Source Sports was in the building for the annual marquee event
Surprises and disappointments was surely the theme from this year’s 2015 NBA Draft. Taking place in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center for the 2nd year in a row, the 2015 NBA Draft featured not only the deepest draft from top to bottom in recent years but also the deepest plethora of big men talent that the league hasn’t seen in some time. Living up to the mock draft lists and chatter was Kentucky big man Karl-Anthony Towns, who was picked no. 1 overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves and will be joining the 2014 no. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins and veteran Kevin Garnett along with the rest of the supporting T-Wolves cast.
Completely surprising those who attended and watching were the Los Angeles Lakers. Instead of going for the big man that was projected, they went with Ohio State point guard D’Angelo Russell, which inevitably left a lot of fans (preferably Sixers fans) sick to their stomach and Laker fans with a glimmer of hope for the future. Rounding off at three was the Philadelphia 76’ers who despite losing out on Russell managed to draft another big man (three years in a row) in Jahlil Okafor who automatically raises the question if past big men drafted in recent years will still be in uniform come next season. But, the most shocking (well not really) news of the night went to none other than the New York Knicks.
Drafting unknown “project” out of Latvia Kristaps Porzingis, the Knicks front office managed to get fans in the building riled up and ultimately raised the question if Phil Jackson is thinking long-term or even “thinking” at all. Despite the first couple surprises in the draft, the 2015 NBA Draft lived up to expectations with teams getting bonafide picks and stars of tomorrow even in the second round and showcased that this years class as a whole is one of the best in recent years.
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