These Five NBA Draft Picks Have Franchise-Altering Potential

It’s a familiar story across all of sports.

During the draft evaluation process, a prospect gets injured, suspended or labeled as having “character issues,” which leads to a firestorm of questions regarding their future in their respective sport.

It happened to Laremy Tunsil and Derrius Guice in the NFL. Over on the diamond, it once impacted two-time AL MVP Mike Trout. And most recently, it hit Michael Porter Jr. and the Denver Nuggets.

Porter Jr. was the consensus top recruit entering his freshman season at Missouri. The 6-10 combo forward was a dynamic isolation scorer at all three levels and had the tools to be a strong defender. But two minutes into his college career, he suffered a back injury that would cost him 30 games.

Porter Jr. returned for the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament, but struggled. He averaged 14.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game while shooting 31 percent from the floor in the two contests.

The injury concerns and late struggles caused Porter Jr., once considered a top-three NBA Draft pick, to slide down the board.

That’s when the Denver Nuggets selected him at No. 14 overall in the 2018 draft.

“We were very surprised, and happily so, that Michael continued to fall down the board. At some point it becomes a risk-reward ratio,” Nuggets President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly told The Durango Herald after the pick.

“We think he’s an elite talent, a guy with no back issues we wouldn’t have the good fortune of drafting. You have to take a swing at guys like that. You have to get lucky.”

The Nuggets won 54 games last season without Porter Jr. playing a minute. As for this season, the forward said he will play in the NBA Summer League with no limitations.

If he’s healthy, Porter Jr. will be a Rookie of the Year candidate in 2019-20. Which means that Denver could be adding a high-level offensive talent to a team that already posted the seventh-best offensive rating in the league.

This is the type of move that pushes good teams toward greatness, and Porter Jr. is the type of player that elevates existing contenders.

Keeping Denver’s gutsy draft decision in mind, here are five under-the-radar 2019 NBA Draft picks that have the potential to re-shape the trajectory of a franchise.

1. Romeo Langford, Boston Celtics

The Celtics might not be championship contenders next season with Kyrie Irving and Al Horford reportedly on the way out in free agency. But Boston still has Gordon Hayward and Jayson Tatum in the fold along with solid cap space. Boston also has one of the best coaches in Brad Stevens.

While the Celtics would love for Irving and Horford to stay, they have the tools to re-group without both players.

Enter Langford.

The former top-10 recruit was expected to be one of the best prospects in the 2019 class due to his scoring ability and potential to play multiple positions. But both Indiana and Langford struggled last season, negatively impacting his draft stock.

While the guard put up 16.5 points and 5.4 rebounds with the Hoosiers, he was very ineffective from three-point range.

Romeo Langford’s Shooting Splits Attempts FG%
From 2-point Range 270 53.0
From 3-point Range 125 27.2

 

That’s why the Celtics were able to take him with the No. 14 pick, something that might not have seemed possible a year ago.

Despite Langford’s struggles from behind the arc, Boston feels confident it can solve his 3-point woes.

That’s because Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart couldn’t buy a bucket from three-point land in college. But once the duo landed in Boston, their three-point shooting percentage improved.

3-point Shooting Splits Career College Attempts Career College % Career NBA Attempts Career NBA %
Marcus Smart 295 29.5 1,440 31.0
Jaylen Brown 102 29.4 717 36.5

 

Langford could give the Celtics their fourth reliable wing player to add with Brown, Tatum and Hayward. He would create switchability and offer versatility across the lineup.

And if Stevens and the coaching staff can develop his outside shot, Langford will be another strong addition to Boston’s core.

2. Darius Bazley, Oklahoma City Thunder

As a prospect, there are many unknowns surrounding Bazley. He was obviously a strong high school player, averaging 15.3 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks during his senior season.

But then his path to the NBA took a unique turn.

Bazley initially committed to Ohio State, then switched to Syracuse. Then, he de-committed from the Orange and announced that he would play a year in the NBA G League. But he changed his mind again, eventually deciding that he would train on his own.

Since he didn’t play basketball last season, it’s hard to tell what Bazley’s strengths and weaknesses are. There’s also no real way to judge him against quality competition, although his NBA Draft Combine workouts were reportedly strong.

But because the talented Thunder have two MVP-caliber players in Russell Westbrook and Paul George leading the way, they can take a flier on an affordable option like Bazley, who will get every opportunity to develop into the missing combo forward Oklahoma City needs to compete in the wide-open Western Conference.

3. Matisse Thybulle, Philadelphia 76ers

Like the Thunder, the 76ers have some serious cap decisions to make.

Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris are unrestricted free agents, but Philadelphia does have the ability to go over the cap to bring both players back. J.J. Redick is also likely to return if the 76ers decide to roll with the same crew for another season.

Considering that last year’s roster was one bounce away from potentially reaching the Eastern Conference Finals, no one would blame them for giving it another go. But with an expensive core group, how do the 76ers improve on the margins and become a title contender?

That answer could lie in Matisse Thybulle, Philly’s 20th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.

Drafting another point guard from Washington comes with the obvious jokes for the 76ers, but Thybulle isn’t Markelle Fultz. He’s not saddled with the expectations of a No. 1 overall pick or viewed as the missing piece to “The Process.”

But Thybulle will be expected to consistently shoot 3-pointers and play lockdown defense.

While the guard struggled last season from deep, he shot 37.8 percent from behind the arc in his previous three seasons at Washington. He also shot 40.5 percent during his sophomore year on a healthy 131 attempts, showcasing his ability to knock down the three.

And don’t forget about his defensive prowess — Thybulle alongside Butler, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid will give the 76ers a vaunted defensive unit.

Matisse Thybulle’s College Defensive Splits Steals Blocks Defensive Rating
Freshman 1.1 0.9 103.7
Sophomore 2.1 0.7 110.0
Junior 3.0 1.4 98.7
Senior 3.5 2.3 88.0

 

By grabbing a player of Thybulle’s caliber late in the first round, the cap-restricted 76ers have added a valuable rotation player that might be just what they need to get over the playoff hump.

4. Nassir Little, Portland Trail Blazers

Little was the No. 3 recruit in his high school class according to 247Sports, but he was underwhelming at North Carolina, posting 9.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. His lack of production led to him falling out of the lottery, where he was projected to go for most of the season.

That’s when the Trail Blazers swooped in, drafting him at No. 25 overall just a month after the franchise finally reached the Western Conference Finals. Despite the emergence of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum as superstars, the team has lacked a third marquee player in recent years. But with Little on board, the Blazers have a young perimeter player who could quickly develop into their third musketeer.

When breaking down Little’s film, the most obvious concern is his 3-point shot. The forward hit 26.9 percent of his attempts from deep at North Carolina. That’s definitely alarming, but there have been recent examples of bad college shooters stepping it up in the Association.

3-Point Shooting Splits College % NBA %
Kawhi Leonard 25.0 38.3
Khris Middleton 32.1 38.8

 

Both Leonard and Middleton have developed into reliable shooters, providing a potential pathway for Little to follow. And like Leonard, Little was a strong interior scorer in college — a skill that he’ll immediately bring to the NBA.

College Shooting Splits 2-pt. % 3-pt. %
Kawhi Leonard 49.7 25.0
Nassir Little 52.7 26.9

 

That being said, it is unrealistic for Portland to expect Little to evolve into the “next” Leonard, which is why Little’s best long-term comparison might be Miami’s Justise Winslow, who has slowly become a 3-point threat.

Justise Winslow’s NBA Shooting Stats 3-point Attempts 3-pt. %
2015-16 116 27.6
2016-17 35 20.0
2017-18 129 38.0
2018-19 256 37.5

 

The Evan Turner trade made it clear that the Blazers plan on giving Little plenty of opportunities to develop into a consistent — and reliable — scorer. If Little can prove that he’s ready for the NBA, Portland will be primed for another deep playoff run.

5. Kevin Porter Jr., Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavaliers are in the middle of a deep rebuild, but they didn’t let that stop them from rolling the dice this summer.

After hiring John Beilein away from Michigan, Cleveland drafted Darius Garland to pair with Collin Sexton as their backcourt of the future. But the Cavs’ biggest offseason splash came at the end of the first round of this year’s draft.

Kevin Porter Jr., widely regarded as a lottery prospect and one of the top scorers in the 2019 NBA Draft, fell in Cleveland’s lap with the 30th pick. The Cavaliers acquired the pick in a deal with the Pistons, reportedly paying $5 million in cash in addition to trading four second-round picks for Porter Jr.

It’s a risk worth taking for a franchise looking to find its next star.

The obvious concern with Porter Jr. is the suspension he received while he was a student at USC. The forward missed time due to “personal conduct issues,” playing in just 21 games during his lone season in Southern California. He was often underwhelming when on the floor, but did display an elite offensive ability that few from his class possessed.

That’s because Porter Jr. is a talented wing scorer. He shot 47.1 percent from the floor and 41.2 percent from deep in limited action with the Trojans, which he can build on with the Cavaliers. His free throw shooting is concerning, but Porter Jr.’s overall offensive game is solid.

He’s not a distributor and won’t create opportunities for others off the pass, but his scoring should open up the floor for Cleveland, and playing alongside a floor-spacing big man like Kevin Love will do wonders for Porter Jr.’s development.

Should Porter Jr. live up to his potential, the Cavs will be remembered for pulling off one of the biggest steals in the draft.

MORE: Ranking Every State in the U.S. by the College Basketball Prospects It Produces