The NBA Draft kicked off last night with Round 1, marking the culmination of a significant amount of draft work, podcasts recorded, and articles consumed. The event itself did not disappoint, with a mix of expected can’t-miss selections, some more dubious surprises, and a few picks that were…let’s just say, a few that came a bit out of left field, to borrow a baseball pun. We have some winners, some losers, and even a “meh” category. Let’s get into it.

(DISCLAIMER: The following is VERY subjective. I’m down to talk about any of them (@corbannba on social media), but on Ford’s Focus, I speak for myself, Corban Ford, alone, not the Center Hub as a whole.)

Winner: Dallas Mavericks

C’mon, you know I couldn’t resist. Dallas had one pick in the first round and one of the more obvious “no-brainers” of the NBA in the last 25 years (then again, it *is* Dallas’ front office, so who knows if it was obvious….) Cooper Flagg can almost literally do it all on the basketball floor. He brings his tremendous defensive versatility along with a very impressive offensive game to a Dallas unit that is in the midst of trying to climb the upper echelon of the Western Conference, and between Anthony Davis and PJ Washington, the Mavericks have a frontline that, when healthy, few in the NBA will be able to contend with. Now, about their point guard situation….

Loser: Brooklyn Nets

Over the last few weeks, the Brooklyn Nets have released a docu-series showcasing their scouting team and the importance of “getting these picks right” with the “tremendous opportunity ahead of them.” All in all, they were well-produced, mostly PR videos featuring Sean Marks and others in the Nets organization offering NBA Draft-related platitudes. I shouldn’t have bought into them, I know, I shouldn’t have. But I bought into those words, I did, and I regret it SO MUCH. Somehow, in the midst of making history by picking five times in the first round, the Nets managed to confuse the general collective of the NBA fanbase, taking Egor Demin, Nolan Traoré, Drake Powell, Ben Saraf, and Danny Wolf with their selections. (For reference, the last time a team had four or more picks in the first round, the 2009 Minnesota Timberwolves selected Ricky Rubio, Jonny Flynn, Ty Lawson, and Wayne Ellington. How did that work for them? Well….)

Let me just leave this here:

(You can probably tell, but Demin, Saraf, Traore, Powell, and Wolf all went higher than this)

For those at home, that’s three passers who have significant struggles with other specific basketball-related tasks, a forward who is… fine but probably would have been selected a few picks later, and a center who is also… fine and whose best attribute is arguably passing.

In and of itself, passing is great, right? Basketball teams generally benefit from that skill, and all five players selected are team players with no ego or selfish concerns to speak of. With that being said…really? *These five? Egor Demin is a player whose primary weakness is his shooting, particularly from beyond the arc and at the free-throw line. He could also stand to improve both his consistency and decision-making, especially when handling the ball under pressure. He’s also best on-ball compared to off of it, which is an issue when you consider that …..well, first off, he’s not great at creating for himself, and then secondly, again, under pressure is not where Demin thrives. Is he really the eighth-best player in the draft and the one Brooklyn sees as possibly being their lead playmaker? Powell, to this point, is limited offensively. Traore has an issue where he struggles to shoot effectively. Ben Saraf has this issue where he also struggles to shoot, and Wolf can shoot threes but isn’t great around the rim and is surprisingly shaky from the free-throw line. Is this the best Brooklyn could do? Is this what had me hopeful for them after watching nearly 30 minutes of team propaganda? I refuse to believe it. I refuse.  

Meh: Charlotte Hornets

Call me pessimistic. I’ve been intrigued by Charlotte’s rebuild for the past five years and have become oddly invested in their draft picks during this period. With the selections of Kon Knueppel and Liam McNeeley, Charlotte added more collective shooting to its roster, as well as some general, hard-nosed play and solid basketball IQ. In my opinion, what they did not add was athleticism or star upside, which is a bummer because, at number four, there were at least two players still available that I thought could bring both attributes to the Hornets (I’m leaving out defensive versatility because Tre Johnson *definitely* wouldn’t be offering that and Ace Bailey….well it’s possible, but the jury is out). Don’t get me wrong, both players are solid guys who will contribute, and that is well and good. I just would’ve gone for more of a bigger upside swing, considering where Charlotte has been languishing over the last three years. I feel that you would be happy having these two players slot around your core as more “finishing pieces” as you move along in your team-building timeline, but unless Charlotte knows something that we don’t, they are nowhere near that.

Winner: Orlando Magic 

Orlando got their shooter and someone I think was perfect for them, given their range with Jase Richardson of Michigan. The son of dunking legend Jason Richardson, Jase will play in one of his father’s old stomping grounds and provide much-needed spacing for a team that identified that need and, along with the trade for Desmond Bane, has filled it. I look forward to seeing Richardson receive more on-ball reps before I feel comfortable calling him the backup point guard of the future. Still, I do think he immediately steps in as an upgrade to the departed Cole Anthony in both shooting and defense.

I am looking forward to seeing Richardson thrive in high-pressure situations for this Magic team.

Loser/Wait What: New Orleans Pelicans

I am high on Derik Queen individually on my big board, but as I was discussing with my colleague Steven Bagell, team fit does matter: just because you may be the best player available on the board does not mean that you are a win for every team. Such is the case for Queen, whose fit with Zion Williamson I struggle to see. Both players will definitely help on the boards, and they also possess intriguing passing skills. Unfortunately, neither really stretches the floor, and neither protects the rim either, while both play the same two positions, so what is New Orleans planning? You might think that perhaps a Zion Williamson trade is in play…until you realize that New Orleans gave up a potentially juicy 2026 first-round pick for the right to move up 10 spots and draft Queen in the first place, which gives the impression that New Orleans intends to be a very competitive team next season, otherwise why risk that precious capital?

I think Queen is a versatile big man with a strong offensive skill set who has some real untapped upside, especially if he can expand the range on his jumper. However, his particular set of strengths and weaknesses is too similar to those of the embattled star big man that the Pelicans already have, and that confuses me. As for the selection of Jeremiah Fears, I’m high on him individually as a downhill guard who can seemingly get into the paint at will and make things happen. However, again, New Orleans? Fears’ biggest weakness is that outside jumper, and he is yet another person who will need to make a living in the lane, along with approximately 96% of the Pelicans’ roster. To Trey Murphy (and I guess Jordan Hawkins), my heart goes out to you. You two are the entirety of the Pelicans’ consistent outside shooting. Godspeed.

These are just a few teams I wanted to touch on, but the Spurs were big winners in my book (getting Carter Bryant at pick #14 is so on-brand for San Antonio it’s crazy). I also like Colin Murray-Boyles bringing his defensive skill set north of the border and Khaman Maluach potentially becoming the center of the future in Phoenix (shoutout to Mark Williams, though). Ace Bailey and Tre Johnson have interesting team fits that I am eager to explore, and, hey, Will Riley was selected in the first round over Rasheer Fleming! Until next time, I’m frosty, y’all stay frosty, and we’ll do this again soon.