Last night [Thursday, June 23], the 2016 NBA Draft took place in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center, and it got off to an unsurprising start.
Reports had come out the day before that the Philadelphia 76ers were going to select Ben Simmons with the 1st pick, and that the Los Angeles Lakers were going to select Brandon Ingram with the 2nd pick, and the teams were true to their words.
- 76ers – Ben Simmons (LSU)
- Lakers – Brandon Ingram (Duke)
- Celtics – Jaylen Brown (California)
- Suns – Dragan Bender (Croatia)
- T’Wolves – Kris Dunn (Providence)
- Pelicans – Buddy Hield (Oklahoma)
- Nuggets – Jamal Murray (Kentucky)
- Kings (Traded to PHX) – Marquese Chriss (Washington)
- Raptors – Jakob Poeltl (Utah)
- Bucks – Thon Maker (Australia)
- Magic – Domantas Sabonis (Gonzaga)
- Jazz (Traded to ATL) – Taurean Prince (Baylor)
- Suns (Traded to SAC) – Georgios Papagiannis (Greece)
- Bulls – Denzel Valentine (Michigan State)
- Nuggets – Juan Hernangomez (Spain)
Of note, outside the top two, Buddy Hield will unite with “The Brow,” Anthony Davis, down in New Orleans, Jamal Murray will pair up with Emanuel Mudiay in Denver, and Denzel Valentine will look to help fill Derrick Rose’s shoes in Chicago.
There were also a few trades of note on Draft night, such as the trade that sent Serge Ibaka to the Orland Magic, and Victor Oladipo, Ersan Ilyasova, and the 11th pick, Domantas Sabonis, to the Thunder. Clearly the Thunder are trying to bring in new pieces that will either support Kevin Durant, or help them build for the future should he take his talents elsewhere.
Besides that trade, the Indiana Pacers swapped the 20th pick for Thaddeus Young, from the Brooklyn Nets, the Charlotte Hornets swapped the 22nd pick for Sacramento’s Marco Belinelli, and Sacramento sent their draft prospect Marquese Chriss, who they selected 8th overall, to Phoenix for their draft pick, Georgios Papagiannis, who they took at 13, the 28th pick, a future 2nd round pick and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
You can find the complete list of draft selections here.