SPORTS WRAP
STORY & PHOTO BY WILLIAM HATHAWAY, JR.
The National Basketball Association hosted its annual draft last week at the Barclays Center. As expected, the Dallas Mavericks took Duke superstar Cooper Flagg with the 1st overall pick. Rutgers guard Dylan Harper was taken #2 by the San Antonio Spurs, while teammate Ace Bailey went to the Utah Jazz with the 5th selection.
The Philadelphia 76ers selected Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe with the 3rd pick, while Flagg’s teammate Kon Knueppel went to the Charlotte Hornets with the 4th pick. As for the rest of the Top 10, Texas guard Tre Johnson went #6 to the Washington Wizards, Oklahoma guard Jeremiah Fears went #7 to the New Orleans Pelicans, the Nets took BYU guard Egor Demin #8, Collin Murray-Bowles was taken 9th by the Toronto Raptors, and Duke big man Khaman Maluach was taken #10 by the Houston Rockets, but traded to the Phoenix Suns in the seven team deal that sent Kevin Durant to H-town.
Other draftees of note included Chinese big man Wang Hansen getting drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies and Big East star Ryan Kalkbrenner from Creighton going to the Charlotte Hornets. St. Joseph’s forward Rasheer Fleming was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves, four-year Marquette standout Kam Jones went to the Spurs, and the New York Knicks made a deal to acquire Mohamed Diawara.
Besides Bailey’s controversy about where he landed, the draft did not have any bombshell deals. However, there is one thing on the mind of Local Talk Content Editor Kristopher Seals.
“Based on what I have seen, the steal of the draft might have been Maxime Raynaud at #42 by the Sacramento Kings,” Seals said. “If they play him, there is a lot of potential there.”
Finally, in other notes from the two-day draft, Duke’s entire starting lineup was drafted. On the other hand, Kadary Richmond, who was a key player in this season with St John’s after transferring from Seton Hall, was signed by the Washington Wizards. Also going undrafted was teammate RJ Luis, Jr., who was picked up by the Utah Jazz.
