5 Surprises From The 2015 NBA Draft
By Gary Gorski
The 2015 NBA Draft provided some valuable players later in the draft.
With the 2016 NBA Draft just two days away, everyone has been talking about what Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Boston will do at the front of the draft.
Will the Sixers select odds-on favorite Ben Simmons with the top spot or will they shock everyone and take Duke’s Brandon Ingram? How high will Buddy Hield go? Is Dragan Bender this year’s Kristaps Porzingis?
There has also been a great deal of talk regarding trades. Boston holds a number of valuable picks that have been lobbied about in potential deals, as does Phoenix and Denver. Will Minnesota shop the fifth overall pick in the hopes of acquiring Jimmy Butler from the Bulls?
The one area that often gets overlooked though in the hype of franchise building lottery picks and endless draft night trade speculation is that there are 60 picks made in total and while many of the later picks will either be overseas stashes or will never be consistent NBA contributors, let alone possibly not even make an NBA roster, there are some teams who find players later in the draft that become important parts of their rosters.
Related Story: NBA Draft: Best Player Ever Selected in all 60 Spots
This year’s crop of rookies offers that promise in the middle stages of the draft as well. That could mean seniors like Denzel Valentine or Brice Johnson or an untested player brimming with hype and potential like Thon Maker who could offer solid value outside of the lottery.
Here’s a look at 5 players taken outside of the top 20 in last year’s draft who did just that.
Next: No. 21 Justin Anderson