3 NBA rookies who are perfect matches with their new teams, and 3 who aren’t

Watching the NBA Draft is better than it’s ever been because picks are tipped in advance on Twitter and elsewhere. It’s like we’re sitting in a room with NBA fans across the planet debating each pick as they pop up on our devices.

But this year, very little got me jumping out of my seat. Teams generally did a great job of selecting players for their system and there weren’t too many baffling selections. Nevertheless, some picks in particular stick out as especially perfect fits, while others look like odd choices.

Here are a few picks later in the draft that I particularly liked, and a couple I didn’t.

Memphis is a perfect situation for Wade Baldwin, a talented combo guard who can replace or back up Mike Conley while filling different roles. He’s a damn good shooter, a better passer than his stats show and an athletic, versatile defender. The early opportunity will benefit him, since he’ll maintain his developmental momentum from Vanderbilt to the NBA.

Baldwin has a “big man on campus” type of vibe, yet there’s nothing wrong with that ego because he channels it onto the practice floor. That’s why he’s gone from an overlooked high school recruit to a first-round pick in just two years.

But with Memphis, any negative aspects of his character will be minimized with Tony Allen and Zach Randolph keeping him in line with their, um, unique perspectives and lessons learned from the school of hard knocks.

Don’t be surprised if Baldwin ends up being one of the best players from this class when we look back years from now.

Malik Beasley is a pure shooter. Even when a defender is breathing down his neck, his pristine footwork allows him to get his shots off cleanly. He’s also skilled scoring off the bounce, with a quick first step that leads to mid-range pull up jumpers, soft floaters in the lane and layups finished with either hand. He’s a bouncy athlete and a speed demon in the open floor and he has a high basketball IQ.

What Beasley isn’t is a player who manufactures offense in isolation situations. His loose handle slows him down, so he’s mostly limited to straight-line drives. This gives him the appearance of a really good role player and not much more, which is fine.

But what if Beasley, who’s a great kid with a strong work ethic, tightens his handle? What if he learns to keep the ball on a string? With all the other attributes he already has, doesn’t he seem like the type of player who could become a go-to scorer?

With the No. 19 pick, he’s a perfect player on which to take a chance. The Nuggets are building something special and Beasley could end up as a central part. His pairing with Emmanuel Mudiay works on so many levels, so don’t be surprised if he beats out incumbent Gary Harris and No. 7 pick Jamal Murray. It’s hard not to be encouraged by Beasley.

Shaun Livingston will potentially be a free agent in 2017, and the Warriors happened to find a guy who can seamlessly fill that role at a fraction of the cost, but also become so much more. Livingston’s value comes from his ability to defend multiple positions, and McCaw can do the same. McCaw has pretty much the same body as Livingston, at a lean 6’7, 185-pounds with long arms. He’s also a tenacious defender and a ball hawk who jumps passing lanes, turning steals into layups.

McCaw’s size provides an advantage as a pick-and-roll ball handler. He can see over the defense, change speeds and take advantage of matchups. If UNLV wasn’t such a dumpster fire, McCaw likely would’ve been used more often as a point guard. Plus, McCaw is a good spot-up shooter, though he does need to improve off the bounce.

The Warriors are on top of the basketball world, but their roster will change quickly. McCaw gives them another versatile wing, like Livingston and Andre Iguodala, who can fill multiple roles and be versatile on defense. That’ll help them sustain the glory years.

Greek center Georgios Papagiannis (No. 13) is an intriguing player because of his explosiveness as a rim runner and potential as a rim protector. But this past year with Panathinaikos was really the first time he looked the part of a lottery pick. Just months prior, he lacked energy and looked disinterested on the defensive end playing for Greece in the FIBA U19 World Championship.

It’s absolutely possible Papagiannis figured it out this past year. But in Sacramento’s situation, with capricious personalities in the locker room, there is a legitimate concern that he’ll fall back into his bad habits that once plagued him.

Syracuse guard Malachi Richardson (No. 22) possesses a feel for the game that ranks among the lowest in this class. He goes into hero mode thinking he’s prime Kobe, but he’s as efficient as old Kobe. His effort level was low playing in Syracuse’s comfortable zone defense.

In other words, his game screams “me” over “we.” He has tunnel vision and appears temperamental. The lack of organizational stability and the presence of other volatile personalities could make for a combustible mix. Sacramento better have a plan for catering to Richardson’s early ambitions while ensuring his objectives don’t agitate the rest of the hornets nest.

And then they drafted Kentucky’s Skal Labissiere with the No. 28 pick.

If you told me before the draft that Skal Labissiere were selected in the late first round, I would’ve said, “Great! I’m stoked for Skal! Culture is everything for his development and it’s great he landed on a winning team that’ll embrace him. Who took him? The Spurs? Warriors? Clippers?”

Well, that didn’t happen. Skal is a nice value pick as an elite high school recruit and the Kings need all the high upside talent they can get their hands on. But this isn’t as much of an iffy pick for the Kings as it is for Skal. One independent evaluator who works with NBA teams texted me seconds after the pick: “It’s like the Ed O’Bannon situation all over again going to the team that he couldn’t go to.”

“It wasn’t injury, it was confidence. I missed shots, got pulled from games, it affected my defense, and I lost all my confidence.”

That sure sounds a lot like Labissiere’s year at Kentucky. Now he’s going to Sacramento, a franchise that’s had six head coaches, three general managers and two ownership groups in recent years. Skal needs stability.

If Labissiere couldn’t handle John Calipari screaming at him, how’s he going to react when Cousins does on a losing team with shaky group cohesion? The Kings need to be careful with Labissiere, or they’ll destroy his confidence beyond repair. Put him in the D-League with the Reno Bighorns all season long, create an environment of trust and let him develop there.

The common denominator with each of these three prospects is they all appear to need strong organizational stability to help get them to their peak. The Kings, to date, have displayed everything but that. While they could be (or get) on that path now, there’s little visible proof they’ve turned a corner. They’re now adding three new draftees whose upside could go upside down if their culture is still in the tubes.

I was initially astonished by this pick. I thought the Bucks had gone fishing. Thon Maker is a wild gunner and has a relatively low basketball IQ. Unless his decision-making changes quickly, it will be hard to trust him playing a team game. He also got beat up by Skal Labissiere at the 2015 Nike Hoop Summit, which doesn’t inspire optimism under the circumstances.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I needed to pump the brakes.
Everything that crossed my mind and everything anyone wrote about on Thursday night focused on what Maker can’t do. That goes against my personal scouting and team-building philosophy, which leans more on what a player can do rather than what they can’t.
There wasn’t enough focus on the fact Maker is a 7’1 big man with the ability to defend multiple positions, handle the ball a bit and shoot threes. Milwaukee has visions of an all-switching lineup with maximum versatility, and Maker gets them closer to that. You can understand the appeal.
All down the line, the Bucks are versatile. Giannis Antetokounmpo is a freaky point guard. Jabari Parker is a load to handle. Their second-round pick, Malcolm Brogdon, can play multiple roles. Khris Middleton. Michael Carter-Williams. Even Damien freakin’ Inglis, last year’s second-round pick, is versatile. Add Maker on top of that and they could have a special roster that can switch every single screen and have every player on the floor handling the rock.

Maker is a better prospect than he gets credit for, too. Anti-hype kills, and it’s a real factor with Maker because of the overhype from his viral YouTube videos. As evaluators and fans, we shouldn’t fall into that trap, and clearly the Bucks haven’t.
Maker is a smart, intellectual kid. He needs experience to improve and the Bucks have a roster that can provide it. He’s ready to handle what’s coming at him. Maybe, just maybe, when we look back at this draft, the Bucks will look like geniuses. If so, we’ll feel like fools for quickly swiping left without thinking about it enough.