Last night\u2019s NBA draft wasn\u2019t a huge surprise at the top but the picks veered slightly away from our expectations as the first round progressed. <\/p>\n
Let\u2019s look at the top 10, plus some of the best and worst picks.<\/p>\n
1. Cleveland Cavaliers: Kyrie Irving, PG, Duke<\/strong><\/p>\n Irving will get a chance to become a star in the NBA right away, probably playing major minutes as a rookie with the talent-starved Cavs. Is he really a superstar in the making, though? I\u2019m not totally convinced. The sample size in his injury-shortened Duke stay was too small.<\/p>\n 2. Minnesota Timberwolves: Derrick Williams, F, Arizona<\/strong><\/p>\n Could Williams have gone No. 1? Maybe his ceiling isn\u2019t as high as Irving\u2019s. But he looks very ready to be a solid everyday contributor immediately. He can take on defenders off the dribble and get to the line in a very polished way. The T-Wolves will be happy they didn\u2019t trade the No. 2 pick, as they were rumored to do.<\/p>\n 3. Utah Jazz: Enes Kanter, C, Turkey<\/strong><\/p>\n Enes Kanter won the European Big Man Sweepstakes. He should be a great low-post center, even if he isn\u2019t the best shot blocker, and will form a solid frontcourt in Utah with Derrick Favors for years to come.<\/p>\n 4. Cleveland Cavaliers: Tristan Thompson, PF, Texas<\/strong><\/p>\n Hmmm. When you have two of the top four picks, don\u2019t you want to swing for the fences? I suppose the Cavs wanted to guarantee some success by playing it safe with their second pick. Thompson was projected to go a few picks later but it\u2019s hard to dispute his motor ad rebounding ability.<\/p>\n 5. Jonas Valanciunas, C, Lithuania<\/strong><\/p>\n Will the Raptors ever make a normal, safe pick in an NBA draft again? They went with the high-risk, high-upside center Jonas Valanciunas. He could be a star but has to fill out his 7\u20190\u201d, 240-pound frame and may not play in the NBA for a year.<\/p>\n 6. Washington Wizards: Jan Vesely, SF, Czech Republic<\/strong><\/p>\n Pretty much everyone liked this pick, as Vesely could\u2019ve gone higher. He\u2019s a great athlete and should eventually mesh well and run the floor with John Wall.<\/p>\n 7. Charlotte Bobcats: Bismack Biyombo, F\/C, Congo<\/strong><\/p>\n His offensive skills are a big question mark but he looks like he could be a defensive monster in the mold of a Ben Wallace or Dikembe Mutombo. But do you want to use a No. 7 overall pick on a defensive juggernaut? It\u2019s debatable. <\/p>\n 8. Detroit Pistons: Brandon Knight, PG, Kentucky<\/strong><\/p>\n Wow. How did Knight fall this far? Shame on the Raptors in particular for not grabbing a guy with Knight\u2019s ceiling. The Pistons should have their best guard since Chauncey Billups in Knight.<\/p>\n 9.Charlotte Bobcats: Kemba Walker, PG, Connecticut<\/strong><\/p>\n Personally, I would\u2019ve liked to see Walker go sooner. Yes, he\u2019s small and yes, he has some knee issues, but he\u2019s a proven winner. He has that intangible ability. Good on Charlotte for taking him.<\/p>\n 10. Sacramento Kings: Jimmer Fredette, G, BYU<\/strong><\/p>\n And the Kings break Utah\u2019s heart. Say what you want about his defense, but Fredette is a great pure scorer and shooter. The question is: will he be the next J.J. Redick or something much more?<\/p>\n The Pistons did great to snag Brandon Knight. This is a guy some scouts rated as high as third. To me, he has as much upside as anyone in the draft, so the Pistons had to be thrilled that he was still there at No. 8. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n Few people seemed to like Houston\u2019s pick of Donatas Motiejunas at No. 20. He\u2019s a 7\u20190\u201d behemoth that reportedly has no toughness. Why go that big if there\u2019s no defensive upside?<\/p>\n If Kemba Walker can overcome his lack of size, he could be a heart-and-soul type of guy that you build a team around. Other teams may kick themselves for passing on him down the road.<\/p>\n The consensus is that the Bobcats were insane to grab Biyombo at No. 7. Reports on his offensive game range from acceptable to atrocious.<\/p>\n Full Recap – First round<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Cleveland (from L.A. Clippers): PG KYRIE IRVING, 6-2, 180 pounds, Duke, Fr. Round 2<\/strong><\/p>\n 1.\tHeat\t— Bojan Bogdanovic\tSF Shea Matthews weighs in with his 2011 NBA draft summary, results, sleepers and top picks. The 2011 NBA Draft is officially in the books. Kyrie Irving went No. 1, here are the grades…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":39686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[49151,28288,50017,50014,49148,50015,40643,50013,2381,3925,11729,11979,1132,50016,47312],"class_list":["post-39683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","tag-derrick-williams","tag-draft-picks","tag-draft-results","tag-draft-summary","tag-enes-kanter","tag-jonas-valanciunas","tag-kyrie-irving","tag-nba-draft-recap","tag-nba-picks","tag-nba-predictions","tag-round-1","tag-round-2","tag-sleepers","tag-top-picks","tag-tristan-thompson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39683"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39689,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39683\/revisions\/39689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}BEST PICK<\/h3>\n
WORST PICK<\/h3>\n
BIGGEST STEAL<\/h3>\n
BIGGEST REACH<\/h3>\n
\n2. Minnesota: F DERRICK WILLIAMS, 6-8, 241, Arizona, Soph.
\n3. Utah (from New Jersey): C ENES KANTER, 6-10, 255, Kentucky, Fr.
\n4. Cleveland: PF TRISTAN THOMPSON, 6-8, 225, Texas, Soph.
\n5. Toronto: C JONAS VALANCIUNAS, 7-0, 231, Lithuania.
\n6. Washington: F JAN VESELY, 6-11, 239, Czech Republic.
\n7. Sacramento (trade pending with Charlotte): PF BISMACK BIYOMBO, 6-9, 243, Congo.
\n8. Detroit: PG BRANDON KNIGHT, 6-3, 185, Kentucky, Fr.
\n9. Charlotte: PG KEMBA WALKER, 6-1, 172, Connecticut, Jr.
\n10. Milwaukee (trade pending with Sacramento): G JIMMER FREDETTE, 6-2, 190, BYU, Sr.
\n11. Golden State: SG KLAY THOMPSON, 6-6, 202, Washington State, Jr.
\n12. Utah: SG ALEC BURKS, 6-6, 195, Colorado, Soph.
\n13. Phoenix: PF MARKIEFF MORRIS, 6-10, 245, Kansas, Jr.
\n14. Houston: SF MARCUS MORRIS, 6-9, 235, Kansas, Jr.
\n15. Indiana (trade pending with San Antonio): SF KAWHI LEONARD, 6-7, 225, San Diego State, Soph.
\n16. Philadelphia: PF\/C NIKOLA VUCEVIC, 6-10, 260, USC, Sr.
\n17. New York: SG IMAN SHUMPERT, 6-5, Georgia Tech, Jr.
\n18. Washington (from Atlanta): SF CHRIS SINGLETON, 6-9, 220, Florida State, Jr.
\n19. Charlotte (from New Orleans via Portland, trade pending with Milwaukee): F TOBIAS HARRIS, 6-8, 225, Tennessee, Fr.
\n20. Minnesota (from Memphis via Utah, trade pending with Houston): F DONATAS MOTIEJUNAS, 7-0, 222, Lithuania
\n21. Portland: PG NOLAN SMITH, 6-2, 185, Duke, Sr.
\n22. Denver: PF KENNETH FARIED, 6-8, 225, Morehead State, Sr.
\n23. Houston (from Orlando via Phoenix, trade pending with Chicago via Minnesota): F NIKOLA MIROTIC, Montenegro, 6-10, 220.
\n24. Oklahoma City: G REGGIE JACKSON, 6-3, 208, Boston College, Jr.
\n25. Boston (trade pending with New Jersey): SG MARSHON BROOKS, 6-5, 200 Providence, Sr.
\n26. Dallas (trade pending with Denver, via Portland): SF JORDAN HAMILTON, 6-7, 220, Texas, Soph.
\n27. New Jersey (from L.A. Lakers, trade pending with Boston): PF JAJUAN JOHNSON, Purdue, 6-10, 221, Sr.
\n28. Chicago (from Miami via Toronto, trade pending with Miami, via Minnesota): PG NORRIS BROOKS, Cleveland State, Sr.
\n29. San Antonio: G CORY JOSEPH, 6-3, 185 pounds, Texas, Fr.
\n30. Chicago: F JIMMY BUTLER 6-7, 220, Marquette, Sr.<\/p>\n
\n2.\tCavaliers\t— \tJustin Harper\tPF
\n3.\tPistons\t— \tKyle Singler\tSF
\n4.\tWizards\t— \tShelvin Mack\tPG
\n5.\tKings\t\t— Tyler Honeycutt\tSF
\n6.\tNets\t— \tJordan Williams\tC
\n7.\tClippers\t— \tTrey Thompkins\tPF
\n8.\tRockets\t— \tChandler Parsons\tSF
\n9.\tBobcats\t— \tJeremy Tyler\tPF
\n10.\tBucks\t— \tJon Leuer\tPF
\n11.\tLakers\t— \tDarius Morris\tPG
\n12.\tPacers\t— \tDavis Bertans\tSF
\n13.\tBulls\t— \tMalcolm Lee\tPG
\n14.\tWarriors\t— \tCharles Jenkins\tPG
\n15.\tHornets\t— \tJosh Harrellson\tC
\n16.\tLakers\t— \tAndrew Goudelock\tSG
\n17.\tClippers\t— \tTravis Leslie\tSG
\n18.\tHawks\t— \tKeith Benson\tC
\n19.\tGrizzlies\t— \tJosh Selby\tPG
\n20.\t76ers\t\t— Lavoy Allen\tPF
\n21.\tTrail Blazers\t\t— Jon Diebler\tSG
\n22.\tPistons\t— \tVernon Macklin\tPF
\n23.\tMagic\t\t— DeAndre Liggins\tSG
\n24.\tCavaliers\t\t— Milan Macvan\tPF
\n25.\tCeltics\t— \tE’Twaun Moore\tSG
\n26.\tLakers\t— \tChukwudiebere Maduabum\tPF
\n27.\tMavericks\t\t— Targuy Ngombo\tSF
\n28.\tLakers\t\t— Ater Majok\tPF
\n29.\tSpurs\t\t— Adam Hanga\tSG
\n30.\tKings\t\t— Isaiah Thomas\tPG<\/p>\n**CHECK OUT OUR TOP NBA CAPPERS TODAY – GREAT SPORTS PICKS ALL SEASON LONG!!!<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"