Mike Stobe/Getty Images The 2018 NBA draft lived up to expectations in terms of drama and surprising selections. After the Phoenix Suns selected Deandre Ayton with the No. 1 overall pick, a few unexpected moves shifted the direction of the first round. The Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks executed the biggest move of Thursday's selection process at Barclays Center, as the Hawks selected Luka Doncic at No. 3 and traded him to the Mavericks in exchange for Trae Young, whom Dallas took at No. 5. Duke and Kentucky continued to pump out lottery talent; the Blue Devils produced the No. 2 and No. 7 picks, while John Calipari saw two of his former Wildcats go at No. 9 and No. 11. The biggest surprise of the night was Michael Porter Jr.'s drop outside of the top 10, as teams passed on the Missouri one-and-done star because of concerns about his back injury. Porter was drafted by the Denver Nuggets with the final pick in the lottery at No. 14. The other shock was delivered by the Philadelphia 76ers, who selected Mikal Bridges at No. 10 before trading him to Phoenix for Zhaire Smith and a 2021 first-round selection. While we won't know how each player translates to the NBA for a few years, we assigned grades based on how each prospect fits with his new employer. Video Play Button Videos you might like Full Results Grades Atlanta: B Boston: B+ Brooklyn: C- Charlotte: B- Chicago: A- Cleveland: B Dallas: A+ Denver: A+ Detroit: B- Golden State: B+ Houston: B Indiana: B Los Angeles Clippers: C Los Angeles Lakers: A- Memphis: B+ Miami: N/A Milwaukee: B- Minnesota: B- New Orleans: B- New York: B+ Oklahoma City: B Orlando: A+ Philadelphia: B+ Phoenix: A Portland: B Sacramento: A- San Antonio: B- Toronto: N/A Utah: B+ Washington: B Dallas Is Clear Winner of Trade with Atlanta Dallas fleeced Atlanta in the deal that sent Doncic to the Mavericks and Young to the Hawks. At points in the draft process, Doncic was considered the best player in the talent pool, and he could well be the biggest star of the group. The Mavericks have the perfect system in place for Doncic to succeed right away, as he will be working under head coach Rick Carlisle and learning from Dirk Nowitzki. Sonia Canada/Getty Images Carlisle already appears to have a wealth of confidence in Doncic, as he alluded to the Slovenian's play-making ability, per Damon R. Marx of the Dallas Morning News: Dallas also sent a protected 2019 first-round pick to the Hawks in the deal. The Mavericks could greatly improve next season, as they are going to have one of the most talented backcourts in the Western Conference for a long time with Doncic and Dennis Smith Jr. in the starting lineup. Dallas aren't a complete team just because Doncic is in the fold, but they took a step in the right direction by bringing in the Slovenian. When it comes to the Hawks, their direction isn't as clear, as Young joins a roster that already includes Dennis Schroder. Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk came from Golden State, and he's enamored with Young, who has drawn comparisons to Stephen Curry. Although Young is known for his shooting, Schlenk is in love with most aspects of his game, per Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Young could turn out to be a star in the NBA, but the Mavericks received a piece that could make them a contender for a playoff spot next season, while the Hawks still have holes to fill at other positions. Denver Gets a Steal in Porter The Nuggets won't finish ninth in the Western Conference for the third straight season. After careful consideration, the Nuggets took Porter with the final pick of the lottery despite growing concerns about the back injury that forced him out of most of his freshman season at Missouri. Mike Stobe/Getty Images Unlike the Charlotte Hornets and Los Angeles Clippers in front of them, the Nuggets felt comfortable taking a risk on Porter as they try to get over the hump and qualify for the postseason. Porter rounds out a nice core in Denver that includes Nikola Jokic, Gary Harris and Jamal Murray that could land anywhere from fifth to eighth in the West if the team reaches its full potential. If he lives up to the hype created by his high school and AAU career, Porter could be an All-Star for decades. ESPN's Marc J. Spears went as far to say Porter could have a presence similar to Carmelo Anthony: The freshman out of Missouri could provide a similar impact that Donovan Mitchell had on the Utah Jazz in his rookie year. Although the two players carry different skill sets, Porter could give the Nuggets a boost and help them make the playoffs and become a scary team in the first round of the postseason against one of the established contenders in the West. Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.<doc-sep>Now that the 2018 NBA Draft has come and gone, it’s time to take a look at what happened with draft grades for all 30 teams. The NBA’s version of Christmas has come and gone, and with the 2018 NBA Draft behind us, it’s time to take a look at the picks, the surprising trades and the inexplicable decisions that got us here. In a draft featuring multiple teams trying to trade up, others trying to trade down and ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski not so subtly flipping the bird to those who would contain his freedom of the press with some hilarious phrasing, Thursday night was a memorable and thoroughly entertaining event. The Phoenix Suns used their first No. 1 pick in 50 years as an NBA franchise. The Sacramento Kings flirted with going full “KANGZ” at No. 2. The Atlanta Hawks lost their minds at No. 3, the Dallas Mavericks capitalized, the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets somehow snuck out with great picks, the Los Angeles Lakers made some weird moves and the rest of the league filtered in and out between those margins. In order to sort it all out and make sense of the various picks, trades and notable decisions, it’s time to take a look at 2018 NBA Draft grades for all 30 teams.<doc-sep>With the third pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, acquired via trade, the Dallas Mavericks selected Luka Doncic. I know you already knew that, I just wanted to type it to remind us all that it really happened. There were so many celebratory tweets we had trouble limiting it so there are a whole bunch here. From sarcastic Woj dropping the picks to Mavs fans reaction, the tweets were off the chain. Please enjoy our favorites below. Best tweet of the night please do not @ us. Shams might have led Woj into the sarcastic pick predicting by tweeting out the first two picks. NBA: no more leaking picks ESPN: ok WOJ: fine SHAMS: [tweets first two picks three hours early] ESPN: woj, n— WOJ: pic.twitter.com/9mCYlTQFIY — ☕netw3rk (@netw3rk) June 21, 2018 Woj’s adjective selection was spot on all night. Source: Portland has a laser on Anfernee Simons. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 22, 2018 Poor Greg. Remember to check on your friends who are Kings fans. Life is tough sometimes. Luka is going to torment the Rockets for years to come. We hope they’re ready for it. Looking forward to rooting against Luka Doncic for years. — The Dream Shake (@DreamShakeSBN) June 21, 2018 Rudy Gobert knows what’s up. Great move by the Mavs, people don't realize how good this kid is. — Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) June 21, 2018 We don’t know what’s going on here but we like it. DALLAS IS NEW DONC CITY* *pending trade from Atlanta to the Mavs pic.twitter.com/hMuLefZpGw — SB Nation (@SBNation) June 21, 2018 Thank you Hawks! Thank you & you’re welcome. — Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) June 22, 2018 Atlanta might not feel as good about this trade when Luka Doncic is running rampant for the next many many years. The Hawks when Luka Doncic undoubtably becomes the next Dirk pic.twitter.com/F9AIXLfewP — Liberty Ballers (@Liberty_Ballers) June 21, 2018 Welcome Luka! We agree with him on this. Giving Rick Carlisle Luka Doncic is one of those “You will rue the day” moments. — Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) June 21, 2018 Luka has a very good dog. This is an important update! No initial evidence that #Hawks (#Mavs?) draft pick Luka Doncic owns a cat or likes cats. BUT he loves his dog back home, Nody. #NBADraft pic.twitter.com/2MjG9ogBKy — NBA CATWATCH (@NBAcatwatch) June 21, 2018 SB Nation: your number one graphic design destination. Dennis approves, so we approve. I’m a fan — Dennis Smith Jr. (@Dennis1SmithJr) June 21, 2018 Oh hey there Tom. A budding friendship emerges! I’m buying 30 of these. This is a darn good tweet. NBA Jam was awesome. Luka Doncic and Dennis Smith Jr. in the same backcourt already a Top 5 NBA Jam duo — Adrian Wobnarowski (@World_Wide_Wob) June 21, 2018 Our initial reaction was very excited about Luka. DONCIC TO DALLAS pic.twitter.com/bWlsCf1aDJ — Mavs Moneyball (@mavsmoneyball) June 21, 2018 That’s all the tweets from the draft! Not really there were a whole bunch more but it’d be rude to put the entire timeline in one post, so this is it. Remember all the best tweets come from @mavsmoneyball, so follow us for the best tweets on the internet, and long live Luka.<doc-sep>With the No. 7 pick in the 2018 NBA draft, your Chicago Bulls selected Wendell Carter Jr, a Freshmen Center out of Duke. The top-6 went Ayton, Bagley, Doncic, Jackson, Young, and Bamba, with Dallas moving up from #5 to Atlanta’s #3 slot to get Doncic. Is Carter Jr. a safe pick here? Maybe since his floor is higher and his ceiling is lower than a lot of the other guys in the lottery. He is solid mechanically in the post, rebounds like a man possessed (9.1 boards per game), can score around the bucket with both hands, has a semblance of a jump shot (19-for-46 from 3-point land; 41.3 percent), rim protects (7.8 percent block percentage), and can defend on the perimeter. He does everything well, but isn’t an elite scorer nor does he project as an absolute game changer defensively. But, he’s low maintenance and projects as one of those guys that just quietly does his job on a nightly basis. He graciously played second fiddle to Marvin Bagley in college and the Bulls don’t need another player to hog shots as they continue to figure out the Lauri Markkanen, Kris Dunn, and Zach LaVine dynamic. A guy that can defend a little bit at the five and rebound like a madman is exactly what the Bulls need next to Markkanen, and reportedly was a priority for the Bulls heading into tonight. For more, here is a Wendell Carter draft profile that we did recently. The Bulls are slated to pick next at #22<doc-sep>
Grayson Allen became the newest member of the Utah Jazz on Thursday, after the team selected him with the No. 21 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. Utah has been trending toward full-blown position-less basketball in recent years, so guys in the 6’7”-6’8” range who can play multiple positions seemed like the natural target this year. So, how does Allen fit with this team? Shooting This is Allen’s biggest and most obvious skill. He shot 38 percent from three on nearly 800 attempts in college. And a lot of those shots were contested or off the dribble. For a team that has fully embraced modern offense, adding more shooting makes sense. With the 21st overall pick in the 2018 #nbadraft the @utahjazz select Grayson Allen, a 4-year senior shooting guard out of #Duke University Full #NBA Pro Day Video >> https://t.co/mneti31L7m pic.twitter.com/UiqeD4K8mA — Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 22, 2018 Lineups that include Allen, Donovan Mitchell and Joe Ingles could really make teams scramble on defense. Just imagine a pick-and-roll with Mitchell and Gobert, flanked by Ingles and Allen in the corners. All that space to the rim could give Mitchell a chance for even more dynamic finishes. Playmaking Plenty of guys are expected to be able to handle the ball in this system, and Allen has the potential to do that at the NBA level as well. His career Assist Percentage of 19.6 is solid, but it’s the 4.6 assists per game he handed out as a senior that’s most impressive. He played on a team with two top-10 big men in Marvin Bagley and Wendell Carter, and obviously knew how to set those guys up. Similar to the situation laid out above, Allen can run some pick-and-roll with Mitchell and Ingles flanking. In fact, whoever gets the advantage matchup (which will generally be Mitchell) can go to work. The ability to both shoot and create will be huge. Defense This is maybe the most important aspect of the game for any incoming Jazz player. Over the years, we’ve seen that an inability to defend both individually and within the system can get you yanked off the floor in a hurry. There are certainly questions about Allen’s defense, and they’re probably fair. But there are some strengths you can point to. According to Jonathan Givony, he had one of the fastest lane agility times in combine history: That, of course, lends itself to an ability to play defense. He may just need to be coached how to do it at this level. And there may be no better staff in the league to do that. Allen also had a career Steal Percentage (one of the best indicators for future success) over two in college. And he was 39th in the entire NCAA in total steals this season. The Numbers There’s always some concern over seniors heading into the NBA. If a player isn’t able to dominate college until he gets a little older than the teenagers he’s facing, it’s a red flag. With Allen, though, the shade of red isn’t quite as scary. A good NCAA Box Plus-Minus for an NBA prospect is around or above 10. And Allen had a career-best 9.7 Box Plus-Minus as a sophomore. And he had one of the best stretches of his career during March Madness as a freshman. This isn’t necessarily a case of a guy struggling till he got the age advantage. What’s more, Allen’s Box Plus-Minus profile is nearly identical to Jimmy Butler’s. This is obviously an imperfect comparison. Butler’s bigger and plays a different style. But in terms of overall impact on the game, his senior season was about the same as Allen’s. Conclusion This pick makes sense. It’s entirely possible that Utah was eyeing the kind of 3-and-D wing/forward Jazz fans expected. It’s just that most of those guys went in the 10-20 range. Allen isn’t big enough to play the 3, but he still has the potential to play either guard spot, thanks to the shooting, playmaking and athleticism.