2016 NBA Draft: Pick-by-pick results, analysis, grades and more

It’s the day after the draft and that means it’s time to take stock of what happened on a hectic Thursday night.

Those are just some of the most noteworthy developments on an action-packed Thursday. It really was a crazy draft for Western teams, but one that helped most of them improve in one way or another.

It’s the day after the draft and that means it’s time to take stock of what happened on a hectic Thursday night.

Those are the most noteworthy picks of the night but there was plenty more action, including big trades. Some teams have clearly improved while others failed to used this opportunity to add talent. With the East as competitive as it’s been in a while, what happened on Thursday night could have an effect on the playoff picture next season. General managers will be judged by how well they handled their assets on draft night, so they better hope they got things right.

Asking around for your superstar is one thing, but then claiming to the media that you weren’t actually doing that somehow seems to make it worse if you’re the player stuck in the middle of it.

But why would cleaning house make any sense as a strategy for Chicago?

The pick was originally owned by the Clippers, who traded it to New Orleans in exchange for the 39th and 40th picks in this year’s draft.

If judging only by his college career, Diallo didn’t deserve come close to the first round. The freshman missed the first five games with eligibility issues, only to average 7.5 minutes per game the rest of the season. It was an unpopular decision by Bill Self to play Diallo sparingly, with fans and analysts alike thinking that the 6’9 big man deserved time to work through his mistakes and develop into a more polished player.

If Ulis was a few inches taller, there’s a good chance he would be a top-10 pick in this year’s draft. Instead, as is the case for nearly every small guard, Ulis fell through the lottery and settled here. There’s a lot to like about the 20-year-old Wildcats youngster, but there’s also an acknowledgement that his ceiling only be so high.

Ulis is a pure point guard, averaging a fantastic seven assists last year at Kentucky while committing only two turnovers a game. Couple that with his great ball-handling, and Ulis is in complete control when you put him in charge of an offense. He tends to push the ball aggressively, but can slow it back and make the proper reads out of a pick-and-roll and on drive-and-kicks. His vision is exceptional.

The first thing anyone notices about Zubac is his size. He’s a towering center that uses his height exceptionally, playing strong and physical with good athleticism for his size. Although there’s always a transition period, Zubac will be able to hold serve and even overpower other big men from the moment he starts in the NBA thanks to his 265-pound frame.

After playing for a few clubs around Europe, Zubac ended up with Mega Leks late last season, playing with lottery prospect Timothe Luwawu. In his best game, Zubac scored 31 points with seven rebounds and three blocks, and while many of the points came merely due to his size, the highlights showcase Zubac’s excellent hands and good touch around the basket. At 7’1, he’s about to hit half hooks and even throw in short floaters with relatively good accuracy, which are skills that big men in the NBA must have no matter how tall they stand.

With the No. 31 pick the 2016 NBA Draft, the Boston Celtics have selected Deyonta Davis. Davis was promptly traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, according to Yahoo! Sports. Davis left Michigan State after one season, becoming the first Spartan to do so since Zach Randolph in 2001.

Davis, a 6’11 big man with a 7’3 wingspan on a 237-pound frame, only averaged 18.6 minutes per game during his freshman year in East Lansing, but he took advantage of his time on the court. He averaged 7.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game and was one of the Spartans’ best defenders, playing great man-to-man defense while blocking 1.8 shots per game.

With the 29th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, the San Antonio Spurs have selected Dejounte Murray, a 19-year-old combo guard from the University of Washington.

Murray surprised scouts by declaring after just one season of college ball, but he was productive enough in his freshman year to be drafted. The 6’5” guard averaged 16 points, six rebounds and four assists while showing flashes of potential on both ends. Offensively, he projects to be an attacking point guard who pushes the ball in transition, while his length could allow him to develop into a solid defender in time.

With the 28th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, the Sacramento Kings have selected Skal Labissiere, a 20-year-old center out of the University of Kentucky. They received this pick as part of an earlier deal with the Suns.

Labissiere, a seven-footer from Haiti, entered the season as a potential top-two pick of the draft, according to scouting sites. His combination of length, mobility and a soft shooting touch seemed to made him a perfect fit for the pace-and-space style that is en vogue in the NBA.

With the 26th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, the Philadelphia 76ers have selected Furkan Korkmaz, an 18-year-old shooting guard who played for Anadolu Efes of the Turkish league last season.

Korkmaz is one of the several European prospects that were expected to be selected in the first round this year and one of the youngest players in the draft, as he won’t turn 19 for another month. The 6’7 wing has some of the prototypical traits of international perimeter players, like a deadly jump shot and solid court vision. But he combines them with NBA-level athleticism, which makes him a solid selection at this range.

The discussions with Boston also appeared to end quietly. The Celtics were talking to the Bulls about Butler earlier on Thursday, per The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski, likely for a package built around the No. 3 overall pick. Boston ended up using the pick on California guard Jaylen Brown, however, and there’s been no word of the two sides resuscitating negotiations.

Butler, 26, is coming off a huge season for the Bulls and is one of the better shooting guards in the league. He’s only one year through a five-year deal that makes him a very valuable piece, so it would be a little surprising if the report of Minnesota rejecting the deal is true. LaVine and Dunn are pretty stellar prospects in their own right, though, so it’s not unreasonable to believe the Wolves preferred those two.

The Thunder spent Thursday night being bold as ever, trading Serge Ibaka to the Magic for a package starring Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova and Domantas Sabonis. This would be a blockbuster every day of the year, owing to Ibaka’s OKC roots and the Thunder’s proximity to the NBA Finals this season. That it happens eight days before Kevin Durant becomes a free agent is even more interesting.

Thunder GM Sam Presti is smart. Brilliant, perhaps. He ran the team when OKC went out on a limb to draft Russell Westbrook No. 4 and James Harden No. 3. He plucked Ibaka out of second half of the first round. He drafted Steven Adams in the late lottery. Sam Presti is savvy. He would never make a deal that would upset Durant and risk the opportunity to keep the scorer extraordinaire.

Johnson was named first team All-ACC last season and selected to the Associated Press’ All-America Team. He also set a school record for most rebounds (416) and double-doubles in a season, and put up a monster 39-point, 23-rebound effort in a January win over Florida State.

Superior athleticism is what separated Johnson from other big men at the college ranks. The majority of his points came off cuts, drop-off passes and put-back dunks.

Luwawu is a prototypical 3-and-D player who projects to turn into something even better. At 6’7 with a 6’11 wingspan, Luwawu has great size and is an extremely fluid athlete. His frequent dunks are the first thing that will catch your eye, as he easily plays above the rim and runs the floor in transition.

Behind the arc, Luwawu is just as comfortable, hitting 37 percent of his triples last season on well over five attempts per game. He plays hard on both ends, which has helped him develop into a versatile defender capable of switching between several positions, a skill that is so coveted in the modern NBA. While there’s always a transition period for rookies, Luwawu has the type of athleticism that should allow him to adjust smoothly when he’s playing against the elite competition in the league. Overall, you really can see that Luwawu’s game is mature for a prospect as young as he is.

Zizic may not be well-known for casual fans, but he’s been on the radar of NBA teams for years. Zizic started playing professionally when he was only 16 years old, and his brother Andrija Zizic, 17 years older than him, was a star in Europe for more than a decade. Although he may not come to the NBA immediately, he has the tools to succeed once he does choose to arrive.

Although many European big men who come over have quirks to their games, Zizic is a prototypical big man who can be expected to dominate the interior. At 6’11 with a 7’4 wingspan, weight 240 pounds, all of Zizic’s game is centered around the basket.

The Sacramento Kings have selected Syracuse guard Malachi Richardson with the 22nd pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. Richardson, a 6’6 guard out of Trenton, N.J., averaged 13.4 points, 2.1 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game during his lone season with the Orange.

The Kings traded Marco Belinelli for rights to the pick.

Bembry spent three years at St. Joseph’s, meaning he’ll turn 22 shortly after the draft. However, Bembry wasn’t even on the NBA’s radar until his sophomore year, where he broke out and was named All-Atlantic 10, only to top it by being named the conference’s Player of the Year last season.

At 6’6 with a 6’9 wingspan, Bembry’s a versatile small forward who can easily shift up or down a position, even playing point guard in a pinch. His stats as a junior show just how much he does, averaging 17.4 points, nearly eight rebounds and 4.5 assists, while registering just under a block and just over a steal per game, all on 48 percent shooting from the field.

Yabusele is expected to be stashed in Europe for now, according to The Vertical’s Shams Charania.

Scouting reports say Yabusele has great strength on the block and bullies defenders down low. Measuring at 6’8 and 240 pounds, he’s clearly got the heft to bump up against the big bodies in the NBA, although there’s been some concern that he’s too short given his traditional post skills.

Beasley was an unheralded prospect heading into college and was not supposed to be a one-and-done prospect. He turned heads with his production as a freshman, however, so he decided to stay in the draft. He averaged 15 points per game while shooting 51 percent on two-pointers and 39 percent from behind the arc. He was also productive on the boards, pulling down five per game.

Beasley has the potential to be a quality scorer at the NBA level. He will need to work on his ball-handling to become a go-to option, but could help on that end in his rookie season. His jumper is deadly in catch-and-shoot situations and he has the athleticism and physicality needed to attack closeout and get all the way to the rim, as No. 2 pick Brandon Ingram found out when he faced him:

The NBA Draft can be filled with high and lows for all fans. This Boston Celtics pick was a low for our buddy here.

To be fair, Celtics fans never seem to know who their team just drafted.

The Chicago Bulls have selected Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine with the 14th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. Valentine, the AP player of the year, had a senior year for the ages, and developed a ready-made game for the NBA.

The 6’5, 220-pound guard was one of college basketball’s best all-around players last season. He averaged nearly 20 points, eight assists and 7.5 rebounds per game while leading Michigan State to a Big Ten Tournament championship and catapulting himself from a second-round pick into a surefire first-rounder. The Spartans lost to Middle Tennessee State in one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history, but Valentine’s body of work proved he could be an asset on any NBA team.

With the No. 12 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, the Atlanta Hawks have selected Taurean Prince, a four-year player at Baylor. The Utah Jazz had the rights to the pick, but traded it to acquire George Hill in a three-team deal that also involved Jeff Teague going to the Pacers.

After switching his college choice from LIU Brooklyn to Baylor at the last minute, Prince increased his role each season with the Bears before finally becoming a full-time starter in his senior campaign. The 6’8, 220-pound forward began making waves as a junior when he was one of the top sixth men in the country. He earned the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2015 by averaging 14 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 47 percent overall and 40 percent from long range.

With the 10th pick of the 2016 NBA Draft, the Milwaukee Bucks gave us our first big surprise. They selected Thon Maker, a 19-year-old power forward who jumped to the NBA right out of high school. Most did not see Maker going in the lottery, and possibly not even the first round at all. Milwaukee, however, is taking the gamble.

Maker first made waves thanks to a mixtape that went viral among basketball media. The hype was clearly greater than his actual talent at the time, but he already possessed some intriguing tools as a 16-year-old. Two years later, the Australian seven-footer declared for the draft, becoming the first player in over a decade to jump straight out of high school to the NBA.

With the seventh pick of the 2016 NBA Draft, the Denver Nuggets have selected Jamal Murray, a 19-year-old guard who spent his sole college season playing for the University of Kentucky.

Murray was a five-star recruit going into college and proved in his freshman year that he was worth the hype. The Canadian combo guard averaged 20 points per game while shooting 50 percent on two pointers and 40 percent from beyond the arc. Despite a disappointing NCAA Tournament for the Wildcats, Murray proved his worth as a scorer.

This pick was nearly moved to the Chicago Bulls in a blockbuster deal involving Jimmy Butler, but the Timberwovles have elected to keep it ... for now. They reportedly turned down an offer of Butler for Dunn and young shooting guard Zach LaVine. That should tell you how much new Timberwolves coach/general manager Tom Thibodeau values Dunn (and perhaps how little he values incumbent starting point guard Ricky Rubio).

It takes only a glance to realize why Dunn is such a sought-after prospect. At 6’4 with a 6’9 wingspan and incredible athleticism, plus true point guard skills, Dunn is the type of player NBA teams salivate over. His first two seasons at Providence were plagued by repeated shoulder injuries, but a breakout junior campaign cemented him as a prospect. Dunn opted to stay one more year, playing the entire season and alleviating concerns about the injuries that had cost him initially. The gamble worked out, vaulting Dunn up draft boards and turning him into a lottery lock.