for the next Kristaps Porzingis or are using the draft and stash strategy, essentially letting the player develop overseas without taking up a roster spot.
The OKC Thunder traded Serge Ibaka to the Orlando Magic guard Victor Oladipo, forward Ersan Ilyasova, and rights to PF Domantos Sabonis. Yes, I know what you are thinking. What were the Magic thinking? Unloading Ibaka freed up cap space for the Thunder in their quest to hold onto Kevin Durant. Victor Oladipo is surely an upgrade, especially since Ibaka is coming off a year where he clearly underperformed. The clear cut winner in this trade is the Thunder.
Here we are. The moment is here. Seven days until Kevin Durant is a free agent!
Let the games begin!
