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2016 NBA Draft Prospects Who Ended Up on the Wrong Team

Published by Bleacher Report on Tue, 28 Jun 2016


There were some questionable matches between prospect and team during last Thursday's 2016 NBA draft. A handful of general managers, looking to take the best player available, could see their strategy backfire due to potentially problematic fits.Coaches will have their work cut out for them trying to effectively plug these rookies in based on current rosters. And some of these players have been put in tough situations that could make it difficult for them to properly develop.The following five prospects ended up on the wrong teamsand both parties could suffer.Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics, SF, No. 3 pick)Jaylen Brown was somewhat of a surprise pick for the Celtics with Providence's Kris Dunn, Croatia's Dragan Bender and Oklahoma's Buddy Hield still on the board.Though one of the most explosive players in the 2016 field, Brown's physical tools and athleticism are far ahead of his offensive skills. And with Jae Crowder looking like his future counterpart up front, the Celtics aren't likely to get much scoring firepower from their forwards.Boston also took Brown, who shot 29.4 percent from three, despite finishing No. 28 in league three-point percentage last season.While it's clear general manager Danny Ainge simply viewed Brown as the best available player, I'd argue the Cal product should have been placed in the same tier as Hield, a better fit whose shooting prowess fills a need.Meanwhile, Phoenix looked like a strong fit for Brown, who'd benefit from the Suns' pace, opening at small forward and freedom to play through early mistakes.Marquese Chriss (Phoenix Suns, PF, No. 8 pick)Having acquired a second high-upside prospect without giving up too much (No. 13, No. 28, Bogdan Bogdanovic and a future second-round pick to the Sacramento Kings), Ilike where general manager Ryan McDonough'shead was at. But I'm not sure he thought the plan fully through.Phoenix had just taken Dragan Bender, another power forward who, like Chriss, needs extra time.Is the plan to form a rookie platoon at the 4 spot'There are some questions concerning their ability to play together.Neither are considered tough around the basket. They each have rebounding percentages below 13 percent (Chriss 10.7 percent, Bender 12.1 percent). Pairing them at the 4 and 5 could leave the lineup vulnerable to getting crushed under the boards.And though Bender has the foot speed to contain around the perimeter and Chriss has high-flying shot-blocking ability, neither are anchors or true rim protectors in the middle. I'm ultimately against moving Chriss to small forward, where his quickness won't be as effective against NBA wings. He's a tougher matchup for bigger power forwards.In terms of team fit and roster construction, Jakob Poeltl would have been the more fitting trade target at No. 8. He'd be able to play off Bender and provide a more physical presence down low to complement the Croatian's finesse style of play.Jakob Poeltl (Toronto Raptors, C, No. 9 pick)It's tough to argue with drafting the best player available, but in this case, the best player available won't have much of a chance to maximize his potential.Poeltl actually reminds me of a poor man's Jonas Valanciunasonly the real one is already on Toronto's roster and under contact until 2020 (player option 2019-20).The Raptors essentially used a top-10 pick on a backup who offers similar services as their current starting anchor.Poeltl and Valanciunasneither of whom stretch the floorwon't be able to play together.Domantas Sabonis, who outplayed Poeltl when they met in the NCAA tournament,seemed like the better fit and potentially the more promising prospect. Arguably the top rebounder in the draft, he'd have given the Raptors a more NBA-ready big capable of playing either the 4 or 5, given his ability to step out and knock down jumpers.Malik Beasley (Denver Nuggets, SG, No. 19 pick)Malik Beasley had to feel good about going top 20 in the draft, but he might have actually benefited by slipping deeper into the first round.Gary Harris has emerged as a promising two-way 2-guard with breakout potential in 2016-17. Considering the Denver Nuggets also took Jamal Murray at No. 7 overall and Will Barton remains under contract until 2018, it's tough to picture where Beasley fits in.The fear is that a couple of years go by and Beasley has no production to show for them.He isn't a combo guard, either. Denver may have been better off opting for Dejounte Murray, who could at least give Denver some minutes backing up Emmanuel Mudiay at the point.Skal Labissiere (Sacramento Kings, PF/C, No. 28 pick)Labissiere's outlook would have appeared brighter had he fallen to the San Antonio Spurs at No. 29. Instead, he goes No. 28, where the Kings acquired his rights via trade.Call it bad luck, poor picking or failed coaching, butbetween Jimmer Fredette, Thomas Robinson, Ben McLemore and Nik Stauskas,Sacramento doesn't exactly have a strong track record for developing talent.And Labissiere needs a ton of development, coming off a one-and-done year that saw him average 6.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.0 fouls per game.Tyler Ulis should have been the more appealing trade target from Kentucky. While his ceiling isn't as high, the Kings aren't getting a star here either way. Ulis would have given this roster much-needed toughness, competitiveness and basketball IQ at the backup point guard spotthree attributes listed as weaknesses on Labissiere's scouting report.Stats and contract info courtesy of Sports-Reference.com.
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