After sharing our favorite memories & teams and dipping our toes into the GOAT debate, our Discovery Term began our very first exploration: drafts! Using a state-of-the-art, NBA lottery-esque bingo machine, we found draft placements and received a stack of 7 role players to supplement our teams ahead of the upcoming NBA Stars Draft. While some swapped their picks through trades or attempted (and failed) to unload Boban Marjanovic, others opted to just intensely prep their draft board. The group, armed with binders filled with positional needs and player profiles, traveled to Tobacco Road Sports Café to conduct the long-awaited draft. Successfully drafting 5 rounds of NBA stars, the DT worked efficiently and diligently to build the best roster possible over lunch and under the ambiance of a sports bar atmosphere.
DEREK:
Round 1, Pick 1: Giannis Antetokounmpo
Round 2, Pick 22: Damian Lillard
Round 3, Pick 23: Bam Adebayo
Round 4, Pick 44: Brandon Ingram
Round 5, Pick 45: Dejounte Murray
Coach Pick: Erik Spoelstra
Role Players: Marvin Bagley III, Desmond Bane, Kevin Huerter, Herbert Jones, Brook Lopez, CJ McCollum, Marcus Morris Sr.
“The only starter I pulled with with the role players pick was CJ McCollum, so I had to draft four solid starters. The lottery yielded me the first overall pick; obviously, I drafted Giannis. I then proceeded to get four steals in a row: Damian Lillard, Bam Adebayo, Brandon Ingram, and Dejounte Murray as my six man, plus Erik Spoelstra as my coach. Overall, I’ve got a very talented team, with some perennial all-stars and lots of offensive and defensive firepower.”
SCOTT:
Round 1, Pick 2: Joel Embiid
Round 2, Pick 21: Kyrie Irving
Round 3, Pick 24: DeMar DeRozan
Round 4, Pick 43: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Round 5, Pick 46: De’Aaron Fox
Coach Pick: Steve Kerr
Role Players: RJ Barrett, Lonzo Ball, Donte DiVincenzo, Jeff Green, De’Andre Hunter, DeAndre Jordan, Christian Wood
“I feel good about my draft. I think I have a good starting 5 if Kyrie plays, but not a deep bench.”
WILLIAM:
Round 1, Pick 6 (via Chris): Nikola Jokic
Round 2, Pick 17 (via Chris): Paul George
Round 3, Pick 25: Donovan Mitchell
Round 4, Pick 39 (via Chris): Khris Middleton
Round 5, Pick 47: Ben Simmons
Coach Pick: Tyronn Lue
Role Players: Wendell Carter Jr., Kevin Porter Jr., Duncan Robinson, Terry Rozier, Dennis Schroder, Isaiah Todd, Jonas Valanciunas
“I prepped for my draft by making a list of the kinds of positions and players that I would want to draft. When my pick was coming up soon, I made a short list of the players that I would want to draft so that I was prepared and could think through my pick. I really like my team because it is very strong all around, with a good mix of everything. I also really like my bench.”
KESHAWN:
Round 1, Pick 4: Kevin Durant
Round 2, Pick 19: Trae Young
Round 3, Pick 26: Jarrett Allen
Round 4, Pick 41: Andrew Wiggins
Round 5, Pick 48: Patrick Beverley
Coach Pick: Gregg Popovich
Role Players: Steven Adams, Jordan Clarkson, Josh Giddey, Tobias Harris, Killian Hayes, Boban Marjanovic, Bobby Portis
“I based my players that I picked in the draft based on my role players I selected. Most of my role players were shooting guards, small forwards and centers. So I picked Kevin Durant, Jarret Allen, Andrew Wiggins, Patrick Beverley and Trae Young. I think my team is pretty good but there were some other players I wanted to pick on my team that I couldn’t.”
THOMAS:
Round 1, Pick 5: Steph Curry
Round 2, Pick 18: Jimmy Butler
Round 3, Pick 27: Zion Williamson
Round 4, Pick 40: Julius Randle
Round 5, Pick 49: Collin Sexton
Coach Pick: Jason Kidd
Role Players: Miles Bridges, Mike Conley, Spencer Dinwiddie, Montrezl Harrell, Kelly Olynyk, Cedi Osman, Jakob Poeltl
“I think my draft went good overall. I drafted a mix of offensive and defensive players, with my guards being more of the offensive threats and my forwards defensive.”
CHRIS:
Round 1, Pick 3 (via William): LeBron James
Round 2, Pick 20 (via William): LaMelo Ball
Round 3, Pick 28: Draymond Green
Round 4, Pick 42 (via William): Bradley Beal
Round 5, Pick 50: Kyle Kuzma
Coach Pick: Mike Budenholzer
Role Players: Ayo Dosunmu, Joe Harris, Jusuf Nurkic, Kelly Oubre Jr., Tristan Thompson, Obi Toppin, Gary Trent Jr.
“I liked my draft becuase I traded up with William to get Lebron with the third pick, and then got Lamelo in the second round who I also like. I think I did pretty well in the draft and am happy with my team.”
CHANCE:
Round 1, Pick 7: Jayson Tatum
Round 2, Pick 16: Devin Booker
Round 3, Pick 29: Deandre Ayton
Round 4, Pick 38: Darius Garland
Round 5, Pick 51: Domantas Sabonis
Coach Pick: Steve Nash
Role Players: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Evan Fournier, Devonte’ Graham, Onyeka Okongwu, Aleksej Pokusevski, D’Angelo Russell, Myles Turner
“For my draft, I got a good set of role players but I was lacking a good SF and SG. So, going into the draft, that’s what I focused on. In the first round, I got Jayson Tatum then to surround him, I got Devin Booker, Darius Garland, Deandre Ayton & Sabonis to round it out.”
CHASE:
Round 1, Pick 8: Kawhi Leonard
Round 2, Pick 15: Chris Paul
Round 3, Pick 30: Klay Thompson
Round 4, Pick 37: Evan Mobley
Round 5, Pick 52: Jerami Grant
Coach Pick: Ime Udoka
Role Players: Aron Baynes, Malcolm Brogdon, Jae Crowder, Bones Hyland, Cameron Johnson, Michael Porter Jr., Jae’Sean Tate
“I was very satisfied with the draft and my picks. I feel like I covered everything I needed at each position and my team is looking really solid. Overall, the draft was very fun and would definitely do it again.”
CONNOR:
Round 1, Pick 9: Luka Doncic
Round 2, Pick 14: Anthony Davis
Round 3, Pick 31: Pascal Siakam
Round 4, Pick 36: Jaylen Brown
Round 5, Pick 53: Fred VanVleet
Coach Pick: Monty Williams
Role Players: Dillon Brooks, Quentin Grimes, Luke Kennard, Kevin Love, Lauri Markkanen, Alperen Sengün, PJ Tucker
“I drafted Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis, Pascal Siakam, Jaylen Brown, Fred VanVeet, and Monty Williams as my coach. I am happy with this draft because I have good players at every position and have a good coach. I am also happy about picking Jaylen Brown in the fourth round because he is a good player.”
NOAHWAL:
Round 1, Pick 10: Rudy Gobert
Round 2, Pick 13: Zach LaVine
Round 3, Pick 32: Russell Westbrook
Round 4, Pick 35: Marcus Smart
Round 5, Pick 54: Mikal Bridges
Coach Pick: Taylor Jenkins
Role Players: Saddiq Bey, John Collins, Andre Drummond, Danny Green, Caris LeVert, Immanuel Quickley, Coby White
“Considering I had the 10th pick, and out of the stack of cards that I chose, I received no point guard or big player, the grade I would give myself is an A-. There were some players that I wanted that I could not have because of my picking place.”
RUSHABH:
Round 1, Pick 11: Ja Morant
Round 2, Pick 12: Karl Anthony-Towns
Round 3, Pick 33: Jrue Holiday
Round 4, Pick 34: Anthony Edwards
Round 5, Pick 55: Kyle Lowry
Coach Pick: Tom Thibodeau
Role Players: Clint Capela, Seth Curry, Gordon Hayward, Jaren Jackson Jr., Trey Murphy III, Ricky Rubio, Juan Toscano-Anderson
“I liked my draft because I think I did good. Even though I had last pick it was good because I got two back to back picks which was nice during the first round.”
