Thursday, November 19th, 2020

  The Opening Tip

• News broke this afternoon that Klay Thompson tore his Achillies yesterday. Terrible news.

• Al Horford and other big names are on the move.

• An important zoo x NBA crossover event happened today.

 1. A few thoughts from last night’s NBA Draft 

Obi Toppin: Crying because he’s going to the Knicks! Or crying because he’s going to the Knicks...

Fragmented thoughts on picks 1-14 while wondering when LaVar Ball will get

with MJ.

1. Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards: After months of trying to trade the pick, Minnesota decided to go with the guy who recently told ESPN, on the topic of basketball, “I’m still not really into it.”

2. Warriors, James Wiseman

3. Hornets, LaMelo Ball: This is a nice pick for Charlotte, which finally decided to do something interesting instead of running out the clock on moving the franchise to Seattle. Also, LaVar Ball is now the first pop to raise two sons drafted in the top-five of the NBA Draft. It is a simple fact. 

4. Bulls, Patrick Williams: Forget about his fit in Chicago. Did you see the ESPN segment on him helping his mother with her flower shop? It was delightful. “To my new teammates, if you ever need help with any types of flowers, I’m your guy.” 

5. Cavaliers, Isaac Okoro

6. Hawks, Onyeka Okongwu: Okongwu will become the next Giannis, as in, everyone will laugh at how hard his name is to pronounce, rather than simply learn how to say it and move on. 

7. Pistons, Killian Hayes

8. Knicks, Obi Toppin: Toppin spent his early life in Bushwick and gave a candid, emotional interview after the Knicks took him. It was wholly refreshing to see some authenticity from Toppin, who spent two years at Dayton after having zero Division I offers out of high school. And to all the Knicks fans worried Toppin is “too old” (he’s 22), how is Kevin Knox working out? 

9. Wizards, Deni Avdija: A lot of people think this guy could be the star of the draft in five years. It would make some sense, considering who picked immediately before the Wizards.

10. Suns, Jalen Smith: At 6-foot-10, Smith is another lob partner for Chris Paul, who is, yes, now a Phoenix Sun. 

11. Spurs, Devin Vassell

12. Kings, Tyrese Haliburton: Haliburton was last night’s annual how the hell did he fall this far guy. He couldn’t have just fallen two more spots, huh?

13. Pelicans, Kira Lewis Jr.

14. Celtics, Aaron Nesmith: Nesmith shot 52.2 percent (!) from deep on 8.2 attempts during 14 games at Vanderbilt last season. Plus, he’s “dug multiple chicken coops.” (Fast forward video to the one-minute mark.)

More notes/draft links: 

• A list of all 60 draft picks. 

• Kenyon Martin Jr. got drafted last night in the second round. We are terrifyingly old. 

• There were no Duke players taken yesterday in the first round for the first time since 2010. 

• Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina and Kansas all failed to produce a lottery pick for the first time since 2000. 

• In a draft night trade, the 76ers sent Josh Richardson to Dallas for Seth Curry, which means Doc Rivers will now have coached his son and his son-in-law. 

 2. We have important news from the animal x NBA world  

Nine-day-old Ja Raffe

The Memphis Zoo this morning officially announced the addition of a new and badass-looking giraffe, which was born nine days ago on Nov. 10.Along with the announcement came this hype video unveiling its new name: Ja Raffe, named, of course, after Memphis Grizzly Ja Morant.

• Ja (Raffe) is currently 6-foot-3 and 140 pounds, but is expected to fill out into his frame, as he is only nine days old. (His upside is undeniable.)

• Ja (Morant) welcomed Ja (Raffe) into the world with a nice tweet.

• We need a pic of both Jas, obviously. In the meantime, here’s more footage of Ja (Raffe).

3. Trivia time

From the 2016 NBA Draft through the 2019 NBA Draft, Duke had five top-five picks.Try and name ‘em all.Answers at the bottom.

4. A rolling Al Horford gathers no algae, and other big trades    

Al Horford, who opted out of his final year with the Celtics after the 2019 season to sign a four-year, $100 million deal with Philadelphia, was traded from the 76ers yesterday after one year that redefined disaster to the rebuilding Oklahoma City Thunder, who coaxed a first-round pick out of Philly in order to absorb Horford’s suddenly awful contract.Horford, now 34 and with zero leverage, is stuck in Oklahoma on a team with no vision of trying to be good for the next half-decade. He is the NBA player’s embodiment of the grass not always being greener. At least he’s rich. 

Other big trades this week:

1. Chris Paul got traded to the Suns for Kelly Oubre Jr., Ricky Rubio, Ty Jerome, Jalen Lecque and a 2022 first-round pick. Rubio has since been traded back to Minnesota. 

2. Jrue Holiday got traded to the Bucks for Eric Bledsoe, George Hill, three first-rounders and two pick swaps. It’s a massive price for a non-superstar, but it was done with the implication that Giannis will soon sign a five-year, supermax deal with the Bucks. 

3. Dennis Schroder got traded to the Lakers for Danny Green and a 2020 first-rounder. OKC has since routed Green to the 76ers in the Horford trade.

5. An updated list of every first-round pick the Thunder have over the next six years

2021: 

• Their own first-rounder. 

• Miami’s first-rounder. 

• Houston’s first-rounder. 

2022: 

• Their own first-rounder. 

• The Clippers’ first-rounder.

• Phoenix’s first-rounder.

2023: 

• The right to swap picks with the Clippers. 

• Miami’s first-rounder. 

2024: 

• Their own first-rounder. 

• The Clippers’ first-rounder. 

• Houston’s first-rounder. 

2025:

• The right to swap with the Rockets or Clippers. 

• Philadelphia’s first-rounder. 

2026:

• Their own first-rounder.

• The Clippers’ first-rounder.

• Houston’s first-rounder.

 6.  Off the press 

• Behind the scenes of the Timberwolves’ decision to draft Anthony Edwards [The Ringer]

• Inside the LaMelo Ball draft night extravaganza [ESPN]

• The undrafted, $100 million NBA player [The Wall Street Journal]