NBA Draft 2020: Grades, reactions, analysis for the first round

After getting shredded by the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs, the Dallas Mavericks needed to add competent defense on the wing. Enter Josh Green, a standout defender for Arizona with awesome hips, lateral quickness, and help-side instincts. The 6’6 wing is great defending on and off the ball, making him a solid pickup for the Mavs.

He’s a decent spot-up shooter and connective passer on offense, too, which should fit in next to Luka Dončić and the team’s other ball-handlers quite nicely. After trading Seth Curry to the Philadelphia 76ers for the 36th pick (Tyler Bey) and Josh Richardson, the Mavs did a great job of addressing their defense in a matter of hours.

Grade: B

Sam Presti was wheeling and dealing on draft night, looking to add more pieces to his asset stockpile while moving up for the players that he wanted to end the night with. It took a trade-up to get him — with Ricky Rubio and the Nos. 25 and 28 picks getting rerouted to Minnesota — but Presti got the prize of the 2020 NBA Draft in Serbian forward Aleksej Pokuševski, whose package of wing-like fluidity, help-side defensive instincts, advanced ball skills and passing vision, and outlier shot-making versatility make him one of the more intriguing players in this year’s draft class.

He’s still 18 and needs time to develop, but the Thunder are now fully committed to a lengthy rebuild, and he’s in a great situation to add muscle mass and cut down on some of his adventurous decisions as a ball-handler. The future is looking mighty bright in OKC.

Grade: A-

The Pistons were plenty busy on draft night, sending Luke Kennard to the Los Angeles Clippers for the No. 19 pick and acquiring the No. 16 pick from the Houston Rockets along with Trevor Ariza in a not-so-sneaky salary dump.

Washington bigman Isaiah Stewart isn’t a great pick in the top-20 — he lacks vertical pop, instincts as an impact rim protector, fluid hips to defend the pick-and-roll, and simple passing vision — and profiles more as a second-rounder, but considering the cornerstone they drafted at No. 7, we’ll pardon them for now.

There were better bigs in the class to pair with their seventh pick in the pick-and-roll, but there is some promise on the offensive end if Stewart ends up shooting it at a respectable clip (.774 FT%). At the very least, he’s a standup guy and great locker room presence, and there is value in that.

Grade: D-