Lakers’ ‘extraordinary’ coup; why Aussie Furphy can handle NBA Draft disappointment: Talking Points

It is always the case that some projected first-round picks end up missing out on selection and Furphy was one of the unlucky few, with the Victorian instead expected to have his name called early in the second round.

In terms of looking at why Furphy may have fallen, it was always going to be tricky to project where this year’s first-round prospects would be taken given the varying opinions on them.

Furphy was routinely mocked to Orlando at 18th overall, although the Magic’s eventual pick — Colorado wing Tristan da Silva — made plenty of sense for a number of reasons.

Firstly, while Orlando still has a young core, this is a team that is already competitive in the Eastern Conference and a late bloomer like da Silva is more likely to produce right away.

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Then of course there is the fact the Magic clearly value big wings with a well-rounded skillset and da Silva fits that bill, while it of course is also handy he shot 40 per cent from deep in his last year with Colorado.

From that point there were a few other teams that made sense for Furphy, although there were also a bunch of contenders drafting later in the first round and given the Australian is still an incredibly raw player he may have just not been the right fit at this stage of his career.

The good news for Furphy is he should not have to wait long to have his name called.

The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie said on his ‘Game Theory Podcast’ that he is going to mock Furphy to the Toronto Raptors with the first pick of the second round and if he doesn’t go then, the Utah Jazz at 32nd overall also make plenty of sense.

ESPN.com’s latest mock draft has Furphy now going 33rd overall to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Meanwhile, don’t be surprised if another team currently not on the board near the top of round two trades up to snag Furphy, shocked that he is still available.

“I remain floored that teams are grabbing these other wings over Kansas’ Johnny Furphy,” wrote John Hollinger, who had Furphy as his 11th ranked prospect.

“Even if you don’t believe in Furphy to the same degree as my projections, which had him fifth overall, he was the best available player in the top 100 from [Jonathan] Givony and [Jeremy] Woo for a long time,” added ESPN’s Kevin Pelton.

While it was unfortunate that Furphy was made to wait only to not have his name called, the 19-year-old only made his first state team in 2022 and even then, that was as part of the second team.

Speaking to former coaches and mentors of his in the lead-up to the draft, they all constantly stressed one thing — Furphy was never the type to complain, always grateful for every opportunity.

The early setbacks and Furphy’s attitude towards them have perfectly set him up for this moment and considering he wasn’t even expecting to have played college basketball last season, the 19-year-old is already ahead of schedule anyway.

With that in mind, while obviously disappointing, Furphy’s background means missing out on first-round selection isn’t necessarily the hit to his confidence that it would be for others.

If anything, it only adds another layer to his remarkable rise, should Furphy continue to exceed expectations.

WHICH TEAMS GOT THE BIGGEST STEALS?

You have to start with the Lakers, who landed an absolute steal at 17th overall when they drafted Tennessee wing Dalton Knecht.

The 23-year-old was the seventh overall player on ESPN’s big board but fell down the draft, much to the surprise of Jonathan Givony, who said he was “shocked” Knecht was still available.

The ESPN draft expert reported sources had been telling him Knecht’s age was the reason for his slide.

“I am shocked that Dalton Knecht is still on the board here,” Givony said

“For the last 30 minutes, I’ve been racking my brain, texting every GM, saying ‘What is going on? Why is Dalton Knecht falling?’

“They say, ‘There is no medical concern. It’s strictly because of the age. We are going with teenagers here.’

“I really do not understand this. Dalton Knecht is a first-team All-American, SEC Player of the Year, shot 40 percent from three. He can help an NBA team right now. He needs to come off the board in the next pick or two at worst.”

That ended up happening, with the Lakers taking the 6-foot-6 sharpshooter who averaged 21.7 points in his only season with the Volunteers after shooting 49.9 per cent from the field and 39.7 per cent from 3.

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka described the value as “extraordinary” when speaking to reporters after the draft, while also revealing that new head coach J.J. Redick, who shares similar traits with Knecht, already has ideas on how to get him involved in the gameplan.

“We would have never imagined a player as skilled and sort of perfect for our needs would be there as Dalton Knecht,” Pelinka said.

“We had him as a top 10 player unanimously across our scouting reports. Across the board, just couldn’t be happier. I was at the SCC tournament scouting him extensively and in my mind I was like, ‘There is no way a player like this will be available for us to pick on draft night’.

“I was joking with coach Redick upstairs that we found a movement shooter to match his skills as a player and he already had his whiteboard out drawing up pindowns and ATOs and actions where he could run a movement shooter off screens. So, I think his mind is already working on drawing up plays for Dalton.

“If we would have had the 10th pick in the draft, we would have taken him, so to get that value at 17 is really extraordinary.”

Meanwhile, for Knecht, the fact he fell down the draft board is just another reason for the 23-year-old to continue carrying the “chip on my shoulder” that he developed in his three-school journey to the NBA.

“I’d say my why is I feel like I’ve been underrated my whole entire life ever since I was coming out of high school,” he said.

“I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder, and to this day I’ll always have that chip on my shoulder to go out there and prove people wrong.

“… Every single time I touch a basketball or walk into a gym, I always feel like I’ve got something to prove.

“It doesn’t matter where I’m at. It’s always going to be there, having that chip on my shoulder, feeling like I’ve been underrated for my whole life. It’s something I’m going to carry with me the rest of my career.”

Elsewhere, the Chicago Bulls were another team to pick up value in the first round as they landed Matas Buzelis, ESPN’s No.5 ranked prospect.

Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas said in his post-draft press conference that “did not plan” to draft Buzelis, who was not expected to be available when Chicago was picking at 11th overall.

“It just worked out that way,” Karnišovas said.

“But we’re very excited to add him to our young group. He’s a very versatile wing swing. We watched him all year.”

The 19-year-old profiles as a versatile piece to add to a Chicago team that is heading towards a rebuild of sorts, having taken the first step in that direction with the trade for Josh Giddey last week.

Then there is the Utah Jazz, who had a need in the backcourt and drafted their potential point guard of the future in Isaiah Collier.

The USC point guard was generating No.1 buzz late last year but had issues with turnovers and his shooting that saw him fall down draft boards, although at the 29th pick he is more than worth the swing given his high upside if he tidies up those other aspects of his game.

It is also worth mentioning the Portland Trail Blazers here as Donovan Clingan was at one point earlier in the week considered a chance of even going with the first overall pick.

Instead, he dropped to No.7, which was seen as his absolute floor in this year’s draft, as the Blazers picked up the best rim-protector in this year’s class.

TIMBERWOLVES TRADE SETS UP ‘HOLY S***’ COMBO

Well, this is going to be a lot of fun and Rob Dillingham is clearly a player the Timberwolves wanted, making the most aggressive move of the draft by trading up to No.8 to get him.

It is clearly a move for the future, with Mike Conley already 36 years old and in Dillingham Minnesota has a potential successor for the veteran point guard.

He profiles as a great fit as an off-ball shooter next to the franchise superstar Anthony Edwards, having shot 44 per cent from deep in his final season at Kentucky, while he also has plenty of potential as a passer.

Speaking to reporters after the draft, Dillingham said he is excited by the prospect of playing in “the open space on the floor” that the NBA offers.

“There’s so much open floor, and I feel like I’m quick and I can get past dudes,” he added.

“It’s really the fact of me getting past dudes and making decisions. You’re playing with a bunch of NBA players, so players can’t really help off super a lot because these are NBA players and they knock down shots.

“I feel like, for me, getting past my defender and making plays with my teammates will be way easier, and if they don’t help, it’s just a bucket.”

The obvious concern in Dillingham’s game is his defence, with the 19-year-old standing at just 6-foot-1, although the Timberwolves as a roster are uniquely built to help hide that weakness in his game, especially when sharing the floor with Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.

THE ONE PICK FEW EXPERTS CAN AGREE ON

Well, Zach Edey was the most polarising draft prospect before Wednesday night and that was made even more clear by the reaction to Memphis’ pick in the first round.

The Grizzlies had a glaring need in the frontcourt after trading away Steven Adams and reportedly had shown interest in trading up to draft Donovan Clingan.

They weren’t able to pull that off so they ended up taking the next best option in Edey, who at 7-foot-4 and 300 pounds made a name for himself in college basketball at Purdue.

There were question marks about his mobility and how his game would translate to the NBA though and opinions were split across the board when it came to Memphis taking him at No.9.

Yahoo Sports’ draft expert Krysten Peek described it as “one of the worst picks I’ve seen in draft history”.

“I have absolutely no idea how he’s going to fit in the backcourt with Ja Morant,” she said.

“He only connected on 8 percent of his shots off pick-and-rolls. And, defensively, he’s a liability … teams are going to hunt him in the pick-and-roll.”

ESPN analyst and former Golden State Warriors manager, Bob Myers, called it the “most surprising pick” of the draft at the time.

In saying that, he did think Edey would be a good fit alongside Jaren Jackson Jr. and while Peek wasn’t a fan, there were plenty of other experts who saw the logic in the move for Memphis.

“There will always be concerns about how Edey fares defending in space, but a player of his size, skill, and touch ought to be able to produce in small, concentrated bursts off the bench at the very least,” wrote The Ringer’s Danny Chau.

The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie, meanwhile, wrote that he believes Edey will “carve out an NBA role and stick around for a while”.

“He’s going to be a killer rebounder, monster screener and will consistently establish his position even against some of the stronger NBA players,” wrote Vecenie.

“I’m done doubting Edey, even as an NBA player. He’s exceptionally tough, and intel suggest his worth ethic is excellent. He’s an unbelievable competitor who desperately wants to win. He plays with an edge that allows him to overcome a lot of the perceived deficiencies of his game.”

ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, meanwhile, was one of Edey’s biggest fans and said on Brian Windhorst’s podcast before the draft that he thinks the 22-year-old will be “awesome” in the NBA.

“You hear them a lot possibly moving up. If they don’t move up, they need a center in the worst way and Zach Edey is clearly the second best center in the draft,” Givony said of Memphis.

“I look at him and I say, ‘What if Jonas Valanciunas was six inches taller?’. That’s what Zach Edey is… he plays incredibly hard, he’s physical, he’s competitive, he draws fouls and rebounds at a ridiculous rate. He is the best screener in this draft which counts a tonne in today’s NBA.

“We need to remember he’s been playing basketball for six years… he’s got better and better every year. His conditioning has improved… I just think when you put him in a smaller role in the NBA where he can go out and foul people, he’s going to be awesome. I think he’s a starting center in the NBA.”

All of this is to not necessarily say one person is right and another is wrong but that there were varying opinions on Edey before the draft and that was only magnified afterwards by how high he was taken.

Edey averaged 25.2 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks as a senior while helping Purdue to the national championship game.

THUNDER REPLACE GIDDEY AND CONTINUE TO DO THINGS THEIR OWN WAY

Well, Oklahoma City clearly has a type and after making a charge to top seed in the highly-competitive Western Conference last season, why not lean into it more?

First, the Thunder drafted a guard and forward that general manager Sam Presti did not want to specifically say were picked as replacements for Josh Giddey, who the team traded to Chicago for Alex Caruso last week.

Instead, he wanted to focus more on the type of players they were — namely high-level processors with positional size and versatility.

So, Oklahoma City took Nikola Topic 12th overall even though Presti admitted he would likely not play next season as he recovers from an ACL tear he suffered in June.

Then, the Thunder traded five second-round picks to move up in the draft and take the extremely versatile Dillon Jones with the 26th overall pick.

“I wouldn’t compare him specifically to Josh… but like I said earlier, guys that are big for their position, that process the game well, those guys can play pretty much all over the floor,” Presti said of Topic.

“We value those skillsets more than trying to replicate a specific role. I don’t think you can have enough people that can make decisions on the court and when you combine that with size, it definitely increases the effectiveness and probability of those decisions being good.”

Presti said that he had travelled alongside the team’s longtime director of medical services, Donnie Strack, to visit Topic before the draft, where he underwent an in-person medical exam.

A group of Thunder scouts also interviewed Topic at the NBA Draft Combine in Italy and while the expectation is that it will be a redshirt rookie season, the team’s similar experience with Chet Holmgren gave them confidence this was an opportunity worth taking.

But it were those qualities Presti mentioned earlier and specifically players who are big for their position and that can process the game well that made both Topic and Jones solid picks.

Of course, Giddey was one of those players at 6-foot-8 with his playmaking and high basketball IQ. So, it is safe to say the Thunder found potential replacements for his production.