NBA: Ceilings, floors, and comparisons for the 2019 draft lottery picks
By Cole Raines
The 2019 NBA draft is over and what better way to analyze the lottery picks than some ceilings, floors, and comparisons.
The first three picks of the NBA draft went just as expected, the New Orleans Pelicans taking Zion, the Memphis Grizzlies getting Morant, and the New York Knicks taking Barrett. However, with trades everywhere and a toss-up for who would be taken after the 3rd pick, the draft proved to be an entertaining night for the NBA.
As an NBA fan, this period in between the draft and free agency leaves us to analyze your team’s picks, and draw some NBA comparisons to each of the upcoming rookies.
The Pelicans took Zion Williamson, the uber athletic big man out of Duke, with the 1st pick of the draft.
This seemed to be the consensus first pick of the draft, no ifs or buts about it. Zion truly is incomparable, with his athleticism and passing ability. His ceiling for me is a Hall of Famer, if he progresses into what people expect to be, he will be talked about for a long time.
His floor, an energetic sixth man/starter for a playoff team. It is tough to bust for Zion because of his strength and athleticism, but maybe he never develops a consistent 3 pointer, and a couple of injuries occur, it would still leave him as a great big to bring off the bench even if the worst happens.
NBA comparison: A combination of Ben Simmons, Draymond Green, and Julius Randle
This was a tough to comparison to make because he is one of the most unique players ever to come into the league, but with a similar lefty stroke, athleticism and strength of Randle, his passing ability could develop into what Draymond has, and the ball handling could progress similarly to Ben Simmons.