Brooklyn Nets Take Long View With Chris McCullough Pick

By Joe Bianca | Jul 16, 2015

Jun 25, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Chris McCullough (Syracuse) is interviewed after being selected as the number twenty-nine overall pick to the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

Having already secured a deal to trade up in the draft for the mostly NBA-ready swingman Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, the Brooklyn Nets could afford to take a stab on potential with their other first-round pick. That they did, taking Syracuse freshman Chris McCullough, still in rehab from ACL surgery, 29th overall.

It’s unclear when or even if the Bronx native will be able to play in the 2015-16 season, but if he eventually returns as the same player he was pre-injury, Brooklyn may have gotten the best value of the draft.

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McCullough, after reclassifying for the 2014 freshman class, was highly sought after and received offers from several perennial college basketball powers before settling on Syracuse. He came firing out of the gates, averaging 14.4 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.4 blocks and 57 percent shooting in 34.5 minutes per game through his first eight games.

His minutes were drastically cut to a 21.8 average from that point on and his production suffered – he failed to score in double digits the rest of the way.

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Then came the fateful injury at the Carrier Dome on Jan. 11. Early in the first half, McCullough was leaking out in transition and jumped to reel in an outlet pass. As he landed, his right knee bent inwardly and it was clear that this was a serious injury. Exactly one month later, he had reconstructive knee surgery and his path to the NBA became much more difficult.

That’s why it surprised some when McCullough went ahead and declared for the 2015 NBA Draft anyway. Once thought of as a surefire lottery pick, his draft status became much murkier after the injury. Sitting in the Barclays Center June 26, McCullough finally heard his name called at No. 29, taken by the team that plays under the same roof.

McCullough has an unmistakably high ceiling. His length is exceptional, he has a tremendously pure jumper for a 20-year-old big man and he can be played at the 3, 4 or even small-ball 5. At his peak, he’s a difference-maker on both ends of the floor and he still has plenty of room to get better.

He will need to bulk up some, as his frame is currently is too slender to be able to play in the post consistently.

Make no mistake; Brooklyn took a risk when it drafted McCullough. With the fewest first-round picks of any team in the next five years, the Nets need every one they use to pan out. McCullough, though tantalizingly talented, is being taken almost solely on potential and eight good college games.

Having just resumed running, McCullough is likely a ways away from playing competitive basketball, but that’s OK for the Nets. After years of “win-now” irresponsible management, they finally are playing the long game and trying to build the team from the ground up some. They’re in no rush to throw Chris McCullough into an NBA game.

They just hope that whenever he’s ready, he can be the star he looks like on film.

This is a results-oriented business and if McCullough isn’t the same player post-surgery, the Nets will absorb a lot of blame for squandering a valuable first-round pick. But with Hollis-Jefferson in the fold and the unrealistic pressure to be a championship contender gone, McCullough was the exact right kind of buy-low investment to make.

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