2015 NBA Draft: Pick-by-pick results, analysis, grades and more

The 2015 NBA Draft is over, but that doesn’t spell the end of the dream for those prospects who didn’t get selected. NBA teams have always signed undrafted free agents, whether it’s just to showcase their skills at the NBA Summer League or to actual NBA contracts. One of the most famous recent examples is Matthew Dellavedova, who didn’t get selected in the 2013 NBA Draft, but quickly inked a contract with Cleveland. The Cavaliers don’t win two games in the NBA Finals without him.

We’ll use this space to round up every undrafted free agent who signs a contract with a team, whether it’s just Summer League or much more. Deals are signed quickly, and in the case of Summer League, players often switch teams up until the event begins. Where there are changes, we will be quick to note them. For now, players are Summer League signings unless otherwise noted.

Isn’t this what agents are for? To help clients figure out how to comport themselves? This is a grave offense:

I don’t even remember which side of that debate Carolinans fall on, I just know they have STRONG opinions about it, and the third option of “it’s a sauce” can get you sent to the State Penitentiary For People Who Say Food Words Bad.

So the consensus is that the Heat aced this draft, receiving an A for Fit and a B for Opportunity for Winslow from SB Nation’s Kevin O’Connor, an A+ from CBS Sports’ Matt Moore for the Winslow pick, and an overall A+ from ESPN’s Chad Ford.

Moore’s A- for Okafor and O’Connor’s B/A assessment of the pick were the kind grades for the Sixers; Moore also tagged four players drafted by the Sixers in the second round with a grade of D or worse (though not all four will stay with Philly), and Ford’s B- is massively qualified.

The Charlotte Hornets’ pick of Frank Kaminsky isn’t exactly being praised. Not only is he not a great fit -- our draft grades ranked the pick as a “C” in that regards -- the Hornets could’ve drafted Justise Winslow, who was almost universally expected to be picked higher than Kaminsky.

A report from ESPN’s Chris Forsberg reveals Michael Jordan had a pretty incredible offer on the table from the Celtics -- but Charlotte held fast so they could get the Wisconsin big man:

A seemingly conflicting report in the New York Post holds that Anthony supported the Knicks’ first pick, of Latvian project Kristaps Porzingis, but that report could be wrong. It’s possible that Anthony’s “displeasure” is with the rest of the Knicks’ draft — if it’s not merely frustration with a friend being traded away — but the most objectionable move the Knicks made was unquestionably selecting Porzingis, who will need time to develop into a top-flight NBA player.

And while professional shouter Stephen A. Smith telling a New York radio show that Anthony was “betrayed and hoodwinked” by Jackson sounds like a typical Smith exaggeration, there seems to be a lot of smoke here.

The thing about the Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie is that any one of his moves can be explained in basketball terms in a vacuum.

When the Sixers traded 23-year-old NBA All-Star Jrue Holiday for picks, Hinkie’s camp was able to explain why that made sense: the way to rebuild in the NBA is not to hover around 30 wins, but to fall below 20. When the Sixers took injured centers and stashed foreign stars with three of their first four picks, that was explained as the team just grabbing the best talent available regardless of actual availability.

There’s not one player on the Knicks roster Phil Jackson didn’t put there himself. A year and change since he took over, Jackson’s sweeping demolition of the team he inherited is complete. The foundation now forming looks unlike what anyone anticipated.

The man who, as a coach repeatedly compared rookies to whale shit, has acquired as many rookies as possible while running the Knicks. The crown jewel of his two-year draft haul isn’t a cautious investment in an American upperclassman or a big dude scooped from the middle of most rankings because he suits the Triangle offense. With the fourth pick, the Knicks selected Kristaps Porzingis, a spindly 19-year-old from Latvia with a dazzling array of skills and the kind of profile that spooks conservative GMs (and some fans).

For the entirety of their 68 years of existence, the Los Angeles Lakers have been defined by their big men. They won their first five titles behind George Mikan, their next with Wilt Chamberlain and then reeled off five in the ‘80s thanks to the ageless skill of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Shaquille O’Neal led LA to three more championships in the early 2000s, and when he left, the Lakers didn’t win again until adding Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

Jahlil Okafor was sitting right there with the No. 2 draft pick on Thursday, waiting to be the next star in the franchise’s unparalleled big man lineage. Okafor was the type of player the Lakers have always built around, a remarkably polished behemoth who could bully other teams inside and carry an offense by himself. It seemed like a no-brainer.

Here are the top five undrafted players available after the 2015 NBA Draft.

Alexander’s fall is maybe the most precipitous in the entire draft. He was projected as a lottery pick before ever reaching Kansas, where he was supposed to team with first-rounder Kelly Oubre to make Bill Self’s Jayhawks dangerous in 2014-15. But Alexander never broke into Self’s starting lineup to stay, and then an NCAA investigation into his amateur status prematurely ended his Kansas career. With that cloud over him and a less than thrilling season of play on his record, Alexander’s stock was damaged entering the pre-draft process -- but few thought he would go entirely undrafted. He’s still got a big body and the talent to be an NBA player, but Alexander’s NBA career now must run through undrafted free agency.

There are plenty of rumors flying fast and furious around the draft, but no matter the order, we will see 60 players get drafted by NBA teams on Thursday night, so be sure to follow along all night with our live draft tracker.

Here are all 60 picks in the NBA Draft (click on each name for more details on each pick):

This year’s “Mr. Irrevelant,” as players who are drafted with the final pick are nicknamed, is a 6’8, 22-year-old forward from Serbia. He’s averaging 10 points on 49 percent shooting with Red Star Belgrade, with range that extends to the three-point line (shooting 34 percent), in a breakout season that has him average 24 minutes per night. While he may stay in Europe for a while, there’s a decent chance he could develop into a decent scoring forward and make it over stateside for the Sixers in the future.

With the final picks of the draft -- the very last one, in this case -- all teams are trying to do is select players who have a skill or two that indicate potential to one day grow into an NBA player of any caliber. If Mitrović can do that, this pick will be an outstanding success.

Agravanis is described as a stretch four -- he doesn’t quite have consistent range from beyond the three-point arc, hitting just 33 percent from there in Greek League play. He’s not quite ready for the NBA yet -- he’s just a role player for Olympiakos, playing 14.4 minutes per game -- so don’t expect him to be in the NBA anytime soon. With one of the best teams in Europe, he’s playing at a pretty high level, so his game should develop nicely.

Agravanis wasn’t expected to be picked in most mock drafts, but with the 59th pick, there’s not many ways you can go wrong. Either the player turns out to be an NBA player, or you wasted the second-least valuable pick in the draft.

The Dallas Mavericks made history with the No. 52 pick, selecting massive Indian-born center Satnam Singh. Singh is the first Indian-born player to be taken in the NBA Draft in league history.

Singh is an enormous big man, standing 7’2 and weighing in at 290 pounds, yet he has a soft touch that’ll allow him to shoot three-pointers. He’s actually be on NBA radars for years, as our Rodger Sherman explains:

The Denver Nuggets made their second pick of the 2015 NBA Draft by selecting Nikola Radicevic at No. 57. Radicevic follows the Nuggets’ first-round pick of Emmanuel Mudiay, the 6’5 point guard selected at No. 7 overall.

Radicevic is similar to Mudiay in one sense: both are huge point guards. Radicevic played for Cajasol Sevilla in the ACB League in Spain. He signed a five-year contract with Sevilla in 2012.

Tokoto didn’t put up huge numbers at North Carolina, but he showed flashes of brilliance and was very impressive at the NBA combine. Tokoto averaged 8.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists in 29.1 minutes per game as a junior at North Carolina last season. His jaw-dropping dunks and athleticism make him a threat at the next level.

His transition game is his best asset, but Tokoto plays solid defense and is a good passer, too. He became a better passer each year -- he dished out less than an assist a game as a freshman. He wasn’t as good in the half-court offense as he was in transition. Tokoto averaged over two turnovers per game last year. In the NBA, his athleticism should carry him while he develops the rest of his game.

Dawson spent four years with the Spartans as a 6’6 swingman, averaging 11 points and nine rebounds as a senior. He’s not a shooter, failing to hit a single three-pointer while with Michigan State, which severely limits his impact. However, there’s always a chance for him to develop some semblance of a shot and boost his other skills enough to carve out a role in the NBA.

Very few players in the final few picks of an NBA draft end up becoming long-term players in the league, so New Orleans is taking a flier on an experienced pro who showed with the Spartans that he knows how to help his team win. Like everyone drafted around him, there’s a few reasons to think that at some point, Dawson could grow as a player and help an NBA team, even if it’s unlikely.

It’s not clear, however, if he’s big enough to score on the NBA level. Nevertheless, he could carve out a role as a microwave scorer, though it’ll be tough to break into the Celtics’ deep backcourt.

Lalanne, 23, was a standout at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament early in the draft season after four years at UMass. He’s considered a potential role player at the NBA level, providing shot blocking and rebounding. He was named to the third-team all-conference squad in the Atlantic 10 as a senior, and had 14 double-doubles. On the season he averaged 11.6 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game.

The Spurs’ roster is tight, especially if Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan come back for another season. Even tighter is the team’s salary situation with rumors suggesting they’ll chase LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency. Those factors plus the Spurs’ traditional development record might mean that Lalanne spends the 2015-16 with the Austin Toros of the D-League or even overseas. Lalanne was born in Haiti but grew up in Orlando.

The 6’8 small forward, who often goes by “Dani,” is a really versatile player -- on loan from Real Madrid, one of Europe’s best teams, to Gipuzkoa, one of Spain’s worst teams, he was asked to play a huge role, finishing second on the team in scoring (12.1 points per game) first in rebounding (6.8 per game) and knocking down 41.7 percent of his threes.

The Atlanta Hawks have selected Marcus Eriksson with the No. 50 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Erikkson is Atlanta’s first and only selection of the night after the team traded back from its No. 15 pick in the first round for the No. 19 pick, and then traded that selection for Knicks guard Tim Hardaway Jr.

Erikkson is from Sweden. He was ranked as the No. 12 international prospect born in 1993 by DraftExpress. The 6’7 shooting guard has great size for his position and has shown an ability to shoot from the outside.

Pointer is a four-year guard from St. John’s. He can’t shoot three-pointers, hitting just 22 total in his four years with the Red Storm, but he has size at 6’6 and is an excellent rebounder, pulling in eight per game during his senior season. He also averaged 14 points for St. John’s.

In the bottom sixth of the draft, teams are just taking fliers on players who could potentially grow into NBA contributors. Pointer has some NBA skills and his frame lends well to playing defense. If he could ever build up his jump shot into just becoming a decent shooter, he could find himself a role as a backup guard somewhere that plays both ways.

The 22-year-old, who plays for Zalgiris in his home country, went a bit lower than expected -- Draft Express had him going 37th overall, and ranked him as the No. 1 international player born in 1993. He relies mainly on his athleticism to produce: his primary talents are scoring around the rim and offensive rebounding.

With that many bigs, it’s unclear if the Sixers intend on bringing over Gudaitis or leaving him stashed in Lithuania.

Interestingly, Draft Express’ Jonathan Givony reports that White -- who is a four-year senior out of Iowa -- will be stashed in Europe next season. While it’s not incredibly common, sometimes Americans do go that route and White may have made that known or worked it out with Washington prior to the events on Thursday.

At Iowa, White was a 6’9 forward who played both positions. He averaged 16 points his senior season while hitting a career-best 36 percent from behind the arc and 52 percent from the floor. He also grabbed seven rebounds in 32 minutes a night.

The big man isn’t full of athleticism, but he makes up for it with bruising play and great footwork on both sides of the ball. Playing alongside Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein and Trey Lyles, Johnson averaged 6.4 points and 4.6 rebounds in just 16.4 minutes per game. Those numbers balloon to 15.6 points and 11.3 rebounds per 40 minutes.

Johnson doesn’t have a ton of range with his jump shot, but he can score in the lane with a slew of powerful post moves. Defensively, he utilizes his size and strength in the post and is an effective stopper down low. He’s not speedy and will need to work on getting up and down the court, but Johnson has an NBA-ready body that will be able to provide valuable minutes.

Powell struggled early on in his career, only playing a bit role for the Bruins until Steve Alford was hired to replace Ben Howland. In his last two years in college he saw his role on offense expand significantly before becoming the team’s first option in 2014/15, following Kyle Anderson’s jump to the NBA. He made the most of his opportunity, averaging 16 points, five rebounds and two assists a game.

Powell is a solid scorer who can get the ball in the hoop both as a slasher and a shooter, so he’s a smart second-round choice for a team that could use scoring help.