Before this year’s draft, we look back at what the 2015 NBA Draft with a re-draft of the Lottery
As we quickly approach the 2016 NBA draft, we take a quick look back at what last year’s NBA Draft Lottery would look like with the information we know today about the players selected.
Drafting is never an easy choice for any NBA executive in the lottery and especially for this draft, which was believed to be one of the best classes in recent memory.
Mistakes were made, and now we will go back and see what each NBA executive could have done different.
Oklahoma City Thunder – No. 14 pick: Cameron Payne
Redraft: Norman Powell
Norman Powell who is moving WAY UP in this draft was shut down on the end of the Toronto bench for the vast majority of the year, but when given the chance, he exploded. During the last 12 games of the season, Powell played 31.6 minutes per game.
In those minutes, Powell averaged 14.8 points per game, which is almost triple Payne’s yearly average. Along with that, Powell connected on 2.1 threes per game during that span, and he helped lead the Raptors to an 8-4 record.
Normal Powell would have been a great fit for the Thunder. As seen in their current playoff series, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook thrive with another playmaker on the court, and Powell could have given them that playmaker.
Powell was the 46 pick in the 2015 NBA draft, and after his first season could have made a case to be a low-end lottery pick for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Next: No. 13