NBA Draft 2019: 5 worst draft selections on the night

By Alex Weber | Jun 22, 2019

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 20: (L-R) NBA Draft prospects Kevin Porter Jr., Nicolas Claxton, Sekou Doumbouya, Goga Bitazde, Keldon Johnson, Nassir Little, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Rui Hachimuri, Jarrett Culver, Cam Reddish, Coby White, Zion Williamson, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Ja Morant, De'Andre Hunter, Darius Garland, Brandon Clarke, Romeo Langford, Jaxson Hayes, Tyler Herro, Bol Bol, PJ Washington, Matisse Thybulle and Mfiondu Kabengele stand on stage with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver before the start of the 2019 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center on June 20, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 20: Rui Hachimura poses with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver after being drafted with the ninth overall pick by the Washington Wizards during the 2019 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center on June 20, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images) /

During the 2019 NBA Draft, we laughed, we thought, and some of us even cried. Here’s me crying about some picks I thought were flat out bad.

I spent this past week in New York City with my family; site-seeing and rain-dodging. During my stay, I shared a room with my 79-year-old grandfather, a rabid Sean Hannity fanatic and Diet Coke enthusiast (not Diet Pepsi). Of course, as any older gentlemen–or 19-year-old NBA Draft pick–he’s not of the greatest health and even walking proves challenging at times, as I learned throughout our tour of the Big Apple. Of course, with age comes a higher risk of severe heart problems.

At nearly 1 AM when Mark Tatum bid his farewell for the night from Brooklyn’s Barclay’s Center (long after NBA commissioner Adam Silver wisely fled the area at the end of round no. 1), I thanked every religious diety I could imagine that I was a 19-year-old and not my passed out grandfather across the room. Because, had I been nearly eighty and yet the equally maniacal basketball enthusiast I am now, I would’ve suffered a heart attack. I’m sure of it. Even being the spry college student I am, Thursday night was a cathartic experience. I sprinted through the gamut of emotions, vacillating between each end of the spectrum in matters of five minutes or less.

Jim Valvano, in his legendary speech, inspired millions (to this day) when he said there are three things you should do every day:

Laugh. Think. Cry. If you experience each in a day, well, that’s a heck of a day. I laughed (more than once), I definitely spent some time in thought (often deep, pondering combating cases of imbecility), and yes, I did cry–Matisse Thybulle wearing his deceased mother’s favorite number did me in.

The 2019 NBA Draft is famously a “bad” draft, and though I’d argue otherwise, there is no arguing that this wasn’t an intriguing draft. After all, it sent me through multiple rounds of Jimmy V’s Holy Trinity of emotions, leaving hot takes smoldering inside every crevice of my brain. So today, I’m here to explain some of my strongest reactions, except only the repugnant ones. Here are my five worst selections from Thursday evening’s NBA Draft.

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