What if the 2015 NBA Draft Never Happened?

All of this year’s rookies are available, and Philly is on the clock

Close your eyes for a second. Come with me to an alternate NBA reality.

The rules have changed. Now when guys declare for the draft, they’re all whisked away to the D-League for a season of unfettered development. There they play for a full year honing their skills, totally unmolested by agents or team draft rights. And then they get drafted.

So imagine: the 2016 season has played out and the draft is coming. All the contracts are current, free agency is looming, and we know what young basketball talents actually look like with a year of NBA training.

The lottery results have stayed the same, so Philly is on the clock. Of course they don’t have Okafor or any of their rookies from this past year. But they do have the #1 pick they’ve tanked three years to land…

1 Philadelphia — Karl-Anthony Towns

Even without Okafor, the Sixers are still overloaded with big men prospects. There’s Nerlens Noel along with the prospect of Joel Embiid and Dario Saric. But Towns is an absolute superstar. Even Philly is not dumb enough to mess this one up. Take him and sort out the mess after. Just trust the process. Uhh… maybe let’s find a better way to say that.

2 LA Lakers — Kristaps Porzingis

Remember it’s present-day NBA, so Kobe is retired, the Lakers are terrible, and there’s nothing here to build around unless you love Julius Randle. Maybe the Lakers still take Russell here but with the, um, problems to end the season plus with the superstar potential of Porzingis — both on and off the court in Hollywood — the Lakers try to grab a star.

3 Boston — Justise Winslow

Initially I had Okafor here, figuring Stevens could recognize the positives and make him a super-version of the outgoing Sullinger. But let’s be real. Boston wanted to trade four 1st rounders for Winslow last year, and now we all know why. Winslow looks like a defensive stud already. Here’s a rookie small forward playing center on offense and picking up the point guard on defense, and all in the second round of the NBA playoffs. That’s the sort of versatility that teams kill for in 2016. Imagine trying to score on Bradley, Smart, Crowder, and Winslow… holy cow. That’s just wrong. Plus Boston would still have seven (!) more draft picks coming to add some big men and shooting.

4 Phoenix — Myles Turner

This was a tough one. Phoenix has a second lottery pick at 13, so this pick has to be made with that in mind. Bledose and Knight look like their guards of the present and future, and Chandler and Len are useful bigs, but the team really lacks forwards. It was tempting to have the Suns just take Devin Booker again here, as good as he has looked on the team, but they could really use a dynamic young big man and won’t get another shot later. Turner looked like a star down the stretch and for flashes in the playoffs, so he’s the pick.

5 Minnesota — Jahlil Okafor

I’m a Wolves fan, so this makes me sick to my stomach. Goodbye KAT, goodbye MVPs, goodbye all the future championships. Most likely goodbye Thibs too, but that’s not the premise here. Instead you’ve got Rubio, LaVine and Wiggins but a giant hole as far as useful bigs. Porzingis or Turner would’ve been nice, and Winslow could’ve been scary under Thibs, but they’re all gone. Instead Minnesota hopes to rekindle the old post play they once had with Al Jefferson. His weak defense might be offset by Dieng, and he gives the team a talented young core, but this still makes me nauseous.

6 New Orleans — D’Angelo Russell

Jackpot for the Pelicans! DAR falls all the way to 6 and gives them a possible second superstar to pair with Anthony Davis, two real franchise building blocks. Russell gives New Orleans the point guard they haven’t had since the Chris Paul deal. The team has bigger immediate needs at forward but there’s no way the Pels could pass on a steal like this.

7 Denver — Emmanuel Mudiay

The Nuggets have a ton of assets plus 3 of the top 19 picks in this draft. They still have Gallinari and Faried, and they’re set at shooting guard with the vastly improved Barton and Harris. Talented young big Nurkic is still there, and most importantly of all, so is Jokic. Yes he was a “rookie” this year and an outstanding one at that, but he’s from a previous draft so he’s still on the team — and under this premise they know what they’ve got too. So they’re set at SG and C and have some nice forwards but still really need that point guard. Sucks to be just one pick away from landing Russell here, and in a real draft they probably find a way to package picks to move up. Instead they end up with the exact same player they actually took in Mudiay. He had a miserable rookie year, but most rookie point guards do. He’ll be fine.

8 Sacramento — Devin Booker

A real steal here for Sacramento. Booker could be the next big thing at shooting guard, and you could make a reasonable case for him being taken as high as 2nd in a redraft like this. Never mind that it’s yet another two guard lottery pick for the Kings — this gives them a real inside-out duo with Boogie that could be a core for the future.

9 Toronto — Bobby Portis

Unfortunately for the Raps, the stud talent just ran out. That’s too bad for a team that’s already in the Eastern Finals and is likely to see DeRozan and Biyombo leave this summer. It’s a team built to win now, so they need someone that can come in and contribute right away. The major holes are at SG and PF, so with Booker just missing them, Portis is the pick. He’s fairly polished and well developed and versatile, a guy who can do a bit of everything, something they really missed from Amir Johnson this year.

10 Milwaukee — Willie Cauley-Stein

Love this pick for the Bucks. WCS is the long freakish athletic big that the team needs, a (slightly) saner version of Larry Sanders(!). So much length out there with MCW, Greek Freak, Middleton, Jabari, Henson, and WCS gives the team yet another player that fits what Kidd and the team are building there and the defensive middle man the team sorely lacked this season.

11 Orlando — Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

The Magic would probably love a redo on this entire season. Alas. Skiles is gone now, and so is Tobias Harris. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is another athletic forward that fits the teams m.o. and adds the perimeter defense Orlando has sorely lacked. He looked fantastic early on for Brooklyn this year before missing most of the season to injury. You have to think Frank Vogel would love RHJ. It’s a run on hyphenated dudes!

12 Utah — Frank Kaminsky

Frank the Tank just feels like a Utah player. The Jazz could certainly use his versatility and shooting from the four, and this team would be looking for a player that’s ready to contribute right away. Kaminsky struggled in the playoffs for Charlotte, but maybe a change of scenery would’ve done him well.

13 Phoenix — Stanley Johnson

Wow would Phoenix love this! Bledsoe-Knight-Johnson-Turner would be an athletic fun quartet and get these Suns on the right track in a hurry.

14 Chicago — Cameron Payne

Payne gets drafted at 14 again but to the Bulls instead of OKC. Chicago needs another point guard to groom behind Rose, and Payne fits the bill. He’s a dynamic young playmaker and it’s a real shame that he’s nailed to the Thunder bench so we don’t get to see more of him in these playoffs.

15 Denver — Trey Lyles

Remember, the Nuggets have 3 picks in the top 19. They already took Mudiay (again) at 7, and now they’ve got two of the next five picks. they need to find some forwards here, one more of a shooter and one a big. Lyles is the first pick because he’s the last strong big on the table and his versatility reminds you a lot of Danilo Gallinari, another player that can play either forward. Perhaps Lyles grows into the Gallo role and eventually replaces him.

16 Boston — Josh Richardson

The Celtics already got Winslow, so now it’s time for some shooting. Richardson has been a huge pick-up for Miami and shot 45% from downtown over the second half of the season. Boston hardly needs another guard, but they certainly could use the shooting and scoring punch off the bench.

17 Memphis — Norman Powell

If Powell can’t play for The North, perhaps he should suit up for Canada’s old team. The Grizz have an interesting future ahead. Marc Gasol is signed long-term, but Conley could walk, and ZBo only has one year left. Do you run it back once more or finally start looking ahead? Powell might be able to do a bit of both and seems to fit the old grit-n-grind mentality well.

18 Detroit — Justin Anderson

Anderson played well in moments for the Mavs this season, and he comes polished and ready to play out of Virginia. He fills the small forward hole on the team and would play well with Drummond and Jackson.

19 Denver — Mario Hezonja

It was tough to place Hezonja, and he’s the guy I had falling furthest from his initial draft position. He did very little this year… but this is Denver’s third pick and they have the luxury to take a shot here. That’s becoming a very international team and Hezonja is another huge swing at the fences. Imagine a roster with Mudiay, Barton, Harris, Hezonja, Gallinari, Lyles, Faried, Jokic, and Nurkic! Sounds like the future of the West to me.

20 Indiana — Jerian Grant

The Pacers need someone that can handle the ball and play more of a true point guard role. Grant isn’t the perfect fit, but the team seems to have soured on George Hill, and the combination of Monta, Stuckey, and Miles aren’t getting the job done either, so Grant seems worth a shot.

So there’s your top 20 — what a difference a year can make! Sixers and Nuggets fans are pretty excited, and Timberwolves fans crawl back into the hole we’ve lived in for the past decade.

Welp. Can’t win ’em all.

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